Chapter 1: Verses 39-44
Venerable Thubten Chodron 
Teachings at Sravasti Abbey 
Aug 13, 2015 Chapter 1 addresses what to abandon and what to practice to attain upper rebirth and highest good. Part of a series of talks on Nagarjuna's Precious Garland of Advice for a King.
- Our habitual ways of thinking make us miserable. The Dharma is about reframing how we look at things
- Non-Buddhists misunderstand and think that empty of inherent existence means total nonexistence and that nirvana is like death, total cessation of the person
- Some lower school Buddhists believe that when an arhat dies that all aggregates cease, including the continuity of consciousness, so the person completely ceases
- The lower schools and the Prasangika Madhyamaka differ in their view of nirvana
- The Prasangika Madhyamaka refutation of lower schools’ view that nirvana is inherently existent
- The Prasangikas refutation of inherently existent aggregates and afflictions
- The lower schools and Prasangikas define nirvana with remainder and nirvana without remainder differently
- Acquired I-grasping and innate I-grasping
Precious Garland 15: Verses 39-44 (download)
Venerable Thubten Chodron
Venerable Chodron emphasizes the practical application of Buddha’s teachings in our daily lives and is especially skilled at explaining them in ways easily understood and practiced by Westerners. She is well known for her warm, humorous, and lucid teachings. She was ordained as a Buddhist nun in 1977 by Kyabje Ling Rinpoche in Dharamsala, India, and in 1986 she received bhikshuni (full) ordination in Taiwan. Read her full bio.
