Cultivating compassion is not a religious practice focused on ensuring we go to heaven or a good future life. It’s about living a good day-to-day life here and now. It’s about being a happy person. Warm-heartedness is a fundamental good human quality.

Someone may be very rich and powerful but without any trusted friends they will never be happy. Someone else may be poor but if they are surrounded by trusting friends they’ll be happy. Therefore, taking care of others is the best way to fulfil our own interests.

One of my commitments is to promote human values based on common sense and scientific findings. What we need is more self-confidence, which comes from concern for others' well-being. The real source of inner strength and self-confidence is warm-heartedness.

We’re social creatures, we depend on each other, which is why we need a sense of concern for others’ well-being. Compassion is what’s important and you don’t have to be religious to practise it. Practising compassion here and now—living a meaningful life—is what is most important

If we make consistent effort, based on proper education, we can change the world. We are selfish, that’s natural, but we need to be wisely selfish, not foolishly selfish. We have to concern ourselves more with others’ well-being, that’s the way to be wisely selfish.

The only thing that will bring happiness is affection and warmheartedness. When you have a more compassionate mind and cultivate warmheartedness, the whole atmosphere around you becomes more positive and friendlier. You see friends everywhere.

Anger and aggression sometimes seem to be protective because they bring energy to bear on a particular situation, but what needs to be acknowledged is that that energy is blind. It takes a calm mind to be able to consider things from different angles and points of view.

Materialistic values cannot give us peace of mind. So we really need to focus on our inner values, our true humanity. Only this way can we have peace of mind—and more peace in our world.

Please don’t think that compassion, love and tolerance only belong to religion. They belong to human life. From compassion we develop self-confidence; that brings inner strength, allowing us to act with transparency and candour.

In order to develop our mind, we must look at a deeper level. Everyone seeks happiness, joyfulness, but from outside—from money, from power, from big car, from big house. Most people never pay much attention to the ultimate source of a happy life, which is inside, not outside.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama's message to COP26. https://t.co/sRYFUbH2Jr

On the occasion of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) HHDL speaks on the need to tackle climate change as the future of our planet is in our hands. https://t.co/AgEYAEpjJl

These days it’s realistic to work for co-existence on global level. It’s no longer appropriate to thinking only of ‘my country’. We must educate the young in the ways to achieve genuine world peace, taking the entire world, the whole of humanity, into account on a global level.

Everyone wants to live in a peaceful world, but it’s necessary to understand that what destroys peace is anger and hatred. This is why the long term goal is to create inner peace within individuals, so contributing to a more compassionate humanity.

Compassion in Action - HHDL's message to the 8th Parliament of the World's Religions held virtually on October 17-18, 2021. https://t.co/JAc3iJPGyl

What’s past is past, nothing can change that. But the future can be different if we choose to make it so. We have to cultivate a vision of a happier, more peaceful future and make the effort now to bring it about. This is no time for complacency, hope lies in the action we take.

I don’t like formality. There’s no formality when we’re born and none when we die. In between we should treat each other as brothers and sisters because we all want to live a happy life. This is our common purpose and our right.

The Dalai Lama Global Vision Summit 2021: The Power of Compassion - Discover the transformative power of compassion, as exemplified by the Dalai Lama, with teachings and meditations from 20+ experts in this worldwide free online event October 14-18, https://t.co/QmhPdsK2KI

HHDL sends 90th birthday greetings to Archbishop Desmond Tutu followed by a short talk on compassion in his message to the 11th Annual Desmond Tutu Peace Lecture on October 7th, 2021. https://t.co/fi4Lb6YsCv https://t.co/7qadsoRZ0z

If you are motivated by a wish to help on the basis of kindness, compassion and respect, then you can do any kind of work, in any field, and function more effectively with less fear or worry, not being afraid of what others think or whether you will ultimately reach your goal.