Je Tsongkhapa also pointed out in The Three Principal Aspects of the Path that as important as the generation of renunciation and bodhicitta is, ignorance cannot be rejected with just renunciation and bodhicitta. Ultimately, we still need to establish the view of emptiness to refute ignorance.

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

The world is not as beautiful as we think; life is filled with disappointments. If we expect too much from this world and from life, if we are not prepared for impending difficulties, we will just be left to face death, illness, bankruptcy, loss of reputation, etc. with apprehension. It will be hard for us to accept what happens at that time; even a minor problem can lead us to take our own lives.

~ Depicted from ARE U READY FOR HAPPINESS : The Significance of Buddhist Philosophy Today

In short, there are three cycles of life:

The first cycle – It starts before a life is formed. At this point, no sentient being of the six realms, no life exists at all. It is like the moment the Big Bang occurred, neither matter nor the concept of time and space existed. This period of absolute emptiness is the nature of our mind, also the Buddha nature, Tathāgatagarbha or the state of luminous clarity.

Then after the Big Bang, the fundamental particles were formed, and the agglomeration of these particles into electrons, atoms and molecules eventually formed the universe. Likewise, from Tathāgatagarbha and luminous clarity comes energy of life which subsequently forms life itself. More detailed descriptions of this process have been elucidated in the Vajrayana texts.

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

Nonpoisonous dedication refers to dedication free of attachment and concepts, i.e. to dedicate while in the state of realization that the true nature of all phenomena is emptiness. Nonpoisonous dedication is further classified into two types—genuine and comparable. Genuine nonpoisonous dedication refers to the one made by the bodhisattvas, who have arrived at the first ground or higher, in a state of thought-free concentration. It is beyond the capability of ordinary people whose capacity is more suitable for comparable nonpoisonous dedication. This type of dedication is not to use the logic of Madhyamaka to discern the void nature of all phenomena, but the visualization as described in the Thirty-five Buddhas Repentance Ritual. One should visualize in earnest as follows: “However the Buddhas and bodhisattvas of all times and ten directions dedicate their merit, I do the same with mine.” This way is comparable nonpoisonous dedication.

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

When Bodhidharma arrived in China, he met Emperor Wu, the founder of Liang Dynasty (502-557). The Emperor reported to Bodhidharma the virtuous deeds he had done, such as not eating meat, reciting scriptures, offering to the monastics, etc., and asked Bodhidharma proudly, “How much merit are these good deeds worth?” With his short reply “no merit at all”, Emperor Wu was instantly made speechless.

Many people cannot understand why Bodhidharma said so. Of course Bodhidharma would not deny, from the viewpoint of karma, that virtuous actions can generate some merit, which no Buddhist would refute either. But in this case, Bodhidharma commented from the point of view of the ultimate truth that, absent realization of emptiness, no amount of merit alone can lead to liberation. This is why Bodhidharma put a damper on Emperor Wu’s eager expectation.

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

The key to building happiness in life is our practice. Just as with an athlete who must train very hard in order to win the championship, or with a patient who must follow the doctor's prescription in order to recover. If we practice according to the Buddha's teachings, we can learn to deal with emotional negativities by not becoming despondent from excessive attachment nor desperate from overwhelming stress. In so doing, we can succeed in our work or business, and be very happy and carefree at the same time. In Buddhism, and in particular Ch' an, the expression "let go" is often used to describe this state of mind.

To let go does not mean to abandon. Letting go of our work is not the same as abandoning our work; letting go of wealth is not the same as rejecting wealth. To abandon is a form of escape; to let go is a method for confronting problems.

~ Depicted from ARE U READY FOR HAPPINESS : The Significance of Buddhist Philosophy Today

The moment a human egg and sperm unite, the consciousness of a bardo body enters the zygote. Although it is already a life at this point, there is no physical body. As the embryo continues to grow and becomes more mature, a full body will be formed at last. During the course of growing up, an attachment to this being will be developed, which immediately becomes the alaya consciousness, the base of consciousness. The fact that we still have breath, heartbeat, blood circulation and so forth when in deep sleep while other senses stop functioning indicates the existence of certain energy. This energy is the alaya consciousness.

The alaya consciousness, like the water deep down in the ocean, remains still at all times, no matter how violent the ocean swells. The water closer to the surface, however, will move depending on the force of the gale and its depth. The waves, the water that moves, refer to the five sense consciousnesses and the sixth consciousness.

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

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 ensue and no liberation attained because such actions are deemed defiled phenomena.

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

II. The way to refute ignorance

To refute ignorance, something contradictory to it must be applied; views and methods more powerful than ignorance are also needed to accomplish the task. Ignorance cannot be overthrown without realization of emptiness, even if all the rituals are properly conducted, pure vows maintained, worldly merit accumulated and virtuous deeds committed. The practices of cultivating renunciation, such as contemplating the preciousness of human birth or impermanence, and bodhicitta are very important, but they do not conflict with ignorance and are thus unable to reject it either. Of the two kinds of bodhicitta, ultimate and relative, ultimate bodhicitta denotes realization of emptiness which can refute ignorance quite effectively, but not relative bodhicitta. This point is clearly explained in Dharmakirti’s Commentary on Valid Cognition (Pramanavarttika) and the various texts on Buddhist logic.

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