People get very deep experiences and they think they're enlightened. That's not enlightenment, that's just some realization.

The world is full of incredible people who are embodiments of compassion. Some of them have a spiritual path; some of them don't.

Distraction is the main problem for us all - what the Buddha called the monkey mind. We need to tame this monkey mind.

I remember asking my mother if she believed in reincarnation and she said that that sounded very sensible, and I thought, yes, it does to me too. So I always believed in it. I can't remember when I didn't.

We have produced many of our problems through our confused mental states.

It's not a matter of how much you know or can define, or how many millions of mantras or thousands of prostrations you have done, or how many months of wangs you've attended. The important thing is whether or not the mind is really changing, whether our negative emotions are really coming under control, whether we are really beginning to understand ourselves, whether our mind is really improving, and whether in our hearts there is genuine love and caring for other people.

Tibetans are great with meritorious practices.