Podcasts about Madhyamaka

Nāgārjuna (c. 150 – c. 250 CE) was an Indian Buddhist monk and philosopher, regarded as the founder of the Madhyamaka (Middle Way) school of Mahāyāna Buddhism. His most famous work, Mūlamadhyamakakārikā (Root Verses on the Middle Way), presents the concept of śūnyatā (emptiness) and the two truths doctrine, emphasizing dependent origination and rejecting inherent existence. Nāgārjuna's philosophy has profoundly influenced Mahāyāna thought and continues to shape Buddhist studies and practice today.

Andy Karr began his formal Buddhist practice in 1971 at the SF Zen Center with Shunryu Suzuki after having devoured Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind many times. In early 1972 he began studying with Chogyam Trungpa. He has written three books, the latest one being Into the Mirror: A Buddhist Journey Through Mind, Matter, and the Nature of Reality. He has been teaching Tibetan Buddhism for years focusing on clearly understanding Mahamudra, Yogachara, Madhyamaka, and so forth. Learn more about him and his teaching at andykarrauthor.com 

Welcome to the complete Iceberg of Consciousness. As a listener of TOE you can get a special 20% off discount to The Economist and all it has to offer! Visit https://www.economist.com/toe Join My New Substack (Personal Writings): https://curtjaimungal.substack.com Listen on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/SpotifyTOE Become a YouTube Member (Early Access Videos): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdWIQh9DGG6uhJk8eyIFl1w/join --------------------- LAYER 1 01:31 – Introduction to Layer 1 01:38 – What Is Consciousness? 04:20 – The Mind-Body Problem 06:02 – Sleep, Dreams, and Altered States 08:53 – Free Will vs. Determinism 10:58 – The Self and Identity LAYER 2 12:56 – Introduction to Layer 2 13:02 – The Hard Problem of Consciousness 16:59 – Qualia and Phenomenal Consciousness 19:27 – Advaita Vedanta (Non-Dualism) 22:59 – John Vervaeke's Relevance Realization 24:45 – Panpsychism and the Combination Problem 26:58 – Buddhist Consciousness (Yogācāra & Madhyamaka) 29:04 – Global Workspace Theory 31:59 – Carl Jung's Explanation for Consciousness LAYER 3 36:03 – Introduction to Layer 3 36:47 – Heidegger's Concept of Dasein 39:28 – Attention Schema Theory (Michael Graziano) 42:53 – EM-Field Topology & Boundary Problem (Andrés Gómez Emilsson) 46:49 – Joscha Bach's Theory 53:41 – Donald Hoffman's Theory 57:47 – Nir Lahav's Relativistic Consciousness LAYER 4 01:05:46 – Introduction to Layer 4 01:06:25 – Douglas Hofstadter's Strange Loops 01:11:50 – Penrose's Quantum Consciousness 01:16:04 – Christopher Langan's CTMU 01:20:31 – Johnjoe McFadden's CEMI Field Theory 01:24:24 – David Chalmers' Extended Mind Hypothesis 01:29:18 – Iain McGilchrist's Relational Dual-Aspect Monism LAYER 5 01:33:04 – Introduction to Layer 5 01:34:35 – Bernardo Kastrup's Analytic Idealism 01:38:54 – Karl Friston's Enactive Approach / Free Energy Principle 01:42:12 – Alfred North Whitehead's Pan-Experientialism 01:46:56 – Mark Solms' Felt Uncertainty & Affective Theory 01:51:20 – Thomas Metzinger's Minimal Phenomenal Selfhood --------------------- Support TOE on Patreon: https://patreon.com/curtjaimungal Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOEwithCurt Discord Invite: https://discord.com/invite/kBcnfNVwqs #science #consciousness Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nāgārjuna (c. 150-250), founder of the Madhyamaka or Middle Way school of Buddhist philosophy and the most influential of all Buddhist thinkers aside from the Buddha himself, concludes his masterpiece, Fundamental Verses on the Middle Way, with these baffling verses: For the abandonment of all views He taught the true teaching By means of compassion I salute him, Gautama But how could anyone possibly abandon all views? In Buddhism Between Religion and Philosophy: Nāgārjuna and the Ethics of Emptiness (Oxford UP, 2024), Rafal K. Stepien shows not only how Nāgārjuna's radical teaching of no-view or “abelief” makes sense within his Buddhist philosophy, but also how it stands at the summit of his religious mission to care for all living beings. Rather than treating any one aspect of Nāgārjuna's ideas in isolation, here his metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics emerge as a single coherent and convincing philosophical-religious system of thought and practice. Grounded in meticulous study of original texts from classical India and China but innovating on the theories and methods underpinning contemporary scholarship East and West, this study shows how profoundly important voices from the diverse religious and philosophical traditions of the world have until now been diminished, distorted, and silenced. In opening up truly global horizons of existing and co-existing in the world, this work challenges the very ways in which we think about religion and philosophy. * Elucidates Nāgārjuna's thought in its Buddhist context, integrating his views on belief and intention, language and mind, action and attachment, selfhood and suffering, violence and peace, emptiness and Buddhahood * Presents a trenchant critique of the Christian and Western assumptions still dominating the study of religion and philosophy today * Introduces and clarifies ideas of pivotal importance to the history of Buddhist thought in India, Tibet, China, and Japan Readers may also find a related edited volume equally fascinating, Buddhist Literature as Philosophy and Buddhist Philosophy as Literature Prof. Rafal Stepien is also leading a collaborative project, " The Ethics of Empty Beliefs: Chinese Buddhist Philosophy in the ‘Period of Disunity'" that has openings for postdocs and will host several workshops on studies of Sanlun and its influences in Sinophone spheres.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Nāgārjuna (c. 150-250), founder of the Madhyamaka or Middle Way school of Buddhist philosophy and the most influential of all Buddhist thinkers aside from the Buddha himself, concludes his masterpiece, Fundamental Verses on the Middle Way, with these baffling verses: For the abandonment of all views He taught the true teaching By means of compassion I salute him, Gautama But how could anyone possibly abandon all views? In Buddhism Between Religion and Philosophy: Nāgārjuna and the Ethics of Emptiness (Oxford UP, 2024), Rafal K. Stepien shows not only how Nāgārjuna's radical teaching of no-view or “abelief” makes sense within his Buddhist philosophy, but also how it stands at the summit of his religious mission to care for all living beings. Rather than treating any one aspect of Nāgārjuna's ideas in isolation, here his metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics emerge as a single coherent and convincing philosophical-religious system of thought and practice. Grounded in meticulous study of original texts from classical India and China but innovating on the theories and methods underpinning contemporary scholarship East and West, this study shows how profoundly important voices from the diverse religious and philosophical traditions of the world have until now been diminished, distorted, and silenced. In opening up truly global horizons of existing and co-existing in the world, this work challenges the very ways in which we think about religion and philosophy. * Elucidates Nāgārjuna's thought in its Buddhist context, integrating his views on belief and intention, language and mind, action and attachment, selfhood and suffering, violence and peace, emptiness and Buddhahood * Presents a trenchant critique of the Christian and Western assumptions still dominating the study of religion and philosophy today * Introduces and clarifies ideas of pivotal importance to the history of Buddhist thought in India, Tibet, China, and Japan Readers may also find a related edited volume equally fascinating, Buddhist Literature as Philosophy and Buddhist Philosophy as Literature Prof. Rafal Stepien is also leading a collaborative project, " The Ethics of Empty Beliefs: Chinese Buddhist Philosophy in the ‘Period of Disunity'" that has openings for postdocs and will host several workshops on studies of Sanlun and its influences in Sinophone spheres.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/intellectual-history

Nāgārjuna (c. 150-250), founder of the Madhyamaka or Middle Way school of Buddhist philosophy and the most influential of all Buddhist thinkers aside from the Buddha himself, concludes his masterpiece, Fundamental Verses on the Middle Way, with these baffling verses: For the abandonment of all views He taught the true teaching By means of compassion I salute him, Gautama But how could anyone possibly abandon all views? In Buddhism Between Religion and Philosophy: Nāgārjuna and the Ethics of Emptiness (Oxford UP, 2024), Rafal K. Stepien shows not only how Nāgārjuna's radical teaching of no-view or “abelief” makes sense within his Buddhist philosophy, but also how it stands at the summit of his religious mission to care for all living beings. Rather than treating any one aspect of Nāgārjuna's ideas in isolation, here his metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics emerge as a single coherent and convincing philosophical-religious system of thought and practice. Grounded in meticulous study of original texts from classical India and China but innovating on the theories and methods underpinning contemporary scholarship East and West, this study shows how profoundly important voices from the diverse religious and philosophical traditions of the world have until now been diminished, distorted, and silenced. In opening up truly global horizons of existing and co-existing in the world, this work challenges the very ways in which we think about religion and philosophy. * Elucidates Nāgārjuna's thought in its Buddhist context, integrating his views on belief and intention, language and mind, action and attachment, selfhood and suffering, violence and peace, emptiness and Buddhahood * Presents a trenchant critique of the Christian and Western assumptions still dominating the study of religion and philosophy today * Introduces and clarifies ideas of pivotal importance to the history of Buddhist thought in India, Tibet, China, and Japan Readers may also find a related edited volume equally fascinating, Buddhist Literature as Philosophy and Buddhist Philosophy as Literature Prof. Rafal Stepien is also leading a collaborative project, " The Ethics of Empty Beliefs: Chinese Buddhist Philosophy in the ‘Period of Disunity'" that has openings for postdocs and will host several workshops on studies of Sanlun and its influences in Sinophone spheres.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nāgārjuna (c. 150-250), founder of the Madhyamaka or Middle Way school of Buddhist philosophy and the most influential of all Buddhist thinkers aside from the Buddha himself, concludes his masterpiece, Fundamental Verses on the Middle Way, with these baffling verses: For the abandonment of all views He taught the true teaching By means of compassion I salute him, Gautama But how could anyone possibly abandon all views? In Buddhism Between Religion and Philosophy: Nāgārjuna and the Ethics of Emptiness (Oxford UP, 2024), Rafal K. Stepien shows not only how Nāgārjuna's radical teaching of no-view or “abelief” makes sense within his Buddhist philosophy, but also how it stands at the summit of his religious mission to care for all living beings. Rather than treating any one aspect of Nāgārjuna's ideas in isolation, here his metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics emerge as a single coherent and convincing philosophical-religious system of thought and practice. Grounded in meticulous study of original texts from classical India and China but innovating on the theories and methods underpinning contemporary scholarship East and West, this study shows how profoundly important voices from the diverse religious and philosophical traditions of the world have until now been diminished, distorted, and silenced. In opening up truly global horizons of existing and co-existing in the world, this work challenges the very ways in which we think about religion and philosophy. * Elucidates Nāgārjuna's thought in its Buddhist context, integrating his views on belief and intention, language and mind, action and attachment, selfhood and suffering, violence and peace, emptiness and Buddhahood * Presents a trenchant critique of the Christian and Western assumptions still dominating the study of religion and philosophy today * Introduces and clarifies ideas of pivotal importance to the history of Buddhist thought in India, Tibet, China, and Japan Readers may also find a related edited volume equally fascinating, Buddhist Literature as Philosophy and Buddhist Philosophy as Literature Prof. Rafal Stepien is also leading a collaborative project, " The Ethics of Empty Beliefs: Chinese Buddhist Philosophy in the ‘Period of Disunity'" that has openings for postdocs and will host several workshops on studies of Sanlun and its influences in Sinophone spheres.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/buddhist-studies

Nāgārjuna (c. 150-250), founder of the Madhyamaka or Middle Way school of Buddhist philosophy and the most influential of all Buddhist thinkers aside from the Buddha himself, concludes his masterpiece, Fundamental Verses on the Middle Way, with these baffling verses: For the abandonment of all views He taught the true teaching By means of compassion I salute him, Gautama But how could anyone possibly abandon all views? In Buddhism Between Religion and Philosophy: Nāgārjuna and the Ethics of Emptiness (Oxford UP, 2024), Rafal K. Stepien shows not only how Nāgārjuna's radical teaching of no-view or “abelief” makes sense within his Buddhist philosophy, but also how it stands at the summit of his religious mission to care for all living beings. Rather than treating any one aspect of Nāgārjuna's ideas in isolation, here his metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics emerge as a single coherent and convincing philosophical-religious system of thought and practice. Grounded in meticulous study of original texts from classical India and China but innovating on the theories and methods underpinning contemporary scholarship East and West, this study shows how profoundly important voices from the diverse religious and philosophical traditions of the world have until now been diminished, distorted, and silenced. In opening up truly global horizons of existing and co-existing in the world, this work challenges the very ways in which we think about religion and philosophy. * Elucidates Nāgārjuna's thought in its Buddhist context, integrating his views on belief and intention, language and mind, action and attachment, selfhood and suffering, violence and peace, emptiness and Buddhahood * Presents a trenchant critique of the Christian and Western assumptions still dominating the study of religion and philosophy today * Introduces and clarifies ideas of pivotal importance to the history of Buddhist thought in India, Tibet, China, and Japan Readers may also find a related edited volume equally fascinating, Buddhist Literature as Philosophy and Buddhist Philosophy as Literature Prof. Rafal Stepien is also leading a collaborative project, " The Ethics of Empty Beliefs: Chinese Buddhist Philosophy in the ‘Period of Disunity'" that has openings for postdocs and will host several workshops on studies of Sanlun and its influences in Sinophone spheres.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/indian-religions

