Chapter 1: Verses 25-26
Venerable Thubten Chodron 
Teachings at Sravasti Abbey 
Jul 9, 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.
- Things and persons are empty of a fabricated type of existence that we project on to them, inherent existence
- We label something and forget we labeled it, give it meaning, but we think that the thing has meaning from it’s own side
- What are we referring to when we say “me?” What can we point to that is me?
- The analogy of being born with sunglasses to seeing things as inherently existent
- The danger of misunderstanding emptiness to mean total nonexistence
- The uneducated and the wise have two totally different reactions to learning about emptiness
- Why it’s important to have an understanding of the stages of the path, especially karma and its effects, before delving into the topic of emptiness
- When emptiness is perceived directly, conventional phenomena don’t appear. However, that doesn’t mean they don’t exist
Precious Garland 11: Verses 25-26 (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.
