Like the historical Buddha before him, the Dalai Lama has consistently highlighted the connection between meditative practice and compassionate action, being committed to the view that meditation has the power to improve and strengthen the mind and its faculties. He also argues that we need to consider the far reaching impacts of our actions due to the tathata of all things. An enlightened mind, according to the personal experience of the Dalai Lama, has the power not only to see things are they really are but also to direct our thoughts, words and deeds with compassion and loving-kindness. He continues to practice and teach what he calls his simple religion and philosophy - kindness, and he continues to insist that if you want to be happy, then you must practice compassion (focus is on engaging with the true nature of reality vs detachment from reality). The source of his actions is his spiritual practice and the source of his spiritual practice is his compassionate actions. Thus, the Dalai Lama is committed to the view that our thoughts and actions are intimately connected and interdependently related (according to the tathata of all phenomena), in the same way that spirituality/spiritual practice and science/scientific investigation are related. In the case of the Dalai Lama, from his earliest monastic training, through his ongoing efforts to help the people of Tibet, and his continuing efforts to understand and promote the convergence of science and spirituality, he has endeavoured to put his understanding of Buddhist wisdom into compassionate practice. He has tried through his thoughts, words and deeds to give others a vision of the world in which our limited ways of understanding ourselves, each other and our universe can be brought together in an enlightened and compassionate service of humanity. As such, he provides an influential role model and example of what it means to be a Buddhist in the modern world (representing what is authentic and valuable in Buddhist tradition) , as an embodiment of compassion, Buddhist ethics as a moral guide and an example of the enlightened mind in reality (an inspiration to aspiring Buddhists).