Nāgārjuna (c. 150-250), founder of the Madhyamaka or Middle Way school of Buddhist philosophy and the most influential of all Buddhist thinkers aside from the Buddha himself, concludes his masterpiece, Fundamental Verses on the Middle Way, with these baffling verses: For the abandonment of all views He taught the true teaching By means of compassion I salute him, Gautama But how could anyone possibly abandon all views? In Buddhism Between Religion and Philosophy: Nāgārjuna and the Ethics of Emptiness (Oxford UP, 2024), Rafal K. Stepien shows not only how Nāgārjuna's radical teaching of no-view or “abelief” makes sense within his Buddhist philosophy, but also how it stands at the summit of his religious mission to care for all living beings. Rather than treating any one aspect of Nāgārjuna's ideas in isolation, here his metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics emerge as a single coherent and convincing philosophical-religious system of thought and practice. Grounded in meticulous study of original texts from classical India and China but innovating on the theories and methods underpinning contemporary scholarship East and West, this study shows how profoundly important voices from the diverse religious and philosophical traditions of the world have until now been diminished, distorted, and silenced. In opening up truly global horizons of existing and co-existing in the world, this work challenges the very ways in which we think about religion and philosophy. * Elucidates Nāgārjuna's thought in its Buddhist context, integrating his views on belief and intention, language and mind, action and attachment, selfhood and suffering, violence and peace, emptiness and Buddhahood * Presents a trenchant critique of the Christian and Western assumptions still dominating the study of religion and philosophy today * Introduces and clarifies ideas of pivotal importance to the history of Buddhist thought in India, Tibet, China, and Japan Readers may also find a related edited volume equally fascinating, Buddhist Literature as Philosophy and Buddhist Philosophy as Literature Prof. Rafal Stepien is also leading a collaborative project, " The Ethics of Empty Beliefs: Chinese Buddhist Philosophy in the ‘Period of Disunity'" that has openings for postdocs and will host several workshops on studies of Sanlun and its influences in Sinophone spheres.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/religion

Nāgārjuna (c. 150-250), founder of the Madhyamaka or Middle Way school of Buddhist philosophy and the most influential of all Buddhist thinkers aside from the Buddha himself, concludes his masterpiece, Fundamental Verses on the Middle Way, with these baffling verses: For the abandonment of all views He taught the true teaching By means of compassion I salute him, Gautama But how could anyone possibly abandon all views? In Buddhism Between Religion and Philosophy: Nāgārjuna and the Ethics of Emptiness (Oxford UP, 2024), Rafal K. Stepien shows not only how Nāgārjuna's radical teaching of no-view or “abelief” makes sense within his Buddhist philosophy, but also how it stands at the summit of his religious mission to care for all living beings. Rather than treating any one aspect of Nāgārjuna's ideas in isolation, here his metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics emerge as a single coherent and convincing philosophical-religious system of thought and practice. Grounded in meticulous study of original texts from classical India and China but innovating on the theories and methods underpinning contemporary scholarship East and West, this study shows how profoundly important voices from the diverse religious and philosophical traditions of the world have until now been diminished, distorted, and silenced. In opening up truly global horizons of existing and co-existing in the world, this work challenges the very ways in which we think about religion and philosophy. * Elucidates Nāgārjuna's thought in its Buddhist context, integrating his views on belief and intention, language and mind, action and attachment, selfhood and suffering, violence and peace, emptiness and Buddhahood * Presents a trenchant critique of the Christian and Western assumptions still dominating the study of religion and philosophy today * Introduces and clarifies ideas of pivotal importance to the history of Buddhist thought in India, Tibet, China, and Japan Readers may also find a related edited volume equally fascinating, Buddhist Literature as Philosophy and Buddhist Philosophy as Literature Prof. Rafal Stepien is also leading a collaborative project, " The Ethics of Empty Beliefs: Chinese Buddhist Philosophy in the ‘Period of Disunity'" that has openings for postdocs and will host several workshops on studies of Sanlun and its influences in Sinophone spheres. 

An influential eighth-century Buddhist text, Śāntideva's Bodhicaryāvatāra, or Guide to the Practices of Awakening, how to become a supremely virtuous person, a bodhisattva who desires to end the suffering of all sentient beings.  Stephen Harris's Buddhist Ethics and the Bodhisattva Path: Śāntideva on Virtue and Well-Being (Bloomsbury Academic, 2024) is a study of the Guide. It articulates Śāntideva's moral psychology and virtue theory in chapter-length treatments of four central virtues: generosity, patience, compassion, and wisdom. According to Harris, Śāntideva thinks these virtues benefit human persons, and thus the radically altruistic bodhisattva path is also a self-interested one. Harris's book also explores how this ethical project coheres with the emptiness of all things, the famous Madhyamaka denial of intrinsic nature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

An influential eighth-century Buddhist text, Śāntideva's Bodhicaryāvatāra, or Guide to the Practices of Awakening, how to become a supremely virtuous person, a bodhisattva who desires to end the suffering of all sentient beings.  Stephen Harris's Buddhist Ethics and the Bodhisattva Path: Śāntideva on Virtue and Well-Being (Bloomsbury Academic, 2024) is a study of the Guide. It articulates Śāntideva's moral psychology and virtue theory in chapter-length treatments of four central virtues: generosity, patience, compassion, and wisdom. According to Harris, Śāntideva thinks these virtues benefit human persons, and thus the radically altruistic bodhisattva path is also a self-interested one. Harris's book also explores how this ethical project coheres with the emptiness of all things, the famous Madhyamaka denial of intrinsic nature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/philosophy

An influential eighth-century Buddhist text, Śāntideva's Bodhicaryāvatāra, or Guide to the Practices of Awakening, how to become a supremely virtuous person, a bodhisattva who desires to end the suffering of all sentient beings.  Stephen Harris's Buddhist Ethics and the Bodhisattva Path: Śāntideva on Virtue and Well-Being (Bloomsbury Academic, 2024) is a study of the Guide. It articulates Śāntideva's moral psychology and virtue theory in chapter-length treatments of four central virtues: generosity, patience, compassion, and wisdom. According to Harris, Śāntideva thinks these virtues benefit human persons, and thus the radically altruistic bodhisattva path is also a self-interested one. Harris's book also explores how this ethical project coheres with the emptiness of all things, the famous Madhyamaka denial of intrinsic nature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/intellectual-history

An influential eighth-century Buddhist text, Śāntideva's Bodhicaryāvatāra, or Guide to the Practices of Awakening, how to become a supremely virtuous person, a bodhisattva who desires to end the suffering of all sentient beings.  Stephen Harris's Buddhist Ethics and the Bodhisattva Path: Śāntideva on Virtue and Well-Being (Bloomsbury Academic, 2024) is a study of the Guide. It articulates Śāntideva's moral psychology and virtue theory in chapter-length treatments of four central virtues: generosity, patience, compassion, and wisdom. According to Harris, Śāntideva thinks these virtues benefit human persons, and thus the radically altruistic bodhisattva path is also a self-interested one. Harris's book also explores how this ethical project coheres with the emptiness of all things, the famous Madhyamaka denial of intrinsic nature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An influential eighth-century Buddhist text, Śāntideva's Bodhicaryāvatāra, or Guide to the Practices of Awakening, how to become a supremely virtuous person, a bodhisattva who desires to end the suffering of all sentient beings.  Stephen Harris's Buddhist Ethics and the Bodhisattva Path: Śāntideva on Virtue and Well-Being (Bloomsbury Academic, 2024) is a study of the Guide. It articulates Śāntideva's moral psychology and virtue theory in chapter-length treatments of four central virtues: generosity, patience, compassion, and wisdom. According to Harris, Śāntideva thinks these virtues benefit human persons, and thus the radically altruistic bodhisattva path is also a self-interested one. Harris's book also explores how this ethical project coheres with the emptiness of all things, the famous Madhyamaka denial of intrinsic nature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/buddhist-studies

An influential eighth-century Buddhist text, Śāntideva's Bodhicaryāvatāra, or Guide to the Practices of Awakening, how to become a supremely virtuous person, a bodhisattva who desires to end the suffering of all sentient beings.  Stephen Harris's Buddhist Ethics and the Bodhisattva Path: Śāntideva on Virtue and Well-Being (Bloomsbury Academic, 2024) is a study of the Guide. It articulates Śāntideva's moral psychology and virtue theory in chapter-length treatments of four central virtues: generosity, patience, compassion, and wisdom. According to Harris, Śāntideva thinks these virtues benefit human persons, and thus the radically altruistic bodhisattva path is also a self-interested one. Harris's book also explores how this ethical project coheres with the emptiness of all things, the famous Madhyamaka denial of intrinsic nature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/south-asian-studies

An influential eighth-century Buddhist text, Śāntideva's Bodhicaryāvatāra, or Guide to the Practices of Awakening, how to become a supremely virtuous person, a bodhisattva who desires to end the suffering of all sentient beings.  Stephen Harris's Buddhist Ethics and the Bodhisattva Path: Śāntideva on Virtue and Well-Being (Bloomsbury Academic, 2024) is a study of the Guide. It articulates Śāntideva's moral psychology and virtue theory in chapter-length treatments of four central virtues: generosity, patience, compassion, and wisdom. According to Harris, Śāntideva thinks these virtues benefit human persons, and thus the radically altruistic bodhisattva path is also a self-interested one. Harris's book also explores how this ethical project coheres with the emptiness of all things, the famous Madhyamaka denial of intrinsic nature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/indian-religions

Buddhism Reference – Madhyamaka. Nagarjuna's Middle Way of practice and the piercing perception of Sunyata. E-books - “Buddhism Reference – Now Available   Threefoldlotus.com/home/Ebooks.htm

From the Buddhist perspective, the understanding and realisation of emptiness is the key to liberation from suffering – because the roots of suffering stem from primordial confusion as to the nature of reality – to be free from suffering we need to eliminate ignorance – to eliminate ignorance is to understand emptiness – hence the realisation of emptiness is the ultimate medicine. In this lecture series we are exploring some of the different ways of understanding emptiness found in Buddhism – today we will go into what is called the Madhymaka School or The Middle Way School which interprets the prajnaparamita sutras – such as the Heart Sutra and The Diamond Sutra. Prajnaparamita meaning the perfection of wisdom – where wisdom realises emptiness. Nagarjuna is the founder of the Madhymaka school and he is the first and most influential Buddhist philosopher - later in the series we will move to exploring the Yogacara view on emptiness and explore the question as to whether or not the Madhyamaka and Yogacara Schools are allies or rivals.

Through engaging, contemporary examples, Making Sense of Mind Only: Why Yogacara Buddhism Matters (Wisdom Publications, 2023) reveals the Yogacara school of Indian Buddhism as a coherent system of ideas and practices for the path to liberation, contextualizing its key texts and rendering them accessible and relevant. The Yogacara, or Yoga Practice, school is one of the two schools of Mahayana Buddhism that developed in the early centuries of the common era. Though it arose in India, Mahayana Buddhism now flourishes in China, Tibet, Korea, Vietnam, and Japan. While the other major Mahayana tradition, the Madhyamaka (Middle Way), focuses on the concept of emptiness—that all phenomena lack an intrinsic essence—the Yogacara school focuses on the cognitive processes whereby we impute such essences. Through everyday examples and analogues in cognitive science, author William Waldron makes Yogacara's core teachings—on the three turnings of the Dharma wheel, the three natures, the storehouse consciousness, and mere perception—accessible to a broad audience. In contrast to the common characterization of Yogacara as philosophical idealism, Waldron presents Yogacara Buddhism on its own terms, as a coherent system of ideas and practices, with dependent arising its guiding principle.  The first half of Making Sense of Mind Only explores the historical context for Yogacara's development. Waldron examines early Buddhist texts that show how our affective and cognitive processes shape the way objects and worlds appear to us, and how we erroneously grasp onto them as essentially real—perpetuating the habits that bind us to samsara. He then analyzes the early Madhyamaka critique of essences.  This context sets the stage for the book's second half, an examination of how Yogacara texts such as the Samdhinirmocana Sutra and Asanga's Stages of Yogic Practice (Yogacarabhumi) build upon these earlier ideas by arguing that our constructive processes also occur unconsciously. Not only do we collectively, yet mostly unknowingly, construct shared realities or cultures, our shared worlds are also mediated through the storehouse consciousness (alayavijñana) functioning as a cultural unconscious. Vasubandhu's Twenty Verses argues that we can learn to recognize such objects and worlds as “mere perceptions” (vijñaptimatra) and thereby abandon our enchantment with the products of our own cognitive processes. Finally, Maitreya's Distinguishing Phenomena from Their Ultimate Nature (Dharmadharmatavibhaga) elegantly lays out the Mahayana path to this transformation. In Waldron's hands, Yogacara is no mere view but a practical system of transformation. His presentation of its key texts and ideas illuminates how religion can remain urgent and vital in our scientific and pluralistic age. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Through engaging, contemporary examples, Making Sense of Mind Only: Why Yogacara Buddhism Matters (Wisdom Publications, 2023) reveals the Yogacara school of Indian Buddhism as a coherent system of ideas and practices for the path to liberation, contextualizing its key texts and rendering them accessible and relevant. The Yogacara, or Yoga Practice, school is one of the two schools of Mahayana Buddhism that developed in the early centuries of the common era. Though it arose in India, Mahayana Buddhism now flourishes in China, Tibet, Korea, Vietnam, and Japan. While the other major Mahayana tradition, the Madhyamaka (Middle Way), focuses on the concept of emptiness—that all phenomena lack an intrinsic essence—the Yogacara school focuses on the cognitive processes whereby we impute such essences. Through everyday examples and analogues in cognitive science, author William Waldron makes Yogacara's core teachings—on the three turnings of the Dharma wheel, the three natures, the storehouse consciousness, and mere perception—accessible to a broad audience. In contrast to the common characterization of Yogacara as philosophical idealism, Waldron presents Yogacara Buddhism on its own terms, as a coherent system of ideas and practices, with dependent arising its guiding principle.  The first half of Making Sense of Mind Only explores the historical context for Yogacara's development. Waldron examines early Buddhist texts that show how our affective and cognitive processes shape the way objects and worlds appear to us, and how we erroneously grasp onto them as essentially real—perpetuating the habits that bind us to samsara. He then analyzes the early Madhyamaka critique of essences.  This context sets the stage for the book's second half, an examination of how Yogacara texts such as the Samdhinirmocana Sutra and Asanga's Stages of Yogic Practice (Yogacarabhumi) build upon these earlier ideas by arguing that our constructive processes also occur unconsciously. Not only do we collectively, yet mostly unknowingly, construct shared realities or cultures, our shared worlds are also mediated through the storehouse consciousness (alayavijñana) functioning as a cultural unconscious. Vasubandhu's Twenty Verses argues that we can learn to recognize such objects and worlds as “mere perceptions” (vijñaptimatra) and thereby abandon our enchantment with the products of our own cognitive processes. Finally, Maitreya's Distinguishing Phenomena from Their Ultimate Nature (Dharmadharmatavibhaga) elegantly lays out the Mahayana path to this transformation. In Waldron's hands, Yogacara is no mere view but a practical system of transformation. His presentation of its key texts and ideas illuminates how religion can remain urgent and vital in our scientific and pluralistic age. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/buddhist-studies

