Everything in the world is fleeting and impermanent. In samsara, all living beings are suffering. We have to see everything as non-self and understand that everything in the world is intrinsically empty in nature. There is nothing that can be depended upon and nothing is worth pursuing. This is the worldview of a Buddhist. Having deeply felt the suffering of all living beings in samsara brings two benefits to oneself and others, which are:

(1) a mind that focuses one-pointedly on pursuing liberation, and
(2) the generation of unconditional love towards all sentient beings in samsara.

~ Depicted from Luminous Wisdom Book Series

The most important and the key difference between Buddhism and non-Buddhism lies in taking refuge in the Three Jewels. Accordingly, taking refuge is deemed a prerequisite for anyone who wants to learn Buddhism.  However, it has never been forced upon anyone. Only those who want to learn the Buddha’s teachings or take up Buddhist practice must comply. Not taking refuge is to remain an outsider, is off the path to liberation and cannot be deemed a Buddhist.

~ Depicted from THE RIGHT VIEW : The Three Differences

Undoubtedly, the result of the mind practice will be different for people with religious belief and those without. However, this is not a problem. We can achieve our goals with these mind practices -- whether we want to attain Buddhahood and benefit all sentient beings, realize self-liberation, or simply alleviate stress, improve the quality of our life, and live a happier and more meaningful life.

What is unfortunate, however, is that everyone seems to be placing emphasis on training the body, not the mind. This preoccupation is leading to an imminent crisis around the world -- not a financial crisis, but a crisis of the mind. Depression, accompanied by symptoms of anxiety and loneliness, has already become the third biggest killer of mankind, following cancer and AIDS, respectively.

~ Depicted from ARE U READY FOR HAPPINESS : The Tibetan View on Happiness

Je Tsongkhapa mentioned in The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment that bodhicitta and the mind of renunciation are very important, but that depending on these alone would not overcome ignorance. In the end, we still need the view of emptiness. This is like going to the doctor for treatment of an illness—the key to curing the illness depends on whether or not its root cause is understood. If not, it is not possible to give the right prescription. Similarly, the reason why we are not liberated (from samsara), not at ease and not free, is not mere coincidence or something that has happened without any cause. It is also not due to the will of an omnipotent God. The root cause indeed originates from attachment.

~ Depicted from Luminous Wisdom Book Series

To eliminate innate attachment to permanence, we should contemplate continuous impermanence. This is because a lot of undesirable thoughts, afflictive emotions, and karmic formation come entirely from our ongoing adherence to things being permanent. For instance, if we think a car can last a long time and is useful until such time it breaks down, the desire to own a car will arise; we may take any number of measures, even theft, robbery, and fraud, to realize this goal, thereby creating bad karma from killing, lying, etc.

The source of afflictions, karmic formation, and all such problems is the attachment to the car, while the cause of this attachment is our adherence to permanence. If the latter is not eradicated, we cannot resolve the problems mentioned above.

~ Depicted from THE FOUR SEALS OF DHARMA : All Composite Phenomena are Impermanent

if people practice the Great Perfection to eliminate physical pain or evil influence, this practice would become a mundane practice. The practice itself is not mundane, but it is motivated by worldly pursuits that turn it into something mundane in the end. For this reason, motivations of this kind are considered unwholesome.

~ Depicted from THE RIGHT VIEW : The Three Supreme Methods - The Ultimate Methods of Cultivating Virtue and Training the Mind

It is extremely fortunate that we have encountered Mahayana Buddhism in this lifetime. Although we still possess greed, hatred, ignorance, other mental afflictions and many other unfavorable bad habits, nevertheless, we have come upon Mahayana Buddhism. We should zealously yearn towards the cultivation of bodhicitta, generating the altruistic aspiration to attain enlightenment. This kind of hard-won opportunity will make our life perfect, complete and meaningful.

~ Depicted from THE RIGHT VIEW : The Four Noble Truths

The power to sowing virtue 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.

~ Depicted from THE HANDBOOK FOR LIFE’S JOURNEY : On Death and Rebirth – Key Points for Practicing Bodhicitta on Deathbed

Before meditation, we should first get ready, that is, shut the door, go to the bathroom, turn off the cell phone, etc. We should deal with these chores ahead of time so as not to disrupt the actual meditation practice. Thereafter, go to a shrine room if there is one, and prepare a cushion. This cushion is called a meditation cushion; it should be higher in back than in front to allow the body to sit comfortably.

As you sit on the meditation cushion, make the following vow: during this sitting, I will remain in meditation no matter what.

~ Depicted from THE FOUR SEALS OF DHARMA : Preparing for the Preliminaries