On Living a Spiritual Life.

We often hear people say that all human beings are equal. By this we mean that everyone has the obvious desire of happiness. Everybody has the right to be a happy person. And everyone has the right to overcome suffering. So if someone is deriving happiness or benefit from a particular religious tradition, it becomes important to respect the rights of others; thus we must learn to respect all these major religious traditions. That is clear. 

If we believe in any religion, that’s good. But even without a religious belief, we can still manage. In some cases, we can manage even better.But, then there’s another level of spirituality. That is what I call basic spirituality basic human qualities 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,because no matter how wonderful a particular religion may be, it will only be accepted by a limited number of human beings, only a portion of humanity. But as long as we are human beings, as long as we are human beings, as long as we are members of the human family, all of us need these basic spiritual values. Without these, human existence remains hard, very dry. As a result, none of us can be a happy person, our whole family will suffer, and then, eventually, society will be more troubled. So, it becomes clear that cultivating these kinds of basic spiritual values becomes crucial.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama