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The Open Door to Emptiness
One of the most important concepts of Buddhism is the understanding of emptiness, or more precisely why all internal thoughts and feelings and also all external objects are empty. As Rinpoche explains, things do obviously appear to be solid and existent, but it can also be shown that they are empty of any inherent existence. If we do not understand the empty nature of phenomena, we really cannot thoroughly practice the reduction of attachment that we have with the phenomenal world.
This concept of emptiness which was taught by the Buddha and was greatly expounded on by the great master Nagarjuna is not easy to grasp. But Thrangu Rinpoche, who is well known for taking very complex Buddhist subjects and making them accessible to the Buddhist practitioner, gives a detailed set of logical arguments based on ordinary life experiences on this topic. He bases this unique work on Mipham Rinpoches great treatise, The Gateway to Knowledge.
This concept of emptiness which was taught by the Buddha and was greatly expounded on by the great master Nagarjuna is not easy to grasp. But Thrangu Rinpoche, who is well known for taking very complex Buddhist subjects and making them accessible to the Buddhist practitioner, gives a detailed set of logical arguments based on ordinary life experiences on this topic. He bases this unique work on Mipham Rinpoches great treatise, The Gateway to Knowledge.
126 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
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About the author
Khenchen Thrangu
80 books43 followersVery Venerable Ninth Khenchen Thrangu Tulku, Karma Lodrö Lungrik Maway Senge (Tibetan: ཁྲ་འགུ་, Wylie: khra 'gu) is a prominent tulku (reincarnate lama) in the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism.
At the age of four he was formally recognized by His Holiness the Sixteenth Karmapa and Eleventh Tai Situpa as the ninth incarnation of the great Thrangu tulku, the abbot of Thrangu Monastery, whose root incarnation was Shüpu Palgyi Sengé, one of the twenty-five disciples of Guru Rinpoche. Forced to flee to India in 1959, he went to Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim, where the Karmapa had his seat in exile. Thrangu Rinpoche then served as the main teacher of the four principal Karma Kagyü tulkus of that time—the four regents of the Karmapa (Shamar Rinpoche, Tai Situ Rinpoche, Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche, and Gyaltsab Rinpoche). In 1976 he began to teach in the West and became the abbot of Gampo Abbey—a Buddhist monastery in Nova Scotia, Canada—as well as to take charge of the three-year retreat centre at Samyé Ling in Scotland.
He is also the author of the widely studied The Practice of Tranquility and Insight, a commentary on the eighth chapter of Jamgön Kongtrul's Treasury of Knowledge, on shamatha and vipashyana.
At the age of four he was formally recognized by His Holiness the Sixteenth Karmapa and Eleventh Tai Situpa as the ninth incarnation of the great Thrangu tulku, the abbot of Thrangu Monastery, whose root incarnation was Shüpu Palgyi Sengé, one of the twenty-five disciples of Guru Rinpoche. Forced to flee to India in 1959, he went to Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim, where the Karmapa had his seat in exile. Thrangu Rinpoche then served as the main teacher of the four principal Karma Kagyü tulkus of that time—the four regents of the Karmapa (Shamar Rinpoche, Tai Situ Rinpoche, Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche, and Gyaltsab Rinpoche). In 1976 he began to teach in the West and became the abbot of Gampo Abbey—a Buddhist monastery in Nova Scotia, Canada—as well as to take charge of the three-year retreat centre at Samyé Ling in Scotland.
He is also the author of the widely studied The Practice of Tranquility and Insight, a commentary on the eighth chapter of Jamgön Kongtrul's Treasury of Knowledge, on shamatha and vipashyana.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 15, 2016
A practice that requires practice...
"To be intellectually thoroughly convinced that everything is empty is not enough to develop full realisation. Rather, we must also meditate on the mind to see for ourselves how outer phenomena register in the mind to see that the mind is truly empty."
"To be intellectually thoroughly convinced that everything is empty is not enough to develop full realisation. Rather, we must also meditate on the mind to see for ourselves how outer phenomena register in the mind to see that the mind is truly empty."
November 23, 2021
WOW : Womb of Wisdom
Such is awareness awakened of a sleeping consciousness, where mother of its emptiness is perceived and actualized in womb of wisdom.
Such is awareness awakened of a sleeping consciousness, where mother of its emptiness is perceived and actualized in womb of wisdom.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews