If one consumes media as a person of wisdom, it is for the purpose of following the currents of world affairs so as to adapt oneself in a timely and discerning manner. But what then is one to do when media contains both truth and falsehood, both that which pleases us and that which does not?

The principles for consuming media are as follows:

1. Media that invites rejoicing in merit — upon encountering such content, the viewer feels gladness at the goodness therein, holds it in admiration, and is inspired to follow its example.
2. Media that invites rejoicing in demerit — upon encountering such content, the viewer feels a sense of vindictive satisfaction or dark gratification at what is harmful, gives rise to anger, irritation, and a turbid mind, and is unwittingly drawn into cursing or condemning alongside the media itself.

How to Consume Media So as to Gain Merit

1. Upon encountering harmful or inauspicious news, do not rejoice in demerit alongside it.
2. Take the harmful news as a teaching for oneself — resolving that one shall not become as such.
3. Bring to mind the goodness of those to whom one owes a debt of gratitude — one’s parents, teachers, and spiritual mentors who have guided and instructed one in the cultivation of virtue to this very day.
4. Resolve with firm intention to continue doing good.

One who is able to do thus may rightly be called a wise consumer of media — capable, in whatever situation they encounter, of transforming the unwholesome into the wholesome. Such a person does not act in blind accordance with prevailing currents. In so doing, they honor the precious gift of having been born a human being and having encountered the Buddha’s Teaching — and do not allow that rare fortune to be spent in vain.

March 17^th, 2020

This is what is entrusted to you: that whatever you wish to do, do it without delay. This present moment brings with it the opportunity to study, the opportunity to engage in wholesome pursuits, the opportunity for all that is good — offered freely, without cost. Yet it comes with conditions:

1. Opportunity does not return. Time and tide wait for no one and turn back for none.

2. Moreover, time brings with it the gift of ageing — whether one makes use of time or not, old age must be received all the same. And so, the skin grows thin, the flesh grows loose, in due and natural succession. Ageing is accompanied, in the end, by the gift of death. If one is given time and does not make use of it, one incurs a profound loss. And should one use it wrongly, the loss becomes all the heavier still.

April 30^th, 2014

However, the efficiency in using those hours varies greatly. A king uses his time like a king, enabling him to do vast amounts of good for the public. A billionaire uses his time like a billionaire, allowing him to acquire great wealth.

Consider carefully what you wish to be. Though we all have 24 hours, the outcome depends entirely on how the owner of that time chooses to use it efficiently.

April 30^th, 2014

Because we understand the principle that merit is the source of all things—the key to success and prosperity—we gather as a family to create merit together. Doing so serves as a guarantee for our future: that we will continue to prosper and experience happiness side-by-side, without anyone being left behind.

Because we have performed merit as a team, even when the time comes to depart from this world, the destination is clear for those with a meritorious and clear mind. When the mind is clear, a fortunate realm is the certain destination. Furthermore, when it is time to return to cultivate perfections once again, having made merit as a family ensures that we will meet again as parents, siblings, children, or relatives. This is truly the way to plan for the long term.

May 4^th, 2015

What we do know for certain, however, is that we must all eventually face death. Therefore, before that moment arrives, we must live in such a way that we cannot find any fault in ourselves by developing virtue and correcting one’s faults to the fullest.

March 17^th, 2020

For once love arises within a person, it gives rise to worry and anxiety, to possessiveness over the one they love, and to the fear that they may be lost to another. The more one loves, the more one worries; the more one worries, the more one clings; the more one clings, the more one is consumed by jealousy; and the more one is consumed by jealousy, the deeper one’s suffering becomes.

Whoever has one love has, at the very least, one sorrow. Whoever has a hundred loves has a hundred sorrows. Simply put — the more you love, the more you weep.

Therefore, one who has no love need shed no tears, and shall be the most contented of all.

October 15^th, 2019

Therefore, the true measure of whether propagation has been carried out well — and to what degree — lies in this: that the knowledge of Buddhism, particularly the understanding of suffering and the practice leading to liberation from suffering, having been received, is then put into practice so as to give rise to wholesome habits of character. Better still if such practice develops further into virtue and moral integrity firmly established within the heart. It is precisely because Buddhism is founded upon this principle that it has endured as the longest-living institution in the world.

Source: A Dhamma Teaching delivered at the Dhamma Missionary Training Programme, Group 8 At Wat Ratchaorasaram, Bangkok March 10^th, 2016

This is because the moment a person is born into this world, they immediately fall under the Law of Kamma — without knowing that such a law exists. For the natural laws of this world are never proclaimed or set down in written form for all to know.

One must observe. One must discern these laws through careful observation on one’s own. Without such observation, one will never come to know what natural laws govern all things in this world. Every natural law has both a negative aspect and a positive aspect. If one fails to observe, or observes without sufficient discernment, one may unknowingly act in accordance with the negative aspect of nature — and suffering will follow, sometimes even to the point of endangering one’s life. However, if through careful observation one comes to understand both the negative and positive aspects of nature, and then chooses to act in accordance with the positive, one will encounter happiness and prosperity.

Kaewsarapakneuk Hall, Wat Phra Dhammakaya, February 1^st, 2015

For this reason, the Tipiṭaka — which enshrines the teachings of the Lord Buddha and reveals to humanity the hidden truths of existence — is something we must endeavor to read in its entirety, time and again. We should read it with deep appreciation and heartfelt reverence for the Lord Buddha’s boundless compassion (mahākaruṇā). In doing so, we shall find the inner strength and inspiration to dedicate our lives wholeheartedly to the practice of the Dhamma, following in the footsteps of the Lord Buddha ever more earnestly. This, in turn, will serve as the cause by which we are able to gradually access the Dhamma within, until at last the mind and the Dhamma become one and the same.

From the book Buat Mai Sia Pha Lueang, Suek Mai Plueang Pha Lai, page 31