Through engaging, contemporary examples, Making Sense of Mind Only: Why Yogacara Buddhism Matters (Wisdom Publications, 2023) reveals the Yogacara school of Indian Buddhism as a coherent system of ideas and practices for the path to liberation, contextualizing its key texts and rendering them accessible and relevant. The Yogacara, or Yoga Practice, school is one of the two schools of Mahayana Buddhism that developed in the early centuries of the common era. Though it arose in India, Mahayana Buddhism now flourishes in China, Tibet, Korea, Vietnam, and Japan. While the other major Mahayana tradition, the Madhyamaka (Middle Way), focuses on the concept of emptiness—that all phenomena lack an intrinsic essence—the Yogacara school focuses on the cognitive processes whereby we impute such essences. Through everyday examples and analogues in cognitive science, author William Waldron makes Yogacara's core teachings—on the three turnings of the Dharma wheel, the three natures, the storehouse consciousness, and mere perception—accessible to a broad audience. In contrast to the common characterization of Yogacara as philosophical idealism, Waldron presents Yogacara Buddhism on its own terms, as a coherent system of ideas and practices, with dependent arising its guiding principle.  The first half of Making Sense of Mind Only explores the historical context for Yogacara's development. Waldron examines early Buddhist texts that show how our affective and cognitive processes shape the way objects and worlds appear to us, and how we erroneously grasp onto them as essentially real—perpetuating the habits that bind us to samsara. He then analyzes the early Madhyamaka critique of essences.  This context sets the stage for the book's second half, an examination of how Yogacara texts such as the Samdhinirmocana Sutra and Asanga's Stages of Yogic Practice (Yogacarabhumi) build upon these earlier ideas by arguing that our constructive processes also occur unconsciously. Not only do we collectively, yet mostly unknowingly, construct shared realities or cultures, our shared worlds are also mediated through the storehouse consciousness (alayavijñana) functioning as a cultural unconscious. Vasubandhu's Twenty Verses argues that we can learn to recognize such objects and worlds as “mere perceptions” (vijñaptimatra) and thereby abandon our enchantment with the products of our own cognitive processes. Finally, Maitreya's Distinguishing Phenomena from Their Ultimate Nature (Dharmadharmatavibhaga) elegantly lays out the Mahayana path to this transformation. In Waldron's hands, Yogacara is no mere view but a practical system of transformation. His presentation of its key texts and ideas illuminates how religion can remain urgent and vital in our scientific and pluralistic age. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/south-asian-studies

Through engaging, contemporary examples, Making Sense of Mind Only: Why Yogacara Buddhism Matters (Wisdom Publications, 2023) reveals the Yogacara school of Indian Buddhism as a coherent system of ideas and practices for the path to liberation, contextualizing its key texts and rendering them accessible and relevant. The Yogacara, or Yoga Practice, school is one of the two schools of Mahayana Buddhism that developed in the early centuries of the common era. Though it arose in India, Mahayana Buddhism now flourishes in China, Tibet, Korea, Vietnam, and Japan. While the other major Mahayana tradition, the Madhyamaka (Middle Way), focuses on the concept of emptiness—that all phenomena lack an intrinsic essence—the Yogacara school focuses on the cognitive processes whereby we impute such essences. Through everyday examples and analogues in cognitive science, author William Waldron makes Yogacara's core teachings—on the three turnings of the Dharma wheel, the three natures, the storehouse consciousness, and mere perception—accessible to a broad audience. In contrast to the common characterization of Yogacara as philosophical idealism, Waldron presents Yogacara Buddhism on its own terms, as a coherent system of ideas and practices, with dependent arising its guiding principle.  The first half of Making Sense of Mind Only explores the historical context for Yogacara's development. Waldron examines early Buddhist texts that show how our affective and cognitive processes shape the way objects and worlds appear to us, and how we erroneously grasp onto them as essentially real—perpetuating the habits that bind us to samsara. He then analyzes the early Madhyamaka critique of essences.  This context sets the stage for the book's second half, an examination of how Yogacara texts such as the Samdhinirmocana Sutra and Asanga's Stages of Yogic Practice (Yogacarabhumi) build upon these earlier ideas by arguing that our constructive processes also occur unconsciously. Not only do we collectively, yet mostly unknowingly, construct shared realities or cultures, our shared worlds are also mediated through the storehouse consciousness (alayavijñana) functioning as a cultural unconscious. Vasubandhu's Twenty Verses argues that we can learn to recognize such objects and worlds as “mere perceptions” (vijñaptimatra) and thereby abandon our enchantment with the products of our own cognitive processes. Finally, Maitreya's Distinguishing Phenomena from Their Ultimate Nature (Dharmadharmatavibhaga) elegantly lays out the Mahayana path to this transformation. In Waldron's hands, Yogacara is no mere view but a practical system of transformation. His presentation of its key texts and ideas illuminates how religion can remain urgent and vital in our scientific and pluralistic age. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/indian-religions

Through engaging, contemporary examples, Making Sense of Mind Only: Why Yogacara Buddhism Matters (Wisdom Publications, 2023) reveals the Yogacara school of Indian Buddhism as a coherent system of ideas and practices for the path to liberation, contextualizing its key texts and rendering them accessible and relevant. The Yogacara, or Yoga Practice, school is one of the two schools of Mahayana Buddhism that developed in the early centuries of the common era. Though it arose in India, Mahayana Buddhism now flourishes in China, Tibet, Korea, Vietnam, and Japan. While the other major Mahayana tradition, the Madhyamaka (Middle Way), focuses on the concept of emptiness—that all phenomena lack an intrinsic essence—the Yogacara school focuses on the cognitive processes whereby we impute such essences. Through everyday examples and analogues in cognitive science, author William Waldron makes Yogacara's core teachings—on the three turnings of the Dharma wheel, the three natures, the storehouse consciousness, and mere perception—accessible to a broad audience. In contrast to the common characterization of Yogacara as philosophical idealism, Waldron presents Yogacara Buddhism on its own terms, as a coherent system of ideas and practices, with dependent arising its guiding principle.  The first half of Making Sense of Mind Only explores the historical context for Yogacara's development. Waldron examines early Buddhist texts that show how our affective and cognitive processes shape the way objects and worlds appear to us, and how we erroneously grasp onto them as essentially real—perpetuating the habits that bind us to samsara. He then analyzes the early Madhyamaka critique of essences.  This context sets the stage for the book's second half, an examination of how Yogacara texts such as the Samdhinirmocana Sutra and Asanga's Stages of Yogic Practice (Yogacarabhumi) build upon these earlier ideas by arguing that our constructive processes also occur unconsciously. Not only do we collectively, yet mostly unknowingly, construct shared realities or cultures, our shared worlds are also mediated through the storehouse consciousness (alayavijñana) functioning as a cultural unconscious. Vasubandhu's Twenty Verses argues that we can learn to recognize such objects and worlds as “mere perceptions” (vijñaptimatra) and thereby abandon our enchantment with the products of our own cognitive processes. Finally, Maitreya's Distinguishing Phenomena from Their Ultimate Nature (Dharmadharmatavibhaga) elegantly lays out the Mahayana path to this transformation. In Waldron's hands, Yogacara is no mere view but a practical system of transformation. His presentation of its key texts and ideas illuminates how religion can remain urgent and vital in our scientific and pluralistic age. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/religion

This week Kazi Adi Shakti joins me to discuss her essay "Emptiness, Creativity, & Feminist Ecology: An Introduction to Process Buddhism." Kazi is an artist and independent researcher studying and theorizing on the intersections of Process Philosophy, Madhyamaka Buddhism, Western Marxism and Ecofeminism, with a special focus on the unique role each might play in a holistic soteriology that includes them all. This was a fun conversation exploring Process thought in the flavor of Madhyamaka Buddhism. On the surface, the world of Process thought and Buddhism could appear to be at odds. Kazi proposes, that when held together, they actually inform each other and can create something beautiful. In her own words, Kazi believes that "Process Buddhism is able to more consistently fulfill the concept of Madhyamaka as freedom from views since the Buddhist dialectical component never supplies a view or perspective of its own, but only functions to eliminate inconsistencies and assumptions of the intrinsic nature from the one creatively advancing perspective in -process." Enjoy! Resources: Holo-Poiesis.com Join the Patreon for an Add-Free listening experience. *A Special thanks to Josh Gilbert for managing the podcast, Marty Fredrick for producing the podcast, and Dan Koch for providing the music for the podcast.* Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A proponent of the Madhyamaka tradition of Mahāyāna Buddhism, Candrakīrti wrote several works, one of which, the Madhamakāvatāra, strongly influenced later Tibetan understandings of Madhyamaka.  This work is the subject of Jan Westerhoff's Candrakīrti's Introduction to the Middle Way: A Guide (Oxford University Press, 2024), part of the Oxford Guides to Philosophy series. His book situates Candarkīrti and his text within Indian and Tibetan Buddhism and helps philosophical readers appreciate the text's main arguments and ideas. Chief among these is a commitment to the emptiness of all phenomena, especially but not only selves, which is the subject of the lengthy sixth chapter—analyzing what it means for things to lack any substantial existence and criticizing opposing positions. Candrakīrti also takes up topics in metaphilosophy (do critical arguments commit us to positive claims?), philosophy of mind (do enlightened beings have experience at all?), and semantics and logic (what is the difference between conventional and ultimate truth, and can we express the latter in language?). Westerhoff's guide aims to help readers unfamiliar with Sanskrit or Tibetan navigate these ideas, pointing them to further scholarly and philosophical resources along the way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

A proponent of the Madhyamaka tradition of Mahāyāna Buddhism, Candrakīrti wrote several works, one of which, the Madhamakāvatāra, strongly influenced later Tibetan understandings of Madhyamaka.  This work is the subject of Jan Westerhoff's Candrakīrti's Introduction to the Middle Way: A Guide (Oxford University Press, 2024), part of the Oxford Guides to Philosophy series. His book situates Candarkīrti and his text within Indian and Tibetan Buddhism and helps philosophical readers appreciate the text's main arguments and ideas. Chief among these is a commitment to the emptiness of all phenomena, especially but not only selves, which is the subject of the lengthy sixth chapter—analyzing what it means for things to lack any substantial existence and criticizing opposing positions. Candrakīrti also takes up topics in metaphilosophy (do critical arguments commit us to positive claims?), philosophy of mind (do enlightened beings have experience at all?), and semantics and logic (what is the difference between conventional and ultimate truth, and can we express the latter in language?). Westerhoff's guide aims to help readers unfamiliar with Sanskrit or Tibetan navigate these ideas, pointing them to further scholarly and philosophical resources along the way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/philosophy

A proponent of the Madhyamaka tradition of Mahāyāna Buddhism, Candrakīrti wrote several works, one of which, the Madhamakāvatāra, strongly influenced later Tibetan understandings of Madhyamaka.  This work is the subject of Jan Westerhoff's Candrakīrti's Introduction to the Middle Way: A Guide (Oxford University Press, 2024), part of the Oxford Guides to Philosophy series. His book situates Candarkīrti and his text within Indian and Tibetan Buddhism and helps philosophical readers appreciate the text's main arguments and ideas. Chief among these is a commitment to the emptiness of all phenomena, especially but not only selves, which is the subject of the lengthy sixth chapter—analyzing what it means for things to lack any substantial existence and criticizing opposing positions. Candrakīrti also takes up topics in metaphilosophy (do critical arguments commit us to positive claims?), philosophy of mind (do enlightened beings have experience at all?), and semantics and logic (what is the difference between conventional and ultimate truth, and can we express the latter in language?). Westerhoff's guide aims to help readers unfamiliar with Sanskrit or Tibetan navigate these ideas, pointing them to further scholarly and philosophical resources along the way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/intellectual-history

A proponent of the Madhyamaka tradition of Mahāyāna Buddhism, Candrakīrti wrote several works, one of which, the Madhamakāvatāra, strongly influenced later Tibetan understandings of Madhyamaka.  This work is the subject of Jan Westerhoff's Candrakīrti's Introduction to the Middle Way: A Guide (Oxford University Press, 2024), part of the Oxford Guides to Philosophy series. His book situates Candarkīrti and his text within Indian and Tibetan Buddhism and helps philosophical readers appreciate the text's main arguments and ideas. Chief among these is a commitment to the emptiness of all phenomena, especially but not only selves, which is the subject of the lengthy sixth chapter—analyzing what it means for things to lack any substantial existence and criticizing opposing positions. Candrakīrti also takes up topics in metaphilosophy (do critical arguments commit us to positive claims?), philosophy of mind (do enlightened beings have experience at all?), and semantics and logic (what is the difference between conventional and ultimate truth, and can we express the latter in language?). Westerhoff's guide aims to help readers unfamiliar with Sanskrit or Tibetan navigate these ideas, pointing them to further scholarly and philosophical resources along the way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A proponent of the Madhyamaka tradition of Mahāyāna Buddhism, Candrakīrti wrote several works, one of which, the Madhamakāvatāra, strongly influenced later Tibetan understandings of Madhyamaka.  This work is the subject of Jan Westerhoff's Candrakīrti's Introduction to the Middle Way: A Guide (Oxford University Press, 2024), part of the Oxford Guides to Philosophy series. His book situates Candarkīrti and his text within Indian and Tibetan Buddhism and helps philosophical readers appreciate the text's main arguments and ideas. Chief among these is a commitment to the emptiness of all phenomena, especially but not only selves, which is the subject of the lengthy sixth chapter—analyzing what it means for things to lack any substantial existence and criticizing opposing positions. Candrakīrti also takes up topics in metaphilosophy (do critical arguments commit us to positive claims?), philosophy of mind (do enlightened beings have experience at all?), and semantics and logic (what is the difference between conventional and ultimate truth, and can we express the latter in language?). Westerhoff's guide aims to help readers unfamiliar with Sanskrit or Tibetan navigate these ideas, pointing them to further scholarly and philosophical resources along the way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/buddhist-studies

