The Buddha once said, “I do not argue with worldly people, but they argue with me.” It means that the Buddha understands where people’s desire and attachment come from. But when people hear the Buddha speak of impermanence, emptiness and not-self, they refuse to accept and constantly raise objections. Actually, it is no surprise that people object since the Buddha’s viewpoints are something they have never heard of or thought about before and are entirely contrary to their usual way of thinking. So object they must. Still, truth is truth. Worldly people can object all they want at first, but eventually they will have to accept it. By worldly people, I do not mean the atheists or the materialists, but people like us who either have not yet learned Buddhadharma or attained realization of emptiness. It is in fact our very own established ideas that are opposing the new perspective.

- Quote from The Right View, "The Four Noble Truths—the Path Out of Samsara"

We must understand that the six realms of samsara are not invented or arranged by the Creator or any personified god. Nor are they some chance happenings, devoid of causes and conditions. They are in fact the manifestations of cause and effect. And the most important cause among all is clinging to the self.

- Quote from The Right View, "The Four Noble Truths—the Path Out of Samsara"

Renunciation and bodhicitta should be practiced separately in proper order and followed by the practice of emptiness. As such, renunciation and bodhicitta that were practiced beforehand will also turn into the wisdom of emptiness.

Here, emptiness is not like the Theravada view of no-self. Rather, it contains the element of great compassion. And within great compassion, there is realization of emptiness. These views and practices of the union of wisdom and compassion encompass all the implicit significance of the Dharma. However, they are much easily said than done.

- Quote from The Right View, "Buddhism—the Definition"

The Four Noble Truths explain the nature, the origin, the cessation and the path leading to the cessation of suffering. Why are there not three or five truths? It is because all that is known or existent can be assigned to either samsara or nirvana; there is no other kind of existence in between. Samsara has its cause and effect; so does nirvana. Two sets of cause and effect make the Four Noble Truths. To explain nirvana and samsara by way of cause and effect is essentially what the Four Noble Truths are all about.

- Quote from The Right View, "The Four Noble Truths—the Path Out of Samsara"

In Beacon of Certainty, the original face of suffering is said to be pure like the sky above the high plateau in Tibet, just emptiness. The great sage Atisha also said in his commentaries on the Middle Way that the nature of mind is clear and unobstructed like the autumn sky. What is perceived as suffering has long since dissolved into clouds of smoke; there are no traces of it left.

- Quote from Are You Ready For Happiness? Don't Let the Paper Tiger Scare You Off, "How to Face Suffering"

Among the four schools of Buddhism, Sarvastivada1 and Sautrantika did not maintain any idealistic viewpoints at all, neither did the Madhyamaka (Middle Way) school of the Mahayana tradition.

The Yogachara (Consciousness Only) school of Mahayana had a number of sects, of those only one posited a small portion of its views that was somewhat similar to that of idealism.

- Quote from The Right View, "Buddhism—the Definition"

Certain religions like to stress the mysterious power of ghosts and spirits. Although Buddhism does not deny their existence, it believes the biggest demon in the world is the deeply embedded tendency to cling to the self. Outer demons can only affect our daily life in small ways, such as causing illnesses or obstacles. They cannot bind us in samsara, not even if the ghosts of the entire universe combine their forces. Only clinging to the self has such power. Yet, we have never realized that this fellow, Self, who abides in our mind at all times and whom we are very fond of, is really a demon.

- Quote from The Right View, "The Four Noble Truths—the Path Out of Samsara"

People look at the same problem differently largely because of the state of their mind. Generally speaking, the mind of ordinary people is more fragile while that of the sages is strong. For instance, when the Buddha was about to enter parinirvana, he was surrounded by many arhats and practitioners. Although everyone knew the Buddha was dying and that they would lose not just a great but extraordinary teacher, all the arhats there were very calm. The exception was Ananda, who, having yet attained realization, was still an ordinary person. He stood crying by the side of the Buddha’s bed and could not contain his sorrow. The arhats were not disrespectful. Because they had already realized emptiness, they could pass beyond suffering.

- Quote from Are You Ready For Happiness? Don't Let the Paper Tiger Scare You Off, "How to Face Suffering"

However, neither the Nirmanakaya nor the Sambhogakaya is the true Buddha, only the Dharmakaya, the union of wisdom and compassion, is.