Determining the I doesn’t inherently exist
105 Middle-Length Lamrim
Venerable Sangye Khadro 
Stages of the Path 
Mar 26, 2026 Part of a series of weekly teachings on Lama Tsongkhapa's Middle-Length Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment.
Refer to the slides for the teaching.
- Guided meditation on impermanence and the self
- Determining that the “I” does not inherently exist using the four point analysis
- The first point: Identifying the object of negation
- It’s hard to recognize the object of negation
- The second point: Ascertain the pervasion
- The third point; Ascertain that the self does not exist as inherently one with the aggregates
- The three faults that would arise if the self and the aggregates were inherently one
- It would be pointless to assert a self
- The self would be many or the aggregates would be one
- The self would arise and disintegrate just as the aggregates
Venerable Sangye Khadro
California-born, Venerable Sangye Khadro ordained as a Buddhist nun at Kopan Monastery in 1974 and is a longtime friend and colleague of Abbey founder Venerable Thubten Chodron. She took bhikshuni (full) ordination in 1988. While studying at Nalanda Monastery in France in the 1980s, she helped to start the Dorje Pamo Nunnery, along with Venerable Chodron. Venerable Sangye Khadro has studied with many Buddhist masters including Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Lama Yeshe, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey, and Khensur Jampa Tegchok. At her teachers’ request, she began teaching in 1980 and has since taught in countries around the world, occasionally taking time off for personal retreats. She served as resident teacher in Buddha House, Australia, Amitabha Buddhist Centre in Singapore, and the FPMT centre in Denmark. From 2008-2015, she followed the Masters Program at the Lama Tsong Khapa Institute in Italy. Venerable has authored a number books found here, including the best-selling How to Meditate. She has taught at Sravasti Abbey since 2017 and is now a full-time resident.
