Nagarjuna used the following analogy to describe man’s desire in the treatise entitled Letter to a Friend (Suhrlekha). People who suffered leprosy, a disease caused by bacteria, would feel extremely itchy and painful when the symptoms flared up. This analogy actually hints at man’s desire. We have always thought that money can buy us happiness and so we strive all the time to make more money. But the truth is that being rich often makes us even more miserable.

~ Depicted from Luminous Wisdom Book Series  6

2. Practice with a mind free of clinging and concepts It refers to a certain state achieved in practice. Once succeeded in reaching this state, all the good deeds that one does, be it meditation or animal release, will naturally become something supremely excellent.

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

Psychologists have reported that if we watch an hour of television every day, our weekly expense will go up by US$4. This is because the advertisements on television can induce us to buy things we don’t need. Also, shopping with a credit card often results in spending more than what we would with cash. As a credit card is not real cash, one tends to pretend that no money has actually been paid out. It is however a different matter when we feel our wallet get lighter and lighter. This is all just psychological.

~ Depicted from "THE HANDBOOK FOR LIFE"S JOURNEY : On The Three Poisons - How to Handle Desire"

In Buddhism, we are known as ordinary people if we have never received any training of the mind. From the standpoint of the mind, it does not matter how wealthy, socially prominent, or knowledgeable we are; without mind practice, we are still ordinary people. This term is not meant to be disparaging; it simply denotes a person who lacks spiritual training.

~ Depicted from THE PAPER TIGER - The Tibetan Buddhist View on Happiness

Also stated in the Abhidharma-kosha-shastra is that some children may suffer the effect of seriously negative karma that their parents accumulated. If children can suffer the consequences of their parents’ negative karma, is it not contradictory to the Buddhist teaching that one reaps what one sows and that no one can assume other’s karma?

The Abhidharma-kosha-shastra explains that these children themselves already have certain negative karma. Due to the close relationship between the parents and their children, the ripening of the children’s negative karma may be expedited when the parents committed extremely evil karma.

~ Depicted from Luminous Wisdom Book Series 1

1. Motivation Normally, purpose should always precede action. Very rarely a good deed or spiritual practice is undertaken without a purpose. If virtuous actions are accompanied with supreme motivations, twice the result can be achieved with half the effort.

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

Once there is an external cause and condition, all kinds of defilement may arise.

~ Depicted from "THE HANDBOOK FOR LIFE"S JOURNEY : On The Three Poisons - How to Handle Desire"

Many psychologists understand, to varying degree, the workings of the mind; philosophers also examine happiness from a different perspective. Nevertheless, I think, among all the religions and academic disciplines, it is Buddhism that has the most complete view on this subject. The study of the mind in Buddhism is extremely sophisticated. How the mind functions is very clearly elucidated by the Buddha in the sutras.

~ Depicted from THE PAPER TIGER - The Tibetan Buddhist View on Happiness

It is a firm conviction of the suffering of samsara to a degree that one no longer harbors any desires for samsara and wholeheartedly seeks liberation from it. At the same time, one must also cultivate the transcendent wisdom that is implicit in the ultimate liberation. To seek liberation blindly without grasping the inherent wisdom will not bring forth a complete renunciation. The Four Noble Truths of the Hinayana tradition is a part of this wisdom. And complete renunciation entails mastery of the Four Noble Truths.

~ Depicted from Luminous Wisdom Book Series 1