Dalai Lama’s 18 rules for living

Here's what I just found out about the name Dalai Lama. "Dalai" means "Ocean" in Mongolian, while "Lama" is the Tibetan equivalent of the Sanskrit word "guru," and is commonly translated to mean "spiritual teacher." Putting the terms together, the full title is "Ocean Teacher" meaning a teacher who is spiritually as deep as the ocean. In ither words, it can also mean "The Ocean of Wisdom"

The Dalai Lama was first recognized in the sixteenth century. The first person so designated, a leader of the 'yellow sect' of Tibetan Buddhism named Sonan Gyats, was given the title of the Third Dalai Lama, and his two predecessors were recognized as the first and second Dalai Lamas after the fact. It was the fifth Dalai Lama who became the state ruler as well as religious leader of Tibet. The current Dalai Lama is the fourteenth of his line, and was born to a farming family in 1935 and given the name Lhamo Dhondrub. He was recognized at the age of two, and brought, with his family, to live in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, at the age of four, where he became His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso. (Dalai Lamas, like Popes, change names upon taking up their office.)

At the start of the new millennium the Dalai Lama apparently issued eighteen rules for living.

Here they are.

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
3. Follow the three Rs:
   Respect for self
   Respect for others
   Responsibility for all your actions.
4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
7. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
8. Spend some time alone every day.
9. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.
10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
11. Live a good, honourable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.
12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.
14. Share your knowledge. It’s a way to achieve immortality.
15. Be gentle with the earth.
16. Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.
17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
    

    
    (source from owenkelly.net, wisegeek.com - images from flickr)