What “appearing like an illusion” means
110 Middle-Length Lamrim
Venerable Sangye Khadro 
Stages of the Path 
Apr 30, 2026 Part of a series of weekly teachings on Lama Tsongkhapa's Middle-Length Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment.
- Guided meditation on refuting an inherently existent I that is separate from the aggregates
- When the “I” does not exist the “mine” cannot exist
- Questions and comments
- The meaning of appearing like an illusion
- Though persons and phenomena are empty they are valid
- Realizing that the reflection is not a real face doesn’t mean you have realized emptiness
- If something is truly existent, there should not be a discrepancy between how it appears and how it exists
- Knowing illusions and dreams are not real doesn’t mean you have realized emptiness
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.