A proponent of the Madhyamaka tradition of Mahāyāna Buddhism, Candrakīrti wrote several works, one of which, the Madhamakāvatāra, strongly influenced later Tibetan understandings of Madhyamaka.  This work is the subject of Jan Westerhoff's Candrakīrti's Introduction to the Middle Way: A Guide (Oxford University Press, 2024), part of the Oxford Guides to Philosophy series. His book situates Candarkīrti and his text within Indian and Tibetan Buddhism and helps philosophical readers appreciate the text's main arguments and ideas. Chief among these is a commitment to the emptiness of all phenomena, especially but not only selves, which is the subject of the lengthy sixth chapter—analyzing what it means for things to lack any substantial existence and criticizing opposing positions. Candrakīrti also takes up topics in metaphilosophy (do critical arguments commit us to positive claims?), philosophy of mind (do enlightened beings have experience at all?), and semantics and logic (what is the difference between conventional and ultimate truth, and can we express the latter in language?). Westerhoff's guide aims to help readers unfamiliar with Sanskrit or Tibetan navigate these ideas, pointing them to further scholarly and philosophical resources along the way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/south-asian-studies

A proponent of the Madhyamaka tradition of Mahāyāna Buddhism, Candrakīrti wrote several works, one of which, the Madhamakāvatāra, strongly influenced later Tibetan understandings of Madhyamaka.  This work is the subject of Jan Westerhoff's Candrakīrti's Introduction to the Middle Way: A Guide (Oxford University Press, 2024), part of the Oxford Guides to Philosophy series. His book situates Candarkīrti and his text within Indian and Tibetan Buddhism and helps philosophical readers appreciate the text's main arguments and ideas. Chief among these is a commitment to the emptiness of all phenomena, especially but not only selves, which is the subject of the lengthy sixth chapter—analyzing what it means for things to lack any substantial existence and criticizing opposing positions. Candrakīrti also takes up topics in metaphilosophy (do critical arguments commit us to positive claims?), philosophy of mind (do enlightened beings have experience at all?), and semantics and logic (what is the difference between conventional and ultimate truth, and can we express the latter in language?). Westerhoff's guide aims to help readers unfamiliar with Sanskrit or Tibetan navigate these ideas, pointing them to further scholarly and philosophical resources along the way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/indian-religions

A proponent of the Madhyamaka tradition of Mahāyāna Buddhism, Candrakīrti wrote several works, one of which, the Madhamakāvatāra, strongly influenced later Tibetan understandings of Madhyamaka.  This work is the subject of Jan Westerhoff's Candrakīrti's Introduction to the Middle Way: A Guide (Oxford University Press, 2024), part of the Oxford Guides to Philosophy series. His book situates Candarkīrti and his text within Indian and Tibetan Buddhism and helps philosophical readers appreciate the text's main arguments and ideas. Chief among these is a commitment to the emptiness of all phenomena, especially but not only selves, which is the subject of the lengthy sixth chapter—analyzing what it means for things to lack any substantial existence and criticizing opposing positions. Candrakīrti also takes up topics in metaphilosophy (do critical arguments commit us to positive claims?), philosophy of mind (do enlightened beings have experience at all?), and semantics and logic (what is the difference between conventional and ultimate truth, and can we express the latter in language?). Westerhoff's guide aims to help readers unfamiliar with Sanskrit or Tibetan navigate these ideas, pointing them to further scholarly and philosophical resources along the way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/religion

A proponent of the Madhyamaka tradition of Mahāyāna Buddhism, Candrakīrti wrote several works, one of which, the Madhamakāvatāra, strongly influenced later Tibetan understandings of Madhyamaka.  This work is the subject of Jan Westerhoff's Candrakīrti's Introduction to the Middle Way: A Guide (Oxford University Press, 2024), part of the Oxford Guides to Philosophy series. His book situates Candarkīrti and his text within Indian and Tibetan Buddhism and helps philosophical readers appreciate the text's main arguments and ideas. Chief among these is a commitment to the emptiness of all phenomena, especially but not only selves, which is the subject of the lengthy sixth chapter—analyzing what it means for things to lack any substantial existence and criticizing opposing positions. Candrakīrti also takes up topics in metaphilosophy (do critical arguments commit us to positive claims?), philosophy of mind (do enlightened beings have experience at all?), and semantics and logic (what is the difference between conventional and ultimate truth, and can we express the latter in language?). Westerhoff's guide aims to help readers unfamiliar with Sanskrit or Tibetan navigate these ideas, pointing them to further scholarly and philosophical resources along the way.

Tibetan Buddhist Philosophy of Mind and Nature (Oxford UP, 2019) offers an engaging philosophical overview of Tibetan Buddhist thought. Integrating competing and complementary perspectives on the nature of mind and reality, Douglas Duckworth reveals the way that Buddhist theory informs Buddhist practice in various Tibetan traditions. Duckworth draws upon a contrast between phenomenology and ontology to highlight distinct starting points of inquiries into mind and nature in Buddhism, and to illuminate central issues confronted in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy. This thematic study engages some of the most difficult and critical topics in Buddhist thought, such as the nature of mind and the meaning of emptiness, across a wide range of philosophical traditions, including the "Middle Way" of Madhyamaka, Yogacara (also known as "Mind-Only"), and tantra. Duckworth provides a richly textured overview that explores the intersecting nature of mind, language, and world depicted in Tibetan Buddhist traditions. Further, this book puts Tibetan philosophy into conversation with texts and traditions from India, Europe, and America, exemplifying the possibility and potential for a transformative conversation in global philosophy. Dr. Tiatemsu Longkumer is a faculty in the Department of Anthropology at Royal Thimphu College, Bhutan. His academic pursuits center on the fields of Anthropology and the Philosophy of Religion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Tibetan Buddhist Philosophy of Mind and Nature (Oxford UP, 2019) offers an engaging philosophical overview of Tibetan Buddhist thought. Integrating competing and complementary perspectives on the nature of mind and reality, Douglas Duckworth reveals the way that Buddhist theory informs Buddhist practice in various Tibetan traditions. Duckworth draws upon a contrast between phenomenology and ontology to highlight distinct starting points of inquiries into mind and nature in Buddhism, and to illuminate central issues confronted in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy. This thematic study engages some of the most difficult and critical topics in Buddhist thought, such as the nature of mind and the meaning of emptiness, across a wide range of philosophical traditions, including the "Middle Way" of Madhyamaka, Yogacara (also known as "Mind-Only"), and tantra. Duckworth provides a richly textured overview that explores the intersecting nature of mind, language, and world depicted in Tibetan Buddhist traditions. Further, this book puts Tibetan philosophy into conversation with texts and traditions from India, Europe, and America, exemplifying the possibility and potential for a transformative conversation in global philosophy. Dr. Tiatemsu Longkumer is a faculty in the Department of Anthropology at Royal Thimphu College, Bhutan. His academic pursuits center on the fields of Anthropology and the Philosophy of Religion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/east-asian-studies

Tibetan Buddhist Philosophy of Mind and Nature (Oxford UP, 2019) offers an engaging philosophical overview of Tibetan Buddhist thought. Integrating competing and complementary perspectives on the nature of mind and reality, Douglas Duckworth reveals the way that Buddhist theory informs Buddhist practice in various Tibetan traditions. Duckworth draws upon a contrast between phenomenology and ontology to highlight distinct starting points of inquiries into mind and nature in Buddhism, and to illuminate central issues confronted in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy. This thematic study engages some of the most difficult and critical topics in Buddhist thought, such as the nature of mind and the meaning of emptiness, across a wide range of philosophical traditions, including the "Middle Way" of Madhyamaka, Yogacara (also known as "Mind-Only"), and tantra. Duckworth provides a richly textured overview that explores the intersecting nature of mind, language, and world depicted in Tibetan Buddhist traditions. Further, this book puts Tibetan philosophy into conversation with texts and traditions from India, Europe, and America, exemplifying the possibility and potential for a transformative conversation in global philosophy. Dr. Tiatemsu Longkumer is a faculty in the Department of Anthropology at Royal Thimphu College, Bhutan. His academic pursuits center on the fields of Anthropology and the Philosophy of Religion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/intellectual-history

Tibetan Buddhist Philosophy of Mind and Nature (Oxford UP, 2019) offers an engaging philosophical overview of Tibetan Buddhist thought. Integrating competing and complementary perspectives on the nature of mind and reality, Douglas Duckworth reveals the way that Buddhist theory informs Buddhist practice in various Tibetan traditions. Duckworth draws upon a contrast between phenomenology and ontology to highlight distinct starting points of inquiries into mind and nature in Buddhism, and to illuminate central issues confronted in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy. This thematic study engages some of the most difficult and critical topics in Buddhist thought, such as the nature of mind and the meaning of emptiness, across a wide range of philosophical traditions, including the "Middle Way" of Madhyamaka, Yogacara (also known as "Mind-Only"), and tantra. Duckworth provides a richly textured overview that explores the intersecting nature of mind, language, and world depicted in Tibetan Buddhist traditions. Further, this book puts Tibetan philosophy into conversation with texts and traditions from India, Europe, and America, exemplifying the possibility and potential for a transformative conversation in global philosophy. Dr. Tiatemsu Longkumer is a faculty in the Department of Anthropology at Royal Thimphu College, Bhutan. His academic pursuits center on the fields of Anthropology and the Philosophy of Religion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/buddhist-studies

Tibetan Buddhist Philosophy of Mind and Nature (Oxford UP, 2019) offers an engaging philosophical overview of Tibetan Buddhist thought. Integrating competing and complementary perspectives on the nature of mind and reality, Douglas Duckworth reveals the way that Buddhist theory informs Buddhist practice in various Tibetan traditions. Duckworth draws upon a contrast between phenomenology and ontology to highlight distinct starting points of inquiries into mind and nature in Buddhism, and to illuminate central issues confronted in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy. This thematic study engages some of the most difficult and critical topics in Buddhist thought, such as the nature of mind and the meaning of emptiness, across a wide range of philosophical traditions, including the "Middle Way" of Madhyamaka, Yogacara (also known as "Mind-Only"), and tantra. Duckworth provides a richly textured overview that explores the intersecting nature of mind, language, and world depicted in Tibetan Buddhist traditions. Further, this book puts Tibetan philosophy into conversation with texts and traditions from India, Europe, and America, exemplifying the possibility and potential for a transformative conversation in global philosophy. Dr. Tiatemsu Longkumer is a faculty in the Department of Anthropology at Royal Thimphu College, Bhutan. His academic pursuits center on the fields of Anthropology and the Philosophy of Religion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/religion

Tibetan Buddhist Philosophy of Mind and Nature (Oxford UP, 2019) offers an engaging philosophical overview of Tibetan Buddhist thought. Integrating competing and complementary perspectives on the nature of mind and reality, Douglas Duckworth reveals the way that Buddhist theory informs Buddhist practice in various Tibetan traditions. Duckworth draws upon a contrast between phenomenology and ontology to highlight distinct starting points of inquiries into mind and nature in Buddhism, and to illuminate central issues confronted in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy. This thematic study engages some of the most difficult and critical topics in Buddhist thought, such as the nature of mind and the meaning of emptiness, across a wide range of philosophical traditions, including the "Middle Way" of Madhyamaka, Yogacara (also known as "Mind-Only"), and tantra. Duckworth provides a richly textured overview that explores the intersecting nature of mind, language, and world depicted in Tibetan Buddhist traditions. Further, this book puts Tibetan philosophy into conversation with texts and traditions from India, Europe, and America, exemplifying the possibility and potential for a transformative conversation in global philosophy. Dr. Tiatemsu Longkumer is a faculty in the Department of Anthropology at Royal Thimphu College, Bhutan. His academic pursuits center on the fields of Anthropology and the Philosophy of Religion.

Shantideva (8th Cent. - 8th Cent.)Translated by Lionel David Barnett (1871 - 1960) Shantideva is particularly renowned as the author of the Bodhicaryavatara (sometimes also called the Bodhisattvacaryavatara). An English translation of the Sanskrit version of the Bodhicaryavatara is available online, as well as in print in a variety of translations, sometimes glossed as "A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way Of Life" or "Entering the Path of Enlightenment." It is a long poem describing the process of enlightenment from the first thought to full buddhahood and is still studied by Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhists today.It has ten chapters dedicated to the development of bodhicitta (the mind of enlightenment) through the practice of the six perfections (Skt. Pāramitās). The text begins with a chapter describing the benefits of the wish to reach enlightenment. The sixth chapter on the Pāramitā of patience (Skt. Kṣānti, kshanti) is considered by many Buddhists to be the pinnacle of writing on this subject and is the source of numerous quotations attributed to Śāntideva. Tibetan scholars consider the ninth "Wisdom" chapter to be one of the most succinct expositions of the Madhyamaka view. The tenth chapter is used as one of the most popular Mahāyāna prayers. ( Wikipedia) Genre(s): Other religions, Asian Antiquity Language: English --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/librivox1/support

In this episode, we continue to review the Madhyamaka perspective in relation to the nature of reality as presented by William Waldron in his book, 'Making Sense of Mind Only'. In particular, we touch on the teaching of the Two Truths and emphasise the indivisible link between them. We affirm that the absolute truth can only be realised by means of the relative truth.

