15. Basic Spiritual Values

"There are five billion human beings, and in a certain way I think we need five billion different religions, because there is such a wide variety of dispositions. I believe that each individual should embark upon a spiritual path that is best suited to his or her mental disposition, natural inclination, temperament, belief, family, and cultural background." [page 294]

After admitting that his own daily devotions take as much as four hours, the Dalai Lama recommends that anyone should be able to find a half hour a day for meditation, or perhaps a half hour in the morning and another half hour at night. But "you should not confine your understanding of spiritual practice to terms of some physical activities or verbal activities, like doing recitations of prayers and chanting. ... If you understand spiritual practice in its true sense, then you can use all twenty-four hours of your day for your practice. True spirituality is a mental attitude that you can practice at any time." [page 299] Compare St. Paul's admonition: "Pray without ceasing."

Religious beliefs form one level of spirituality. "But then there's another level of spirituality. That is what I call basic spirituality -- basic human qualitities of goodness, kindness, compassion, caring. Whether we are believers or non believers, this kind of spirituality is essential. I personally consider this second level of spirituality to be more important than the first." [page 307]

"[External religious] practices or activities are secondary to your conducting a truly spiritual way of life, based on the basic spiritual values, because it is possible that all of these external religious activities can still go along with a person's harboring a very negative state of mind. But true spirituality should have the result of making a person calmer, happier, more peaceful. ... Whether one leads a spiritual life depends on whether one has been successful in bringing about that disciplined, tamed state of mind and translating that state of mind into one's daily actions." [pages 308-309]