KHENPO'S BLOG

Some students of Buddhism or other religions like to dwell on clairvoyant power and states of realization, but this is not the real purpose of Buddhism. Although Buddhism does not object to transcendent power, it does not chase after it. Buddhism mainly teaches how to cultivate compassion, develop wisdom, and serve others.

Excerpt from Luminous Wisdom Book Series "The Paper Tiger : The Significance of Buddhist Philosophy Today"

The cessation of suffering means having eliminated all the defilements. It is like the reemergence of blue sky after the clouds have been blown away by the wind. Similarly, when negative karma and defilements have been purified and uprooted by renunciation, bodhicitta and realization of emptiness, Buddha nature (Tathagatagarbha) will naturally arise. This is the Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering, the ultimate effect of practicing the Dharma. Then, does it mean that actualization of Tathagatagarbha is the sole purpose for us to practice the Dharma? No, of course not. The ultimate goal of Mahayana practice is to attain enlightenment in order to benefit sentient beings more effectively and completely.

Excerpt from the Luminous Wisdom Book Series: "The Right View ~ The Four Noble Truths"

The most important and the key difference between Buddhism and non-Buddhism lies in taking refuge in the Three Jewels. Accordingly, taking refuge is deemed a prerequisite for anyone who wants to learn Buddhism. However, it this has never been forced upon anyone. Only those who want to learn the Buddha’s teachings or take up Buddhist practice must complyadhere to this. Not taking refuge is toone remains an outsider (with regard to the Buddha’s teachings), is off the path to liberation, and cannot be deemed a Buddhist.

~ Luminous Wisdom 1 : The Three Differences

Some regard Buddhism as a kind of belief. Belief also means faith. Of course faith is needed in Buddhism, but it would be oversimplified to regard Buddhism as a belief since keeping faith is only one of many Buddhist ideas. The foundation and the priority of Buddhism are not about belief, but wisdom and compassion. Although Buddhism does advocate the importance of faith, it is not unique to Buddhism; science also calls for faith. For example, people today all want to promote faith in science. If one does not trust science, one probably would not even dare to take airplane. People take plane because they believe in the technology that allows airplane to transport people to their destination. It takes faith to accomplish anything in this world, the same kind of faith as in Buddhism. Therefore, it is incorrect to equate Buddhism with belief.

Excerpt from Luminous Wisdom Book Series "The Paper Tiger : The Tibetan Buddhist View on Happiness"

To liberate lives is a common practice frequently performed by many Buddhists. When conducted properly, the resulting merit is boundless. Otherwise, the merit will be greatly diminished. It is therefore very important for us to know the proper way of liberating living beings.

For laypeople, cultivating renunciation also means not to be covetous of worldly things. Non-Buddhists cultivate renunciation as well. Many non-Buddhist monks or clergies do not wish to remain in samsara. They too seek liberation. However, lacking the right view, theirs are not considered true renunciation.

Excerpt from the Luminous Wisdom Book Series ~ "The Right View : The Three Differences."

Although Vajrayana requires its practitioners to accept five meats and five nectars as part of the practice, beginners must stay away from them and use instead visualization or some herbal medicine as substitutes. If not, plainly eating meat and drinking alcohol will create huge demonic obstacles to one’s practice. What does it mean by demonic obstacle? On hearing this term, many people instantly picture a human or non-human being with eyes, ears, multiple heads and hands. These actually are just petty demons. The king of demons that would obstruct our practice is none other than the habit of eating meat. Such is the view of Vajrayana. So who says that eating meat is permissible with Vajrayana?

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.

Excerpt from the Luminous Wisdom Book Series: "The Right View ~ The Definition"

In both Mahayana Abhidharma and Sarvāstivāda’s Abhidharmakosa, the term used for our negative emotions is kleśa or defilement, and different kinds of defilement have been clearly classified. Even in psychology and medicine, there are not nearly as many terms to describe the various aspects of negative emotions. However, no matter how it is classified, the origin of all defilement is ignorance.

Excerpt from Luminous Wisdom Book Series "The Handbook for Life's Journey : On the three poisons - How to refute Ignorance"