Instructions For Life

This list was sent to me years ago. Or I should say, a version of this list. Turns out there are a bunch of versions floating around—most attributed to the Dalai Lama. In fact, posters are being sold as such. (Just type in Dalai Lama, Instructions for Life.) But in researching the origins I noticed the instructions changed from one list to another. And I wondered, would the Dalai Lama really advise us to, “trust in God but lock your car”, #27 on the list I recieved?

No, I don’t think he would.

Turns out this list is culled mostly from Life’s Little Instruction Book, by Jackson Brown and H. Jackson Brown, Jr. As Snopes points out, “perhaps the Dalai Lama isn’t concerned with royalties (in a copyright sense), but we suspect Messrs. Brown are….”

One of the most interesting things I found was that in a list of life instructions supposedly from the Dalai Lama himself, that people still felt free to delete and add before sending along to their friends. That’s like finding an image of the Mona Lisa in your in-box and deciding to photoshop the smile before forwarding.

Anyway, I was glad to get this list, and there remains much wisdom in it. But one can easily imagine how it slanted one way or another as it went viral. Here, a sampling.

3. Don’t believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.

11. Don’t judge people by their relatives.

14. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

16. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.

23. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.

29. In disagreements with loved ones, deal with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.

32. Be gentle with the earth.

37. Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.

38. If you make a lot of money, put it to use helping others.

41. The best relationships are ones where your love for one another is greater than your need each other.