Many people consider Buddhism as idealism, because everything in this world is a reflection of our mind. It is not true, although most of other religions in the west are idealism but not Buddhism. On the other hand, Buddhism is neither materialism. Although we may find Buddhism may be partial materialism or idealism, but it is neither in general. Materialism and Idealism belongs to a certain category of western philosophy, but it can not include all the human knowledge.

     Buddhism believe the world is neither consist of material or immaterial, it is an illusion created by our mind.

[Excerpt from Luminous Wisdom Book Series 1: The Illusory World]

If we can perform properly every time, liberating lives can also be fully endowed with the remarkable quality of the six paramitas, even to liberate just a single life.

[Excerpt from Luminous Wisdom Book Series 1: The Right View ~ Liberating Living Beings]

Normally, when we are free from any physical suffering and encounter no difficulty in our daily life, we think the world is so good that we do not feel necessary to be mentally or physically prepared for impermanence. Just relax and idle the time away. Should some misfortune befall us, we would likely be caught off guard and much distracted as to what to do. By then it may be too late to even turn to the Buddha as a last resort.

[Excerpt from Luminous Wisdom Book Series 1: The Right View ~ The Three Supreme Methods]

There are three kinds of generous offering practiced by the bodhisattvas: fearless offering, offering of Dharma and of material items.

[Excerpt from Luminous Wisdom Book Series 1: The Right View ~ Liberating Living Beings]

Within Mahayana, Chinese Buddhism has long maintained the fine tradition of vegetarianism. At present, the majority of Chinese Buddhists is vegetarian. They mainly abide by the teachings in two Mahayana sutras: the Lankavatara Sutra and the Nirvana Sutra. In a way, being vegetarian also exemplifies the Mahayana spirit of compassion.

[Excerpt from Luminous Wisdom Book Series 1: The Right View ~Why Vegetarian?]

To liberate lives is a common practice frequently performed by many Buddhists. When conducted properly, the resulting merit is boundless. Otherwise, the merit will be greatly diminished. It is therefore very important for us to know the proper way of liberating living beings.

[Excerpt from Luminous Wisdom Book Series 1: The Right View ~ Liberating Living Beings]

Our life comes to a crossroads when we realize that the world is full of illusion. We can either live in this world endlessly without any further investigation—we call this “samsara”—or, if we are fed up with this illusory world, we need to change the way we see it to the Buddhist view.
The Buddhist view of this world brings us loving kindness 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.

[Excerpt from Luminous Wisdom Book Series 1: The Illusory World]

How do we go about destroying the root cause of samsara now that we have identified it? Will burning incense, doing prostrations and reciting mantras work? They may, to some extent, if performed with genuine renunciation and bodhicitta. Renunciation can help us deal with the more observable defilements while the subtle ones can be subdued by relative bodhicitta. However, the subtlest self-grasping can only be eradicated by the practice of not-self and emptiness, hence their inclusion in the four characteristics. As for impermanence and suffering, why are they part of the four characteristics? They are appointed so as to help us form an aversion to samsara and thereby stop all worldly pursuits.

[Excerpt from Luminous Wisdom Book Series 1: The Right View ~ The Four Noble Truths]

The theme for the movie “The Matrix” is compatible with the Buddhist view of the world. This movie indicates that our life, work and all that surrounds us are just computer software; nothing is real.

Likewise, we live in a dream-like world. If we do not observe the world and analyze it with our wisdom, everything in it looks real to us, but if one day we start to doubt our five senses and think carefully, we will realize what an insubstantial world we live in.

[Excerpt from Luminous Wisdom Book Series ~ The Illusory World]