15 Enlightening Dalai Lama Quotes That Will Leave You Spellbound

His Holiness the Dalai Lama is a force of nature.

For those who don’t know what a Dalai Lama is, he is a reincarnation of Bodhisattva. And as mentioned by the Office of His Holiness, “Bodhisattvas are believed to be enlightened beings who have postponed their own nirvana and chosen to take rebirth in order to serve humanity”.

Amazingly enough, he is a spiritual leader and also a politician. In fact, hundreds of thousands of Tibetans who believe in him have left Tibet and are living in exile in India, just like him.

Here are the most enlightening Dalai Lama quotes that will leave you spellbound:

1. This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.

If you feed negativity to your mind all day, there is no point of being a spiritual Jedi for just five minutes every morning. What really matters is that you nurture everyone and everything that comes your way during the day. Appreciate the little things, because they really add up in the long-term.

2. Time passes unhindered. When we make mistakes, we cannot turn the clock back and try again. All we can do is use the present well.

The most scarce resource is time. Make sure you spend it doing things you want with people you like. But if you make mistakes, don’t take them to the heart. Because you can always find more opportunities ahead. This is one of the most enlightening Dalai Lama quotes ever.

3. Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck.

Nobody always gets everything they want. But everybody gets to learn something from the experience of rejection. It is when they become vulnerable as well as creative. Failure is a great way to end old patterns and step into new worlds.

4. We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.

Your outside world reflects your dominant beliefs. You need to give yourself the permission to go after what you want. Believing in yourself is essential in order to reach your dreams and succeed.

5. Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them.

The purpose of life is to leave the world better than what it was when you came here. The impact you make in life will echo in your ears when your time comes. Sometimes we can’t be happy no matter how much we take, take, take. Sometimes, we need to give, give, give.

6. If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.

Treat yourself as if you were your best friend. See your shortcomings in the same light as you would see your brother’s or sister’s. When we disown our imperfections, we create chaos inside and become weak. When we own them and integrate them into our being, we become strong.

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7. There is a saying in Tibetan, ‘Tragedy should be utilized as a source of strength.’” No matter what sort of difficulties, how painful experience is, if we lose our hope, that’s our real disaster.

Your circumstances are never hard. It all depends on the meaning you assign to them. Some people take it as a learning experience. Others become complacent and frustrated. But it is in the moments of tragedy that you strength actually counts.

8. The roots of all goodness lie in the soil of appreciation.

In Huna, a Hawaiian philosophy of life, it is said that criticism kills while praise builds. Whatever you criticize and praise will grow. But when you criticize, it leads to stress and anxiety. And when you praise, it leads to strength and contentment. This is one of the most enlightening Dalai Lama quotes ever.

9. Know the rules well, so you can break them effectively.

The strange thing about rules is that they impose limitations. But it is our innate nature to seek expansion rather than limits. So know the rules and see if you can break them.

10. The ultimate source of happiness is not money and power, but warm-heartedness.

How often have you bought luxury only to realize that it can only make you feel good for a couple days and then it’s as good as dead. What really makes us feel excited is when we feel appreciated and loved. And to feel loved, you need to give love first.

11. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

In the end, it all comes down to the importance of time. The time you invested in creating something is never going to come back. Respect this fact.

12. If you can cultivate the right attitude, your enemies are your best spiritual teachers because their presence provides you with the opportunity to enhance and develop tolerance, patience, and understanding.

Enemies are just like failures. If we bump into them, they first annoy us. Then they push us toward change. And then they strengthen us. This is one of the most enlightening Dalai Lama quotes ever.

Take the example of Vishen Lakhiani, the CEO of mindvalley, who often talks about the 7-day forgiveness retreat which changed his life forever. With just seven days of forgiving his worst enemies, he was able to cultivate the level of alpha waves in his brain that can only be created by monks with over 40 years of meditation experience. 40 years of monk meditation and 7 days of forgiveness. Talk about magic for the mind.

13. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

Life is too short to be limited by security. What good is security when it burns your dreams to the ground? Your dreams carry the infinite potential of the world. If you chase them, you will have enough energy to outlast any obstacle. Security is a cage decorated with breadcrumbs left by people who fled from it a long time ago.

14. The ultimate authority must always rest with the individual’s own reason and critical analysis.

The truth can only be tested by experimentation. If others tell you that your ideas are stupid, don’t believe them without acting on them. Test them, learn from them. You have a 70-100 year long canvas of life to paint your dreams. Never seek approval from others because they’re just a part of the painting you are drawing every day.

15. Given the scale of life in the cosmos, one human life is no more than a tiny blip. Each one of us is a just visitor to this planet, a guest, who will only stay for a limited time. What greater folly could there be than to spend this short time alone, unhappy or in conflict with our companions? Far better, surely, to use our short time here in living a meaningful life, enriched by our sense of connection with others and being of service to them.

We often think too much, trust too less and complain too often. Life is short. So better spend it bringing more smiles and fewer frowns. Open your heart and tell people how much you love them. Judge less, love more. Clearly, this is one of the most enlightening Dalai Lama quotes ever.