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Mystery of Emptiness & Love
Part One defines the problem sentient beings face with understanding the nature of reality. This predicament results because the innate view causes us to see ourselves and the world around us in a way that is not consistent with the way it actually exists. Because of the innate view, we experience suffering that moves from imperceptible to manifest, while remaining in a kind of sleep-like inner stupor or hypnosis. Part Two contains the step-by-step method by which the innate view is dismantled. We arrive at the correct view through careful, sequential elimination of incorrect views. The arguments are presented in the form of short excerpts and my commentary based on Twenty Emptinesses by Chandrakirti, (600 c. 650), a small but important segment of Chandrakirti s seminal Introduction to the Middle Way, Madhyamakavatara. Part Three places the analysis of emptiness in harmony with the teachings of compassion and spiritual love. We learn how the bodhisattva heroes, enlightened beings on their way to perfect Buddhahood, think and behave. Their understanding of the illusory nature of reality might logically make them stern and unforgiving, but they are quite the opposite. How do they train themselves in love?
186 pages, Perfect Paperback
Published August 25, 2009
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July 26, 2014
This is probably the most remarkable book you may ever read as it hints at mysteries that only the truly enlightened can know directly.
I am actually a student of this Buddhist teacher and have heard her teach many times so her modes of expression and the concepts she expresses are already familiar to me. I have read the book once each year for the last five years and each time I understand a little more. If you are not a student of Buddhism already, I imagine this book would be much more difficult to get to grips with.
Having said that, it is peppered with common sense and good humour. Here is one of my favourite passages:
"Recently I went to our local home improvement center, and when I came out, I had been there so long that I could not remember where I parked my car, and the weather had changed dramatically. It was pouring rain and I had a full shopping cart. The normal reaction would be to run hither and thither in the parking lot, dodging raindrops, trying to find the car. I think you get the picture. However, I decided that, out of a sense of dignity, I was not going to run, as I was not going to get any wetter if I simply walked without scrambling and looking foolish to myself.
In this way, we need not hide or rush from samsara for fear that we are going to get wet with cyclic existence because we are already, as they say, all wet. With a sense of dignity and an understanding of the true nature of reality, fully prepared beings should be expected to exit cyclic existence with a certain sense of dignity and not like people rushing like mad in the rain." p.101/102
In short, if you are a serious student of Buddhism, this book is a must. If not, you might be better to start by hearing Domo Geshe Rinpoche teaching live:
https://www.youtube.com/user/WhiteCon...
http://www.white-conch.org/
https://www.facebook.com/domogesherin...
I am actually a student of this Buddhist teacher and have heard her teach many times so her modes of expression and the concepts she expresses are already familiar to me. I have read the book once each year for the last five years and each time I understand a little more. If you are not a student of Buddhism already, I imagine this book would be much more difficult to get to grips with.
Having said that, it is peppered with common sense and good humour. Here is one of my favourite passages:
"Recently I went to our local home improvement center, and when I came out, I had been there so long that I could not remember where I parked my car, and the weather had changed dramatically. It was pouring rain and I had a full shopping cart. The normal reaction would be to run hither and thither in the parking lot, dodging raindrops, trying to find the car. I think you get the picture. However, I decided that, out of a sense of dignity, I was not going to run, as I was not going to get any wetter if I simply walked without scrambling and looking foolish to myself.
In this way, we need not hide or rush from samsara for fear that we are going to get wet with cyclic existence because we are already, as they say, all wet. With a sense of dignity and an understanding of the true nature of reality, fully prepared beings should be expected to exit cyclic existence with a certain sense of dignity and not like people rushing like mad in the rain." p.101/102
In short, if you are a serious student of Buddhism, this book is a must. If not, you might be better to start by hearing Domo Geshe Rinpoche teaching live:
https://www.youtube.com/user/WhiteCon...
http://www.white-conch.org/
https://www.facebook.com/domogesherin...
Displaying 1 of 1 review