"If you resort to violent methods because the other side has destroyed your monastery, for example, you then have lost not only your monastery, but also your special Buddhist practices of detachment, love, and compassion"

This quote by the Dalai Lama is a suggestion that violence is not the answer to any problem. He is suggesting that if one turn to violence in reaction to an attack, they will have lost not only the physical item that was attacked, however also the spiritual practices that are connected with it. The example of an abbey being destroyed is utilized to illustrate this point. Abbeys are locations of peace and contemplation, and the spiritual practices associated with them, such as detachment, love, and compassion, are important to Buddhism. If one reacts to the damage of a monastery with violence, they will have lost not just the physical structure, however also the spiritual practices that it represented. The Dalai Lama is advising us that violence is not the answer, and that we must strive to maintain our spiritual practices even in the face of adversity.