In Abhidharmakosa, all composite phenomena are summed up as the five aggregates – form, feeling, perception, volition, and consciousness. The so-called “aggregate” means the coming together of a lot of things.

The aggregate of form denotes not only phenomena perceived by the eye, but also sounds heard by the ear and all kinds of appearances like weight, light, darkness, etc. In other words, the aggregate of form is an overall name for all of the things above.

Depicted from Luminous Wisdom Book Series : THE FOUR SEALS OF DHARMA ~ The Practice of Realizing Emptiness

Why do we want to practice impermanence? It is because we have attachment to things staying unchanged and this fixation leads to all kinds of affliction. We also practice from both the macroscopic and microscopic perspective in order to completely understand the impermanent nature of phenomena and to eradicate our attachment to permanence.

The majority of human beings living in the mundane world are ordinary and deluded by the three main afflictions: greed, hatred and ignorance. In Buddhist terminology, these are the “three poisons”.

Once our mind is caught up in the three poisons, we feel uneasy and lose our freedom. If our negative emotions develop to a certain point where they cannot be subdued, our family and friends become the victims, and these afflictions can even harm the whole society.

How do we overcome and eliminate these emotional afflictions? Buddhism provides many ways to do so, one of which is cultivating the Buddhist view. There are Buddhist views that go beyond the understanding of ordinary beings, but the general view can be divided into three categories: the value of our world, life and morality.

~ Luminous Wisdom Book Series 3: The Illusory World

In the Samyuktagama Sutra, it is said: When desire is exhausted, anger is exhausted, delusion is ex- hausted, and all afflictions are exhausted — this is called nirvana.

Virtue also has the possibility to turn into mutable karma. It is therefore important for us to save all 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 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 defilement, a mental affliction rooted in attachment, it is incompatible with the view that all phenomena are illusory. But the virtuous actions we performed 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 save accumulated good karma is dedication of merit. 

While modern people are enjoying Western scientific achievements, it’s apparent that they have also accepted Western junk culture. In our current situation, we have become more and more fickle, such that we cannot even sit for an hour to calm down. We do not like to study texts or even to meditate. Considering the results of such a vicious circle, how can we acquire happiness?

I suggest that when pursuing material comforts, we need to simultaneously combine modern civilization and traditional culture, and integrate them both into our life and work. On the one hand, it would be helpful to the people around us; on the other, we ourselves can live happily.

~ Luminous Wisdom Book Series 8

We have all watched on Animal World (film series) how many lives some carnivores need to eat within a 24-hour period. For example, the blue whale, the largest known animal species in the world, can eat up to four tons of krill each day during the feeding season. And these are just one day’s provisions. A life eaten is a life taken and a negative karma fully committed. Over its entire life, the blue whale never once would chant the Buddha’s name or practice virtue. If it lives to be a hundred, it will have committed such negative karma for one hundred years. Can you imagine what will happen to it in its next life?

The purpose for practicing the Dharma is not to gain health and wealth or be trouble-free in life but to attain liberation. In order to reach that final goal, all defilements must be eradicated first. Although it is somewhat impractical aiming to accomplish that in three to five years, one can still check if defilements have been reduced or at least have tended downward over time. This is what we should be concerned with, not what it would be like in the realm of the Buddha or the great bodhisattvas. There is simply not enough time for us to explore and argue all the points presented in, say, Ornament of Clear Realization or Madhyamaka. In other words, we cannot hope to reach the same height as Nagarjuna or Chandrakirti by way of discussion only.

From the perspective of ordinary reality, desire is the driving force of development. From the Buddhist perspective, “I want to study Buddhism”, “I want to become a Buddha”, “I want to practice Dharma”, and “I want to meditate” are also kinds of desire.  Nevertheless, while these desires are also a kind of driving force, they will not bring us suffering. Certain other kinds of desire, though, will just cause us more suffering.

How does desire cause stress and suffering? First of all, desire itself can be unlimited, but the satisfaction and excitement brought about by material gain is limited. Both science and Buddhism offer proof of this, and it can also be verified in our life experience.

~ Luminous Wisdom Book Series 8