Dalai Lama Foundation Study Circle Montreal

Taking the reins is the key to happiness

The state of mind of a Buddhist practitioner should be stable, and should not be subject to too many conflicting events. Such a person will feel both joy and pain, but neither will be too weak or too intense. Stability is developed through discipline. The heart and mind become more full of energy, more resolute, and therefore less susceptible to being blown about by outside events.

Deep within the human being abides the wisdom that can support him or her in the face of negative situations. In this way, events no longer throw him because he is holding the reins. Similarly, when something good happens it is also possible to rein it in. Taking the reins is the key to happiness. In Tibet we have a saying: “If you are beside yourself with joy, tears are not far behind.” This shows how relative what we call joy and pain are.

–from The Dalai Lama’s Little Book of Inner Peace: The Essential Life and Teachings by His Holiness the Dalai Lama

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