Religious belief is not a precondition either of ethical conduct or of happiness.

Education is the way to achieve far-reaching results, it is the proper way to promote compassion and tolerance in society.

I can do what my energy, my time, to my other sort of commitment. And then also emotional, religious harmony. So in these two field, now that more or less I think the spirituality or human values in these fields, I may consider my only professional field. The political, national struggle, these are not my profession.

We can never obtain peace in the world if we neglect the inner world and don't make peace with ourselves. World peace must develop out of inner peace. Without inner peace it is impossible to achieve world peace, external peace. Weapons themselves do not act. They have not come out of the blue. Man has made them. But even given those weapons, those terrible weapons, they cannot act by themselves. As long as they are left alone in storage they cannot do any harm. A human being must use them. Someone must push the button. Satan, the evil powers, cannot push that button. Human beings must do it.

We need cooperation based on trust and self-confidence to create an open, compassionate, harmonious society.

But when it comes to democratic political parties, I prefer that monks and nuns not join them - in order to ensure proper democratic practice.

We all have to live together, so we might as well live together happily.