This entire world is made by cause and effect. Every single thing we ever experience is the effect of some cause, and this effect cause some other effect, which in turn becomes a cause. We call this karma. Karma is just our habit-mind. If you think or do something many, many times, you create a mental habit, which means that there is a very good possibility you will that same thing again, and aga
Buddhism is a subject religion. It seeks direct insight into the very nature of existence itself, beginning insight into the nature of our being. “What am I?” “What is this ‘I’?, and where did it come from?” When I was born, where did I come from? When I die, where I will go? When you just ask yourself these fundamental and existential questions of our life, at that point all thinking is complet
The realms of the cycle of existence are impermanent like clouds. The coming and going of sentient beings can be understood as a scenes in a drama. The way sentient beings are born and die is similar to the way characters come on and off stage. Because of this impermanence, we have no lasting security. Today we are fortunate to live as a human being. Compared to animals and those living in hell,
We can divide all world religions into two broad camps: the theistic ones, which assert the existence of a creator, and the non-theistic ones, which do not. Within the non-theistic religions, we can again make two broad distinctions: there are those that assert the existence of atman, an eternal soul that is unitary, permanent, and those that do not. Buddhism is the sole example of the second divi
The Buddha himself said, “Do not commit any evil deeds; collect all virtuous qualities; completely transform your mind - that is the essential teaching of the Buddha.” The reason we should follow his advice is that in our heart, none of us wants suffering; we all want happiness. Suffering is the result of misguided and negative deeds, but happiness is the result of positive actions. However, eli
What is the purpose of life? I believe that the purpose of life is to be happy. From the moment of birth, every human being wants happiness and does not want suffering. For a start, it is possible to divide every kind of happiness and suffering into two main categories: mental and physical. Of the two, it is the mind that exerts the greatest influence on most of us. Unless we are either
I am very happy to be here with you today to receive the Nobel Prize for Peace. As a Buddhist monk, my concern extends to all members of the human family and, indeed, to all sentient beings who suffer. I believe all suffering is caused by ignorance. People inflict pain on others in the selfish pursuit of their own happiness and satisfaction. We humans are social beings. We come into thi