We have all committed incalculable karma of killing lives since beginningless time. Even so far in this lifetime alone, we have generated enough such karma to send us to the hell realm. And the best way to counteract this karmic effect is to liberate living beings. At the same time, we must also resolve by making a pledge not to intentionally kill or hurt ANY sentient beings ever again. With such determination, all negative karma associated with killing lives will indubitably be purified. In case one’s resolution is not yet as firm, the pledge can be made on account of the selected beings of one’s choice. For example, one can vow never to kill snakes or weather loaches again from now on. When this vow is made and the beings are subsequently freed, one’s specific karma of killing snakes or weather loaches from beginningless time will then be purified, but that of killing other kinds of beings stays.

~Depicted from THE RIGHT VIEW - Liberating Living Beings

Someone had asked on the web about how to benefit beings that were about to be killed in a market or some other places if there was not enough money to buy their freedom. The easy way is simply to recite the Buddha’s names to them. If you happen to have some pure nectar pills, feed them those. Otherwise, just recite the Buddha’s names and mantras. The merit of reciting and hearing the Buddha’s names and mantras is beyond imagination, which undoubtedly will benefit the poor beings. For example, as recorded in many sutras, simply by reciting the heart mantra of Shakyamuni Buddha (om muni muni maha muniye svaha) had in the past led many to the attainment of Buddhahood.

~Depicted from THE RIGHT VIEW - Liberating Living Beings

Third, do not be too greedy. Most people have a misunderstanding about Buddhism and assume that Buddhism refutes all forms of desire and physical pleasures. This is not the case. The Buddha also acknowledged that, to a certain extent, desire is a driving force. For instance, the fervent wish to study the Buddhist teachings, to become Buddha, and to benefit sentient beings all constitute desire. Without this desire, one would lose the impetus to study the teachings. Thus, on the whole, the Buddha did not oppose desire. The Buddha said: ordinary people cannot do or survive without desire; they drink when they are thirsty and eat when they are hungry. However, when desire becomes excessive, it leads to consequences we do not wish to see — suffering, disappointment, hopelessness, etc.

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

People who do not understand Buddhism think it is pessimistic and passive, since the doctrine teaches all is suffering, samsara is suffering, life is filled with suffering, etc. Actually, Buddhist followers are not pessimistic at all; instead, ordinary people are the most pessimistic.

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

By knowing what death really is, we will surely gain a new understanding toward life, and death in particular. At the least we know that death is neither mysterious nor terrifying as we tend to imagine. It is never the end of life but the beginning of life, only in a new body, not unlike copying from one hard disk to another. However, unwholesome actions done in this life will cause bad karma in next life; and if too much evil has been committed, even to be reborn as human again may be questionable. On this, we ought to be concerned about death, but death itself is not so frightening. Death, after all, is just a cycle of life. This is not only a Buddhist idea but also the personal experience of many people.

~Depicted from THE HANDBOOK'S FOR LIFE JOURNEY - On Death And Rebirth-What Life Truly Is

The true nature of happiness is a special feeling from within. Sometimes this feeling is related to material matter; other times there is no connection at all. Material matter is only one cause or condition which creates a feeling of well-being. It can bring about a temporary sense of security or satisfaction, from which one can in turn derive temporary happiness. The different forms of happiness, such as a steady income, are sources of happiness but are not happiness itself.

If happiness is a feeling, what is the basis of this feeling? A feeling of happiness comes from satisfaction; a feeling of satisfaction comes mostly from a new and fresh sensation. These types of feeling are all related to our mind and have no direct connection with the material world.

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

It is said in the scripture that ten persons cannot move a heavy log on the ground, but one person can easily pull the log if it’s thrown in the water. Similarly, it is very difficult for sentient beings to go to Sukhāvatī when alive, but much easier while in the intermediate state. It is because beings in the intermediate state, the bardo beings, have no actual body, only mental body—body created by consciousness. Just like in the outer space where there is zero gravity, a little push can point a body to a different direction; mental body can be led to Sukhāvatī with just a little guidance. Of course, one can also choose to be reborn in the pure realms of Maitreya or Padmasambhava, but Sukhāvatī is the most ideal and the easiest to go to, and one will never go back to samsara again from Sukhāvatī. At the same time, we must also take note that if there is any negative condition at this point such as the arising of an evil thought, it will be equally easy to fall into the lower realms.

~Depicted from THE HANDBOOK FOR LIFE'S JOURNEY - On Death And Rebirth-How to Take Rebirth

How can a person who has practiced virtue the entire life be reborn in the lower realms? Well, although the person may have been virtuous throughout this life, we do not know anything about this person’s previous lives. Maybe the person has been virtuous in this as well as the last two lifetimes, but it may not be so anymore if we could go back even further. Some negative karma might have been committed many lifetimes ago. From the perspective of the three types of immutable karma, virtuous karma that the person has committed in this life happens to ripen not in the current or the next life, but in the yet known future lives. That is, it may not come to fruition until perhaps hundreds or even thousands of years later.

~Depicted from THE RIGHT VIEW - On Cause and Effect

Although freeing small fry or other beings that will not be killed in the near future is also liberating living beings, they are not lives saved at the point of being killed. To engender great merit and to be deemed a genuine form of fearless offering, lives saved should be those that are about to be killed such as the assorted fish sold in the marketplace.

~Depicted from THE RIGHT VIEW- Liberating Living Beings