The whole purpose of religion is to facilitate love and compassion, patience, tolerance, humility, and forgiveness.

In this statement, the Dalai Lama frames religion less as a set of doctrines to defend than as a practical training in ethical character. The “purpose” of religious life, on this view, is measured by its fruits in everyday conduct: love and compassion toward others, patience and tolerance amid conflict, humility rather than self-righteousness, and forgiveness instead of retaliation. The quote also implicitly critiques forms of religiosity that intensify division or pride; if a tradition produces hostility or contempt, it has missed its own aim. The emphasis aligns with Buddhist ethics (cultivating compassion and reducing ego-clinging) while being deliberately universal, presenting these virtues as a common ground across faiths.