The existence of ignorance leads to various attachments, such as attachment to the outer world, our own bodies, fame, wealth, and so forth. When our desires are not fulfilled, we experience afflictions and suffering. To satisfy their desires, people even kill, steal, commit sexual misconduct, lie, or commit other misdeeds. All non-virtue arises from attachment, while attachment itself originates from ignorance.

~ Luminous Wisdom Book Series 10

If you want to attain liberation, it would be better not to be anxious to practice Dzogchen or Kalachakra, and so on, because there would be no use in practicing these teachings before the foundation is laid. The Buddha once said, “People who want to attain liberation or practice Mahayana Buddhism do not need to study and practice many methods. Only one practice is needed, and that is great compassion.” The Buddha did not mean, however, that great compassion alone can solve every problems, and simply possessing great compassion without practicing other methods won’t work, either.

~ Luminous Wisdom Book Series 9: The Principles of Liberation

In the treatise entitled Letter to a Friend (Suhrlekha), Nagarjuna uses the following analogy to describe people’s desire those who suffered leprosy, a disease caused by bacteria, feel extremely itchy and painful when the symptoms flared up. This analogy actually hints at people’s desire. We have always thought that money can buy us happiness and so we strive all the time to make more money. But the truth is that being rich often makes us even more miserable.

~ Luminous Wisdom Book Series 6

Every Tibetan Buddhist tradition contains practices of the chöd sadhana，a very special practice that can be separated into many types. The Words of My Perfect Teacher mentions a preliminary practice called the Kusali Chöd. In this practice, you imagine offering your body as a sacrifice to Kuntuzangpo and giving it to all types of spirits, and so forth. The real practice of chöd is to use the wisdom of realizing emptiness in a special technique to remove stubbornness and troubling thoughts. The premise of this practice is that you must realize emptiness and let this enlightenment experience strengthen. After a certain time, you can meditate in areas where ghosts are rumored to appear. During such times there are usually activities that gather spirits, and you might hear strange sounds or witness odd occurrences. This would make ordinary people very nervous and their self-attachment would be very obvious. At such times, if you can focus on emptiness, you will be able to remove your self-attachment successfully, and at the same time remove fear and other negative emotions.

~ Luminous Wisdom Book Series 10

Once a question was raised in Newsweek magazine: Money or happiness, which is more important? Shakyamuni Buddha answered this question more than 2500 years ago, saying that happiness is the most important. Money alone cannot make people satisfied, nor can one obtain happiness or freedom from it. Nonetheless, most people still think that there can be no happiness without money. To them, money is the key to happiness.

Of course, other than a very few exceptions, people who are destitute generally do not feel much happiness. But does this mean that wealthy people must be very happy? No, it certainly does not. Money really cannot buy everything!

Also stated in the Abhidharmakosha-shastra is that some children may suffer the effect of seriously negative karma that their parents accumulated. If children can suffer the consequences of their parents’ negative karma, is this not contradictory to the Buddhist teaching that one reaps what one sows and that no one can assume others’ karma?

The Abhidharmakosha-shastra explains that these children themselves already have certain negative karma. Due to the close relationship between the parents and their children, the ripening of the children’s negative karma may be expedited by the extremely evil karma the parents committed.

~ Luminous Wisdom Book Series 1: On Cause and Effect

Buddhism holds that physical suffering and misfortune all have various contributing factors as their causes. Some illnesses, the so-called karma-induced illnesses, originate from previous lives. They are medically incurable, no matter how much money is spent. These may be attributed to karma. If you have a cold, headache, or fever, this may also be karma-related, but not necessarily caused by karma from past lives. Hence, karma is sometimes directly responsible for certain occurrences, but other times may not be so directly involved. The point is, in all matters, Buddhism has always opposed taking a dualistic approach, affirming one side while negating the other. The same applies to karma.

~ Luminous Wisdom Book Series 1: On Cause and Effect

With the four ordinary preliminary practices or the Hinayana Buddhist view, we can conclude that all compounded things are impermanent, suffering and contaminated. They are called “contaminated” since various afflictions can be produced. The investigative method of the Madhyamaka teaches us to investigate this life and the next life, as well as various other external phenomena.  The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way by Nagarjuna has twenty-seven chapters, and most of the content is an investigation of external substance, so as to understand that all phenomena are empty and to discover that the world is fundamentally an illusion that does not exist at all. Our greed and ignorance are thus undermined and will not develop.

~ Luminous Wisdom Book Series 9: The Principles of Liberation

We must develop a firm conviction about the suffering of samsara, to the degree that we no longer harbor any desires for samsara and wholeheartedly seek liberation from it. At the same time, we must also cultivate the transcendent wisdom that is implicit in ultimate liberation. To seek liberation blindly without grasping inherent wisdom will not bring forth complete renunciation. The Four Noble Truths of the Hinayana tradition are a part of this wisdom; complete renunciation entails mastery of the Four Noble Truths.

~ Luminous Wisdom Book Series 1: The Three Differences