13 Dalai Lama Quotes That Are More Than Just Quotes

The Dalai Lama is a rare man. 

Plucked from birth to be the carrier of wisdom, he grows up on a spiritual path towards holiness. He's immersed in ancient texts, practices, and culture before he's ready to meet the world and share himself. 

The one we know and love today is number 14 on a long line of Dalai Lama's that dates back to 1415. 

But just because he grows up with holy intentions it doesn't guarantee a life of happiness or ease. 

The Dalai Lama has suffered his fair share of discrimination and injustice throughout his life, notably being exiled from the Tibet uprising in 1959 where he found refuge in India.

His life has given him the opportunity to turn his knowledge into wisdom and speak about compassion, forgiveness, and love from a real and vulnerable place. 

He certainly doesn't speak hollow words, they come from a life well-lived, and well-earned over 86 eventful years. 

Let's look at a few of his best words now. 

"Love is the absence of judgement" 

This is a big one.

For if I judge another, I am actually wanting a part of them to change. And in that, my love is absent. 

It takes enormous courage to love. However, the alternative doesn't bear thinking about. 

"Share your knowledge, it is a way to achieve immortality"

Stories outlive everyone. They travel through time over thousands of years, touching and influencing the lives of unknown humans. 

They have the ability to inspire, uplift, entrap and destroy. Which one we choose ultimately determines our whole reality (and the reality of others).

So, share yourself. It is a way to leave a long-lasting legacy. It is a way to have your message travel through time long after you're gone. 

"No one has ever become poor by giving" - Anne Frank

"Give the ones you love wings to fly, roots to come back, and reasons to stay" 

I have been lucky enough to experience this firsthand with my mum. 

I'm now 31 years old but I left the UK for the first time when I was 20. It's been a wild adventurous 11 years of love, laughter, loss, and everything in between. 

But however far and as wide I have gone, my compass has always pointed back north in the end. And however high I've soared, I know that I have only been able to do so because of the wings that were given to me long ago. 

"If I have seen further than others, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants" - Issac Newton 

"The seed of goodness is found in the soil of appreciation"

Or as another Buddhist proverb goes - "Enough is a feast"

"If you think you're too small to make a difference in this world, try sleeping with a mosquito" 

That buzzing little wizard teaches us a lot about the impact we can have. We don't have to suck people's blood, of course, (or any other being for that matter), but we can make a big difference in this world, even if it appears to be small. 

"When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know. But if you listen, you may learn something new" 

The irony is that before we can ever talk, we must first learn. And learning takes listening. 

However, with age, we tend to hold a lot of weight in the words that we speak. We tend to think of them as the truth. But how true can they really be when most of them have come from someone else? 

Listening allows us to hear our own truth. And that's the gateway for knowledge to alchemise into wisdom. 

"Listen to silence, it has so much to say" - Rumi 

"Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other"

Need can often create expectation, fear, loss, judgement, and jealousy. Love, on the other hand, often creates acceptance, joy, abundance, bliss, and freedom. 

I know which one I want to choose - do you? 

"Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck"

That reminds me of a Zen parable. This is the story of maybe: 

Once upon a time there was an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. "Such bad luck," they said sympathetically.

"Maybe," the farmer replied.

The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses. "How wonderful," the neighbors exclaimed.

"Maybe," replied the old man.

The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune.

"Maybe," answered the farmer.

The day after, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son's leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out.

"Maybe," said the farmer.

"Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk"

Brené Brown put it another way: 

"If we are brave enough, often enough, we will fall" 

How we get up is what counts. 

"Compassion is the radicalism of our time"

Compassion for each other, compassion for those who have gone before us, compassion for those who never made it, compassion for the Earth, compassion for waters, rocks, soil, animals, trees, and stars. 

Have compassion for all of it. 

Appreciate all of it. 

Love all of it. 

What else is there to do? 

"Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions"

Or as Brené Brown once said: 

"You either walk inside your story and own it or you stand outside your story and hustle for your worthiness"

Knowing that happiness is a personal choice is an incredibly empowering moment. 

"You don't have to be the victim of your environment, you can also be the architect of it" - James Clear 

Closing thoughts 

To close, I'd like to leave you with one more pertinent quote by the man himself: 

"Every day, think as you wake up, today I am fortunate to be alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it. I am going to use all my energies to develop myself, to expand my heart out to others; to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. I am going to have kind thoughts towards others, I am not going to get angry or think badly about others. I am going to benefit others as much as I can."