Dalai Lama Quotes About Desire

• According to Buddhist practice, there are three stages or steps. The initial stage is to reduce attachment towards life. The second stage is the elimination of desire and attachment to this samsara. Then in the third stage, self-cherishing is eliminated

  Dalai Lama

  Buddhist, Attachment, Self

  His Holiness The Dalai Lama (1998). “Path To Tranquility”, p.39, Penguin Books India

• Most of our troubles are due to our passionate desire for and attachment to things that we misapprehend as enduring entities.

  Dalai Lama

  Letting Go, Attachment, Passionate Desire

  Dalai Lama XIV (1995). “My Tibet”, p.11, Univ of California Press

• When you are discontent, you always want more, more, more. Your desire can never be satisfied. But when you practice contentment, you can say to yourself, 'Oh yes - I already have everything that I really need.'

  Dalai Lama

  Being Happy, Practice, Contentment

• Giving up attachment to the world does not mean that you set yourself apart from it. Generating a desire for others to be happy increases your humanity. As you become less attached to the world, you become more humane. As the very purpose of spiritual practice is to help others, you must remain in society.

  Dalai Lama

  Spiritual, Buddhist, Giving Up

• We must recognize that all beings want the same thing we want. This is the way to achieve a true understanding, unfettered by artificial consideration.

  Dalai Lama

  Understanding, Desire, Want

• Brute force, no matter how strongly applied, can never subdue the basic human desire for freedom.

  Dalai Lama

  Peace, Freedom, Desire

  Dalai Lama XIV, Rajiv Mehrotra (2010). “In My Own Words: An Introduction to My Teachings and Philosophy”, p.138, ReadHowYouWant.com

• Nowadays the world is becoming increasingly materialistic, and mankind is reaching toward the very zenith of external progress, driven by an insatiable desire for power and vast possessions. Yet by this vain striving for perfection in a world where everything is relative,they wander even further away from inward peace and happiness of the mind.

  Dalai Lama

  Peace, Perfection, Mind

• If one's cause is supported by sound reasoning, there is no point in using violence. It is those who have no motive other than selfish desire and who cannot achieve their goal through logical reasoning who rely on force.

  Dalai Lama

  Selfish, Logical Reasoning, Goal

  Dalai Lama, Anne Benson, Fabien Ouaki (2016). “Imagine All the People: A Conversation with the Dalai Lama on Money, Politics, and Life As It Could Be”, p.127, Simon and Schuster

• Some people automatically associate morality and altruism with a religious vision of the world. But I believe it is a mistake to think that morality is an attribute only of religion. We can imagine two types of spirituality: one tied to religion, while the other arises spontaneously in the human heart as an expression of love for our neighbors and a desire to do them good.

  Dalai Lama

  Religious, Mistake, Believe

• The essence of compassion is a desire to alleviate the suffering of others and to promote their well-being

  Dalai Lama

  Compassion, Essence, Suffering Of Others

  Dalai Lama (2012). “Beyond Religion: Ethics for a Whole World”, p.11, Random House

• Whether we like it or not, we have all been born into this world as part of one great human family. Rich or poor, educated or uneducated, belonging to one nation or another, to one religion or another, adhering to this ideology or that, ultimately each of is just a human being like everyone else. We all desire happiness and do not want suffering.

  Dalai Lama

  Rich Or Poor, Suffering, Desire

• Sometimes, whether a desire is excessive or negative depends on the circumstances or society in which you live in.

  Dalai Lama

  Desire, Negative, Sometimes

  Dalai Lama (2009). “The Art of Happiness, 10th Anniversary Edition: A Handbook for Living”, p.37, Penguin

• I believe that the very purpose of life is to be happy. From the very core of our being, we desire contentment. In my own limited experience I have found that the more we care for the happiness of others, the greater is our own sense of well-being.

  Dalai Lama

  Inspirational, Believe, Contentment

• What is the relationship between spirituality and ethical practice? Since love and compassion and similar qualities all, by definition, presume some level of concern for others' well-being, they presume ethical restraint. We cannot be loving and compassionate unless at the same time we curb our own harmful impulses and desires.

