When spiritual beliefs are used to build up walls between people, this is a total misunderstanding of the purpose of spirituality. Spirituality should mean coming closer to yourself. When this happens, you become closer to others, too. Spirituality and religion should dismantle discrimination and labels, not shore them up. It should break, not create, barriers between people.

17th Karmapa

from the book The Heart Is Noble: Changing the World from the Inside Out

translated by Ngodup Tsering Burkhar & Damchö Diana Finnegan


Read a random quote or see all quotes by the 17th Karmapa.

Further quotes from the book The Heart Is Noble:

• Social action
• Protective Inner Wisdom
• The Wealth of Contentment
• Life in Balance
• Boxing Love with Our Expectations
• Just Love
• Nothing is intrinsically bad
• There are no fixed starting points
• Difference without Division
• Healthy relationships
• Just not been introduced before
• Take joy in your sincere intentions
• Finding our nobility of heart
• Authentic love toward others
• Expanding our sense of ourselves
• There are no fixed starting points
• Open-minded
• Our life is vast
• Greed is a recipe for dissatisfaction