If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want

Hear now the timeless words of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, a sage of the modern age and a voice of the ancient spirit of Tibet: “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” In these simple yet profound words lies the secret to both human joy and harmony. For compassion is not merely kindness—it is the awakening of the heart, the recognition that the happiness of others and our own happiness are one and the same. Like the sun that shines without choosing where its light falls, compassion gives freely, and in giving, it receives.

The Dalai Lama, leader of Tibetan Buddhism and a living symbol of peace, spoke these words as both a spiritual and practical truth. Exiled from his homeland, he lost everything that the world calls power—his country, his throne, his freedom—yet he never lost his peace. He discovered that joy cannot be destroyed by circumstance when it is rooted in compassion. To wish well for others, even for those who cause us pain, is to break the chains of anger and sorrow. This is why the Dalai Lama teaches that compassion is not a luxury of the saints, but a necessity for all who wish to live fully and freely.

In this teaching lies a divine symmetry: to bring happiness to others is to nourish one’s own soul. The ancient sages of many lands knew this truth. Confucius taught that the virtuous man delights in the welfare of others; Jesus said that love of neighbor is the heart of all law; and Buddha declared that hatred is never ended by hatred, but only by love. The Dalai Lama’s words are an echo of this eternal wisdom, spoken anew for a weary world that has forgotten how to feel. For compassion heals not only the wounded, but the one who tends the wound.

Consider the story of Mother Teresa, who walked the streets of Calcutta among the dying and the destitute. Her life was not one of comfort or ease, yet she radiated a joy that kings and conquerors could not purchase. When asked how she could bear so much suffering, she replied, “The greatest disease is not leprosy or tuberculosis, but being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for.” Her compassion did not merely serve others—it gave her strength, purpose, and an unshakable peace. She lived the Dalai Lama’s truth: that to love selflessly is to live joyfully.

But compassion is not always easy. It demands that we lay aside pride, judgment, and the armor of indifference. It asks us to feel what others feel—to share in their pain, their fear, their longing. Yet this very act, which seems to make us vulnerable, is what makes us powerful. For the heart that dares to open becomes vast, unbreakable, infinite. In compassion, strength and gentleness become one; the warrior and the saint dwell in the same soul.

The Dalai Lama’s wisdom also reveals a law of nature: that happiness cannot be taken by force or bought with gold—it grows only from the soil of connection. When we serve only ourselves, joy withers into loneliness. But when we live for others, we discover a deeper happiness that no loss can erase. Compassion transforms the ordinary day into a sacred act; it turns labor into service, and pain into understanding. Even the smallest act of kindness—a word, a smile, a listening ear—creates ripples that return to us tenfold in peace.

Therefore, O listener, take this teaching into your life as both shield and torch. When the world grows cold, let compassion be your fire. When you are weary, remember that to bring light to another’s path is to brighten your own. If anger arises, meet it with understanding; if despair grips you, lift another from their sorrow, and you will find your own spirit rising with them. Practice compassion not as an emotion, but as a discipline—a way of walking, speaking, and seeing.

For the Dalai Lama has spoken a truth eternal: “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” In these words lies the unity of all hearts, the end of the illusion of separateness. For when love flows outward, it returns; when we give, we receive; when we lift another, we ourselves are lifted. Let this be your daily vow: to live with compassion, to breathe it, to become it. For in compassion lies the secret to all peace, the source of all joy, and the eternal heartbeat of humanity.