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The importance of realizing emptiness

The importance of realizing emptiness

Part of a series of online teachings based on the book Searching for the Self, the seventh volume in The Library of Wisdom and Compassion series by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Venerable Thubten Chodron. The talks were hosted by Jewel Heart Tibetan Buddhist Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

  • Dependent arising as the monarch of reasonings
  • Learning about emptiness loosens clinging to our identities
  • How ignorance functions to create suffering for ourselves and others
  • The wisdom realizing emptiness is the antidote to ignorance
  • The importance of seeking the correct antidote
  • Refuting wrong views from other religions and about tantra
  • Avoiding the two extremes of absolutism and nihilism
  • The nature of emptiness, its meaning and its purpose
  • Questions and answers
    • Is emptiness a foundational practice and how should one begin studying Buddhism?
    • Can you explain the quote from Nagarjuna on the meditation on emptiness?
    • Affirming the view of dependent arising after meditating on emptiness
    • The difficulty of understanding the emptiness of inherent existence

The importance of realizing emptiness (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.