We need to come to a clear understanding of what do we need? Is it money or happiness? Desiring both is difficult to achieve. Even endowed with some merit, one can make some profit through exertion, yet one might not be able to live an easeful life. Other than attaining a high level of spiritual achievement, how can one maintain a calm mind while being preoccupied with various engagements? Thus as an ordinary being, we have to choose one between these two.

~Depicted from LUMINOUS WISDOM BOOK SERIES

The more socially competitive one is, the less happiness one attains. For instance, someone who has a fancy car but likes comparing with other people. When others surpass him, he cannot remain calm, and tries to exert himself to be competitive. Such pursuits are rather tiring. Being competitive is not a necessity of life. Lots of suffering stems from being competitive.

~Depicted from LUMINOUS WISDOM BOOK SERIES

Despite the fact that buddhas and bodhisattvas have transcended relative truth, not having a body of flesh and body, in order to liberate us, still they manifest a body of flesh and blood. BuddhaAmitabha of the Pure Land can’t liberate us, neither does Buddha Samantabhadra; although the sambhogakaya and the nirmanakaya of buddha are sublime, they are not able to liberate us, because they can’t communicate with us. Thus a teacher in a relative sense is vital.

~Depicted from LUMINOUS WISDOM BOOK SERIES

If some people are endowed with the wisdom of the Buddha, and some are not, then am I endowed with the buddha nature or not? It’s difficult to answer. Will I succeed with my diligent practice? Everyone possesses buddha nature; this is definitely so. Everyone has great potential because we possess the wisdom of the Buddha innately. It’s up to us to discover its existence. Once we succeed, all defilements will be gone; it’s that simple.

~Depicted from LUMINOUS WISDOM BOOK SERIES

Pain and suffering tell us intangibly to face the suffering itself as the repayment of karmic debt. Just as when crops mature, their seeds cease to exist. Similarly, after having experienced suffering, a great deal of negative karma will be purified. Thus to endure suffering is a way to purify karma. One needs to think that it is fortunate that one’s own negative karma doesn’t mature in hell, hungry ghosts, or animal realms, instead it matures in human realm. This is a good thing, I should be happy about it.

~Depicted from LUMINOUS WISDOM BOOK SERIES

Today some people have habituated to lying, they would lie without any reason. Everyone needs to be heedful, refraining from being careless of lying. Even telling a lie unintentionally, one needs to purify it by confessing.

~Depicted from LUMINOUS WISDOM BOOK SERIES

All of us fear suffering and try to avoid it, and we take it as something harmful like flood or ferocious animals. However, if we are able to utilize it skilfully, we can transform misfortune into auspiciousness and favourable conditions of bodhicitta; this is skilful means in the Mahayana.

~Depicted from LUMINOUS WISDOM BOOK SERIES

An accurate understanding of death enables us to be free from fear, dismayed and evasiveness when death is mentioned. This is because we have acknowledged that death is a mere cyclical process of life, it does not signify that everything ends. We need not be negative and pessimistic when facing death. If we can seize the opportunity, we can improve the level of our lives in the process of death.

~Depicted from LUMINOUS WISDOM BOOK SERIES

Practicing impermanence will eradicate our clinging to permanence, which is rather useful. For instance, even we cannot perceive the inner instantaneous impermanence of an object, if we realise that something is unreliable and impermanent, then we’ll overly cling to it, and reminding ourself over and over again: “since it’s unreliable, why bother to care and cling to it?” In this manner, our attachment will gradually decline.

~Depicted from LUMINOUS WISDOM BOOK SERIES