Suffering is real and suffering is painful, even though the enlightened mind understands it to be an illusion. And while you are still at this stage of spiritual development, you must treat the sufferings of others as real so that you can be motivated to develop greater compassion and therefore put forth greater efforts. Even on the day when you can go beyond suffering, you will still need to accept the sufferings of the world as real because the minds of human beings are far from enlightened. As they live in delusion, they suffer more and more from the conditions that their deluded minds are creating. Therefore, do not just accept the teaching that life is unreal, or whatever else has been written by others. From where you stand, suffering is real, and your duty in this lifetime is to bring relief to as many as possible.
10-Mar-1984 (3)

The best of prayers, for those who have no inkling of what cultivation is or the purpose of cultivation, is to put their full faith and trust into the Six Syllables Mantra. Recite it constantly with a calm mind and cleanse yourself with ‘Om Mani Padme Hum’. Recite these sacred words as naturally as you breathe to live, allowing them to become a part of your life in every moment of the day and night.
While reciting, do not hold any feelings of hatred, anger, envy, or greed. Do not allow anyone or anything to upset you while you are in a state of prayers, or the continuation will be quite impossible. You must ask yourself why you are praying and what you are hoping to derive from this practice; your motivation must be clear!
From this day onwards, always be in a state of prayers for the benefit of your own purity and for the well-being of others, and put your full faith into your practice!
2-Mar-1984 (5)

Remember that the way to ultimate perfection is long—very, very long, even incomprehensible! However, patience and endeavour must be exercised, because the goal must be won, or life shall become a meaningless wandering into the distant future. Once you have accepted the method, practise it sincerely and with faith. One cannot reach Freedom by just wishing for it. Efforts must be expended.
To reach my Potala, to reach the Western Land of Bliss, to reach Nirvana—what is the difference once you have reached one of these destinations? But how are you to reach the unseen, the uncharted way to the unconditioned?
Build your own bridge to these realms of hope. Your prayers are the effective means of building this invisible bridge to these invisible realms!
2-Mar-1984 (3)

The good way of living in this lifetime will only bear fruit in the future, most likely in future lifetimes. Seekers are those who encounter obstacles because of their inquiring nature, and thus they experience many inner battles as questions arise within their minds. It is always good to clarify what is not clear to intellectual understanding, but there is danger whenever one seeks solely to satisfy intellectual deductions. The way of life cannot be learned through clever deduction alone; one must study the Teachings of the Buddha, which provide all the directions pointing to the Truths. Because of this, it is better to rely on the cultivation of a pure mind, to put faith in your prayers, and to resort to Prayer Recitation as a vehicle to wisdom. Once you have formed the habit of praying, worship becomes more meaningful and easier to adhere to. Then, in the moments of silence, you can learn to pour forth your true prayer, using words that are your very own and revealing the true motivations of your prayers.
2-Mar-1984 (2)

Practise kindness and perform selfless services to others, just as you would hope for when you are sick in bed, hungry to the point of starving, rejected by society, or weak with old age—experiencing any of the countless kinds of sufferings which all beings are subject to. At such times, how would you feel when someone reaches out a hand to lift you up? How would you feel when you receive medicine that brings cure or relief? How would you feel when someone patiently listens, really understands your problem, and then goes about to give you the exact help you are seeking?
27-Feb-1984 (5)

You who are praying, who have understood what prayers can do for you, and have experienced the help of the Divine in one way or another—must not fall back into bad and evil ways. Do not waste this great and rare opportunity to cultivate and practise the Way to Enlightenment, which will remove all pains! Do good to others; do for them what you hope others will do for you or your loved ones when you or they are down with afflictions and great suffering. Offer your service to your brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers, who make up mankind and the lower existences.
27-Feb-1984 (4)

Those who have health do not appreciate it until sickness strikes; those who have wealth are not aware of the importance of thrift. So it is with all the things that human beings possess which are not treasured but taken for granted. These are the ones who have not benefited from life and will not seek to gain merit for the future; thus, life becomes a natural occurrence, depending on circumstances and conditions of the environment. These are the ones who suffer continuously yet suffer in ignorance. Without wisdom, even truths placed before them will not be appreciated or accepted. They are not stubborn; they are filled with ignorance and will never wake up until disaster strikes, inflicting deep wounds so that they become desperate for help and cure. Only then do they begin to think deeply and search with effort. But how many can succeed?
27-Feb-1984 (2)

Wish happiness for all beings sincerely whenever you are in a crowd of people. Appreciate every person upon whom you lay eyes on, and wish them happiness even though they are unrelated to you. When neutral persons can win your affections and your goodwill naturally, you are ready to begin removing dislike and hatred towards those who harm you. Gradually, you will learn as you grasp the deeper meanings of the Buddha's Teachings. Someday, you will no longer be easily affected by others, and you will be able to rise above discrimination.
Whether a person suffers or is happy, understand the nature of their condition. You will continue to wish to see happiness on their faces, and you will strive to make it so, even though you know it is impossible to accomplish fully. Yet you still try and do your best because you are learning to apply skillful means to help each person.
25-Jan-1984 (7)

Those who hope to gain much out of worship will, in the end, have much to lose. Those who practise selflessness by way of worship will have much to gain. There cannot be any true meaning if one searches for it merely by adopting worship while the mind is not in the right state. Only those who worship for the sake of learning, and then practising what has been learned may find a new world before them that is filled with adventures. For such people, the feeling of wanting to be protected fades away. Instead, they will do the opposite: they will take up the part of the protector of the weak and ignorant ones. They will find that life has so much to offer, so much to learn, so much to practise, and so much to do. With this understanding, the worship of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas cannot come to an end, as each of them becomes a noble aspiration to follow.
18-Jan-1984 (1)

