The Dalai Lama’s Book of Wisdom

My favourite quotation from Shantideva’s book is: ‘As long as space endures, as long as sentient beings remain, until then, may I too remain and dispel the miseries of the world.’

So on what exact grounds do you discriminate?

with genuine compassion you view others as more important than yourself

The Buddhist interpretation is that genuine compassion is based on a clear acceptance or recognition that others, like oneself, want happiness and have the right to overcome suffering.

Compassion is the most wonderful and precious thing

But no matter how forceful this is, it cannot destroy the supreme source of my happiness, which is my calmness of mind.

I consider hatred to be the ultimate enemy. By ‘enemy’ I mean the person or factor which directly or indirectly destroys our interest. Our interest is that which ultimately creates happiness.

my tragic experiences have also had some valuable aspects

As the great Indian scholar Shantideva has said: ‘If there is a way to overcome the suffering, then there is no need to worry; if there is no way to overcome the suffering, then there is no use in worrying.’

The sense of contentment is a key factor for attaining happiness