Due to the great importance of practice, we must be diligent. In this lifetime, we must at least develop genuine renunciation and bodhicitta. With renunciation and bodhicitta as a basis, we can quickly realize emptiness; even without realization, genuine bodhicitta will lead to a better future life, give us greater certainty in the practice, and bring us closer to liberation. Although we are now blessed as human beings, how much time do we have left in this life? No one knows, perhaps a few years, ten-plus years, or several decades; when our blessings accumulated from past years are exhausted, our situation will change for the worse. This is not the Creator’s doing, nor does it happen without reason, it is the natural law of cause and effect. In the face of this natural law, there is little one can do; however, with effort, one can alter the direction it takes.

- Quote from The Four Seals of Dhama, "The Importance of Practice"

To ordinary people like us, to be content with fewer desires does not mean that one cannot eat good food, wear nice clothes and so on, but the items should not be too expensive. The point is to live a normal life—not lacking any of the necessities for living, but the desire for more possessions must be kept within certain limit.

- Quote from The Right View, "A Buddhist’s Mode of Life"

Nonetheless, the sutras also say we should all listen to the teachings on emptiness whether we have faith in it or not. Why is that? Even if a person rejects the teachings and declines into hell, it is but one rebirth in hell. Having listened to the teachings on emptiness, the person has planted the seeds of emptiness which will ripen in the not too distant future. Hence, after leaving the hell realm, the person’s journey in samsara will come to an end at some point just on account of this seed of virtue. Without hearing the teachings, there can be no end to the cycle of rebirth, no opportunity for liberation. Hence, Bodhisattva Manjusri believed this type of person should also listen to the teachings on emptiness.

- Quote from The Four Seals of Dhama, "All Phenomena Lack Self-Existence"

People usually believe an “enemy” is someone outside, a certain animal, a particular organization, etc. Buddhism asserts our real enemy is not outside; the most fearsome enemy is inside – it is our self-attachment.

The ancients say: “Fortune and misfortune do not come through the door; only we ourselves invite them.” The happiness and suffering we experience are entirely of our own choosing. If not for one’s innate attributes, nothing can harm us – not the raging fire in hell, the hunger and thirst in the hungry ghost realm, or the evil spirits and wild beasts in this world. Our foremost enemy is self-attachment. It is this attachment that gives rise to greed, anger, delusion, and arrogance.

- Quote from The Four Seals of Dhama, "All Phenomena Lack Self-Existence"

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

Impermanence can be divided into two kinds, inner and outer. The world of living beings, the sentient world, is referred to as “inner,” the physical world of mountains and rivers, the non- sentient world, as “outer.” Each kind of impermanence can be further classified as continuous or momentary.

- Quote from The Four Seals of Dhama, "All Phenomena Lack Self-Existence"

People usually believe an “enemy” is someone outside, a certain animal, a particular organization, etc. Buddhism asserts our real enemy is not outside; the most fearsome enemy is inside – it is our self-attachment.

- Quote from The Four Seals of Dhama, "All Phenomena Lack Self-Existence"

What is the ideal number of beings to be liberated each time? Given the right conditions, it should be as many as possible. With limited amount of money, the smaller the size of the beings, the bigger the quantity that can be bought. That means more lives can be saved and helped to attain liberation. On the other hand, liberating larger animals such as yaks and sheep or larger fish like silver carp are also meaningful. We can plainly see that these beings generally endure more pain when being killed due to their larger body. As we help them avoid this immense fear and pain, we also gather greater merit at the same time. The Abhidharma-kosha-shastra said so too. For example, which is a greater evil, killing an ant or an ox? Although they are both living beings, the dying pain of an ant is not as enormous as that of an ox, relatively speaking. Due to the large size of the body, animals like yaks and sheep suffer more physical pain when they die. It is therefore a relatively greater evil to kill large animals.

- Quote from The Right View, "Liberating Living Beings"

In some poor regions, people lacking basic subsistence are far removed from life of material prosperity elsewhere. And everyone there wants desperately to escape from poverty, thinking that everything will be taken care of once they have money. Although we all know that we cannot take anything with us when we die, we still try very hard to get closer to the kind of life that money can buy, just so that we may have a happier life before we go.

- Quote from The Right View, "A Buddhist’s Mode of Life"