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Chapter 12: Verses 277-278

Chapter 12: Verses 277-278

Part of a series of teachings on Aryadeva’s 400 Stanzas on the Middle Way given on an annual basis by Geshe Yeshe Thabkhe from 2013-2017.

Questions and answers

  • At what point on the path a practitioner has the realization of subtle impermanence
  • Specific suggestions on how to develop the realization of subtle impermanence in our daily life
  • Refuting the permanent unitary independent self
  • How the third attribute of true dukkha, i.e. emptiness, counteracts the wrong view of holding the body which is foul as pure

Motivation from Nagarjuna’s Hundred Verses on Wisdom

Wisdom is the root of all good qualities,
Seen and not yet seen.
To achieve both of these,
Embrace wisdom.

The great source for what you seek
And for liberation is knowledge.
So, esteeming it from the start,
Adhere to wisdom, Great Mother.

  • Five topics of knowledge studied by bodhisattvas
  • How wisdom complements each of the five far-reaching attitudes

Verses 277-278

  • How not possessing the required qualities of the listener prevents us from understanding the Buddha’s teachings correctly
  • Appropriateness of being glad about the teaching of emptiness which removes suffering and its causes
  • Importance of teaching the Dharma according to what people are able to understand

Geshe Yeshe Thabkhe

Geshe Yeshe Thabkhe was born in 1930 in Lhokha, Central Tibet and became a monk at the age of 13. After completing his studies at Drepung Loseling Monastery in 1969, he was awarded Geshe Lharampa, the highest degree in the Geluk School of Tibetan Buddhism. He is an emeritus professor at the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies and an eminent scholar of both Madhyamaka and Indian Buddhist studies. His works include Hindi translations of The Essence of Good Explanation of Definitive and Interpretable Meanings by Lama Tsongkhapa and Kamalasila's commentary on the Rice Seedling Sutra. His own commentary, The Rice Seedling Sutra: Buddha’s Teachings on Dependent Arising, was translated into English by Joshua and Diana Cutler and published by Wisdom Publications. Geshela has facilitated many research works, such as a complete translation of Tsongkhapa’s The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment, a major project undertaken by the Tibetan Buddhist Learning Center in New Jersey where he teaches regularly.