Messages from the Dalai Lama

On 15 June 2007 I was part of a crowd in Sydney Australia who was fortunate to hear the 14th Dalai Lama speak. Although it was pouring rain and there were so many umbrellas it was hard to see the stage, it was an event not to be missed.

The first thing that I noticed when the Dalai Lama came on stage, was that he always appeared to be smiling. His ‘smiling’ cheeks are so well developed that even when he is speaking on serious issues, he appears to be smiling.
He must be a very happy soul.

After a few easy jokes, the Dalai Lama started talking about peace. And his message was simple –

Peace in the world comes from having inner peace.

He expounded on this for quite some time, and was adamant that if we (ie. any one person) want peace in the world, first we must obtain inner peace. If we are not at peace within ourselves, then we will not be able to promote or obtain peace with others.

He then stated his one great goal and wish – a demilitarized world. The Dalai Lama was adamant that globalization means that there is no longer an ‘us’ and ‘them’. Perhaps there never was, but we have drawn those lines in the sand. Regardless, the Dalai Lama explained that with the creation of the ‘European Union’ and other interconnected groups of countries, we simply cannot look at other countries as separate from our own. As such, other people/cultures/religions are not separate from each of us, either. And by hurting, killing and/or fighting with others, we are in fact hurting, killing and/or fighting with ourselves.

So how to achieve this great goal of a demilitarized world? The Dalai Lama suggested that we look to the great leaders of the world (he mentioned Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu) and follow their example. He is fiercely opposed to arms of any kind and presented a very clear message that we must ‘lay down our arms, and open a dialogue’.

Expanding on that, he said that he was a human being first, a Buddha second, and a Tibetan third. That is how he approaches difficult conversations. And he said while difficult conversations are, well, difficult, we need to have them. We must be open to dialogue. To start those difficult conversations, we have to approach people as humans, first, with kindness and understanding regardless of religion, colour, race or country. The message was the same as that in Steven Covey’s book ‘The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’: seek first to understand, then to be understood and always go for a win-win solution.

I could easily ramble on for quite some time about the messages from the Dalai Lama on that wet afternoon in Sydney. But the biggest message for me was his first one.

Peace in the world comes from having inner peace.

I wish you inner peace. Tania

Timeless Words from Mother Teresa

People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered; Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God;
It never was between you and them anyway.

Thank you for this most amazing Day

I'm not religious but this poem really makes me smile. I find it's best read out loud with a huge grin plastered on your face. Or at least, if you aren't smiling when you start, I hope that you'll be grinning when you're done reading....!


i thank you God for most this amazing

I thank you God for most this amazing
day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(I who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun’s birthday; this is the birth
day of life and love and wings: and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any- lifted from the no
of all nothing – human merely being
doubt unimaginably You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

e.e. cummings

Be inspired and love what you do

What is the definition of ‘inspiration’? This is a difficult question, as inspiration will always mean different things to different people. Everyone is inspired in unique ways.

So, although the dictionary definition of inspiration may be
'stimulation of the mind or emotions to a high level of feeling or activity'
ultimately it is up to each of us to determine what inspires us. After all, being inspired is a state of mind. However you will probably agree that you are inspired when

•you have a zest for life
•you make choices that are best for you
•you are living the life you desire

Most successful women admit that they were not blessed with any special talents or abilities that others missed out on. And they admit that being inspired isn’t dependent upon some huge advantage that others don’t have. We all have the ability to be inspired. So the key to inspiration is to determine what inspires us, acknowledge our skills and talents and put them to good use. The hand we are dealt at birth and through life isn’t nearly as important as what we do with it!

Here’s a little blurb that was sent to me recently right along these lines.

If you want to be rich, successful, and great, and you want it all with minimal effort, then your primary focus must be on doing something that meets any one of the following criteria:

* You love doing it.
* It races your blood.
* It challenges your creativity.
* It is absorbing, passion inspiring, and joyful.
* It is so compelling that you would do it even if there were no
money involved.

It's so simple. When you experience any one of the above, it means you are in love with what you do. Once you are in love with what you do, success then unfolds in the following way:

If you love what you are doing, it ceases being work.

The more you love what you are doing, the more you spontaneously
commit to it.

The greater your commitment, the deeper the knowledge you gain.

The deeper the knowledge, the more powerful the knowledge.

The more powerful your knowledge, the easier it is to achieve success, because deep, powerful
knowledge is the key to inspired thinking and finding intelligent
solutions to problems.

And with that deeper knowledge you quickly recognize opportunities
and pounce on the best ones.

But it all starts with loving what you do.

I wish you great inspiration in all that you do.