A Meditation a Day with Stephen Altair. Stephen Altair's background is varied and eclectic. Stephen co-founded three educational institutions and a health and lifestyle channel, has published ten books including one top-ten best seller, composed three music albums including a single presented to Nelson Mandela on his inauguration and supports Tibetan refugees educational programs. Stephen has lectured at universities at Bachelor level in Computer Science and Music and at Masters level in Computer Science and given seminars and workshops in New Zealand, Australia, the USA and Japan. He has been a guest speaker at Microsoft conventions on the subject of mindful practice and technologies. Stephen is a trained Vedic astrologer and brings practical insights to the life path energies from a Vedic and Tibetan perspective. He has been writing and teaching meditation techniques for over 30 years. Stephen shares teachings, activations and transmissions from “The Light of Awareness at the Heart” and Light Body Awakening, based on subtle energy meditation and the ancient Dzogchen, Mahamudra and Madhyamaka teachings with deep gratitude to all the lineages and all blessings dedicated to your liberation and to the liberation of all those participating. https://www.heartmindalchemy.com/journey-to-your-truth https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100015236058875 http://www.altairshyam.com/ A Meditation a Day is sponsored by Enlightened World Network. Our intention is to come together to surround the planet, humanity, and ourselves with divine healing love. We know when two or more are gathered, that we then amplify the intention and energy for ourselves and for the collective. Enlightened World Network is your guide to inspirational online programs about the spiritual divinity, angels, energy work, chakras, past lives, or soul. Learn about spiritually transformative authors, musicians and healers. From motivational learning to inner guidance, you will find the best program for you. Check out our website featuring over 200 spirit-inspired lightworkers specializing in meditation, energy work and angel channeling www.enlightenedworld.online Enjoy inspirational and educational shows at http://www.youtube.com/c/EnlightenedWorldNetwork To sign up for a newsletter to stay up on EWN programs and events, sign up here:https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/FBoFQef/web Link to EWN's disclaimer: https://enlightenedworld.online/disclaimer/ XMA Header Image Journey To Your Truth | HeartMind Alchemy heartmindalchemy.com

A Meditation a Day with Stephen Altair. Stephen Altair's background is varied and eclectic. Stephen co-founded three educational institutions and a health and lifestyle channel, has published ten books including one top-ten best seller, composed three music albums including a single presented to Nelson Mandela on his inauguration and supports Tibetan refugees educational programs. Stephen has lectured at universities at Bachelor level in Computer Science and Music and at Masters level in Computer Science and given seminars and workshops in New Zealand, Australia, the USA and Japan. He has been a guest speaker at Microsoft conventions on the subject of mindful practice and technologies. Stephen is a trained Vedic astrologer and brings practical insights to the life path energies from a Vedic and Tibetan perspective. He has been writing and teaching meditation techniques for over 30 years. Stephen shares teachings, activations and transmissions from “The Light of Awareness at the Heart” and Light Body Awakening, based on subtle energy meditation and the ancient Dzogchen, Mahamudra and Madhyamaka teachings with deep gratitude to all the lineages and all blessings dedicated to your liberation and to the liberation of all those participating. https://www.heartmindalchemy.com/journey-to-your-truth https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100015236058875 http://www.altairshyam.com/ A Meditation a Day is sponsored by Enlightened World Network. Our intention is to come together to surround the planet, humanity, and ourselves with divine healing love. We know when two or more are gathered, that we then amplify the intention and energy for ourselves and for the collective. Enlightened World Network is your guide to inspirational online programs about the spiritual divinity, angels, energy work, chakras, past lives, or soul. Learn about spiritually transformative authors, musicians and healers. From motivational learning to inner guidance, you will find the best program for you. Check out our website featuring over 200 spirit-inspired lightworkers specializing in meditation, energy work and angel channeling www.enlightenedworld.online Enjoy inspirational and educational shows at http://www.youtube.com/c/EnlightenedWorldNetwork To sign up for a newsletter to stay up on EWN programs and events, sign up here:https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/FBoFQef/web Link to EWN's disclaimer: https://enlightenedworld.online/disclaimer/

In this talk, Jacob Fisher presents his research on a history of the Buddhist discussions surrounding perceptual relativism, in India and Tibet Indian and Tibetan epistemologists have spent millennia grappling with the central philosophical questions of relativism and intersubjectivity. This talk will present my ongoing DPhil research that attempts to map a philosophical history of the discussion, by focussing on a specific Buddhist example that problematises perceptual relativism. This classic Buddhist example is the perception across world spheres of a river, which depending on the realm one belongs to, will be perceived as either blood for hungry ghosts, water for humans, or nectar for the gods. This classic example of at least three contradictory perceptions emphasises the paradox of relativism and elicits novel philosophical and epistemological solutions to this real-world problem. The story begins in India with a brief map of the chronological and philosophical developments of the example, beginning with a Pāli discourse and followed by Vinaya, Abhidharma, and Mahāyāna sources. Next, the discussion shall survey the major Tibetan exegetes of Madhyamaka philosophy over the last millennia, specifically those who use the example. Finally, we will zoom inwards to focus on a specific debate on a highly controversial interpretation of the example by Tsongkhapa (1357-1419), in which he simultaneously bolsters the importance of conventional epistemic instruments (tshad ma, pramāṇa) while at the same time undermining them through ascribing an illusory nature to all existence.

MPF Discussion with Stephen AltairFailure is Your Greatest Liberation with Stephen Altair  About StephenStephen Altair's background is varied and eclectic.  He has helped thousands of people around the world in courses, seminars, workshops and individual sessions of Dream Yourself Into Awakening Workshops and groups as well as Divine Awakening Awareness, Star Being and Meditation Practices and Astral Astrology in Vedic and Tibetan traditions for over 30 years.  Altair graduated from Auckland and Otago University with degrees in Education and Business and was Certified as a Counsellor with the Counsellors and Psychotherapists Association of New South Wales in Australia. Altair is also a trained Vedic astrologer and brings practical insights to the life path energies from a Vedic and Tibetan perspective. He has been writing and teaching meditation techniques for over 30 years. Altair shares teachings, activations and transmissions from "The Light of Awareness at the Heart" and Light Body Awakening, based on subtle energy meditation, angelic practices and the ancient Dzogchen, Mahamudra and Madhyamaka teachings with deep gratitude to all the lineages and all blessings dedicated to your liberation.  On this episode of My Perfect Failure (Failure is Your Greatest Liberation) This conversation with Stephen had everything, wisdom, insights, fun, wonderful story telling, Tibetan rushen teachings and lots of actionable takeaways.  We delve into failure and the numerous lessons we can all take when we experience a failure or setback. Stephen provides so many gems during this discussion.  If you would like to see how you can transform failure into opportunity, then this is a must listen episode for you.  Some Of The Areas We Cover·       We All have curious potential.·       Why when you are at a low point, it is important to ask for help.·       The importance of why we should own our dreams.·       Why we should soften our judgements. ·       Honouring your fallibility Contact Stephen Stephen's email addressaltairshyam@gmail.com  RAISING OUR VIBRATION LLCSubtle energy meditation (USA) – app, book, courses, teacher traininghttps://raisingourvibration.net/CEORAINBOW LIGHT JAPANMystical healing, angelic awakening, Vedic, Tibetan, Egyptian and Western astrology, meditation (Kriya Yoga, Tantra, Dzogchen and Mahamudra) and spiritual counselling, Reiki Jin Kei Do, Astrology for Awakening courseshttps://www.altairlove.com/Co-Founder with IanTHIS DAYA Common Thread for Peace Community Project and Podcasthttps://www.this-day.org/Co-FounderTHE WISDOM PATHWise Communities Connecting for Good at Scalehttps://www.altairlove.com/the-wisdom-path-project Please Leave A Review Like this show? Please leave us a review here, even one sentence helps! Consider including your Twitter handle so we can thank you personally! Paul: Contact Details   ·         MPF Website: http://www.myperfectfailure.com/  ·         Twitter: https://twitter.com/failure_perfect  ·         Facebook MPF Private Group:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/377418129517757  

Drukgyel Tsering's talk on Rendawa Shonu Lodro (1349–1412), the famed teacher of Lama Tsongkhapa and important progenitor of Madhyamaka philosophy in Tibet Red mda' ba gzhon nu blo gros (1349–1412) was one of the most exceptional scholars in 13th and early 14th century Tibet. He played a critical role in bringing Madhyamaka philosophy back to the attention of Tibetan scholasticism after its relative decline. The purpose of this presentation is to examine the historical and philosophical context that influenced the development of Red mda' ba's Madhyamaka thought . By analyzing his newly discovered treatise The Moonlight of the Essential Points of the Two Truths (Bden gnyis gnad kyi zla zer), this presentation aims to explore how Red mda' ba articulates the central themes of Madhyamaka philosophy, with a particular focus on the nature of the two truths, their intricate interrelation, and their classifications, in order to advance our understanding of the various Madhyamaka interpretations present in Tibetan Buddhism.

Bright on Buddhism Episode 49 - What is the Tripitaka? What are its contents? What are the differences between the three baskets? Resources: Hoiberg, Dale H., ed. (2010). "Abhidharma Pitaka". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. I: A-ak Bayes (15th ed.). Chicago, Illinois: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. pp. 30–31. ISBN 978-1-59339-837-8.; Swearer, Donald K. (1992). "A Summary of the Seven Books of the Abhidhamma". In Donald S. Lopez (ed.). Buddhism in Practice. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press.; Gombrich, Richard (2006). How Buddhism Began: The Conditioned Genesis of the Early Teachings (2nd ed.). Routledge. p. 4. ISBN 978-0-415-37123-0.; Cox, Collett (2004). "Abhidharma". MacMillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism. Vol. 1. New York: MacMillan Reference USA. pp. 1–7. ISBN 0-02-865719-5.; Davids, T. W. Rhys, Oldenberg, Hermann (joint tr): Vinaya texts, Oxford, The Clarendon press 1881; Singh, Upinder (2016), A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century, Pearson, ISBN 978-81-317-1677-9; Hirakawa, History of Indian Buddhism, volume 1, 1974; Walser, Joseph (2005), Nāgārjuna in Context: Mahāyāna Buddhism and Early Indian Culture, Columbia Univ Pr, ISBN 978-0231131643; Dutt, Nalinaksha (1998), Buddhist Sects in India, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 81-208-0428-7; Harris, Ian Charles (1991), The Continuity of Madhyamaka and Yogacara in Indian Mahayana Buddhism, Brill Academic Pub, ISBN 9789004094482; https://web.archive.org/web/20030601154657/http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/index.html; https://suttacentral.net/; http://www.tipitaka.net/; http://www.cttbusa.org/sutratexts.asp; http://www.buddhanet.net/ebooks.htm; http://www.cbeta.org/ Do you have a question about Buddhism that you'd like us to discuss? Let us know by finding us on email or social media! https://linktr.ee/brightonbuddhism Credits: Nick Bright: Script, Cover Art, Music, Voice of Hearer, Co-Host Proven Paradox: Editing, mixing and mastering, social media, Voice of Hermit, Co-Host --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/brightonbuddhism/message

Peter Fenner, Ph.D, is an adapter and teacher of non-duality, and an author. His two books, Radiant Mind: Awakening Unconditioned Awareness (Sounds True, 2007) and Natural Awakening: An Advanced Guide for Sharing Nondual Awareness (Sumeru Press, 2015), draw on a dialectical method adapted from his monastic training with the Gelugpa School of Tibetan Buddhism. We discuss philosophical psychology, the Madhyamaka school of Buddhist thought, the challenge of patterns, meditation, and the relationship between the different vehicles in Buddhism. This episode features a longer introduction in order to update listeners on a slight change in direction or the podcast as well as an attempt to contextualize non-duality. Matthew O'Connell is a life coach and the host of the The Imperfect Buddha podcast. You can find The Imperfect Buddha on Facebook and Twitter (@imperfectbuddha). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Peter Fenner, Ph.D, is an adapter and teacher of non-duality, and an author. His two books, Radiant Mind: Awakening Unconditioned Awareness (Sounds True, 2007) and Natural Awakening: An Advanced Guide for Sharing Nondual Awareness (Sumeru Press, 2015), draw on a dialectical method adapted from his monastic training with the Gelugpa School of Tibetan Buddhism. We discuss philosophical psychology, the Madhyamaka school of Buddhist thought, the challenge of patterns, meditation, and the relationship between the different vehicles in Buddhism. This episode features a longer introduction in order to update listeners on a slight change in direction or the podcast as well as an attempt to contextualize non-duality. Matthew O'Connell is a life coach and the host of the The Imperfect Buddha podcast. You can find The Imperfect Buddha on Facebook and Twitter (@imperfectbuddha). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/buddhist-studies

Peter Fenner, Ph.D, is an adapter and teacher of non-duality, and an author. His two books, Radiant Mind: Awakening Unconditioned Awareness (Sounds True, 2007) and Natural Awakening: An Advanced Guide for Sharing Nondual Awareness (Sumeru Press, 2015), draw on a dialectical method adapted from his monastic training with the Gelugpa School of Tibetan Buddhism. We discuss philosophical psychology, the Madhyamaka school of Buddhist thought, the challenge of patterns, meditation, and the relationship between the different vehicles in Buddhism. This episode features a longer introduction in order to update listeners on a slight change in direction or the podcast as well as an attempt to contextualize non-duality. Matthew O'Connell is a life coach and the host of the The Imperfect Buddha podcast. You can find The Imperfect Buddha on Facebook and Twitter (@imperfectbuddha). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/religion

