The Buddha knew very well the relationship between material wealth and human desires—how people’s minds change with the rise and fall of their fortune. This is why the Buddha specifically taught this way of life for Buddhists.

Other worldly disciplines such as philosophy have so far failed to answer this question fully. The general view is that nothing remains after death, so the meaning of life is to enjoy life to the fullest while it lasts, even at the cost of squandering our precious lifetime, depleting massive amounts of resources and destroying the natural environment. Even then, happiness is still beyond reach. This shows that to pursue happiness this way only leads to disappointment.

~ Luminous Wisdom, 6

Taking refuge in a guru is not only prescribed in Tibetan Buddhism but also in Han Chinese Buddhism and Theravada Buddhism. It is clearly stated in the precepts of Theravada Buddhism that, after receiving precepts, only after following a master for at least ten years can a disciple be qualified to live on his own. Before that, free activities are disallowed.

～ Luminous Wisdom 3 ：The Guru Yoga Practice of The Seven Line Prayer

Buddhism can be said to be a special kind of culture since it encompasses many rich academic disciplines, among them philosophy, astronomy, geography, and other sciences. Not only that, Buddhism also has its own view of life, of proper values, and of the world.

The Buddhist worldview consists firstly of specific knowledge, but more importantly, it is one in which this knowledge in formulated into ways and methods that can be used in our daily life. One aspect of this concerns regulating our mind; the other aspect concerns benefiting sentient beings, and bringing happiness, a healthy life, and joy to more people —— this is also the basic tenet of Buddhism.

~ Luminous Wisdom 9 : The Significance of Buddhist Philosophy Today

The establishment of the Buddhist point of view

In Buddhist thought, the origin of samsara may be summed up accurately in one sentence: “It is seemingly far away, but it is actually right in front of you.” Why do we say that “it is seemingly far away, but it is actually right in front of you”? As to the first part, it is because all of us have experienced birth and death endlessly and, except for the Buddha, there is nobody else who could calculate the number of times we have transmigrated within samsara. Due to the length and distance of samsara’s cycle, it is therefore stated that “it is seemingly far away”. On the other hand, every living being has experienced the beginning and end of samsara with the appearance and disappearance of birth and death, deep sleep, and thought. Therefore, it could be said that the origin of samsara “is actually right in front of you”.

～ Luminous Wisdom : The Buddhist Theory of the Origin of Species

There are three reasons why we cannot attain liberation: the first is our grasping to external possessions, to the world and to samsara; the second is our attachment to ourselves, namely self-grasping, self-cherishing or the selfish mind; and the third is our attachment to the belief that everything in the material world is truly existent.

~ Luminous Wisdom 9 : The Principles of Liberation

Using motivation as a criterion, to liberate animals for the sake of one’s own freedom from samsara is viewed as a transcendent Hinayana practice. To do it out of bodhicitta, the wish to attain buddhahood for the sake of all sentient beings, is a transcendent Mahayana practice. To couple the Mahayana practice with some Vajrayana views essentially makes animal liberation a Vajrayana practice.

~ Luminous Wisdom 1 : The Three Differences

As the saying goes, “It takes more than one cold day for the river to freeze three feet deep.” We are, after all, ordinary people, unable to just give up our insatiable worldly desires overnight. But as mentioned before, it does not matter what we practice, Mahayana or Hinayana;, as long as the aim is to attain ultimate liberation, genuine renunciation will gradually arise over time.

~ Luminous Wisdom 1 : The Three Differences

What can be detected by our five senses, including the people we meet and the surroundings we live in, all indeed seem very real. They are like what we experience in a dream, which is also vivid to us. When we have a dream at night, we still have a strong attachment to our surroundings. We cannot deny the existence of our dream when we are in the dream. However, when we wake up from the dream, we suddenly realize that the dream and everything in it were unreal.

～ Luminous Wisdom 3 : The Illusory World

The Yogacara School asserts that everyone has a mental continuum from beginningless time until the attainment of enlightenment. This mental continuum is sometimes comprised of the five consciousnesses of the eyes, ears, nose, tongue and body, but sometimes not.  No matter how it manifests itself, the permanent existence of what is called the alaya consciousness is present at all times. Whenever actions are committed, a karmic seed will be planted in the alaya consciousness.

There is an analogy for this. When ink is poured on snow, the snow will take on the color of the ink.  After the snow melts, the ink’s color can still be seen on the ground.   Similarly, if karma is born of defilements, a karmic mark will be left in the alaya consciousness after the defilements are gone.

~ Luminous Wisdom 1 : On Cause and Effect