When we arouse bodhicitta, we must try to strike our greatest attachment—self-cherishing. From beginningless time until now, we have not practiced bodhicitta—self-cherishing has been the commander-in-chief and the conqueror in our hearts. It destroyed bodhicitta and the altruistic mind completely. This is also called egoism. In the area of consciousness, "self" is the decisive factor for everything. If we can practice bodhicitta, for a certain time, the bodhicitta will definitely defeat self-cherishing or desire, and emerge as the winner. Of course, at the beginning, when we start practicing, if we are not careful, we can relapse into desire at any time, because the self-cherishing are so high and its power is so strong—but, gradually, it will beat a retreat. And the final attachment can be eliminated through the realization of emptiness.

~ Depicted from Luminous Wisdom Book Series 9

What is the usage of the Buddhist Worldview? The Buddhist view of this world brings us compassion and wisdom. With compassion and wisdom, we are able to balance our life in terms of money, relationships, marriage and everything else, and with certain kinds of practice and mind training, we can ultimately attain enlightenment.

~ Depicted from Luminous Wisdom Book Series 3

If you cannot forsake worldly attachments and selfishness, a monastic robe, a title of Rinpoche, Khenpo or lay practitioner are no more than just labels and therefore not very meaningful. For the same token, having a rosary draped around your chest is equally useless if not accompanied by an altruistic aspiration. However, as long as one is armed with the correct knowledge of the Dharma and grounded in the right view, it really does not matter anymore whether you are a layperson or a monk.

~ Depicted from Luminous Wisdom Book Series 1

Please don’t always blame others for your suffering. There is no suffering in the world that is purely caused by other people and that has nothing to do with our own doing. We are also responsible to a certain extent. Even if it is not due to the mistakes made in this life, those committed in previous lives may also be the culprit. So learn to accept one’s own responsibility, practice Dharma diligently, transform suffering and help sentient beings to liberation from samsara. This should be the best route for us.

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

The Buddha understood us and knew early on that we would oppose him. That’s why he said in the scripture, “Whatever people uphold to be true, I do too. I won’t argue with them, but they will argue with me.” It means we ordinary people indulge ourselves in illusions and hence mistake illusion for reality. We suffer tremendously as a result but stubbornly hold on to our mistakes, thinking instead that Buddhism is wrong and not proactive. This is why we remain far from liberation.

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

This is what our world is like today. The seven billion people in the world all follow more or less the same worldview and outlook on life. If anyone were to have a different point of view, many would rush to tag him or her as being abnormal or mental. But in fact we are the ones who are afflicted. When all the people have the same affliction, this mental condition becomes a standard by which others are judged. This is the case with all the rules in the human world since time immemorial. Because Sakyamuni Buddha broke the rule, many people cannot comprehend and thus accuse Buddhism of being misinformed, passive and pessimistic. How and why it comes to this, the story is an indication.

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

Actually, it might not be that difficult to think occasionally, “I want to deliver sentient beings from the suffering of samsara.” This thought may come up when we are not enduring any pain or hardship and our livelihood is not threatened. However, when facing with a life or death situation, say, if we were to choose between our own and other’s death, we might be too embarrassed to say, “I want that person to die.” But we would certainly say, “I don’t want to die.” This would be an indication of weak bodhicitta.

~ Depicted from THE RIGHT VIEW - The Three Supreme Methods—the ultimate methods of cultivating virtue and training the mind

Shakyamuni Buddha also began his path as an ordinary person and eventually attained enlightenment. He was not born a Buddha. In the biography of Milarepa, one disciple said to Milarepa, “Master, you must be an emanation of Vajrapani or some Buddha.” Milarepa immediately retorted, “I know you want to show your respect to me by saying that. Yet it is a serious defamation to the Dharma because it indicates that you don’t believe that the Dharma can transform an ordinary person into someone like me.” Therefore, the issue is not whether one has the capability but the determination to set about obtaining that capability from now on.

~ Depicted from THE RIGHT VIEW - The Three Supreme Methods—the ultimate methods of cultivating virtue and training the mind

What is bodhicitta? The so-called bodhicitta is composed of two requisites.

The first requisite is having the compassion to deliver all sentient beings from the suffering of samsara. Though we may not have the capability now, it can be developed. If we do not practice the Dharma, we will never have the ability. But if we do and are willing to make an effort, even though our capability is still somewhat lacking at the moment, we need not worry too much about it.

~ Depicted from THE RIGHT VIEW - The Three Supreme Methods—the ultimate methods of cultivating virtue and training the mind