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Giving, without clinging

As His Holiness the Dalai Lama explains: ‟Compassion and generosity must be coupled with detachment. Expecting something in return is like doing business. If the owner of a restaurant is all smiles with his customers, generally it’s not because he loves them but because he wants to increase his turnover. In the same way, we should not love and help others because we find such and such an individual likeable, but because we understand that all beings, whether we think of them as friends or enemies, look to be happy and have the right to happiness.”

Oral teachings given at Schvenedingen,Germany,1998.