Description of Buddhism by Mattieu Ricard

Buddhism is essentially a way of knowledge that leads to liberation from suffering. The awakening in which it culminates is both a wisdom based on an accurate understanding of reality and a freedom from the disturbing emotions and obscurations caused by ignorance. The practice of Buddhism does not require us to give up what is good in our life, but to abandon the causes of suffering, to which we are often attached to the point of addiction. So studying the Buddhist teachings does not mean overloading the mind with a lot of information. We just need to master the specific knowledge that will enable us to get free from samsara, the cycle of lies conditioned by ignorance and pain. 

The Buddhist path is structured so that it takes into account the gradual process of inner transformation. Each step leads naturally to the next. ... Certain factors will help this transformation. The most important is to realize that one already possesses the potential for transformation, would Buddhism calls "buddha-nature" or literally "the embryo of buddhahood." Then comes the inspiration aroused by meeting on authentic spiritual master, followed by an enthusiastic determination to cultivate altruism, compassion, and the other essential qualities that the master exemplifies, and finally the perseverance that is indispensable to achieve any real change. Page 1

.......

The answer that Buddhism provides is that our human life is extremely precious; the disillusionment that comes over us at times does not mean that life is not worth living. However, we have not yet clearly identified what it is that makes life meaningful. 

"The question is not whether life has meaning, but how each of us can give it one," says the Dalai Lama. Our extremely precious existence is even more so when we enjoy all our physical and mental faculties, have the freedom to choose what we do, and use those conditions to release the potential for transformation that is within us. Time is running out. Accidents, sickness, and, inevitably, death can occur without warning. Hence there is an emphasis on diligence. Page 2

Introduction to On the Path to Enlightenment by Mattieu Ricard

- - - - -

Altruistic love and compassion are the heart of Buddhist practice. They are considered to be the "essence of the great vehicle," the "path traveled by all the Buddhas of past and present, and which will be traveled by all Buddhas of the future," the method "which alone is sufficient, and without which nothing can be accomplished." In the Buddhist sense, altruistic love is defined as "the wish that all beings may find happiness and the causes of happiness," and compassion as "the wish that all beings may be free from suffering and the causes of suffering."

Chapter 7, Altruistic Love and Compassion

Page 77

- - - - -

Focusing on all sentient beings, practice the four boundless qualities: love, which is the wish that they be happy; compassion, the wish they be free from suffering; sympathetic joy, which is to feel happy when they are happy; and impartiality, which is to treat them impartially as equals, without attachment or aversion.

By Kangyur Rinpoche

Chapter 7, Altruistic Love and Compassion

Page 85

If we compare the altruistic desire to attain enlightenment for the good of all to the wish to go on a journey, the journey itself would be the practice of the six transcendent virtues - generosity, discipline, patience, joyous effort, concentration, and wisdom - that will perfectly accomplish the double acquisition of merit and wisdom. Those virtues can only really be called "transcendent" if they are practiced with the understanding that the three aspects of whatever one does - the subject, object, and the action itself - are empty of intrinsic reality. In other words, the first five virtues become truly transcendent in so far as they are impregnated with the sixth, wisdom. Transcendent generosity, for example, is not just the act of giving, but a natural expression of freedom from the notions of "I" and "mine". It then performs the dual function of relieving the immediate suffering of those in need and contributing to the enlightenment of those who practice it. That enlightenment is the ultimate remedy for suffering. 

The Six Perfections or Transcendent Virtues chapter 8, page 105