What is cause and effect? If a person commits theft, for example, in terms of the person’s body, speech, or mind, which one is the cause? The word “karma”, which is now in common usage, has the same meaning as “cause” here. A thief uses his hands to grab something and puts it in a bag. Is this action the cause? When someone thinks, “I’m going to steal this,” is this thought the cause? In the case of stealing, should the action of the hands be construed as the cause, or the thought?

However, in the context of wisdom and compassion, wisdom can simply be put as realization of emptiness, which encompasses many meanings: realization of no-self, of emptiness pertaining to Madhyamaka of the exoteric school, and realization of Great Emptiness and Clear Light. From the point of view of the esoteric Buddhism, which also includes the view of the Great Perfection, emptiness and clear light are one and the same.

The term “Great Emptiness” has never appeared in the history of man’s thought and literature. And even if it did, it was only to mean the void as a result of matter being decomposed to decreasing size of particles until it could decompose no more. Some people now still do not dare to affirm even this void, insisting rather that energy should remain at the end. (Energy is matter too.) If energy also ends in a state of emptiness, it will be as if all matter were born from nothing. This, to many, is an unacceptable conclusion. So what these people are able to comprehend is even less than that of the exoteric school.

~ Depicted from Buddhism - The Definition

Ways to avoid negative emotions

When the three causes are in place, negative emotions will manifest. What can we do then?

1) Uproot the seed of negative emotions from the source, which we are incapable of at the moment.

2) Avoid the external cause and condition.

For example, avoid exposure to various advertisements or setting sight on the neighbour’s new car or new gadgets. This can help reduce the arising of desire and avoid certain suffering that comes with excessive desire. It is therefore advised by the Buddha that the monastics or real practitioners stay at remote and quiet places to do their practice, as there are fewer material goods there to stir up one’s desire and cause defilement to manifest. But this is not the best way.

3) Banish irrational ideas.

For example, when there is a new electronic product on the market, one may either feel upset if one can’t afford to buy or conceited if others can’t buy the same, thinking “only I have this bag, this luxury watch, the latest version of…; no one else in the office does.” This mindset breeds arrogance so that one is blind to others’ strengths and one’s own weaknesses.

The Great Perfection itself is deemed supramundane, but our motivation for practicing it or listening to its teachings could turn it into a mundane phenomenon instead. If our motivation were to gain benefits in this or next life, the teaching of the Great Perfection would cease to be supramundane upon entering our mindstream; it would not even be a Mahayana practice. What would it be then? It would just be a mundane phenomenon, or, a practice of mundane Great Perfection.

~ Depicted from The RIGHT VIEW - The Three Differences

For those who place sole emphasis on the cultivation of bodhicitta in their lifetimes, the pertinent advice for them when approaching death is to rely on the five powers to navigate their passage to the next life.

1. The power of sowing virtue

This is to sow the seeds of virtue before the moment of death. To be specific, one must first cut attachment to all possessions and then offer them to the Three Jewels. In doing so, one can also choose to give more to certain virtuous deeds which one considers capable of gathering the most merit. For instance, if one believes liberating living beings to be the most excellent act of virtue, one may offer one-third or a quarter of all properties to the Three Jewels and the rest to freeing lives; or, if one believes offering to the Sangha to be the most meritorious, one can offer most of one’s assets to the Sangha, leaving a small portion for other purposes. As exact allocations of assets are not provided in the sutras, the examples here are for reference only.

~ On Death And Rebirth-Key Points for Practicing Bodhicitta on Deathbed

In the West, death is generally determined either by brain death or irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory functions. But there are many cases of people coming back to life after showing these symptoms for some ten, twenty hours. Such is not a complete death.

In fact, at the highest level of concentrated meditation, the fourth jhāna, a practitioner, though still alive, may stop breathing temporarily. Therefore, cessation of breath cannot be the criterion of death.

In the Buddhist tradition, these symptoms only represent superficial death, not real death yet, as a person’s consciousness has not left the body at this point. At the time of superficial death, most people will enter into a coma-like condition, having no pain or any other sensation, like in a deep sleep, except those who have had the special Vajrayana training.

~ Depicted from "THE HANDBOOK FOR LIFE"S JOURNEY : On Death And Rebirth-Understanding Death

Wholesome motivation is the most superior of the three motivations. It can be further divided into the motivation of an inferior, an average and a superior disciple.

The motivation of an inferior disciple is the lowest of the three. Those who cultivate virtue with this kind of motivation do not think about liberation from samsara. They are only concerned with not being reborn into the hell, the ghost, or the animal realm but the realm of god or human; and as human, better be born as someone with good health, long life, high position and wealth. Their actions, albeit virtuous, would not bring them any closer to enlightenment. Hence, this type of motivation is relegated to the bottom level.

Some people may wonder why, as mentioned above, a motivation to pursue health and long life is considered unwholesome, but here it turns up in the section of wholesome motivation. The previous one is unwholesome in the sense that it only aims to take care of things for this life; whatever of the next life is not its concern. The inferior disciples, on the other hand, do not seek enlightenment nor rewards for this life. Their goal is to obtain temporal blessings for the next life, which makes it a wholesome motivation.

However, for those seeking enlightenment, this should not be the motivation for virtuous actions. Nowadays many lay practitioners make it a habit to chant Buddha’s name, burn incense, do prostrations and so forth every day. But please ask yourselves honestly why you do all these. Is it to gain health and longevity for this or next life, and to make sure not going to the hell realm? If so, nothing that you do will ever free you from samsara, not if you practice for one hundred, one thousand, or even ten thousand years. Good karma resulted from this kind of motivation cannot be made the cause of liberation. Neither can it yield the fruit of liberation when matured. To practice with such intentions will not result in much virtuous karma other than some temporal benefits like health and long life, or avoiding rebirth in the hell realm.

Why does Vajrayana place great emphasis on the practice of dream yoga? The reason is that, unlike the absolute quietness of death, when we are in deep sleep, even though alaya consciousness and self-grasping are still operating, all other consciousnesses have stopped. It is much easier to realize the nature of mind when undertaking practice during this period.

However, it is very hard for us to return to this state in real life as we have been conditioned to live in a world constructed by sense organs and consciousness, which makes it very difficult for us not to be dictated by our consciousness. For example, when we see something, the information of the object will be transmitted to the mind consciousness to be processed and analyzed, resulting in a conclusion of either good, bad, yes, or no, which will then determine our acceptance or rejection of this object. We hardly ever touch consciousness at the deepest level.

~ Depicted from "THE HANDBOOK FOR LIFE"S JOURNEY : On Death And Rebirth-Understanding Death

There are many kinds of desire – money, fame, love, etc. When desire is not under control and allowed to grow freely, it becomes insatiable, making us all slaves to its command. This short lifetime will then be spent in pursuit of illusive targets and wasted in striving to satisfy desires. Looking back when life nears its end, one painfully discovers that happiness is a real scarcity with unhappy moments scattered throughout one’s lifetime. Uncontrolled desire can destroy not only this life but also next life, not only oneself but also other beings. Robbery, for example, is basically caused by desire—desire to take what one lacks and others have; in so doing, one not only destroys this and future life but also disrupts the life of others.

Everyone wishes to have a happy life, including animals. But many are unhappy, and their unhappiness comes mainly from a causal relation of the mind. When we wish to own more material things, such desire will drive us to give more time and energy to fulfill that wish, resulting in bigger pressure, busier pace, less free time in life and eventually depriving us of any sense of happiness. Although the original intention of desire is to gain happiness for ourselves, it ends up destroying our happiness. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to properly manage our desire.

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