Chapter 2: Verses 39-50
Geshe Yeshe Thabkhe 
Aryadeva's 400 Stanzas 
Jul 11, 2013 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.
- Examples proving that it is erroneous to think of suffering as pleasure
- No action is done without physical or mental exertion; therefore, it cannot be called pleasurable
- Calling destructive actions done for the sake of a little pleasure “pleasurable” is improper because they result in future suffering
- There is never real pleasure in any activity at the outset, we just mistake pain for pleasure
- Alleviation of pain is not real pleasure, there is no pleasurable sensation entirely free from discomfort
- There is not even slightest real pleasure that can effectively override pain
- Meditation on the body as a source of suffering to avoid confusion and pitfalls of cyclic existence
- How to meditate on the pervasive suffering of conditioning
- Benefits of the meditation on suffering and practical advice on how to work with adversity
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.
