When we develop patience, we find that we develop a
reserve of calm and tranquility. We tend to be less antagonistic
and more pleasant to associate with. This creates a positive
atmosphere around us and it is easy for others to relate to us.
Better grounded emotionally through patience, we become stronger
mentally and spiritually, and tend to be healthier physically.
From one viewpoint, religion can be seen as sort of a
luxury. If you have religion, that’s good, but even without it you
can manage and survive but we can't survive without human
affection. While anger and hatred, like compassion and love, are
part of our mind, I still believe the dominant forces are
compassion and a...ffection. Therefore, usually I refer to these
human qualities as spirituality.
We can't be useful to ourselves unless we're useful to others.
Whether we like it or not, we're all connected, and it is
unthinkable to be happy all by oneself. Anyone concerned only by
his own well-being will suffer eventually. Anyone concerned with
the well-being of others takes care of himself without even
thinking ...about it. Even if we decide to remain selfish, let us
be intelligently selfish let us help others.
Satisfaction is characterized by inner peace. It arises from
generosity, honesty and what I call ethical conduct, a way of
behaving that respects others’ right to be happy.
Once you shift your focus from yourself to others and extend
your concern to others, this will have the immediate effect of
opening up your life and helping you to reach out. The practice of
cultivating altruism has a beneficial effect not only from a
religious point of view but also from a mundane point of view; not
o...nly for long-term spiritual development but even in terms of
immediate rewards.
We must learn how to identify the opposing sides in our inner
conflicts. Take anger: we need to see how destructive it is and at
the same time, realize there are antidotes within our own thoughts
and emotions that can counter it. So by understanding how negative
it is and then by strengthening our positive thoughts and...
emotions, we can gradually reduce the force of our anger and
hatred.
Mere restraint may prevent us from grossly negative misdeeds,
but it's insufficient to attain the happiness characterized by
inner peace. In order to transform our habits and dispositions so
that our actions are compassionate, it is necessary to develop what
we might call an ethic of virtue. As well as restraining
ours...elves from negative thoughts and emotions, we need to
cultivate and reinforce our positive qualities
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