The way to develop inner peace through meditation begins with the recognition that the destroyer of inner peace is not some external foe, but is within us. Therefore, the solution is within us too. However, that inner change does not take place immediately in the way that we switch on a light, but takes weeks, months and years.

The most compassionate form of giving is done with no thought or expectation of reward, and grounded in genuine concern for others.

Prayer alone will not make a happy life. A happy life must be built. You must act.

There should be pluralism - the concept of many religions, many truths. But we must also be careful not to become nihilistic.

You are so anxious about the future that you do not enjoy the present. You therefore do not live in the present or the future. You live as if you are never going to die, and then die having never really lived.

When you are discontent, you always want more, more, more. Your desire can never be satisfied. But when you practice contentment, you can say to yourself, 'Oh yes - I already have everything that I really need.'

You're happy when you help others become happy.