The ancients say: “Fortune and misfortune do not come through the door; only we ourselves invite them.” The happiness and suffering we experience are entirely of our own choosing. If not for one’s innate attributes, nothing can harm us – not the raging fire in hell, the hunger and thirst in the hungry ghost realm, or the evil spirits and wild beasts in this world. Our foremost enemy is self-attachment. It is this attachment that gives rise to greed, anger, delusion, and arrogance.

~Depicted from THE FOUR SEALS OF DHARMA - All Phenomena Lack Self-Existence

What is the rationale to work on the mildest anger first? In order to do anything well, it is important to execute the task in proper sequence. Generally, that is to do the easy part first followed by the more difficult. When the mildest anger is overcome, one naturally gains the confidence to go on. As one becomes more stable and stronger in one’s practice over time, it will be much easier to deal with more violent afflictions. Conversely, if one tries to work with rage and fury at the start, one may fail miserably, be utterly disheartened and never want to practice again.

~Depicted from THE HANDBOOK'S FOR LIFE JOURNEY - On The Three Poisons-How to Confront Anger

Anyway, the most important and the key difference between Buddhism and non-Buddhism lie in taking refuge in the Three Jewels. Accordingly, taking refuge is deemed a prerequisite for anyone who wants to learn Buddhism. However, it has never been forced upon anyone. Only those who want to learn the Buddha’s teachings or take up Buddhist practice must comply. Not taking refuge is to remain an outsider, is off the path to liberation and cannot be deemed a Buddhist.

~Depicted from THE RIGHT VIEW - The Three Differences

Diligence is having passion for and exerting effort in whatever work we do. Diligence is the driving force of a corporate culture. If top management and employees are all dedicated to the company and to their work, the business will succeed. In the hundred years after the nineteenth century, among the more than one hundred corporations that existed in Japan at the time, only two were left in the end. Why were they so weak? Why was the lifespan of these corporations so short? They failed because of the absence of teamwork – or in Buddhist terms, the absence of diligence. Japan is generally recognized as having the most dedicated workforce in the world. If this can happen in Japan, the prospects are not good for other countries.

~Depicted from ARE YOU READY FOR HAPPINESS - Buddhism and the Business World – Six Standards in a Corporate Culture

When our practice reaches a certain level, the external environment will not have much of an effect on us; at that point, there is no difference where we practice. However, to a beginner, the environment is very important.

Firstly, if the surroundings are too noisy, it will be difficult to practice. The sutras say the biggest impediment to meditative concentration is noise.

In general, this is a problem in the cities, but some homes can be very quiet if they have sound-proof installations, and the windows and doors are shut tight.

Secondly, in places where many practitioners in the past have aggregated, blessings are plentiful; this kind of place is particularly conducive to practice.

Whatever the circumstances, the environment is a very important factor. At the least, one should look for a quiet place to practice.

~Depicted from THE FOUR SEALS OF DHARMA - Preparing for the Preliminaries

In our lifetime, we have never experienced our innate clarity, even though all our suffering, happiness, and emotions come from deep within the mind. Buddhism often uses the term “clarity” to describe the most fundamental level of the mind (luminosity and clear light are other terms also used). This kind of “clarity” is neither visible light, nor non-visible light; it cannot be found in any electromagnetic spectrum in physics. It is a state of purity totally free of defilements. There is no happiness or joy, suffering or anxiety in this state of great equanimity.

~Depicted from ARE YOU READY FOR HAPPINESS - Suffering is just a Paper Tiger

What is the ideal number of beings to be liberated each time? Given the right conditions, it should be as many as possible. With limited amount of money, the smaller the size of the beings, the bigger the quantity that can be bought. That means more lives can be saved and helped to attain liberation. On the other hand, liberating larger animals such as yaks and sheep or larger fish like silver carp are also meaningful. We can plainly see that these beings generally endure more pain when being killed due to their larger body. As we help them avoid this immense fear and pain, we also gather greater merit at the same time. The Abhidharma-kosha-shastra said so too. For example, which is a greater evil, killing an ant or an ox? Although they are both living beings, the dying pain of an ant is not as enormous as that of an ox, relatively speaking. Due to the large size of the body, animals like yaks and sheep suffer more physical pain when they die. It is therefore a relatively greater evil to kill large animals.

~Depicted from THE RIGHT VIEW - Liberating Living Beings

When we encounter suffering, we can practice exchanging oneself for others; when we experience happiness, we can also practice exchanging the self for others.

From a mundane standpoint, we are enjoying our happiness when we have good health and material comfort; but from a liberation standpoint, we are wasting our blessings and happiness. In the sutras, the teachings remind us over and over again not to waste our happiness. Hence, when we are successful in our career or feel great joy in life, we must practice exchanging the self for others.

~Depicted from ARE YOU READY FOR HAPPPINESS - How to Face Suffering and Happiness-How to Face Happiness

Let us ask ourselves: “Which level do I belong? Did I or can I improve over last year?” If the answer is no, we do not belong to any one of the three levels of practitioners. Since there is no fourth level, it just goes to show that we are practitioners in name only. And even that could be an overstatement.

~Depicted from THE RIGHT VIEW - The Three Supreme Methods—the ultimate methods of cultivating virtue and training the mind