Virtue and evil are the same in terms of the scale of its karmic result. Even engaging in an insignificant, positive act will enable us to experience good health and longevity in the next five hundred lifetimes; however, committing an insignificant, negative act will enable us to experience poor health and short life span in the next five hundred lifetimes or even longer. These are due to insignificant acts leading to great results.

~Depicted from LUMINOUS WISDOM BOOK SERIES

There are two ways to realise Dzogchen: one is to listen to dharma extensively, then to accumulate immense merits by engaging in the practice of cultivating renunciation and bodhicitta, the practice of mandala offering and embarking on the path of bodhisattvas. When accumulation of merit rises to a certain level, one can realise emptiness; another way is to rely on the qualified master’s blessing. The premise to receive such blessing is to have devotion. The stronger the devotion, the more blessing one can receive.

~Depicted from LUMINOUS WISDOM BOOK SERIES

What is the different between dedication and aspiration? On the premise that a virtuous action resulting in positive karma, like liberating animals, has been done, the aspiring vow made right after this actions is dedication. When a vow or a wish is made without this premise, it is an ordinary aspiration. For example, when seeing a Buddha statue or a reliquary stupa, one prays, " May I in all future lives..." This is not dedication but aspiration. The difference lies in whether any virtuous action has been performed and any positive karma thus accumulated has been made the subject of dedication.

~Depicted from From Believers to Boddhisattvas

One who has no understanding of the law of karma will think karma is mysterious and tarnished with obscure religious elements. In fact, the law of karma is not mysterious at all. If paying closer attention, we’ll come to the conclusion that all phenomena is in the sphere of cause and effect, be it animals, plants or mankind. A certain cause will lead to corresponding result.

~Depicted from LUMINOUS WISDOM BOOK SERIES

What is worrying is that many who receive empowerment today do not emphasize the secret mantra vehicle vow. Those requesting empowerment do not even know these vows are required for the empowerment. So they think once they receive empowerment, everything will be great. The fact is, once one receives empowerment, the difficulty is in maintaining the secret mantra vehicle vow.

~Depicted from LUMINOUS WISDOM BOOK SERIES

What does dedication mean? For example, there are tend people and only one of them has food. The owner of the food could just keep it for self consumption. Instead, out of compassion, the food is shared with the other nine. Dedication is similar to this sharing. The good seeds sown by virtuous actions that people perform will bear virtuous fruit. Mahayana practitioners, unwilling to enjoy the positive karmic result by themselves alone, give the fruit to all sentient beings to share. This is what dedication connotes. 

~Depicted from From Believers to Boddhisattvas

Before engaging in main practice, we need to cultivate renunciation, which entails four practices of outer preliminary practices: preciousness of human body, the impermanence of human life, the infallibility of the law of karma, and the defects of samsara. Once having cultivated renunciation, we should not hurry to engage in practice of calm abiding and meditative concentration; rather, we need to cultivate bodhicitta. Without bodhicitta, there is no aim in our practice. Without aim, what’s the point of engaging in meditative concentration and dzogchen practice?

~Depicted from LUMINOUS WISDOM BOOK SERIES

What does lineage mean? It means a line of transmission of the dharma that is handed down by lineage masters such as Shakyamuni Buddha, Guru Rinpoche, etc. It’s a pure line of transmission of the dharma like the running river without stop. These lineages contain intangible blessings of lineage masters which can only be experienced in the process of practice; this is vital for our practice, thus it’s best to seek a pure lineage before one engages in tantric practice.

~Depicted from LUMINOUS WISDOM BOOK SERIES

There are two types of dedication: poisonous and nonpoisonous. " Poisonous dedication" means dedication with attachment. It is stated in the Prajnaparamita Sutra that good seeds sown with attachment is like poisonous food. It may taste delicious at first, but will cause tremendous pain when the poison takes effect. Similarly, good seeds sown not by actions performed with mind free of clinging, as explained above, may perhaps yield some transitory benefit, but more suffering will ensure and no liberation attained because such actions are deemed defiled phenomena. 

~Depicted from From Believers to Bodhisattva