quote · Legacy record
By mental cultivation I mean a disciplined application of mind that involves deepening our familiarity with a chosen object or theme. Here I am thinking of the Sanskrit term bhavana, which connotes "cultivation," and whose Tibetan equivalent, gom, has the connotation of "familiarization." These two terms, often translated into English as meditation, refer to a whole range of mental practices and not just, as many suppose, to simple methods of relaxation. The original terms imply a process of cultivating familiarity with something, whether it is a habit, a way of seeing, or a way of being.
By mental cultivation I mean a disciplined application of mind that involves deepening our familiarity with a chosen object or theme. Here I am thinking of the Sanskrit term bhavana, which connotes "cultivation," and whose Tibetan equivalent, gom, has the connotation of "familiarization." These two terms, often translated into English as meditation, refer to a whole range of mental practices and not just, as many suppose, to simple methods of relaxation. The original terms imply a process of cultivating familiarity with something, whether it is a habit, a way of seeing, or a way of being.
Approximate author period: c. 1935 AD · modern
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- Author or tradition
- Dalai Lama XIV
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
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- Approximate author period: c. 1935 AD · modern
Approximate author-period evidence for 14th Dalai Lama: documented birth year 1935; activity date not established. Wikidata Q17293, inspected 2026-10-08. Not a quotation composition date or independent verification of attribution. Source: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q17293 (accessed 2026-10-08).
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Supplied reference C; CSV row 175574; supplied attribution, independently unverified
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