His Holiness the Dalai Lama enjoys a moment of levity as he accepts his portrait from the Delhi Public Schools' Shiksha Kendra School for underprivileged children in New Delhi, India, on December 3, 2011.

“The precious awakening mind of bodhicitta, which cherishes other sentient beings more than oneself, is the pillar of the bodhisattva’s practice – the path of the great vehicle.

There is no more virtuous mind than bodhicitta.  There is no more powerful mind than bodhicitta, there is no more joyous mind than bodhicitta.  To accomplish one’s own ultimate purpose, the awakening mind is supreme.  To accomplish the purpose of all other living beings there is nothing superior to bodhicitta.  The awakening mind is the unsurpassable way to accumulate merit.  To purify obstacles bodhicitta is supreme.  For protection from interferences bodhicitta is supreme.  It is the unique and all-encompassing method.  Every ordinary and supra-mundane power can be attained through bodhicitta.  Thus it is absolutely precious.” -Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama