Now that we have learned the teachings of the Buddha, we should do our best to follow his advices as much as we can, if not one hundred percent. We would be Buddhas ourselves if we can comply one hundred percent! And the first step is to begin with distinguishing the meaning of life and the way of living. 

- Quote from The Right View, "The Way of Living and the Meaning of Life"

I have seen that someone who owns three or four villas but hardly ever lives in any of them. Very often this person just spends the night on the office sofa. Others own three or four cars but only use one; the rest just lay idle in the garage. This kind of lifestyle does not comply with the Buddha’s request for a life filled with fewer desires. From the standpoint of the world as a whole, over-consumption of either fossil fuels or trees is also a wrong way of living, which does not meet the Buddha’s request either.

In today’s world, one is basically unable to survive without money and the Buddha also deemed reasonable means for living justified. What he requested is that under normal circumstances one should live a simpler and modest life. There is really no need for fancy stuff as long as one stays in a livable condition.

- Quote from The Right View, "The Way of Living and the Meaning of Life"

To those who know little about the Dharma, it is quite complicated to explain the path to liberation. Where is liberation? How to get there? One can always find a way to go to any place on earth from a map, but the path to liberation seems not so straightforward. It would be much easier if one follows the Buddha’s teachings, however. Imagine that all the people on the street are moving forward, but one of them suddenly turns around and starts walking back. On the road of samsara, most sentient beings are moving toward the realms of hell beings, hungry ghosts and animals, whereas Dharma practitioners are heading back to the natural, pure state.

- Quote from The Right View, "The Way of Living and the Meaning of Life"

Isn’t it kind of fashionable now to talk about ‘going back to the nature’? But the ‘nature’ that worldly people go back to is not the real thing. The true meaning of going back to the natural state is to give up all desires for samsara and take the path leading to ultimate liberation. So the first thing we should do now is to generate renunciation. From now on, the meaning of life for us should never be merely having money, children, family and so forth.

- Quote from The Right View, "The Way of Living and the Meaning of Life"

The Buddha particularly wanted to avoid taking a dualistic stance toward any issues. To lead a poverty-stricken life is an extreme. Most people cannot maintain a contemplative life under such harsh condition except for someone like Milarepa. On the other hand, a life of indulgence may cause all kinds of physical problems. For instance, many doctors suggest that over-consumption of meat could be the cause for heart disease. Therefore, the proper way of living set by the Buddha is one of simplicity and modesty.

- Quote from The Right View, "The Way of Living and the Meaning of Life"

In order to attain liberation, we need to forsake material wealth, fame and those fulfillments associated with secular life. However, it does not mean that all must be abandoned as even the Buddha needed to beg for alms every day. To the eyes of the ordinary people, the Buddha manifested as someone who also needed food, clothes and other necessities to live. So for us it is even more unlikely that we can completely give up worldly life. But in addition to managing everyday life, we also need to have unshakable determination to take the path to liberation. On this basis, even one single recitation of mantra can begin to turn us around. The more steps we take on the path, the closer we are to liberation. Conversely, to live life the way we used to will take us further away from it.

- Quote from The Right View, "The Way of Living and the Meaning of Life"

Some people may not think of samsara as suffering because they themselves have not been through too many miseries so far. The seemingly happy life they are having now already makes them feel on top of the world. Any talk of Pure Land or liberation is basically useless stuff for them. But they are wrong. As they are ignorant of the nature of cyclic existence, there is no way they could know that the good life hardly ever lasts long. Without delving into the details here, one should be able to see clearly the nature of cyclic existence through contemplation of impermanence and especially the woes of samsara as specified in the ordinary preliminaries. It is plainly obvious if the same ignorant way of living is continued, what lies ahead in the future could be very dreadful indeed. So we must turn around.

- Quote from The Right View, "The Way of Living and the Meaning of Life"

From now on, we should direct our thoughts and actions toward the ultimate liberation. Through contemplation of impermanence and the woes of samsara, we can begin to cultivate renunciation and gradually move forward on the path to liberation. This is the meaning of life for us Buddhists. The path to liberation, once taken wholeheartedly, can fundamentally resolve the issue of cyclic death and rebirth. Moreover, taking the path of Mahayana can not only help oneself but also all other sentient beings to liberation from samsara over time. Therefore, we ought to be forward-looking and strive to set higher goals. Otherwise, we may fail this life miserably perhaps not in material terms but in essence, like so many others who have died with great sorrow and anger because they did not know to distinguish the way of living and the meaning of life when still alive.

- Quote from The Right View, "The Way of Living and the Meaning of Life"

Another rule is that one must not live by the ten evil actions such as killing, stealing, cheating and so forth.