  Dalai Lama

  Compassion, Practice, Concern For Others

  The Dalai Lama (2012). “The Essence Of Wisdom”, p.10, Hachette UK

• There is a saying in Tibetan that "at the door of the miserable rich man sleeps the contented beggar". The point of this saying is not that poverty is a virtue, but that happiness does not come with wealth, but from setting limits to one's desires, and living within those limits with satisfaction.

  Dalai Lama

  Sleep, Men, Doors

  "Your Emotional Fitness: Everything You Need to Know to Live a Life of Abundance". Book by Gary Rubin, p. 173, 2013.

• If we human beings rely only on material development, we can’t be sure of a positive outcome. Employing technology motivated by anger and hatred is likely to be destructive. It will only be beneficial if we seek the welfare of all beings. Human beings are the only species with the potential to destroy the world. Because of the risks of unrestrained desire and greed we need to cultivate contentment and simplicity.

  Dalai Lama

  Technology, Hatred, Greed

• Since we desire the true happiness that is brought about by a calm mind, and such peace of mind arises only from having a compassionate attitude, we need to make a concerted effort to develop compassion.

  Dalai Lama

  Positive, Happiness, Buddhist

• Ethics: The indispensable interface between my desire to be happy and yours.

  Dalai Lama

  Desire, Ethics, Indispensable

• One interesting thing about greed is that although the underlying motive is to seek satisfaction, the irony is that even after obtaining the object of your desire you are still not satisfied. The true antidote of greed is contentment.

  Dalai Lama

  Buddhism, Interesting, Greed

• If one's life is simple, contentment has to come. Simplicity is extremely important for happiness. Having few desires, feeling satisfied with what you have, is very vital: satisfaction with just enough food, clothing, and shelter to protect yourself from the elements.

  Dalai Lama

  Simple, Simplicity, Feelings

• It is in everybody's interest to seek those [actions] that lead to happiness and avoid those which lead to suffering. And because our interests are inextricably linked, we are compelled to accept ethics as the indispensable interface between my desire to be happy and yours.

  Dalai Lama

  Happiness, Pain, Joy

  The Dalai Lama, Alexander Norman (2010). “Ancient Wisdom, Modern World: Ethics for the New Millennium”, p.33, Hachette UK

• My own view, which does not rely solely on religious faith or even on an original idea, but rather on ordinary common sense, is that establishing binding ethical principles is possible when we take as our starting point the observation that we all desire happiness and wish to avoid suffering.

  Dalai Lama

  Religious, Ethical Principles, Views

  The Dalai Lama, Alexander Norman (2010). “Ancient Wisdom, Modern World: Ethics for the New Millennium”, p.22, Hachette UK

• When we think carefully, we see that the brief elation we experience when appeasing sensual impulses may not be very different from what the drug addict feels when indulging his or her habit. Temporary relief is soon followed by a craving for more. And in just the same way that taking drugs in the end only causes trouble, so, too, does much of what we undertake to fulfill our immediate sensory desires.

  Dalai Lama

  Thinking, Drug, Sensual

  The Dalai Lama, Alexander Norman (2010). “Ancient Wisdom, Modern World: Ethics for the New Millennium”, p.36, Hachette UK

• (Because) the notion of absolute truth is difficult to sustain outside the context of religion, ethical conduct is not something we engage in because it is somehow right in itself but because, like ourselves, all others desire to be happy and to avoid suffering. Given that this is a natural disposition, shared by all, it follows that each individual has a right to pursue this goal. Accordingly, I suggest that one of the things which determines whether an act is ethical or not is its effect on others' experience or expectation of happiness.

  Dalai Lama

  Goal, Expectations, Suffering

• My desire to devolve authority has nothing to do with a wish to shirk responsibility.

  Dalai Lama

  Responsibility, Desire, Wish

  "Dalai Lama ready to give up political power". www.cnn.com. March 10, 2011.

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