If not having time is an excuse for not practicing today, and similarly tomorrow, we will never have time to practice. In general, lay people have difficulty forgoing their activities in everyday life and their family. If they delay their plans for practice until late in their seventies or eighties, they may not have the physical or mental capacity to practice even if the aspiration is present. Thus, we cannot keep putting it off; we should do it now.

~ Depicted from THE FOUR SEALS OF DHARMA : The Importance of Practice

Human birth is hard to come by. Having acquired human birth, we should cherish this opportunity. Although spiritual practice is difficult, we should also welcome the challenge, since it is only by way of practice that we can transcend samsara.

~ Depicted from THE FOUR SEALS OF DHARMA : Summation

People look at the same problem differently largely because of the state of their mind. Generally speaking, the mind of ordinary people is more fragile while that of the sages is strong.

For instance, when the Buddha was about to enter parinirvana, he was surrounded by many arhats and practitioners. Although everyone knew the Buddha was dying and that they would lose not just a great but extraordinary teacher, all the arhats there were very calm. The exception was Ananda, who, having yet attained realization, was still an ordinary person. He stood crying by the side of the Buddha’s bed and could not contain his sorrow. The arhats were not disrespectful. Because they had already realized emptiness, they could pass beyond suffering.

To sum up, suffering may not be suffering; happiness may not be happiness either. It’s all about how you look at it.

~ Depicted from ARE U READY FOR HAPPINESS? : Taming the Mind as in Taming the Elephant - How to Face Suffering?

Virtue also has the possibility to turn into mutable karma. It is therefore important for us to preserve all our virtuous karma as best we can. There are two ways to do that. One is dedication. The other, a better way, is to understand fully the meaning of emptiness, that is, knowing that virtuous karma is, like dreams, intrinsically illusory.

If we can contemplate in this way, even if anger arises, it cannot destroy the root of virtue. Because anger is a defilement, a mental affliction rooted in attachment, it is incompatible with the view that all phenomena are illusory. But the virtuous actions we perform are directly associated with attaining realization of that view. Since something mired in attachment is inferior to the virtuous root planted with wisdom, anger cannot destroy this root of virtue. If we have neither attained any realization nor dedicated merit, but are constantly filled with anger, virtuous karma will be destroyed very easily. For ordinary people, the best way to preserve accumulated good karma is dedication of merit.

~ Depicted from THE RIGHT VIEW : On Cause and Effect

American scientists once conducted an experiment in which the participants were Tibetan Buddhist practitioners of meditative concentration. The researchers utilized, on one side, brainwave patterns to measure changes in brainwaves, and on the other, magnetic resonance imaging to locate brain activity. In the end, they concluded meditation can not only change brain activity in the short term, it can, with great likelihood, change brain activity permanently. In other words, with meditation, one can completely eliminate anxiety, sadness, and other negative feelings, create a sense of happiness, even restructure the brain.

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

Logic is something that must be acknowledged by all. Truth is a conclusion that is accepted by anyone with a right and fair mindset, whether one has faith or not. If logic and truth are formed on the basis of religious belief and debated only among believers, it can hardly be called logic; it would be even further from the truth.

As it stands, we do not yet have a good grip on the process of sleep, let alone that of death. So, on the question of death, as our sense organs are unable to provide any useful information, neither logic nor instruments can help; only through the experience of some extraordinary people or personal practice can we get a sense of it. It is like in order to know what sweetness is, one must personally taste it; it cannot be described or inferred.

~ Depicted from THE HANDBOOK FOR LIFE'S JOURNEY : On Death and Rebirth - What Life Truly Is?

Naturally, we cannot hope to give up all desires right from the outset, which is impractical and also unnecessary. Mahayana Buddhism is a system of ideas very much in tune with human nature. It does not demand all practitioners to become ascetics; rather, it advocates a middle way approach in the way of living, meaning not overly extreme.

For example, due to a mistaken belief that hardship can lead to liberation, one deliberately endures hunger and wears shabby clothing when in fact one can easily afford a comfortable life. Rather than being helpful, such behavior may even become an obstacle to one’s practice sometimes. Conversely, choosing to live extravagantly and be unappreciative of anything in hand is another extreme. The right way, that is, the middle way, is to keep our desire properly under control.

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

Since all the component parts that make up my body are piled here, nothing is missing, not even a strand of hair, why do I not find the “self”? If there is a “self,” I should be able to find it! Why can’t it be found?

This is a very good method of investigation; it produces a feeling during the process of realizing emptiness that is entirely new. Some people will break into tears at this time. Some people will find their own stupidity to be laughable: I have all along believed in the existence of a “self”; to sustain this “self,” I have committed a lot of wrongdoings and wasted my entire life; it is truly absurd! Thinking so, they cannot help but laugh.

~ Depicted from THE FOUR DHARMA SEALS : The Practice of Realizing Emptiness

Why do we “watch the mind from the side” and not directly? If we watch the mind directly, the mind will be startled and disturbed, unable to rest quietly. If we proceed to watch the mind directly as soon as it enters a state of no- self, we will destroy that state since the thought of watching the mind is itself a kind of distraction. When that happens, the original state of tranquility disappears. As for watching the mind from the side, the mind can remain at rest and, at the same time, bring into full play its ability to supervise; as soon as distraction sets in, it will know and pull it back in place.

~ Depicted from THE FOUR SEALS OF DHARMA : The Practice of Realizing Emptiness