WORDS OF WISDOM AUTHOR: KHENPO TSULTRIM LODRO

How to learn Buddhadharma is very important. If Buddhists don’t dedicate efforts to hear, contemplate and meditate the teachings, focusing instead on the rituals such as attending pujas, tsok, fire offering and empowerment ceremonies, burning expensive incense and worshiping the deities, among others, the real meaning of learning the Dharma would still be missing even if these are all done with great sincerity. Although a properly conducted empowerment is needed and useful, absent the practice of hearing, contemplation and meditation, the Buddha’s thought and teachings will not be propagated effectively. Holding concerns for personal health, longevity, money, work, family, etc. as their ultimate goal, Buddhist followers can neither benefit from practicing the Dharma nor actualize the path to liberation. And Buddhadharma ends up losing its real core value.

~Depicted from THE HANDBOOKS' FOR LIFE JOURNEY - On The Three Poisons-How to Confront Anger

Buddha-dharma is not a philosophy to be appreciated from afar. Its wisdom is directly accessible and relevant to our problems in life. Unfortunately, most followers do not progress beyond an intellectual understanding of the Dharma, even those who have studied the five major treatises – Middle Way, logic, prajnaparamita, and other profound and significant texts. When confronted with life’s unexpected difficulties, they are lost and unable to put the teachings into practice. This is like a soldier who is armed with very sophisticated weapons; when confronted by the enemy, he is caught by surprise and does not know which weapon to use. How regrettable!

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

In the first turning of the wheel of Dharma, the Buddha focused on the subjects in the outer preliminaries, suffering in samsara, infallible karma, etc., which are the four truths of Theravada Buddhism, not so much on emptiness; in the second turning of the wheel of Dharma, the Buddha also mentioned impermanence and suffering to some extent, but the heart of the teachings was emptiness; in the third turning of the wheel of Dharma, emptiness was no longer the most important, rather the luminous mind became the main topic the Buddha expounded.

~Depicted from GATEWAY TO VAJRAYANA PATH - Vajrayana Terminology

We have all seen the weapon-like objects such as a sword held by Manjusri and many other bodhisattvas. These weapons are not meant for subduing any beings but destroying desire, anger and delusion. The purpose for learning and practicing Buddhadharma is to enable us to face, control and eliminate all defilement, which are also the mission and the goal of Buddhists. The criterion for measuring the quality of any practice is not the amount of mantra recited, the extent of merit accumulated, or how one fares in money terms, job, health, etc., but whether negative emotions have been reduced. For example, we can check if we feel as angry as before when others insult or bully us now. If anger remains the same, our endeavor to learn the Dharma basically loses its real purpose. Naturally, it is impossible to completely eliminate negative emotions before realization of emptiness is attained. We can only somewhat keep them under proper control.

~Depicted from THE HANDBOOK'S FOR LIFE JOURNEY- On The Three Poisons-How to Confront Anger

When desire is exhausted, anger is exhausted, delusion is ex- hausted, and all afflictions are exhausted — this is called nirvana.

What is nirvana? Liberation is nirvana. From the standpoint of Mahayana Buddhism, the three bodies of an enlightened being – dharmakaya, sambhogakaya, nirmanakaya – and the five wisdoms are called nirvana.

~Depicted from THE FOUR SEALS OF DHARMA - Nirvana Is True Peace

We can break down happiness into endless types. To simplify, however, there are essentially two kinds: one is happiness derived from worldly things; the other is happiness which does not come from worldly things. Within the second kind, one type is a feeling of great happiness over and above general well-being. This feeling is experienced during the course of serving or benefiting other sentient beings – a pursuit also shared by the bodhisattvas in Mahayana Buddhism.

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

The real objective of our practice is liberation, not rebirth in the higher realms. As such, we need to establish a path to liberation, with the primary requisite being renunciation. All practices that lead to liberation are based on renunciation. Renunciation is extremely important since we cannot progress to methods in subsequent stages without it. The purpose of seeing all contaminated things as suffering is to give rise to a resolution of complete renunciation.

~Depicted from THE FOUR SEALS OF DHARMA - All Contaminated Things are Unsatisfactory

Money may have something to do with certain negative mental states, but money is no solution to those mental problems. Although medication is effective to a certain degree in alleviating the symptoms, its side effect should not be underestimated. Then, the safest and the most effective way to overcome difficulties of the mind is spiritual practice.

~Depicted from THE HANDBOOK'S FOR LIFE JOURNEY - On The Three Poisons-How to Handle Desire

Buddhism, certainly Tibetan Buddhism, places great importance on happiness. The emphasis in Mahayana Buddhism is not on one’s own happiness but rather that of all sentient beings. When we strive for the welfare of all beings, we can at the same time attain even greater happiness for ourselves. This well-being ultimately surpasses any that material enjoyment can bring. Such is the Tibetan Buddhist view on happiness.

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