Nowadays, many lay people proclaim themselves to be students of the Buddha. But what of the Buddha have they learned? Most lay practitioners, ranging from intellectuals and business people down to the old ladies in the villages, practice the Dharma as a way of cultivating worldly blessings. Their motivation to practice, take refuge, and undertake the five precepts is to obtain good health, longevity, a smooth career, successful business, and so on for themselves, and a chance to enter a good university or get a promising job for their children. Are they following the way of the Buddha? The Buddha never did any of these. We all know that after the Buddha aroused bodhicitta, he never once sought worldly benefit for himself during the incalculable eons of three asamkhyeya kalpas. This mode of “learning the way of the Buddha” conforms more to learning the Dharma. The meaning of the Sanskrit word dharma encompasses all mundane and supramundane phenomena. In the context of practicing the right Dharma, dharma denotes an ability to deliver sentient beings from all suffering, and can be translated literally as “that which upholds.” It is in accord with the meaning of dharma if people practicing the Vehicle of Human and Celestial Beings enjoy the resulting blessings and take rebirth in the higher realms. Thus, undertaking virtuous deeds for the purpose of obtaining worldly benefits is not considered learning the Buddha’s way but learning the Dharma. Today, many self-proclaimed Buddhists maintain this kind of motivation.

~Depicted from GATEWAY TO THE VAJRAYANA PATH - Vajra Master and Empowerment

During visualization, if some parts come up clear, some parts not so clear, we need to look at those that are not so clear again and again. If the image to be visualized and that which appears are different --for example, we visualize a sitting buddha but a standing buddha appears instead when we close our eyes; we visualize a tiny image but a huge one appears; we visualize a colorful image but a black and white version appears, and so on—we still need to look at the deity image repeatedly and steadily. With practice, this problem can be solved.

~Depicted from GATEWAY TO VAJRAYANA PATH - The Generation Stage

A practitioner should stay detached when circumstances so require, and remain attached if attachment is called for. When cultivating bodhicitta, attachment is essential. Sakyamuni Buddha said that at that point our self-attachment should be bigger than Mount Meru — I want to attain Buddhahood, I want to free all sentient beings from suffering, I want to undertake actions that are beneficial to others, etc. This kind of self-attachment is indispensable at the beginning; with practice, one gradually dispels the wrong kind of self- attachment, creates the conditions for realizing emptiness and compassion, and ultimately eradicates all forms of attachment. Thus, the delineation between attachment and non-attachment must be very clear.

~Depicted from THE FOUR SEALS OF DHARMA - The Practice of No-Self

In today’s world, one is basically unable to survive without money and the Buddha also deemed reasonable means for living justified. What he requested is that under normal circumstances one should live a simpler and modest life. There is really no need for fancy stuff as long as one stays in a livable condition. But that is not to say that one must eat lousy food, wear old clothes, or live in a run-down place. The Buddha also said that it is not necessary to live too modestly if one can afford a comfortable life with relative ease, thanks to good karma from the past life. To live a simple life, as opposed to a luxurious one, means less energy need be spent on acquiring material wealth and hence more time and attention for really meaningful matters. This is the way the Buddha told us to live.

~Depicted from THE RIGHT VIEW - The Way of Living and the Meaning of Life

Buddhism, certainly Tibetan Buddhism, places great importance on happiness. The emphasis in Mahayana Buddhism is not on one’s own happiness but rather that of all sentient beings. When we strive for the welfare of all beings, we can at the same time attain even greater happiness for ourselves. This well-being ultimately surpasses any that material enjoyment can bring. Such is the Tibetan Buddhist view on happiness.

~Depicted from ARE YOU READY FOR HAPPINESS - The Tibetan Buddhist View on Happiness

We cannot just simply reason with ourselves that all is illusory; there are no karma, no Buddha and no sentient beings, so we don’t need to learn the Dharma either. Although the truth may be thus, our realization has not reached a level to warrant such reaction; just like everyone knows that dreams are unreal and no one likes having nightmares, but there is nothing one can do when the nightmare does come. Therefore, before attaining ultimate realization, we still must respect infallible karma and avoid suffering, notwithstanding their being illusory in reality. One cannot hope to resolve everything by simply telling oneself to let go, to not have attachment. The boat can only be abandoned after crossing the river. In order to cross to the other side of the river of samsara, one cannot give up the ship of practice just yet.

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

Why is emptiness the essence of Buddhadharma? Because all buddhas and bodhisattvas have but one goal in mind, that is, to help sentient beings attain liberation. How can this be achieved? We cannot resolve the question of birth, aging, illness, and death, or obtain liberation by way of clairvoyant powers, etc. There is only one root cause of cyclic existence and only one method that can eliminate it. The root cause of cyclic existence is ignorance. All afflictions such as greed, anger, and delusion stem from ignorance or from self- attachment which arises from ignorance.

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

As stated in the sutras, “Existence in the human realm is rare, and all is impermanent.” Most of you here are already in your 30s and 40s. The remaining days, a few more decades at the most, are really not that long and will soon pass by before you know it. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee the opportunity to practice will present itself again in the next life if you fail to seize it this time. So the point is to lay the necessary foundation now as the stepping-stones leading to a better start for the next life.

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

In the modern world, people also have similar questions. There are some who have never stolen things, killed or hurt anyone; rather, they have kept their vows and practiced virtue. Yet, they often seem to be less fortunate than others in many aspects. Such cases tend to make people wonder, “If karma was true, why should good people run into bad luck?” Lay practitioners who do not have in-depth knowledge of karma or fully understand the viewpoints of Abhidharma-kosha-shastra may ask the same question. Some would even say, “I have attended many pujas and read so many scriptures. I should not have to suffer this or that illness or misfortune.” This is a wrong view. The fact is that all the virtuous actions committed have been stored in our alaya consciousness. It is due to the relevant conditions not yet matured that karma derived from those actions has not come to fruition. This is like a farmer who sowed all his grains in the springtime and must wait five to six months for the harvest. In the meantime, he is just a poor fellow with nothing left to eat at home. Some people may question, “You have toiled hard every day, tilling the land. Why don’t you have any food to eat?” Question like this is pointless. Everyone knows that there is a waiting period between sowing and harvesting.

~Depicted from THE RIGHT VIEW - On Cause and Effect