When you are physically tired, you can find easy solutions. When you are mentally tired, that is where problems will arise. If this is understood, then be sure to maintain your daily sitting with a calm mind, no matter how busy you may be. You have to be firm with yourself and gentle with your mind, and in the end, you will find that all efforts have not been in vain. (D-820421-1)

Spiritual development must be a natural response from within. If one who is not pure of heart seeks to go too deeply into it, there are many dangers that can turn such a mind towards a wayward path. One must not be full of desire while hoping to derive much from worship; this allows the mind to avoid craving spiritual powers. To possess spiritual powers is not the most blessed development; to have them is to subject yourself to a host of disciplines. Failing these will mean regression and falling into temptations to abuse such powers, which will destroy all that you have cultivated. (D-820224-1)

Your mind is like murky water hiding the pearl that lies within. This filthy water is like a mind filled with wants, greed, lust, and hatred; because your passing thoughts are bound to such cravings, your righteous thoughts remain obscured. Yet you must find the pearl within these waters, for that pearl is your true nature—the Buddha nature. Seek it with patience and unwavering determination. You can only do so by replacing undesirable thoughts with thoughts that are pure—thoughts of love and compassion, of understanding and of friendship—to reduce the impurities of your mind.
With patient effort, your mind will become calmer and clearer. In such a state, if you continue your pursuit, you will find your pearl—your true nature, your Buddha nature. (D-820222-4)

Act to dissolve that which causes delusions in your mind. Act with right endeavour. Avoid being indolent; move forward and walk the Path by living it. Serve with true dedication—serve no matter how weary you are. Serve to understand the plight of human beings, and serve to understand pain. If you wish to walk My Path, cultivate such a mind! (D-820628-4)

Avoid being angry towards those who speak and act against you. Hatred must be removed, for it poisons the mind. Practise generosity in order to remove this poison and pray for those who seek to bring harm to you. With such an attitude, it will be easy to practise the Buddhist Path. (D-820628-2)

Set your mind towards achieving the Goal of this lifetime. Be confident that you will not waver. With earnestness, practice generosity, for it is one of the greatest virtues for man to cultivate. Be willing to provide, be happy to be in the position to give, and be sure to maintain a sympathetic mind towards all who need help. (D-820628-1)

To gain inner knowledge from reading the sutras, one must have a deeper understanding than merely grasping the literal meanings. It requires someone who has gained insight in order to discern the true meanings beneath the words. Therefore, many will find it very difficult to comprehend what is contained in the sutras. Thus, if one is truly sincere in seeking, one must seek assistance from the qualified ones. This is precisely why the Sangha was established—to provide guidance to all Buddhists.
Attend as many lectures given by the revered Sangha, and as often as you can, so that you will receive the correct interpretations and so that a firm foundation may be established within you. Then, through your own reading, you will gradually begin to understand the wisdom contained in the Teachings of the Lord Buddha. (D-820615-1,2)

If My presence is not felt strongly, it does not mean that I am far away from you. How could it be? When you have been calling on Me, honouring Me, and practising My Way of living by being a benevolent being in this world, I am pleased, and I am always near—like a mother who gently let go of Her hands so that the child may learn to walk on his own, so that in years to come, he may rely on his own ability, so that through the experiences of life, he may understand and he can find his own way to meet its challenges to solve life’s problems!
As you go forth, more and more difficult obstacles must be expected, but keep on; strengthen your mind by cultivation, by living in accord with the Dharma, and by accepting all the challenges that come your way. (D-820605-4,820803-2)

Learn to appreciate the teachings of the great religions, which teach all to live upright lives. Buddhism is a way of living that brings harmony to the self and to the world. If you should seek to embrace Buddhism as your religion, then your task is to attain a peaceful mind!
For you who are on the Buddhist path, learn restraint and practise patience. Try to be with fellow cultivators and avoid such company that will cause your mind to give rise to anger and argument with them. (D-820607-1,820610,820714-1)

When there is a place to give some donation to help the running of the temple, shrine, or whatever it is, give, and give without feeling generous. If there is a deity, pay your respect with clasped hands or closed palms and make a bow or three. This is giving respect. (D-820513-1)

You use the mantra to help your mind achieve one-pointed concentration. This is only for the beginning of the sitting, to help you concentrate and reach a calm state before you drop all other methods of concentration. After that, you will just sit and hold your mind. Each practitioner experiences calmness differently. Some may soon find their minds filling again with thoughts, visions of lights, or various reactions. This is part of mind training. As long as you remember that you are the observer of these phenomena, you will not be attracted or distracted by them, and you will remain calm! (D-820421-2)

To expect guidance out of prayers of requests at all times is to become over-dependent on Me, and that is the wrong attitude. Even when help is given all the time, would it increase one’s faith? When help is there at any time, what is there left to pray for? Where, then, is faith? It is not right thinking to expect your problems to be solved through mere praying. You will lose your interest in no time, and you will also become a helpless and hopeless being. (D-820109-4)

Complaining about your life will not help. It will be more meaningful if you could appreciate all that you already possess. No one can attain a fully satisfactory life; there will always be areas of discontentment. If you are poor in wealth, you may still be rich in health. But even if you are poor in both wealth and health, how can there not be any stimulus to cultivate a richer spirituality? To such people, I ask: Have you really tried? Have you really understood the nature and causes of your poverty? Have you realised that since the distant past, many have willingly given up wealth and even health in their search for spirituality? Have you not heard of the Buddha? (D-820401-2)

Most people have such weak minds, such poor minds, and such uncontrollable minds that their lives are constantly in a state of agitation and unhappiness. If only they would look away from themselves, forsake self-pity, and learn instead to transform this negative force into a positive one by turning it into compassion for others who are more unfortunate. If only they could realise that there are millions praying for what they have; then they would melt away in great shame. (D-820401-1)

Attachments come in many forms. In this very materialistic world, most people are drawn to accumulating more and more worldly things, which lead not to fulfillment but to greater dissatisfaction. There is also attachment to worldly pleasures, which abound today and give rise to ever‑increasing desires, resulting in greater sufferings. The ‘lesser evils’ of attachment are those found in human relationships with loved ones, and the many other attachments that you cling to will bind you to the perpetual rounds of worldly existences. (D-820330-2)

The more attachments you have, the more difficult it will be for you to cultivate; therefore, the lower your chances of attaining your spiritual goal in life.
So, what are you to do? Are you expected to abandon everything and everyone? This need not be the case, as you are a layperson—a worldly person who has not dedicated your life to the Sangha. But there is a great need for you to understand the meaning of contentment and non-attachment by understanding the nature of existence: that all things are impermanent. (D-820330-1)

Great endurance, great understanding, great perseverance, and great wisdom must be developed before your acts of love can be universal and all-embracing. You will find ways and means to help, but you cannot help all of them. Yet you try and try, and that is how you will arrive at the stage of applying skillful means to help them. To get to this level of awakening, you will have gone through great suffering and severe tests and trials because you have chosen to become father and mother to all. (D-831224-4)

The way to Kuan Yin is not by clever thoughts and words but by selfless and virtuous actions. The way to pray to Kuan Yin is not by sweet words of praise and promises or vows but to act in accordance with life, to live in accordance with nature, and to feel for others as you would feel for yourself. Then you will be on the first rung of the ladder to Bodhisattvahood, and then you will feel the energy of Kuan Yin vibrating within your body, speech, and mind. You will be the only one who feels it and understands it, but you will not be able to cause others to feel what you are feeling or understand what you have understood. (D-831224-3)