Eastern Tibet seen from the air A monk under a canopy of prayer flags

During a speech given at the United Nations some years ago, the respected meditation teacher S.N. Goenka, who passed away in 2013, declared ‟Religion is religion only when it unites; religion is no more religion when it divides.” He also spoke about the meaning of the word ‟conversion” or change: ‟So much has been said about conversion: against...

A humble person has nothing to lose or to gain. If he is praised, he thinks it's for what he has been able to accomplish, not for himself as an individual. If he is criticized, he thinks that bringing his faults out into the open is the best service anyone could do him. ‟Few are sufficiently wise to prefer censure, which is useful, to praise...

Amdo (Eastern Tibet) landscapes from above

A Tibetan monk High pastures, Eastern Tibet

Renowned psychologist and emotions specialist Paul Ekman opens his recent book Moving Toward Global Compassion* with these words : « It would be a different world, a desirable world, if all of us felt global compassion : concerned about the suffering of all people, not just those in our family, not just those with whom we are familiar, not just...

Humility is sometimes scorned, regarded as a weakness. The writer Ayn Rand proclaims, ‟Discard the protective rags of that vice which you called a virtue: humility.”* Pride, however, the narcissistic exaggeration of the self, closes the door to all personal progress, since in order to learn, you must first think that you don't know. Humility ...

Dilgo Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche performing a fire ceremony during a visit to the UK at the invitation of the Nepalese Buddhist community (Photos by Matthieu Ricard)

Recently during the ‟Happiness and its Causes” conference in Australia, I had the opportunity to spend a few days with the respected psychologist Mihaly Csíkszentmihályi. Mihaly is best known as the architect of the notion of flow and for his years of research and writings on the topic. I took some notes during a workshop with him on the ‟What ...

Confluence of the Paro and Thimphu rivers, Bhutan