The Buddha told us not to fall into extremes when engaging in any activities. We don’t need to have aversions towards this world and be pessimistic, neither do we need to idealised our life; we need to take a middle way approach. Money and relationships are neither good nor evil in nature, it’s our mind which engender good or evil elements to them. If dealing with money and relationship with a neutral mind, then we can live a happy life.
~Depicted from LUMINOUS WISDOM BOOK SERIES
Preliminary practice entails five practices, starting from taking refuge, up to guru yoga. Relying on the capacity of these five practices, one can realise emptiness, which is referred to as realising the nature of mind in the Chan tradition, it means actualising the truth of phenomena. In tantric context, it’s referred to as realising the primordial wisdom. What is it meant by primordial wisdom? Buddha nature is the primordial wisdom.
~Depicted from LUMINOUS WISDOM BOOK SERIES
Why the negative karma of having the wrong view is so severe? According to Chittamatra school, various virtuous and unvirtuous seeds are stored in the alaya consciousness of sentient beings. Once we engender wrong views, which will vanquish all the power of virtuous seeds, from then on, the virtuous seeds or the root of virtue in our mind stream will discontinue.
~Depicted from LUMINOUS WISDOM BOOK SERIES
Those who refrain from killing and practice life release naturally give rise to love and compassion in their mindstream. This is because the main elements that generate love and compassion are non-killing, practicing life release, and vegetarianism. Buddha also said, "Great compassion is the seed of true dharma." Those who undertake the precept of non-killing, and practice life release are protectors and saviors of sentient beings. They are lamps that shine upon the darkness of cyclic existence. (heidi)
~Depicted from LUMINOUS WISDOM BOOK SERIES
Although from the meditative concentration’s point of view, the heavenly beings in the form and formless realm are endowed with great capacity, the meditative concentration they abide in is mere tranquility, which is devoid of the wisdom of realisation, thus their meditative concentration has nothing to do with liberation. Among sentient beings in the three worlds and the six realms, only humans have the best chance to attain liberation. Thus being a human is fairly significant, we need to cherish our human body.
~Depicted from LUMINOUS WISDOM BOOK SERIES
Ignorance leads to attachment, such as clinging to external world, one’s own body, fame and gain. Without satisfying one’s desire, one will suffer. In order to satisfy one’s desire, one will engage in negative acts, such as killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, and lying, etc. All negative acts stem from attachment and ignorance.
~Depicted from LUMINOUS WISDOM BOOK SERIES
The goal of dharma study is to dispel suffering. To dispel a part of suffering of samsara is referred to as Buddhism oriented towards the rebirth of the human and heavenly realms; to dispel all the suffering of samsara is referred to as the Shravakayana Buddhism; to endeavour to dispel all the suffering of samsara for the sake of oneself and all sentient beings is referred to as Mahayana Buddhism. From this perspective, Buddhism is the method to dispel suffering.
~Depicted from LUMINOUS WISDOM BOOK SERIES
Each time we die, the nature of mind will be revealed, but we never can perceive it. Every night when entering a deep sleep, for a split second we are in touch with the nature of mind, but we never can perceive it. Thus we need our lama’s pith instruction, with which we can attain enlightenment instantly. This is the swift method of the Vajrayana to attain enlightenment.
~Depicted from LUMINOUS WISDOM BOOK SERIES
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
