Chapter 1: Verse 80
Venerable Thubten Chodron 
Teachings at Sravasti Abbey 
Oct 1, 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.
- How the person and the aggregates are merely posited through the force of convention
- Quote from Nagarjuna’s Sixty Stanzas of Reasoning that helps to explain the verse
- The world is conditioned in that the environment and all beings in it arise due to self-grasping ignorance
- Refuting false existence, inherent existence, does not negate conventional existence
- Realizing that things exist by mere designation is more difficult than realizing they are empty of inherent existence
- Quote from Aryadeva’s 400 Stanzas on the Middle Way that helps to explain the verse
- The three criteria that establish conventional existence
- Lama Tsongkhapa draws on the 2 stanzas to explain the object of negation
Precious Garland 22: Verse 80 (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.
