Table of Contents
Preface ix
1 How Can We Live without Suffering? 1
Strengths and Weaknesses 3
If You Seek the Wrong Thing, Misery Follows 5
Optimism and Pessimism 7
Suffering and Happiness Are the Work of the Mind 9
Self-Reliance 10
"I will never forget a favor I've received, but I will forget all the favors I've done." 12
If You Can't Bear Suffering, It's Your Loss 14
The Wisdom of Patience 15
Don't Be One-Track Minded 17
A Short-Tempered Person Drives Loved Ones Away 18
To Reduce Your Suffering, Recite the Mantra of Avalokiteshvara 21
Five Ways to Dispel Suffering 23
Finding Happiness through Mantra Recitation 27
Mantras for Averting Suffering and Obtaining Happiness 30
2 Being Like the Buddha 35
Keeping Secrets 37
Imagine What Others Might Feel 39
Returning Favors 41
Faults 44
Considering Others 46
Ignoring Flattery 49
Dealing with Irrational People 51
The Impact of Negative Influences 52
The Benefits of Pure Perception 54
Working with Criticism 56
Steadfast Friends 58
Don't Be Ashamed of Not Knowing 60
Concealing a Mistake Is Worse than Making One 61
3 The Certainty of Loss 63
Impermanence 65
Desire 68
Accepting Change 69
Three Ways to Live 71
The More Tightly You Cling to Something, the Sooner You Lose It 72
Everything Will Pass 73
Cultivating Happiness 74
4 The Value of Adversity 79
The Advantages of Failure 81
Today's Suffering Was Sown Yesterday 83
The Practice of Patience 85
Patience Should Be Tested 87
The Eight Worldly Concerns 89
Understanding Karma 91
Virtue Is the Best Protection 93
5 Meditation in Speech 95
Negative Speech 97
Promises 98
Your Words Can Haunt You 100
Skillful Means 102
Knowing When to Speak 104
The Power of Pleasant Speech 106
6 Parents 107
Sacrifice 109
No Time to Waste 111
Money Is Not a Substitute for Care 112
Seeing Your Parents as Bodhisattvas 114
Speak Gently to Your Parents 116
7 Bliss in Birth, Old Age, Sickness, and Death 119
Prepare Early for Death 121
Practicing Later in Life 123
Birth, Old Age, Sickness, and Death Are Just a Part of Cyclic Existence 126
Don't Leave Practice till the Last Minute 128
8 Why is Life Difficult? 131
The Difficulty of Facing Impermanence 133
Eighty Percent of Suffering Is Related to Money 135
Mind Training Is an Art 137
Suffering and Happiness Depend on the Mind 139
It's Hard to Be Satisfied 141
Wealth Is Like Drifting Autumn Clouds 143
More Money Is Supposed to Reduce Desire, but It Doesn't 145
Competition 147
Transforming jealousy into Rejoicing 148
Wealth and Morality 150
How Can You Achieve Failure? 152
Wasting Others' Time Is Like Robbery and Murder 154
Superpowers Are Not the Goal of Dharma Practice 155
Great Fortune Belongs to Those with an Altruistic Mind 156
Not Wanting Anything in Return Brings Great Returns 158
Generosity Will Only Make You Richer 160
Charity Is Heart, Not Money 162
9 Conversations with Khenpo Sodargye 163
Relationships 165
Results 167
Following the Conditions 170
Buddhist Theory 173
Renouncing Worldly Concerns 183
Adversity 184
Refuge 190
Loving-Kindness and Compassion 193
Death 195
Practice 197
Fate 199
Postscript 203
About the Author 205
