Dalai Lama Quote of the Week

Dalai Lama Quote of the Week from Snow Lion Publications:

...particularly in Buddhism while we practice we must use the brain as well as the heart. On the ethical side, we must practice the quality of a good and warm heart; also, since Buddhism is very much involved in reasoning and logic--the wisdom side--intelligence is important. Thus, a combination of mind and heart is needed. Without knowledge, without fully utilized intelligence, you cannot reach the depths of the Buddhist doctrine; it is difficult to achieve concrete or fully qualified wisdom. There may be exceptions, but this is the general rule.

It is necessary to have a combination of hearing, thinking, and meditating. The Kadampa teacher Dromton ('brom ston pa, 1004-1064) said, "When I engage in hearing, I also make effort at thinking and meditating. When I engage in thinking, I also search out more hearing and engage in meditation. And when I meditate, I don't give up hearing and don't give up thinking." He said, "I am a balanced Kadampa," meaning that he maintained a balance of hearing, thinking, and meditating.

~ From Kindness, Clarity, and Insight 25th Anniversary Edition by the Fourteenth Dalai Lama His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso, edited and translated by Jeffrey Hopkins, co-edited by Elizabeth Napper, published by Snow Lion Publications.

Tags: Buddhism, Dalai Lama, heart, mind