Be ready to give. Give in terms of financial assistance, advice, or help that will encourage others to walk along the Right Path. Avoid causing others to envy you, and avoid giving wrong directions. Be ready to lose your possessions too, and do not hold wrong views in times of defeat and loss. Wealth is good only when you know what to do with it wisely, it is bad when it causes you to fall into greater greed. But when your mind is made wise through discipline, nothing in this world will appear inherently good or evil. You will be able to live happily whether you have much or little, because you have gained peace of mind!
15-Jan-1984 (6)

You need not learn all the difficult doctrines. All of you need only to develop faith in your prayers, strength in your practice, love and warmth within your hearts, and sincerity in your vows. Even if you do not find enlightenment within this lifetime, just sow the seeds that are good, set causes which are noble, and live as meaningfully and courageously as possible, and your future lives will be blessed with even greater opportunities to cultivate the Path. Follow the Path that is slow and steady. Reduce haste, or you will be filled with desires which may be the very sources of disappointment that will cause you to abandon the Path. Expect weaknesses in yourself and in others and be ready to correct yourself and overlook others’ faults. A humble mind must be present before you can start practising patience and equanimity of mind.
15-Jan-1984 (4)

When you are ready to take up a spiritual life, difficult conditions and circumstances will not deter you. Family will be taken as a great blessing and motivation for practice. Possessions will not cause you to suffer great pain when you lose them, one way or another. Both are not evil in any way if the right attitude and views are held.
15-Jan-1984 (3)

The way to gain peace of mind is to search within with patience. The mind must be quelled, freed of disturbing thoughts, and subjected to strict discipline so that all forms of rebellion are stopped through effort. Each time you find that thoughts are harassing you and making it difficult to sit, you must exert greater energy and treat this as an opportunity to practise vigorously. Unless you decide to conquer your mind, no one can help you. Once you have developed your practice to a state where peace of mind is easily attainable, you must sit longer and be prepared for increasingly intense tests ahead.
15-Jan-1984 (1)

Commit yourself to walking the Kuan Shih Yin Path of Compassion. You must understand the great sufferings of all beings who are drowning in the sea of ignorance, cravings, and attachment, known as samsara. You must be aware of this great suffering, and you must be moved to save beings from these conditions. Thus, you will vow to become enlightened first and to remain in samsara to guide as many beings as possible across to the other shore.
You must develop your bodhicitta, creating the vast open space within your heart, to liberate countless beings. This awakened Heart will bring you the meaning of what Kuan Shih Yin stands for, and you will live for the sake of practising the noble virtues of loving kindness and compassion. You will diligently cultivate virtues and gain the necessary wisdom.
Your life will become so meaningful to you that you will have no time for the idle pursuit of worldly fulfilments. These are nothing but illusions that increase your desires, deepening your clinging to samsaric existence. If you have such great attachment, you will never be able to abandon samsara, and you will not be able to manifest the great power of bodhicitta, so you cannot go very far in your cultivation. Reflect on this constantly.
10-Jan-1984 (3)

To avoid eating meat, particularly beef, is a good habit. It should not be done out of revulsion, nor out of belief that meat should not be eaten. Rather, it should arise from the noble understanding that animals should be given a chance to live and to fulfil their own karma. It should be because you understand that each being has feelings, wishes to live long, and fears pain and death. It should be because you understand that each being has, at some point in the endless cycle of samsara, been part of your family. How, then, could you desire to eat beings who may once have been your father, mother, brother, sister, children, or benefactors in their past existences?
10-Jan-1984 (2)

Praying to Kuan Shih Yin P’usa is an excellent act, but the reasons behind such worship too must be excellent in nature. Outward forms are not necessarily the true forms, and no one should judge by whatever can be seen. All good devotees must begin their practice by being true to themselves so that no guilt feelings are present within their consciousness. If purity of mind is present, the worship becomes pure, and great changes will take place to bring forth a new character. This is because the thoughts have been carefully watched to ensure that they are noble. Each moment thoughts arise; your watching and processing of them will cause you to perform only that which is good and avoid that which is evil, and so your mind is purified. With cleansed thoughts and a purified mind, your entire character is transformed—you have succeeded!
9-Jan-1984 (2)

Be committed to your practice and be ready for changes that may affect your way of life. To discard harmful habits may require parting with things that are painful, for you will have to practise detachment. To practise goodwill requires so many sacrifices that you may not have the strength to sustain your practice. But by knowing the impermanence of all things, you will soon be able to grow stronger. So, walk the path with care and do not force yourself into extreme views and practices. Apply wisdom, practise contemplation with honesty, and soon all sacrifices that you are making for the sake of living meritoriously will no longer matter to you. You will move on gradually from the material to the spiritual, and the contentment of life shall no longer be measured by selfish wants and possessions but by whether those about you are happy or not. When this becomes your measure, you will have found the meaning you have long been searching for.
5-Jan-1984 (3)

The month has passed, and how many things have happened! Human minds need distance in order to recognise the passage of time, and therefore all things on earth have such indications. Time is often measured by a century, by a year, by seasons, by months, by weeks, and by days, and then by the hour, minute, or second. Yet time moves on, moment to moment, in a way that cannot be realised or appreciated by the worldly. This constant motion of time is recognised by the Enlightened Ones as ‘the flow of time’, which brings about momentary changes to all existential things, which are always in ‘a state of flux’. Therefore, time, in reality, needs no measurement and cannot be defined!
Om Sari Hum! 11-Mar-1986 (1)