A lot of people are optimistic and hopeful when they are young, especially when their career or business is successful. However, once difficulties arise, they quickly fall into despair and become very pessimistic, to the point of taking their own lives. That is true pessimism. Many people today have an extremely passive and negative outlook on life, thinking they have only a few decades remaining in their lives, following which they will turn to stone, dirt, etc. Buddhism does not see it this way.

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

There is suffering everywhere in the six realms of rebirth: if not suffering of suffering, it is suffering of change; if not suffering of change, it is all-pervasive suffering.  This is especially so in this degenerate time.  Even if we are unwilling to accept suffering, all of us have to confront it; we cannot ignore it. 

Human beings do not have methods for facing suffering, thus they hope for happiness and are afraid of suffering. Animals are the same way – they hope bad things go away and that good things come quickly. A whole life is hence wasted in this expectation.

Practitioners also encounter suffering and happiness. How we transform happiness and, in particular, suffering into favorable conditions in our practice is very important. Without the right method, suffering and happiness become obstacles to the path. This not only impedes our practice, it also affects the normal course of our life.

~Depicted from ARE YOU READY FOR HAPPINESS - How to Face Suffering and Happiness-How to Face Suffering

We should all recite the Buddha’s name on a regular basis, but to be fully prepared, we should also undertake a concurrent practice. That is to say, we should choose one of the Middle Way practices in either Vajrayana or exoteric Buddhism to ensure all grounds are covered. If we can realize emptiness, that certainly is best; if not, we can still go to Western Pure Land if we are sincere in chanting the Buddha’s name. The two should be practiced together, this is also His Holiness Jigme Phunstok Rinpoche’s advice. At the same time, listening and contemplating the Dharma are both helpful to the practice and to chanting the Buddha’s name, so these activities are complementary. An integrated practice like this is definitely beyond error.

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

The way is to recognize clearly the cause of one's suffering in countless lifetimes is selfishness. That includes suffering of death in this life as well as innumerable such suffering over previous lifetimes. In the context of relative truth, selfishness is a mistaken concept; in the ultimate truth, there is neither self nor life or death. Therefore, we must resolutely put an end to all those notions born of selfishness, such as "I want", "I hate", "I like", "I ..." and so forth.

~Depicted from THE HANDBOOK'S FOR LIFE JOURNEY -On Death And Rebirth-Key Points for Practicing Bodhicitta on Deathbed

There are multiple explanations of death. Some people think that everything ends after a person is dead, that all goes to dust at last; others think that a person becomes a ghost after death; still others believe a person either goes to heaven or to hell after life ends. These are just a few examples but none of them gives a clear explanation of what life truly is, nor any help in solving the question of life and death.

~Depicted from THE HANDBOOK'S FOR LIFE JOURNEY - On Death And Rebirth-Understanding Death

Is Buddhism a kind of philosophy? No. There are Eastern, Western and other types of philosophy. Some of them may enunciate certain thoughts that are similar to that of Buddhism, but their analyses never go as deep. Hence, Buddhism is not a branch of philosophy.

Is it science? Certain views of Buddhism and some findings of science may be the same, but Buddhism as a whole is not science.

Could it be idealism? Many people consider religion idealism. It may be the case in terms of Western religions. As most philosophers in the West are idealists, albeit holding different philosophical positions, they simply identify religion as a category of idealism as well. However, Buddhist thought and idealism are completely different.

~Depicted from THE RIGHT VIEW - Buddhism—the Definition

The mind has two aspects: one is discriminating mind, or “discriminating thought”; the other is non-discriminating mind, or “non-discriminating thought.”

The eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body have feeling, but they do not reflect or contemplate; so these feelings are called non-discriminating thought. When we are sick, regardless of what we are thinking, our body experiences a great deal of suffering; this is non-discriminating thought.

When we see and hear something, the sixth consciousness reflects and distinguishes between the good and the bad; this is called “discriminating thought.” The suffering experienced by the sixth consciousness is called the suffering of discriminating thought.

~Depicted from ARE YOU READY FOR HAPPINESS - How to Face Suffering and Happiness-How to Face Suffering

The tantric path is also known as Vajrayana. Why is it called Vajrayana?

In the Buddhist scriptures, especially in tantra, the vajra symbolizes oneness; all things are one and the same, inseparable. What are one and the same?

In tantra, ground and fruition are one and the same; ultimate truth and relative truth are one and the same; clear light and emptiness are one and the same.

This is not the case in sutra, where ground and fruition are clearly separate.

In sutra, ground is the illusory world we see in front of us, which includes sentient beings, the external world of mountains, rivers, earth, etc., and emptiness; fruition is the attainment of the three resultant bodies of buddhahood—the dharmakaya, sambhogakaya, and nirmanakaya. We ordinary people are not yet buddha, but through practice we can attain buddhahood after three asamkhyeya kalpas. Sentient being is the cause; buddhahood is the result.

~Depicted from GATEWAY TO VAJRAYANA PATH - Vajrayana Terminology

Since ancient times, the one thing human beings have always longed for is happiness. Yet, with all the progress in society, what we believe to be happiness has eluded us. The rapid decline in the index on global well-being has compelled all of us to rethink: What is happiness? How do we find it? In recent years, this topic has generated even greater interest.

Perhaps there are some methods in Buddhism. These methods might not work for everyone since we each have individual needs – in Buddhist terms, this is to say no one method can suit everyone since we each have karmic dispositions that are vastly different. However, for those who have the inclination, the methods can guide us in finding happiness in everyday life and at work, and in leading a fuller and more meaningful life.

~Depicted from ARE YOU READY FOR HAPPINESS - The Tibetan Buddhist View on Happiness