Happiness, unhappiness, realism, idealism, theism, atheism, etc. are all very superficial phenomena that are not at all on the level of clarity and ignorance. The source of consciousness is clarity. There is no time and space in clarity or clear light; all concepts of time and space arise from ignorance. However, in the brief moment when ignorance is first produced from clarity, there is no concept of time and space either. Just as in the Big Bang, there is no physical matter in the instant following the explosion, only later is energy produced from empty space; when the energy reaches a certain density, a fundamental particle is produced. From this fundamental particle, all kinds of matter are then formed. In the same way, from clarity, fundamental ignorance is produced, that is, consciousness -- which is something undulating and capable of thinking and discriminating between events -- is formed. After that, a fundamental particle is instantly produced; all kinds of matter are then formed, followed by the formation of the earth and celestial bodies. Ignorance is just like energy; how things are formed from energy that is unobstructed by matter and how the world is created from ignorance are astonishingly similar.

~Depicted from ARE YOU READY FOR HAPPINESS - Suffering is just a Paper Tiger

The mind is a complex thing -- its continuum, annihilation, basic nature, and development are all governed by special rules. Apart from the Buddha, no one has mastered the way it works. A lot of people have substantial knowledge of the world, but they do not know who they are, what their basic nature is, and where they come from. Perhaps, when science reaches a certain stage of development, it will be able to validate the existence of these rules; until now, it cannot. Only in Buddhism are we able to do so. By way of practice, we can attain this knowledge since our mind is self-knowing. The Ch’an emphasis on knowing the nature of mind is none other than this self-knowing.

~Depicted from ARE YOU READY FOR HAPINESS - Suffering is just a Paper Tiger

Why do we need to understand our coming and going? The Twelve Nidanas, like the constantly moving wheel, take us into, out of and back into this world over and over again. We need to be prepared when this process restarts. What the Twelve Nidanas deal with is something that everyone has to face, and how to face it is a very important lesson for us all.

The Twelve Nidanas as presented in Ornament of Clear Realization are quite complicated. The intent of this discussion is, however, to focus only on the parts that are important for us to know.

We have all been through the cycle of the Twelve Nidanas innumerable times. It is still continuing today because we have not prepared to confront it so far. In fact, not knowing how to deal with it is the real reason. Unless we begin to tackle it now, the cycle of death and rebirth will never end on its own. This is obviously quite an important matter.

~Depicted from THE RIGHT VIEW - The Twelve Nidanas¹—the sequence of cyclic existence

To chase away darkness, there needs to be light. To eliminate the darkness of ignorance, we need the light of wisdom. Here, wisdom is not common cleverness. Cleverness in real life may actually be a kind of delusion—knowing how to make and spend money may seem very clever, but it is likely to ruin one’s own and others’ chance for liberation and also future life, hence a delusion. The only one who understands the true nature of ignorance and knows how to resolve it is Buddha Sakyamuni. Many people have come to realize the reality of the world through the Buddha’s teachings and attained ultimate freedom and liberation.

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

Presently, on all the continents except Antarctica, there are children who can remember their past lives. When these children first began to talk, they would say who they were, where they came from; they would give their parents’ names and details of their past lives. Their parents in this life would then check and validate the actual existence and subsequent death of the persons mentioned. Often enough these children inherited very strong habitual tendencies from their past lives—one who loved to smoke in past life would steal his father’s cigarettes to smoke in this life; one who died of a car accident in past life would be too frightened to go near cars in this life, and so forth. Some of them don’t feel close to their parents of this life but take the parents and relatives in the past life as their real parents and family instead. Many parents are unwilling to make this public lest others should think their children are mentally unstable, out of embarrassment, or because it violates their own religious beliefs. Nevertheless, the secret gets out eventually.

~Depicted from THE HANDBOOKS' FOR LIFE JOURNEY - On Death And Rebirth-What Life Truly Is

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'S FOR LIFE JOURNEY - On The Three Poisons-How to Refute Ignorance

Buddhism can be said to be a special kind of culture since it encompasses many rich academic disciplines, among them philosophy, astronomy, geography, and science. Not only that, Buddhism also has its own view on life, on right values, and on the world. In this chapter, we will introduce the Buddhist view on the world.

The worldview is firstly a specific knowledge; but more importantly, it is one of formulating this knowledge into ways and methods which can be used in our daily life. One aspect deals with regulating our own mind; the other aspect deals with benefiting sentient beings, bringing happiness, a healthy life, and joy to more people – this is also the basic tenet of Buddhism.

~Depicted from ARE YOU READY FOR HAPPINESS - The Significance of Buddhist Philosophy Today

Wisdom in the Buddhist context is not about intelligence, which is normally associated with doing well in studies, in amassing wealth, etc. Wisdom and intelligence are quite different. Wisdom has a broader and more profound meaning; it is very closely connected with the perception of life and the world, having the right view on life and values, and so forth. Lacking wisdom, faith will turn into superstition.

~Depicted from ARE YOU READY FOR HAPPINESS - Buddhism and the Business World – Six Standards in a Corporate Culture

We know that the animal realm is the preferred rebirth among the three lower realms; however, a key point is that animals are extremely ignorant and incapable of any kind of practice. Not only that, they cannot distinguish between good and evil, are just as afflicted by desire, anger, and delusion, and repeatedly commit unwholesome actions. Thus, taking rebirth as an animal will create even more bad karma, the result of which is one may never again return as a human being.

~Depicted from THE FOUR SEALS OF DHARMA - The Importance of Practice