Peter Fenner, Ph.D, is an adapter and teacher of non-duality, and an author. His two books, Radiant Mind: Awakening Unconditioned Awareness (Sounds True, 2007) and Natural Awakening: An Advanced Guide for Sharing Nondual Awareness (Sumeru Press, 2015), draw on a dialectical method adapted from his monastic training with the Gelugpa School of Tibetan Buddhism. We discuss philosophical psychology, the Madhyamaka school of Buddhist thought, the challenge of patterns, meditation, and the relationship between the different vehicles in Buddhism. This episode features a longer introduction in order to update listeners on a slight change in direction or the podcast as well as an attempt to contextualize non-duality. Matthew O'Connell is a life coach and the host of the The Imperfect Buddha podcast. You can find The Imperfect Buddha on Facebook and Twitter (@imperfectbuddha). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/spiritual-practice-and-mindfulness

Peter Fenner, Ph.D, is an adapter and teacher of non-duality, and an author. His two books, Radiant Mind: Awakening Unconditioned Awareness (Sounds True, 2007) and Natural Awakening: An Advanced Guide for Sharing Nondual Awareness (Sumeru Press, 2015), draw on a dialectical method adapted from his monastic training with the Gelugpa School of Tibetan Buddhism. We discuss philosophical psychology, the Madhyamaka school of Buddhist thought, the challenge of patterns, meditation, and the relationship between the different vehicles in Buddhism. This episode features a longer introduction in order to update listeners on a slight change in direction or the podcast as well as an attempt to contextualize non-duality. Matthew O'Connell is a life coach and the host of the The Imperfect Buddha podcast. You can find The Imperfect Buddha on Facebook and Twitter (@imperfectbuddha). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Constance Kassor is an assistant professor of religious studies at Lawrence University, where she teaches courses on Buddhist thought and Asian religious traditions. Her research focuses on Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, and she is currently involved in several projects related to the Madhyamaka philosophy of the 15th-century thinker, Gorampa Sonam Senge. She is also interested in religion and comics, women and gender minorities in Buddhism, pedagogy, and digital humanities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Constance Kassor is an assistant professor of religious studies at Lawrence University, where she teaches courses on Buddhist thought and Asian religious traditions. Her research focuses on Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, and she is currently involved in several projects related to the Madhyamaka philosophy of the 15th-century thinker, Gorampa Sonam Senge. She is also interested in religion and comics, women and gender minorities in Buddhism, pedagogy, and digital humanities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/buddhist-studies

Constance Kassor is an assistant professor of religious studies at Lawrence University, where she teaches courses on Buddhist thought and Asian religious traditions. Her research focuses on Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, and she is currently involved in several projects related to the Madhyamaka philosophy of the 15th-century thinker, Gorampa Sonam Senge. She is also interested in religion and comics, women and gender minorities in Buddhism, pedagogy, and digital humanities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wherein Matt Baker speaks with Kazi Adi Shakti whose research is a creative synthesis of Whiteheadian process thought, critical Marxian political economy, Madhyamaka negative dialectic, Buddhist soteriology, and eco-feminism. Among the topics discussed are dreams, panpsychism, gender, the possible confluence of deconstructive/death-of-god-radical theology with Buddhist notions of emptiness, process thought, and magic, and more. Bio/Blog/YouTube: https://oscillations.one/Assets/People/Kazi+Adi+Shakti Process and Reality Reading Group: https://cobb.institute/learning-lab/beginning-process-and-reality/ War Machine is the podcast of the Radical Theology Seminar: https://www.patreon.com/radicaltheology Music for this episode: Prey, Niky Nine Love Always, Nu Alchemi Nomad's Theme, Matt Baker

This book introduces the unique aspects of Humanistic Buddhism including the 5 Precepts and 10 Wholesome Actions, which when followed will act as tools to allow each of us to develop right view and awaken one's true nature. Also covered are the Four Immeasurables, Six Perfections, the Four Means of Embracing, Cause Condition and Effect, Chan Buddhism, Pure Land, and Madhyamaka.

In this podcast, we will explain if you really exist or not. To examine the self, we will explain the mind science of Buddhism from the perspective of the the five aggregates, especially the Madhyamaka and Yogacara schools of Mahayana Buddhism. People often assume Buddhist beliefs are built on the idea that the self (ego/persona) is a persistent illusion, but this is not entirely true because it is much more complicated than that unfounded belief. The five aggregates are actually an advanced mind science centered on how the self is developed and, as a result, why the illusion of a self is based on a cognitive error we all make before waking up (nirvana). SUBSCRIBE https://www.youtube.com/OneWorldWithin for new videos every week SUPPORT MY WORK Patreon https://www.patreon.com/jasongregory Paypal https://www.paypal.me/JasonGregoryAuthor MY BOOKS Spiritual Freedom in the Digital Age https://amzn.to/3iDNaHL Emotional Intuition for Peak Performance https://amzn.to/2oZZdFm Effortless Living http://amzn.to/2z0EG3Q Fasting the Mind http://amzn.to/2zhsAY1 Enlightenment Now http://amzn.to/2B2oNuV The Science and Practice of Humility http://amzn.to/2z01WPb RECOMMENDED READING LIST https://jasongregory.org/recommended-books/ PRIVATE CONSULTATION https://jasongregory.org/contact/ MERCHANDISE https://teespring.com/stores/jason-gregory FOLLOW ME Instagram https://www.instagram.com/jasongregoryauthor/ Twitter https://twitter.com/JasonGregory33 Facebook Personal Page https://www.facebook.com/jason.gregory.oneworldwithin Facebook Like Page https://www.facebook.com/JasonGregoryAuthor/ LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasongregoryauthor/ Amazon Author Page https://www.amazon.com/Jason-Gregory/e/B0053O1HKK/ Goodreads Author Page https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3021190.Jason_Gregory WEBSITE https://jasongregory.org/ Disclaimer: Jason Gregory is an Amazon Associate member. The Amazon links in this description are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Jason will earn a very small commission on qualifying purchases you make, at no additional cost to you. This goes a tiny way towards defraying the costs of making these videos.

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Constance Kassor about her beginnings as a scholar of Tibetan Buddhism, different Tibetan interpretations of emptiness, and how studying history sheds light on philosophy and practice. Plus, we chat about some of our favorite books, articles, and other resources for learning more about Tibetan Buddhism! We also preview Dr. Kassor's upcoming online course, 104 | Tibetan Buddhism, which will cover the history, schools, philosophy, and practices of Tibetan Buddhism. The course is meant to give an overview of various important aspects of Tibetan history and culture that give students frameworks of understanding that can support future study and practice. Speaker BioDr. Constance Kassor is an Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Lawrence University in Wisconsin, where she teaches courses on Buddhist thought and Asian religious traditions. Prior to joining the Lawrence faculty in 2016, she taught Buddhist Studies at Smith College, Hampshire College, Amherst College, and the Rangjung Yeshe Institute in Nepal.Connie's research primarily focuses on Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, and she is interested in different ways that Tibetan Buddhist scholars understand the cultivation of knowledge. Her forthcoming book, Accounting for Awakened Awareness, examines the nature of knowledge through the lens of the 15th century philosopher Gorampa Sonam Senge. With support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Connie is also currently translating Gorampa's extensive Madhyamaka treatise, Synopsis of Madhyamaka (dbu ma'i spyi don) into English, in collaboration with Khenpo Dr. Ngawang Jorden, principal and abbot of the International Buddhist Academy in Nepal.Connie has spent several years living, working, and teaching in Buddhist communities in India and Nepal. In addition to her scholarly publications, she has written for Lion's Roar and Tricycle, and has recently published an audio course for The Great Courses and AudibleLinks104 | Tibetan BuddhismReferenced in the EpisodeThe Parable of the Raft (in the Alagaddupama Sutta, MN 22)The Sound of Two Hands Clapping by Georges Dreyfus"The Heart Sutra: the Fullness of Emptiness" by Thich Nhat Hanh Accounting for Awakened Awareness by  Constance Kassor (no link yet, but click here for other publications by Connie!)High Peaks Pure Earth Tibet Reading List

Nāgārjuna (c.150 – c. 250 CE) was an Indian Mahāyāna Buddhist thinker, scholar-saint and philosopher. He is widely considered one of the most important Buddhist philosophers. He is also considered one of the greatest thinkers in the history of Asian philosophy.

The present podcast is the fifth and last episode in a podcast-series, which we have named ‘The Mind of Skill'. As the name indicates, this series investigates the more mental dimensions of skill—it does so by interviewing a line of current experts. Besides being of interest in itself, the nature of skill is related to more general questions of human existence.  For example, many of the ancient Greek philosophers saw a clear link between virtue and skill: according to them, virtuous individuals who were capable of living well could in some sense also be seen as people who acquired the skill to live. In relation, Buddhist teachings often stress the virtuous and awakened person as a skilful person—skilful in ethics, concentration, and wisdom. This is, in many ways, highlighted in Zen Buddhist practice in which activities such as calligraphy, poetry, tea-making, and many other activities require a high level of skill. With this in mind, there seems to be a clear connection between skill and the good life. The hope is that this series can clarify some aspects of this connection and aspire the listener to explore it. Broadly speaking, the focus of this episode is on skill in Buddhism. To introduce and outline this topic, the guest of the episode is philosopher and Buddhist scholar Jay L. Garfield. Jay is Doris Silbert Professor in the Humanities and Professor of Philosophy, Logic and Buddhist Studies at Smith College in Massachusetts. He has published a long line of research articles on topics in philosophy of mind, cognitive science, and Buddhist philosophy and psychology. Among his most recent books are Knowing Illusion: Bringing a Tibetan Debate into Contemporary Discourse (with the Yakherds, 2021), Buddhist Ethics: A Philosophical Exploration (2021), What Can't Be Said: Paradox and Contradiction in East Asian Thought (with Yasuo Deguchi, Graham Priest, and Robert Sharf, 2021), Minds Without Fear: Philosophy in the Indian Renaissance (with Nalini Bhushan, 2017), Dignāga's Investigation of the Percept: A Philosophical Legacy in India and Tibet (with Douglas Duckworth, David Eckel, John Powers, Yeshes Thabkhas and Sonam Thakchöe, 2016) Engaging Buddhism: Why it Matters to Philosophy (2015), Moonpaths: Ethics and Emptiness (with the Cowherds, 2015) and (edited, with Jan Westerhoff), Madhyamaka and Yogācāra: Allies or Rivals? (2015). A general theme throughout many of these works is the notion of skill in Buddhist practice and thought. A theme that Jay clarifies in multiple and deeply engaging ways in the present podcast. It was a great pleasure talking with Jay. We hope you enjoy the interview!Host: Victor LangeProduction: Heine VolderMusic: Victor Lange & Heine Volder

Eva Natanya is Executive Director and Resident Teacher at the Center for Contemplative Research at Miyo Samten Ling. A scholar of Indian and Tibetan Buddhism, Christian theology, and comparative religion, Dr. Natanya has served in many capacities as a spiritual teacher, academic lecturer, translator, and editor of Tibetan texts, writer, and retreat leader. Following a nine-year career as a professional ballet dancer with both the New York City Ballet and the Royal Ballet of England, she earned an MA in Christian Systematic Theology at the Graduate Theological Union and a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from the University of Virginia. Her dissertation examined the complex interactions of Madhyamaka, Yogācāra, and Abhidharma teachings as they underlie the Vajrayāna philosophy of Je Tsongkhapa. She has worked closely with Dr. B. Alan Wallace on his translations for several books, including Open Mind: View and Meditation in the Lineage of Lerab Lingpa and Fathoming the Mind: Inquiry and Insight in Dudjom Lingpa's Vajra Essence, and has co-taught meditation retreats with Dr. Wallace around the world. In a Christian context, she co-authored Living Resurrected Lives: What It Means and Why It Matters with Veronica Mary Rolf. She has spent more than three years in solitary meditation retreat, and remains in residence at Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado, guiding fellow retreatants in the details of contemplative training. Her website is: evanatanya.com. Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group. Interview recorded August 21, 2021 Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.

I commenti introduttivi ed i commenti a fronte dei ventisette capitoli di cui è costituita il celeberrimo classico di Nâgârjuna, la Madhyamaka-kârikâ, sono stati ricavati dagli appunti delle lezioni tenute da Thubten Rinchen, Lama residente del Centro Studi Maitri Buddha di Torino negli anni '97-'98-'99. Per dubbi o domande seguici sui nostri social o acquista sul nostro sito www.libreriailsigillo.it --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/libreria-il-sigillo/message

Dr. Constance Kassor is an assistant professor of religious studies at Lawrence University, where she teaches courses on Buddhist thought and Asian religious traditions. Her research focuses on Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, and she is currently involved in several projects related to the Madhyamaka philosophy of the 15th-century thinker, Gorampa Sonam Senge. She is also interested in religion and comics, women and gender minorities in Buddhism, pedagogy, and digital humanities.

What Happens when East meets West? Exploring the History of Cultural and Philosophical Exchange between Ancient Greece and Ancient India. In last part of the series we discussed Indian and Greek Pantheism. This week we take a look at some points of historical and conceptual contact between these two great civilizations. Key words: Buddhist influences on Pyrrhonism, Greek influence on Indian thought. Three Marks of Existence, Deconstructing Personhood, Epoché, Ataraxia and Nirvana, Undifferentiated Nature, Two Truths Doctrine, Dependent Origination, Tetralemma and Catuṣkoṭi Logic. Scepticism, Pyrrho, Pyrrhonism and Nāgārjuna, Madhyamaka, Mahayana, Buddhism. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Stephen Altair’s background in spirituality has at its foundations the teaching of Buddha, Krishna, and Bodhisattvas, as well as Christ, the Archangels, and Divine Mother. He has been blessed by the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda and the Dalai Lama as well as many other well-known teachers for over 30 years. He comes to the fields of transformation, healing, and awakening with over 25 years of formal and intensive mindful and heartful training, a background in teaching and education, and degrees and certifications in counseling and alternative health, business, and mindful and heartful education. Stephen is co-founder of the Raising Our Vibration Community https://raisingourvibration.net with courses on subtle energy meditation as well as books, apps and free global meditations as well as personal consultations available. Stephen is also a trained Vedic astrologer and brings practical insights to the Lion's Gate energies from a Vedic and Tibetan perspective. He will share an activation and transmission "Rainbow Light of Divine Mother" based on subtle energy meditation and the ancient Dzogchen, Mahamudra and Madhyamaka teachings with deep gratitude to all the lineages and all blessings dedicated to your liberation and to the liberation of all those listening. Thank you for listening tribe! Please like, share and subscribe.

