Just as ripples spread out when a single pebble is dropped into water, the actions of individuals can have far-reaching effects.
The challenge today is to convince people of the value of truth, honesty, compassion and a concern for others.
I myself feel, and also tell other Buddhists that the question of Nirvana will come later. There is not much hurry. If in day to day life you lead a good life, honesty, with love, with compassion, with less selfishness, then automatically it will lead to Nirvana.
Good human qualities-honesty, sincerity, a good heart-cannot be bought with money, nor can they be produced my machines, but only by the mind itself. We can call this the inner light, or God's blessing, or human qualitity. This is the essence of mankind.
Inner values like friendship, trust, honesty and compassion are much more reliable than money - they always bring happiness and strength.
I consider myself to be just one among 7 billion human beings. If I were to think of myself as different from others, or as something special, it would create a barrier between us. What makes us the same is that we all want to lead happy lives and gather friends around us. And friendship is based on trust, honesty and openness.
We have to think and see how we can fundamentally change our education system so that we can train people to develop warm-heartedness early on in order to create a healthier society. I don't mean we need to change the whole system, just improve it. We need to encourage an understanding that inner peace comes from relying on human values like, love, compassion, tolerance and honesty, and that peace in the world relies on individuals finding inner peace.
There is nothing I can't live without. I learned this attitude when I was a child.
It's unrealistic to think that the future of humanity can be achieved only on the basis of prayer; what we need is to take action.
I believe that we are fundamentally the same and have the same basic potential.
We need material development, but we need to understand that by itself it doesn't bring peace of mind.
All religions try to benefit people, with the same basic message of the need for love and compassion, for justice and honesty, for contentment. So merely changing formal religious affiliations will often not help much. On the other hand, in pluralistic, democratic societies, there is the freedom to adopt the religion of your choice. This is good. This lets curious people like you run around on the loose!
Refraining from harm, not out of fear, but out of concern for others, their well-being and out of respect is non-violence.
All religions try to benefit people, with the same basic message of the need for love and compassion, for justice and honesty, for contentment.
