The Mindful Monk

In discussing how to take a more compassionate and tolerant approach to one's adversaries, he advises: "Just as you yourself may have committed harmful acts in the past, acts that you regret but do not necessarily make you a permanently bad person, you can learn to separate another person's harmful action from that person as a totality. Remind yourself that perhaps there are other factors at play that you are not aware of, that have caused the person to act in the way that they did. With practice, you can also analyze the situation from a wider perspective and even try to discover if this harmful act or difficult situation might be used in some way to enhance your spiritual growth, as an opportunity to make you stronger in some way." Ultimately, the Dalai Lama elicits positive responses from others perhaps because he reminds us of the qualities that can be achieved by us all. One of his most remarkable characteristics is that despite worldwide acclaim, he seems to maintain a genuine humility and treats all with equal respect. When meeting with him, he seems to relate to you simply as one human being to another; he does not judge you based on your net worth, social status, race or gender.