In this episode, Matt Teichman and Henry Curtis talk to Graham Priest (CUNY Graduate Center) about the philosophical foundations of Buddhism.Buddhism isn't just a religion--it's an entire family of philosophical traditions that took root all over the Asian continent for thousands of years. The historical Buddha articulated views in what we consider to be many different areas of philosophy, including metaphysics, ethics, and political philosophy. For this episode, we're focusing on the metaphysics.Metaphysics means different things to different people, but our guest thinks of it as a broad inquiry into the structure of reality at a fundamental level, space and time, what substance is, cause and effect, what makes any given thing the thing it is. And one of many things he finds interesting about Buddhism is that over the years, Buddhists have floated metaphysical views that don't arise in the Western traditions.One cool example he gives is a view associated with Madhyamaka Buddhism that nothing has a nature that makes it independent of its relation to anything else in the world. So take me, Matt. I am what I am not just because of properties that I have in and of myself, but because of the relation I stand in to certain other things. (Though not all other things, as he hastens to point out.) Like for example, I have a special relation to New Jersey: I was born and grew up there. So facts about what Matt is and what he's like is are tangled up with facts about what New Jersey is and what it's like.Graham Priest further observes that this general view leads to skepticism about whether anything is maximally explanatorily basic, which is a view that hasn't been explored by many contemporary philosophers. Like, most contemporary philosophers who work on metaphysics would say that a flagpole is more basic than the shadow it casts, because you could have the flagpole without the shadow, but not the other way around. There wouldn't be anything for the shadow to be a shadow of! Priest thinks that the Madhyamaka view that everything is dependent on something else leads to the further view that no one thing or set of things can be most basic.Join us as our guest walks us through the core metaphysical tenets of Buddhism! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Is enlightenment available to all beings, or is it only for an elect? What is the link between manliness and virtue? What is the sound of one baby crying? Answers to some of these questions are found in part two of our discussion of Julius Evola's "Doctrine of Awakening." In this episode, we discuss how Buddhist "prajñā" (wisdom) and English "knowledge" come from the same Proto-Indo-European root, and how English "virtue" and Hindi "vīrya" (semen(!)) likewise share a root. We discuss Evola's assertion that some people simply cannot reach enlightenment, and we expound the benefits of reading aloud the ancient texts. Part 1 of this discussion https://rightwingdharmasquads.podbean.com/e/julius-evola-doctrine-of-awakening-part-1/ … Doctrine of Awakening (Amazon): https://www.amazon.ca/Doctrine-Awakening-Attainment-Self-Mastery-According/dp/0892815531 Doctrine of Awakening (RTF): http://www.juliusevola.com/julius_evola/texts/The_Doctrine_of_Awakening.rtf Śīla, Samādhi, and Prajñā: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threefold_Training  The Proto-Indo-European etymology of *gno- (gnosis, knowledge, kenning, cunning, cognition, prajñā):  https://www.etymonline.com/word/*gno- Giuseppe Tucci: http://giuseppetucciexplorer.com/ The Treatises of Maitreya: https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Five_Treatises_of_Maitreya Śamatha and Vipassana: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samatha#Samatha_and_vipassana "Crossing the Ocean" by Ajaan Lee: https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/thai/lee/ocean.html Nāgārjuna's Madhyamaka: https://antilogicalism.files.wordpress.com/2017/07/mulamadhyamakakarika.pdf "Descartes and the Esoteric Philosophy" by Arne Wettermark:  https://www.theosophy-nw.org/theosnw/world/modeur/ph-wett2.htm The Proto-Indo-European etymology of *wi-ro (virile, virtue, vīrya): https://www.etymonline.com/word/*wi-ro-  "Befriending the Suttas" by Anonymous (Thanissaro Bhikkhu?): https://accesstoinsight.org/befriending.html The Heart Sutra: https://thebuddhistcentre.com/system/files/groups/files/heart_sutra.pdf

In this episode of Enlightenment Today I will speak about whether the self actually exists. I will explore this from the perspective of the the five aggregates of Buddhism, especially the Madhyamaka and Yogacara schools. People often assume Buddhist beliefs are built on the idea that the self (ego/persona) is a persistent illusion, but this is not entirely true because it is much more complicated than that unfounded belief. The five aggregates are actually an advanced mind science centered on how the self is developed and, as a result, why the illusion of a self is based on a cognitive error we all make before waking up (nirvana).

In this episode of the Wisdom Podcast we meet Jan Westerhoff, professor of Buddhist philosophy at the University of Oxford and specialist in the Madhyamaka philosophical tradition. In this episode, Jan shares how his early studies in Indian and Tibetan Buddhist philosophy eventually led to a PhD in contemporary metaphysics, before leading to a second PhD on […] The post Jan Westerhoff: Nāgārjuna and Madhyamaka appeared first on The Wisdom Experience.

The focus here are the chapters "Diligence" (or Heroic Perseverance), "Meditative Concentration," and the "Wisdom" chapter where he presents emptiness as understood in the Madhyamaka tradition.

The teaching of anata (no-self) is one of the most frequently misunderstood of Buddha's teachings. In this talk, Alan uses the analogy of a garden to explore what Buddhists actually mean by no-self. He also compares the different ways that schools of Buddhism, such as the Theravada, Yogacara and Madhyamaka, have traditionally advanced this teaching. The talk concludes with looking at practical ways that we can try and explore anata in our daily lives.

Majewski Lecture Jan Westerhoff The Madhyamaka school of philosophy has been credited as being the central philosophy of Buddhism and also as a kind of anti-philosophy of pure critique that simply seeks to demonstrate the contradictory nature of all statements about the world. This lecture explores the nature of philosophical argument in Madhyamaka and the kind of philosophical theory that the Madhyamaka is. Originally trained as a philosopher and orientialist, Jan Westerhoff's research focuses on philosophical aspects of the religious traditions of ancient India. Much of his work concentrates on Buddhist thought (especially Madhyamaka) as preserved in Sanskrit and Tibetan sources, he also has a lively interest in Classical Indian philosophy (particularly Nyāya). His research on Buddhist philosophy covers both theoretical (metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of language) and normative aspects (ethics); he is also interested in the investigation of Buddhist meditative practice from the perspective of cognitive science and the philosophy of mind. Some publications (for more information see www.janwesterhoff.net) are ‘The connection between ontology and ethics in Madhyamaka’ in: The Cowherds: Moonpaths: Ethics and Madhyamaka Philosophy, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2014; The Dispeller of Disputes: Nāgārjuna's Vigrahavyāvartanī, Oxford University Press, 2010; Twelve Examples of Illusion, Oxford University Press, 2010; Nāgārjuna's Madhyamaka. A Philosophical Introduction, Oxford University Press, 2009; ‘The Madhyamaka Concept of svabhāva: Ontological and Cognitive Aspects’, Asian Philosophy, 2007, 17:1, 17-45; Ontological Categories. Their Nature and Significance, Oxford University Press, 2005. Download

Charles Goodman, (Binghampton University), gives the sixth talk in the New Madhyamaka workshop. The workshop "The New Madhyamaka: Developing Ancient Indian Thought Through Contemporary Philosophical Tools and Techniques", funded by the Templeton Foundation, took place in Oxford on 20th and 21st April 2015

Mattia Salvini (Mahidol University) gives the tenth talk in the New Madhyamaka workshop. The workshop "The New Madhyamaka: Developing Ancient Indian Thought Through Contemporary Philosophical Tools and Techniques", funded by the Templeton Foundation, took place in Oxford on 20th and 21st April 2015

Parimal Patil (Harvard University), gives the ninth talk in the New Madhyamaka workshop. The workshop "The New Madhyamaka: Developing Ancient Indian Thought Through Contemporary Philosophical Tools and Techniques", funded by the Templeton Foundation, took place in Oxford on 20th and 21st April 2015

Jan Westerhoff, Associate Professor of Religious Ethics at the University of Oxford, introduces The New Madhyamaka workshop. "The New Madhyamaka: Developing Ancient Indian Thought Through Contemporary Philosophical Tools and Techniques", funded by the Templeton Foundation, took place in Oxford on 20th and 21st April 2015

Jay Garfield (Yale/National University of Singapore) gives the second talk in the New Madhyamaka workshop. The workshop "The New Madhyamaka: Developing Ancient Indian Thought Through Contemporary Philosophical Tools and Techniques", funded by the Templeton Foundation, took place in Oxford on 20th and 21st April 2015

Sonam Thakchoe (University of Tasmania), gives the third talk in the New Madhymaka workshop The workshop "The New Madhyamaka: Developing Ancient Indian Thought Through Contemporary Philosophical Tools and Techniques", funded by the Templeton Foundation, took place in Oxford on 20th and 21st April 2015

At the beginning Alan shares extremely uplifting news as what concerns “Project Contemplative Observatory”. After having failed to build one in India and in Santa Barbara it finally looks as if a promising piece of land in Tuscany is available. The land is cheap and big enough to support not only a contemplative observatory but also a mind center. With retreatants maybe even planting organic food there, it would truly be as close as we get in samsara to a pure land! After a silent meditation we return to the text. Alan explains that the four great types of liberation can only manifest once you completely stop all conceptualization. These four types are then described as: 1) primordial liberation, which means that you don’t need to remedy anything and take no external refuge 2) liberation by itself, because after you have investigated enough (practiced vipashyana) you find clear insight and you then simply release into that insight 3) instantaneous liberation 4) complete liberation, which means that it takes no effort at all Alan then points out that whereas a while ago he quoted Geshe Rabten who argued that all of Dharma either lays the foundation for bodhicitta, is bodhicitta or leads to bodhicitta, this is different from a Dzogchen perspective. From that view all of dharma is a preparation for discovering who you are, and that is rigpa. Not only does Alan contrast the Madhyamaka and the Dzogchen approach in this way, but also by explaining in what ways things arise. Nagarjuna shows that it is not reasonable to say that things exist, nor that they don’t exist, nor both, nor neither. However, from the Dzogchen perspective everything self-arises - but, of course, only from the perspective of rigpa! Silent meditation cut out at 27:18

At the beginning Alan shares extremely uplifting news as what concerns “Project Contemplative Observatory”. After having failed to build one in India and in Santa Barbara it finally looks as if a promising piece of land in Tuscany is available. The land is cheap and big enough to support not only a contemplative observatory but also a mind center. With retreatants maybe even planting organic food there, it would truly be as close as we get in samsara to a pure land! After a silent meditation we return to the text. Alan explains that the four great types of liberation can only manifest once you completely stop all conceptualization. These four types are then described as: 1) primordial liberation, which means that you don’t need to remedy anything and take no external refuge 2) liberation by itself, because after you have investigated enough (practiced vipashyana) you find clear insight and you then simply release into that insight 3) instantaneous liberation 4) complete liberation, which means that it takes no effort at all Alan then points out that whereas a while ago he quoted Geshe Rabten who argued that all of Dharma either lays the foundation for bodhicitta, is bodhicitta or leads to bodhicitta, this is different from a Dzogchen perspective. From that view all of dharma is a preparation for discovering who you are, and that is rigpa. Not only does Alan contrast the Madhyamaka and the Dzogchen approach in this way, but also by explaining in what ways things arise. Nagarjuna shows that it is not reasonable to say that things exist, nor that they don’t exist, nor both, nor neither. However, from the Dzogchen perspective everything self-arises - but, of course, only from the perspective of rigpa! Silent meditation cut out at 27:18

This lecture was presented by Master Sheng Yens Dharma Heir Gilbert Gutierrez on Friday July 26 2013 at the DDMBA Chicago Chapter The Roots of Chan will trace Chan's roots back to Shakyamuni Buddha and its journey to the Far East tracing its influences from Madhyamaka, Yogacara (consciousness only school), Theravadin, Hua Yen, Tien Tai, schools, as well as indigenous influences of Confucianism and Taoism. Through to the formation of Northern (Shen-Hsiu) Gradual Enlightenment School and Southern (Hui Neng) Sudden Enlightenment school.

Teaching: All the teachings are included in settling body, speech, and mind in their natural state. According to Asanga, sensations of the breath become increasingly subtle until prana dissolves into space. Conceptualizations diminish further and further until mind slips into non-conceptuality. Keep it simple. It’s the nature of the practice. Meditation: Mindfulness of breathing preceded by settling body, speech, and mind. 
1) settling body, speech, and mind. Let your awareness illuminate the non-conceptual space of the body. Settle the body in ease and comfort. Settle the speech in silence. Let the breath flow in its natural rhythm. With every out breath, relax more and more deeply without losing clarity, utterly release the breath and let go of rumination, so your are especially silent and present at the end of each out breath. The in breath comes of its own accord. Release all thoughts of the past and future, and settle awareness in stillness in the present.
2) mindfulness of breathing. When the in breath is long, know that it is long. When the out breath is long, know that it is long. When the in breath is short, know that it is short. When the out breath is short, know that it is short. Let your awareness illuminate the space of the body and whatever tactile sensations arise therein, without distraction, without grasping. Awareness is not fused with the space of the body and its contents. Mindfully breath in and out, attending to the whole body. Q1. In equanimity, does it mean we should react with satisfaction and contentment with things as they are? 
Q2. In formal and semi-formal shamatha retreat, should we hold the view between sessions by visualizing oneself as the deity and the environment as a pure land? If so, should we recite the mantra as well? 
Q3. As for the dying process, how can we help? How can non-buddhists prepare? 
Q4. How is remote viewing possible without dependence on the visual cortex? 
Q5. Returning to a socially engaged way of life, the qualities of relaxation, stability, and vividness will decline. Should we do intermittent short/long retreats for upkeep? 
Q6. According to the Madhyamaka, rigpa and buddhanature are also empty, suggesting nihilism. Rigpa and ultimate reality are in some sense real, but if we say they are real, that may be construed as eternalism. Nihilism is more prevalent in the modern world, and of the two, eternalism appears less dangerous.
Q7. How should we plan practice at home? Should we maintain a weekly structure as we have here, or do whatever we feel like? Practice shouldn’t be just limited to shamatha. Meditation starts at 5: 35

Teaching pt1: Alan gives his and the Dalai Lama’s commentary on the section on mindfulness of phenomena in verses 105-112 of Ch. 9 of Shantideva’s Bodhicaryavatara. Just as the mind does not come into existence, in the same way, we come to certainty that no phenomenon comes into existence. That which we perceive cannot be more real than our perception of it. Two objections are discussed. 1) If conventional truth doesn’t exist, then does nothing exist at all? If phenomena are just apparitions to a confused mind, then wouldn’t whatever anyone says be true? According to the Madhyamaka, entities and non-entities (e.g., a rabbit’s horn) are both conceptual designations—i.e., neither exists from its own side—but entities i) have causal efficacy and ii) can be established by verifiable cognition (incl. both perception and understanding). The mind which conceives and the object conceived are simultaneously interdependent, so neither is inherently real. An action depends on an agent, and an agent depends on an action. 2) Wouldn’t the analysis of that which is analyzed lead to infinite regression? Awareness that apprehends the emptiness of an entity is focused on emptiness, not the entity. Inverting the analysis upon awareness, one establishes that awareness is empty and emptiness is empty. There is nothing more to analyze. Meditation: Mindfulness of phenomena preceded by mindfulness of the mind. 
1) mindfulness of the mind. Let your eyes be open, gaze rested evenly. Simply be present without distraction, without grasping. Withdraw attention from all appearances and rest in the knowing of being aware. Probe into the nature of awareness. What is the thing that performs functions such as being still or following after an object and has these attributes of luminosity and cognizance? Can you find this awareness separated from all appearances? Know that absence and sustain that flow of knowing.
2) mindfulness of phenomena. Return your attention to objects of the 6 sense domains. Focus on one object, and probe its nature. What is really there from its own side? Rest in emptiness and sustain that flow of knowing Teaching pt2: Alan speaks about William James who understood that introspection was the first and foremost method for the scientific inquiry of the mind. Although his vision has been ignored by much of the modern mind sciences, the contemplative observatory in Bangalore will offer a setting for contemplative knowing to engage with modern scientific knowledge. Meditation starts at 57:03

Teaching pt1: In buddhist epistemology, valid perception depends on an object, sense faculty, and continuum of consciousness. While the Shravakayana takes all three as real, Madhyamaka asserts their emptiness. Alan continues with verses 93-103 of Ch. 9 of the Bodhicaryavatara which addresses the origination of feelings. In buddhist epistemology, feelings arise from contact, so Shantideva deconstructs contact. If there’s an interval, there can be no actual contact between an object and sense faculty. If there’s no interval, the object and sense faculty would be one. Consciousness is immaterial, so how can it have any contact with a material object? Without contact, how can feelings arise? If the experiencer doesn’t truly exist nor feelings truly exist, why does craving arise when looking at an object? Feelings don’t arise to the mind like objects of perception. Feelings arise together with the mind as a mode of apprehending the object. Mind itself has illusion-like nature, so feelings too lack inherent existence. Meditation: mindfulness of feelings preceded by mindfulness of the body. 
1) mindfulness of the body. Settle the mind in the stillness of the present moment. Rest in the stillness of awareness by releasing all grasping. From that stillness, let awareness illuminate the space of the body. With naked awareness (no concepts!), observe sensations in the field of the body, and perceive each of the 5 elements via those sensations. 
2) mindfulness of feelings. Can you distinguish between sensations and feelings? Closely apply mindfulness to feeling, and examine its nature. Probe the feelings. Probe the sensations. Now turn awareness on the experiencer. When some insight into empty nature arises, stop investigating, and just rest in that knowing. Teaching pt2: Geshe Rabten’s advice on dealing with klesas: 1) the best way is to observe them directly, sharply, without entering into cognitive fusion, 2) if that fails, apply other antidotes, and 3) if that fails, move attention away from the object. Fighting klesas is like guerilla warfare. Q1. How can I increase the resolution of images in the mind? At times, I find it helpful to hold onto blurry images, but this may not be good practice.
Q2. Please elaborate on the 4 types of mindfulness in settling the mind. Are there signposts in awareness of awareness? Meditation starts at 50:04

Teaching pt1: With respect to the Madhyamaka, 1) hearing means that you understand the View as presented, 2) reflection means that you relate the teachings to your own experience, and 3) meditation means investigation based on shamatha to penetrate to direct realization. Alan elaborates on verses 90-92 of Ch. 9 of the Bodhicaryavatara. Suffering arises in dependence on causes and conditions; however, neither suffering nor joy is inherently existent. They are conventionally there without investigation, without analysis. However, upon analysis, neither is there from its own side. Just as causes and conditions can shift to produce either suffering or joy, conceptual designation can also be shifted by the observer participant. Reification is the problem, and this is the antidote to reification. Meditation: mindfulness of feelings preceded by mindfulness of the body. 
1) mindfulness of the body. Let awareness illuminate the space of the body and tactile sensations therein. With discerning mindfulness note each of the 5 elements. When the mind is quiet, perceive tactile sensations as tactile sensations. Do sensations bear an intrinsic identity? 
2) mindfulness of feelings. Closely apply mindfulness to feelings that arise with tactile sensations. Are they static or in flux? Are they pleasurable or unpleasurable? Do they have an owner? Choose a spot on the body where you experience a feeling, and observe with samadhi the appearance, and see what you see. Now experiment on that same spot by deliberately labelling the sensation as pleasant or unpleasant. Reify it as being absolutely there. Now withdraw the designation and reification, and observe the impact with a quiet mind. Once some clarity arises, stop investigating, and simply maintain that knowing. Teaching pt2: By withdrawing conceptual designation, reification is also withdrawn, yet it is possible to conceptually designate without reification. No reification means no klesas, and no klesas mean no suffering. Q1. Please explain how to generate a proper vacant gaze.
Q2. What criteria can I use to determine whether I should receive a Vajrayana empowerment and do the practice? Meditation starts at 43:44

Teaching: As an appendix to last night’s talk, Alan introduces the placebo effect which is clearly a mental that happens and is well-known. However, there is no explanation in modern science for how it works. Applying John Wheeler’s assertion that information is primary and that the universe is an information processing system to the microcosm of one’s mind/body, we can consider mind/body as being derivative from information and as an information processing system. Information can catalyze the specific sequelae seen in the placebo effect. According to Wheeler, we are co-creating our universe by how we measure it and how we make sense of it.
Alan introduces mindfulness of the body according to the Madhyamaka (Middle Way). It is useful to hone in on the Middle Way by identifying the two extremes of 1) nihilism/solicism – the universe comes into existence based on our perception and 2) metaphysical realism – the universe is already out there, waiting to be discovered. Alan introduces close application of mindfulness to the body from the Madhyamaka perspective following verses 78-105 in Ch. 9 of the Bodhicaryavatara. 
Meditation: mindfulness of the body per Shantideva. What do you think is there when you’re not looking? What do you think of as “my body”? Closely apply mindfulness to individual parts from the feet upwards. Do you think the feet are the body, etc...? If you think the body as the whole, then what of amputees? If you think the body has parts, then where is the body that has those parts? How many parts can we remove before we stop having a body? When does a fertilized egg become a human body? When does the human body stop becoming a human body? Neither origination nor cessation exists from ist own side. Rest in the emptiness of your own body. Q1. If the psyche is individually configured, yet the substrate’s qualities are universal, does everyone have the same experience of the substrate? Q2. If rigpa is outside the system, can rigpa be considered God eye’s view? Within rigpa, are my choice already made leading to a deterministic universe? Meditation starts at 48:00

For some reason, we thought we'd start talking about the Seven Masters. But we get immediately sidetracked by Herbert Güenther, a Buddhist scholar who wrote about the Madhyamaka and Yogacara schools of Buddhism. Interestingly, his discussion of the development of these schools isn't exactly historically accurate from a Western point of view — but it… Continue reading A Buddhist view of History →

Yes, this is an ambitious title but as always the podcast episode does not fail to deliver the goods. However, I really won't even try to summarize all of Buddhist Philosophy in two paragraphs. I know I always say that but really, this time there is just no point and not enough space for me to do that. However, I will give you a few things :) The lecture started with what to do when we encounter strong negative emotions, attitudes, and mental states after the retreat, and this was weaved with a question about the relationship of Chitamattra and Dzogchen. Instead of giving a brief conceptual comparison, Alan rolls back and looks at a sequence of ways of viewing reality, fully engaged with a way of practice. He works with Sanskrit-language based schools: Vaibhashika, Sautrantika, Chittamatra, and Madhyamaka, and ends with a brief overview of The Great Perfection (Dzogchen).Alan makes this very relevant regardless of personal interest in Buddhism, and clearly explains the ways of viewing the physical, appearances, systems of measurement, qualia, references, perception, the mind, awareness, "what do you really know," and just all of reality from evolving points of view. Somewhere in the middle, there is a brief detour into the "lack of competition" that resulted in materialism taking over the mind sciences. I will honestly say that I do not consider myself well-versed in Buddhist philosophy, and this episode was extremely enlightening and helped me clearly understand the different views of the Indian Buddhist schools, culminating in the beauty of the Dzogchen view.So that's all you'll get from me! I very highly recommend this episode.

Prof. Steve Jenkins of Humboldt State University delivered a lecture at the IBS titled Compassionate Violence, Torture and Warfare in the Bodhisattva Ideal This is part two of a three-part series. Buddhist allowances for compassionate torture, killing, and warfare are dissonant with with the established perception of Buddhist pacifism. While academic studies of Buddhism have accepted that Mahayana and Tantric though allows for such actions, it has been argued that these allowances are rare and narrow allegorical or magical references, not general ethical guidelines. Prof. Steve Jenkins argues that Buddhist allowances for violence are broad and authoritatively attested to in both Yogacara and Madhyamaka treatises of Mahayana sources. Building on previous work, a survey of tantric sadhanas for killing, and references to Buddhist art and folklore, this lecture argues that the exaggeration of Mahayana pacifism has created a false negative space for the evaluation of trantrism. Originally recorded April 17, 2009 © 2009 Steven Jenkins

Prof. Steve Jenkins of Humboldt State University delivered a lecture at the IBS titled Compassionate Violence, Torture and Warfare in the Bodhisattva Ideal This is part one of a three-part series. Buddhist allowances for compassionate torture, killing, and warfare are dissonant with with the established perception of Buddhist pacifism. While academic studies of Buddhism have accepted that Mahayana and Tantric though allows for such actions, it has been argued that these allowances are rare and narrow allegorical or magical references, not general ethical guidelines. Prof. Steve Jenkins argues that Buddhist allowances for violence are broad and authoritatively attested to in both Yogacara and Madhyamaka treatises of Mahayana sources. Building on previous work, a survey of tantric sadhanas for killing, and references to Buddhist art and folklore, this lecture argues that the exaggeration of Mahayana pacifism has created a false negative space for the evaluation of trantrism. Originally recorded April 17, 2009 © 2009 Steven Jenkins

Prof. Steve Jenkins of Humboldt State University delivered a lecture at the IBS titled Compassionate Violence, Torture and Warfare in the Bodhisattva Ideal This is part three of a three-part series. Buddhist allowances for compassionate torture, killing, and warfare are dissonant with with the established perception of Buddhist pacifism. While academic studies of Buddhism have accepted that Mahayana and Tantric though allows for such actions, it has been argued that these allowances are rare and narrow allegorical or magical references, not general ethical guidelines. Prof. Steve Jenkins argues that Buddhist allowances for violence are broad and authoritatively attested to in both Yogacara and Madhyamaka treatises of Mahayana sources. Building on previous work, a survey of tantric sadhanas for killing, and references to Buddhist art and folklore, this lecture argues that the exaggeration of Mahayana pacifism has created a false negative space for the evaluation of trantrism. Originally recorded April 17, 2009 © 2009 Steven Jenkins

Lecture by Leslie Kawamura Video Version Dr. Kawamura begins his lecture by reiterating the usual understanding of anatman (no-self) — that a "self" does not exist. But if a self does not exist, then there would be little or no need to be concerned or involved in the Buddha-Dharma (teachings of the Buddha). What does it mean to say "no-self" in Buddhism? In his lecture Dr. Kawamura will approach this issue from a purely Mahayana perspective and discuss both Madhyamaka and Yogacara systems. Originally recorded Spring 2007, © Leslie Kawamura

Lecture by Leslie Kawamura Audio Version Dr. Kawamura begins his lecture by reiterating the usual understanding of anatman (no-self) — that a "self" does not exist. But if a self does not exist, then there would be little or no need to be concerned or involved in the Buddha-Dharma (teachings of the Buddha). What does it mean to say "no-self" in Buddhism? In his lecture Dr. Kawamura will approach this issue from a purely Mahayana perspective and discuss both Madhyamaka and Yogacara systems. Originally recorded Spring 2007, © Leslie Kawamura