Chapter 6: Verses 135–140
Geshe Yeshe Thabkhe 
Aryadeva's 400 Stanzas 
Sep 2, 2014 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.
Motivation from Chandrakirti’s Supplement to Nagarjuna’s Treatise on the Middle Way
If when independent and enjoying favorable circumstances,
One does not protect oneself from falling into the lower realms,
Once one has fallen into the abyss and has no power to escape,
What will be able to lift one up and out of that?
- How to take full advantage of the precious human life to avoid rebirth in lower realms: purify negative karma, abstain from non-virtue, and create virtue
- Practice of wisdom realizing emptiness of inherent existence and cultivation of bodhicitta help us attain liberation and full awakening
Verses 135-140
- The root of all afflictions
- Emptiness as the meaning of dependent arising
- Explanation of depending arising as an antidote to ignorance
- How to recognize and care for somebody habituated to attachment
- Why anger is an inappropriate response in any situation
- Inappropriateness of anger as a response to harsh words
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.
