Piyavadana

Usually I distinguish three parts of Buddhism: Buddhist science, Buddhist philosophy and Buddhist religion. Look at the example of Buddha himself. Buddha originally was an ordinary sentient being, a limited being. He taught how to transform our ordinary emotions and minds step by step and, by following that path himself, he finally became enlightened, and that’s a Buddha. Therefore, the Buddhist approach is to start on this level, the level of ordinary people, and then proceed on that level all the way up to Buddhahood.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama