The teachings are for living in this world — for having fewer problems and fewer tensions. Many people speak now about world peace. What does that mean? How can we have world peace if we don’t have peace in ourselves? We are each members of society — society meaning all of us together, not as individuals. Since many individuals make up society, it means that the individuals must have a kind of evolution. Although we have power and military might, and sometimes there are provisional changes, in the real sense it never changes.

Society is made up of individuals each having their point of view, their feelings, and their sensations. If we want to develop society so that there is more peace and happiness, each one of us must work with our condition. For example, our society is like numbers. When we count, we must always begin with the number “1.” If I think about society, I must start with myself as “number one.”

-- Chögyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche