Many people are convinced that what they practice must be of supramundane nature. How can it not be if they have been practicing the five extraordinary preliminaries? In fact, these five preliminaries are not only supramundane in nature but also part of the Mahayana practices. The key is, notwithstanding, having what kind of perspective when you sit down to practice these preliminaries. Though the possibility of practicing solely for the benefit of this life is slim, it is quite likely to undertake these practices to avoid rebirth in the hell realm. If the motivation is not to seek liberation for the sake of all sentient beings, the practice of the five preliminaries will be considered mundane, not supramundane. In that case, it won't be so meaningful to practice the five preliminaries after all. We all know that chanting mantras repetitively and doing five-point prostrations require tremendous mental and physical efforts. If, in the end, the outcome of our practice is viewed as not being in accordance with the principles of Vajrayana, Mahayana, or Hinayana tradition, but is categorized as being mundane instead, it will be a real pity. 

~Depicted from From Believers to Boddhisattvas

With strenuous effort, an iron bar can be ground into a needle. Likewise, with persistent meditation, we can suppress negative and destructive emotions such as greed, aggression, pride, and jealousy, etc, and our mind will reach a state of freedom to some extent. Freedom here means being free from anxiety, and maintaining joy for extended periods if you want.

~Depicted from LUMINOUS WISDOM BOOK SERIES

Yong people are not above this either. They may look lie they can afford to play and have fun all the time. But once they begin to contemplate the purpose of this life and the question of the beginning and the ending of life, the cannot help but realize that the two ends of this present, fleeting moment. Most of them, unable to face this frightening conclusion directly, just cast these issues aside and ignore them. 

~Depicted from From Believers to Boddhisattva

What then is the most important thing to do now? It is to reform our mind, i.e to adopt a diffferent mindset. For this, we should begin by giving up two things. First, we need to stop the hankering for things of this word, in the other words, the attachment to samsara and the yearning for human or celestial rebirths in all future lives. Why ? For if we don't, no matter what practices we take up, they will all be deemed mundane which inevitably will turn out to be a huge obstacle to our progress on the spiritual path. So we must. 

~Depicted From Believer To Boddhisattvas

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

Although it is understandable for laypersons to acquire a skill or two in order to make a living, it has nothing to do with liberation and is not the purpose of life, only something we do temporarily. Nonetheless, it does not mean that we ought to drop everything we do once we start Buddhist practice. If that were the case, Buddhism would not stay viable for long either. In Buddhist tradition, there have always been two distinct groups of lay and monastic practitioners. The monastics dedicate themselves solely to Buddhist practice whereas lay practitioners are not supposed to concern themselves fully with worldly matters, like those who do not practice at all. Appropriately measured participation in the mundane activities is already quite sufficient. 

~Depicted from From Believer to Bodhisattvas

As stated in the sutras, "Existence in the human realm is rare, and all is impermanent. " Most of you here are already in your 30s and 40s. The remaining days, a few more decades at the most, are really not that long and will soon pass by before you know it. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee the opportunity to practice will present itself again in the next life you fail to seize it this time. So the point is to lay the necessary foundation now as the stepping-stones leading to a better start for the next life. 

~Depicted from From Believers to Boddhisattvas

If we are neither Mahayana nor Hinayana practitioners, then strictly speaking, we are not Buddhist practitioners at all. What are we after all? At best, we are believers of Buddhism or of Shakyamuni Buddha, who may intermittently chant some mantras and do some good deeds here and there. Really, just be a little better than non-believers. Though we may have had many teaching and empowerments, met more than a few respectable teachers and practitioners, we still cannot get any closer to even the edge of liberation. Worse, it must have been horrifying to discover that we possibly may not even be Buddhist practitioners when going through the aforementioned self-examnination. 

~Depicted from From Believers to Buddhisattvas

Naturally, before cultivating great compassion, one should generate renunciation first. Once cannot have great compassion for sentient beings if one is unaware of the suffering of samsara, because for sentient beings if one is unaware of the suffering of samsara, because compassion comes from the suffering of sentient beings. No compassion, no bodhicitta either. The other condition for developing renunciation is the desire for liberation. When seeing the suffering of sentient beings, one aspires to save them from the clutches of samsara forever. But on second thought, how can one help others if one cannot attain liberation for oneself in the first place ? With this in mind, the two requisites for generating renunciation - aversion to samsara and desire for liberation - are complete. 

~Depicted from From Believers to Boddhisattvas