Both Buddhists and non-Buddhists practice meditation to achieve pleasure and get rid of pain, and in both Buddhist and non-Buddhist systems the self is a central object of scrutiny. Certain non-Buddhists who accept rebirth accept the transitory nature of mind and body, but they believe in a self that is permanent, changeless and unitary. Although Buddhist schools accept rebirth, they hold that there is no such solid self. For Buddhists, the main topic of the training in wisdom is emptiness, or selflessness, which means the absence of a permanent, unitary and independent self or, more subtly, the absence of inherent existence either in living beings or in other phenomena.

14th Dalai Lama

from the book How to Practice: The Way to a Meaningful Life

Read a random quote or see all quotes by the 14th Dalai Lama.

Further quotes from the book How to Practice:

• The Two Truth
• Change within
• Shifting the focus
• Recognizing the discrepancy between appearance and reality
• Invaluable opportunities to practice tolerance