Dalai Lama Quotes About Emotions

• We need a sense of the oneness of the 7 billion human beings alive today. When I meet people, I don't think about being different from them, about being Tibetan, Buddhist or even the Dalai Lama. I only think about being a human being. We all share the potential for positive and negative emotions, yet one of our special qualities is our human mind, our intelligence. If we use it well we'll be successful and happy.

  Dalai Lama

  Buddhist, Successful, Thinking

• Everyone wants a happy life without difficulties or suffering. We create many of the problems we face. No one intentionally creates problems, but we tend to be slaves to powerful emotions like anger, hatred and attachment that are based on misconceived projections about people and things. We need to find ways of reducing these emotions by eliminating the ignorance that underlies them and applying opposing forces.

  Dalai Lama

  Powerful, Ignorance, Happy Life

• There needs to be understanding that anger never helps to solve a problem. It destroys our peace of mind and blinds our ability to think clearly. Anger and attachment are emotions that distort our view of reality.

  Dalai Lama

  Wise, Wisdom, Peace

• The way to overcome negative thoughts and destructive emotions is to develop opposing, positive emotions that are stronger and more powerful.

  Dalai Lama

  Powerful, Stronger, Overcoming

• Afflictive emotions - our jealousy, anger, hatred, fear - can be put to an end. When you realize that these emotions are only temporary, that they always pass on like clouds in the sky, you also realize they can ultimately be abandoned.

  Dalai Lama

  Emotional, Clouds, Sky

• Mentally, physically and emotionally we are the same.
  
  We each have the potential to good and bad and to be overcome by disturbing emotions such as anger, fear, hatred, suspicion and greed. These emotions can be the cause of many problems.
  
  On the other hand if you cultivate loving kindness, compassion and concern for others, there will be no room for anger, hatred and jealousy.

  Dalai Lama

  Jealousy, Kindness, Compassion

• True compassion is not just an emotional response, but a firm commitment founded on reason. Therefore, a truly compassionate attitude toward others does not change, even if they behave negatively. Through universal altruism, you develop a feeling of responsibility for others: the wish to help them actively overcome their problems.

  Dalai Lama

  Change, Wise, Wisdom

  Dalai Lama XIV, Rajiv Mehrotra (2010). “In My Own Words: An Introduction to My Teachings and Philosophy”, p.9, ReadHowYouWant.com

• As human beings we all want to be happy and free from misery.
  We have learned that the key to happiness is inner peace.
  The greatest obstacles to inner peace are disturbing emotions such as
  anger and attachment, fear and suspicion,
  while love and compassion, a sense of universal responsibility
  are the sources of peace and happiness.

  Dalai Lama

  Happiness, Buddhist, Freedom

• Like anyone else, I too have the potential for violence; I too have anger in me. However, I try to recall that anger is a destructive emotion. I remind myself that scientists now say that anger is bad for our health; it eats into our immune system. So, anger destroys our peace of mind and our physical health. We shouldn’t welcome it or think of it as natural or as a friend.

  Dalai Lama

  Thinking, Mind, Trying

• Destructive thoughts and emotions undermine the very causes of peace and happiness. If you think clearly about it, it makes no sense to think you’re seeking happiness, if you do nothing to restrain angry, spiteful, and malicious thoughts and emotions.

  Dalai Lama

  Thinking, Causes, Emotion

• Those who have little interest in spirituality shouldn’t think that human inner values don’t apply to you. The inner peace of an alert and calm mind are the source of real happiness and good health. Our human intelligence tells us which of our emotions are positive and helpful and which are damaging and to be restrained or avoided.

  Dalai Lama

  Inspirational, Happiness, Real

• Consider that not only do negative thoughts and emotions destroy our experience of peace, they also undermine our health.

  Dalai Lama

  Peace, Negative, Emotion

• The practice of patience guards us against losing our presence of mind. It enables us to remain undisturbed, even when the situation is really difficult. It gives us a certain amount of inner peace, which allows us some self-control, so that we can choose to respond to situations in an appropriate and compassionate manner, rather than being driven by our disturbing emotions.

  Dalai Lama

  Inspirational, Patience, Buddhist

• We all want to live a happy life and have a right to do so, whether through work or spiritual practice. I'm subject to destructive emotions like anger and jealousy the same as you, but we all have potential for good too. However, our existing education system is oriented towards material development; neglecting inner values. Consequently we lack a clear awareness of the inner values that are the basis of a happy life.

  Dalai Lama

  Spiritual, Happy Life, Practice

• We cannot hope to die peacefully if our lives have been full of violence, or if our minds have mostly been agitated by emotions like anger, attachment, or fear. So if we wish to die well, we must learn how to live well: Hoping for a peaceful death, we must cultivate peace in our mind, and in our way of life.

  Dalai Lama

  Death, Attachment, Wish To Die

• Many people today agree that we need to reduce violence in our society. If we are truly serious about this, we must deal with the roots of violence, particularly those that exist within each of us. We need to embrace 'inner disarmament,' reducing our own emotions of suspicion, hatred and hostility toward our brothers and sisters

  Dalai Lama

  Brother, Roots, People

• Self-discipline, although difficult, and not always easy while combating
  negative emotions, should be a defensive measure. At least we will be able to prevent the advent of negative conduct dominated by negative emotion. That is 'shila', or moral ethics. Once we develop this by familiarizing ourselves with it, along with mindfulness and conscientiousness, eventually that pattern and way of life will become a part of our own life.

  Dalai Lama

  Self, Discipline, Patterns

• If you have peace of mind, when you meet with problems and difficulties they won’t disturb your inner peace. You’ll be able to employ your human intelligence more effectively. But, if your mental state is disturbed, full of emotion, it is very difficult to cope with problems, because the mind that is full of emotion is biased, unable to see reality. So whatever you do will be unrealistic and naturally fail.

  Dalai Lama

  Reality, Inner Peace, Mind

• When we are caught up in a destructive emotion, we lose one of our greatest assets: our independence.

  Dalai Lama

  Independence, Emotion, Assets

• We need to understand how destructive emotions affect us and constructive emotions can help us, so that we can maintain our peace of mind.

  Dalai Lama

  Mind, Needs, Emotion

• Anger and hatred lead to fear; compassion and concern for others allow us to develop self-confidence, which breeds trust and friendship.

  Dalai Lama

  Self Confidence, Compassion, Concern For Others

• Although we are all the same in not wanting problems and wanting a peaceful life, we tend to create a lot of problems for ourselves. Encountering those problems, anger develops and overwhelms our mind, which leads to violence. A good way to counter this and to work for a more peaceful world is to develop concern for others. Then our anger, jealousy and other destructive emotions will naturally weaken and diminish.

  Dalai Lama

  Life, Jealousy, Wisdom

• The most important benefit of patience consists in the way it acts as a powerful antidote to the affliction of anger - the greatest threat to our inner peace, and therefore our happiness. The mind, or spirit, is not physical, it cannot be touched or harmed directly. Only negative thoughts and emotions can harm it. Therefore, only the corresponding positive quality can protect it.

  Dalai Lama

  Happy, Patience, Powerful

• Most of our problems are related to the mind, so we have to work to reduce our destructive emotions.

  Dalai Lama

  Mind, Emotion, Problem

• Use your human intelligence in the best way you can; transform your emotions in a positive way.

  Dalai Lama

  Use, Way, Emotion

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