How Things Exist: Teachings on Emptiness

by Thubten Zopa

This book begins with a general talk by Lama Zopa Rinpoche on universal responsibility and compassion that is followed by four chapters detailing the Prasangika Madhyamaka view of emptiness, or ultimate reality, as taught in the Gelug tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, and how to meditate on it, according to the author’s personal experience.


Lama Zopa Rinpoche
"Sometimes you might think, 'What's the use of teachings on emptiness? How does this philosophy help me when I have problems in everyday life?' However, if you can think [about emptiness], it's the most powerful meditation to shatter the hallucinations. It's like an atomic bomb. Problems happen in your daily life because you believe the hallucinations to be real. The most powerful, immediate way to stop problems is to remember emptiness. You should especially remember emptiness when you are in situations where there's a danger of giving rise to strong anger or uncontrolled desire and creating heavy negative karma and causing great harm to others."


In this small book Lama Zopa Rinpoche covers an incredible amount of ground. He starts by emphasizing the importance of compassion and universal responsibility and how to make life meaningful, then gives a brief explanation of the nature of the enlightened mind and how we can attain it, and finally offers an amazing and extensive explanation of emptiness, the ultimate nature of reality, analyzing the way various phenomena exist and teaching how to meditate on emptiness. Within these teachings, Rinpoche also touches on several of the other main points of the path to enlightenment, such as bodhicitta, the three scopes and impermanence. But, in the end, this wonderfully practical book is a manifestation of Rinpoche's peerless wisdom realizing emptiness and a testament to the personal experience of this rare and precious teacher.


This title was published by the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive, a non-profit organization established to make the Buddhist teachings of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche freely accessible in many ways, including on our website for instant reading, listening or downloading, and as printed and electronic books. Our website offers immediate access to thousands of pages of teachings and hundreds of audio recordings by some of the greatest lamas of our time. Our photo gallery and our ever-popular books are also freely accessible there. You can find out more about becoming a supporter of the Archive and see all we have to offer by visiting the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive website.

Genres: Buddhism, Nonfiction, Spirituality, Religion, Philosophy, Self Help

114 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche (Tibetan: ཐུབ་བསྟན་བཟོད་པ་, Wylie: Thub-bstan Bzod-pa, often published as Lama Zopa Rinpoche, the spiritual director of The Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition, is held to be the reincarnation of the Sherpa Nyingma yogi Kunsang Yeshe, the Lawudo Lama. Rinpoche was born in 1946 in Thami, not far from the cave Lawudo, in the Mount Everest region of Nepal, where his predecessor meditated for the last twenty years of his life. While his predecessor had belonged to the Sakya tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, the Lawudo Lama himself had been a great master of the complete tantric teachings of the Nyingma tradition.

Rinpoche left Thami when he was about 4 years old and was put in a Monastery that was very close to the border of Nepal and Tibet. Rinpoche stayed at this Monastery for several years until he went to Tibet and took getsul ordination in 1958, and continued his studies in Domo Geshe's monastery in Phagri, Tibet.

In 1959 Rinpoche escaped from Tibet and continued his studies in Sera Jhe monastery in Buxa Duar, in the north of India. This is where the Indian Government housed the monks from Sera, Ganden and Drepung Monasteries who wanted to continue their studies, along with monks from the other sects. It was at Bux a Duar that Rinpoche became the disciple of Geshe Rabten Rinpoche and then of Lama Thubten Yeshe. Frida Bedi then invited him to join her school for incarnate lamas in Dalhousie where they were given the chance to learn English for 6 months. Upon the completion returned to Buxa Duar and his studies.

Lama Yeshe and Zopa Rinpoche's contact with Westerners began in 1965 in Darjeeling, when they met Princess Zina Rachevsky from Russia. She became the Lamas' first Western student. In 1969 they founded the Nepal Mahayana Gompa Center at Kopan, above Boudhnath Stupa in Kathmandu, Nepal. At the insistence of Zina Rachevsky the Lamas started to teach courses on Buddhism for Westerns at Kopan.

In 1971 Rinpoche took gelong ordination from His Holiness Ling Rinpoche in Bodh Gaya. By 1975, twelve centers had started. In 1976, the growing worldwide organization was named by Lama Yeshe 'the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition'(FPMT). The FPMT is an organization devoted to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and service.

There are 147 FPMT centers and projects worldwide as of March 2007.

FPMT currently has 8 standard Buddhist education programs that are taught in many of the centers. Two of these, the Masters Program and the Basic Program are committed courses of 6 and 5 years of study respectively. Based on the great philosophical texts studied in the monasteries of Tibet, FPMT holds to rigid standards of translation and has a passion for authentic texts to ensure that complete accuracy of the meaning found within these profound texts is not forfeited in the transmission from East to West.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche has many other projects around the world; one of the most important is the 500ft Maitreya Statue that Rinpoche is building in Bodh Gaya that will include schools, hospitals and other social projects such as Leprosy clinics (these social projects are already in existence and have been functioning for the last
15 years). Some of the other projects that Rinpoche has founded are Sera Jhe food fund – which offers breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday to 2700 monks. The Lama Tsong Khapa Teacher Fund offers an allowance to the
main 100 teachers in the Gelukpa tradition from various monasteries. Rinpoche also has a number of other funds that are for building holy objects, such as Stupas, prayer wheels etc. Rinpoche has a very strong interest in collecting texts from all the different traditions.

Reviews

[Jay]

Much to think about upon completion of this book. The subject of emptiness is very difficult to explain but one of the key aspects of Buddhism. Lama Zopa does a good job of explaining it. In a sense, emptiness is like a logic problem and when it is not explained right it can get confusing. However in this book, you get a good sense of its meaning. A good primer for someone who is interested in this subject.

[Robyn]

Discounted | Too repetitive. | It might be necessary to repeat the same concept in the same words in the same paragraph when this is a speech given in person to a large crowd. But in text it legitimately and literally put me to sleep. I never fall asleep while reading, but suddenly woke up with the Kindle on my lap.

[Jaden Conner]

i loved this book a lot. it took me a bit of extra research and reflection into my own life to fully grasp the concept of meditating on emptiness. realistically, i thought about how to meditate on emptiness in real life.

because "i" am fleeting, *you* are fleeting as well. we are both constantly ever-changing. when you hurt me, it isn't a solid, permanent version of you hurting a solid, permanent version of me. one temporary version of you is interacting with one temporary version of me. in the next second, that moment is already gone, and we are replaced by new versions of ourselves.

we both exist in waves. when you realize that, you know that hatred cannot exist within emptiness unless we allow it to. our true purpose is showing compassion (as well as we can) to one another. the start is showing compassion to those who hurt us.

along with that, since nothing is permanent, the hurt is not permanent. in fact, hurt is just a label that we put on a reaction that we made ourselves feel. everything becomes what you make of it.

[Malum]

I have seen emptiness explained in some really good ways, but this meandering word salad isn't it. Zopa also has some odd conclusions about things like human behavior that left me scratching my head. Finally, there was a bit too much woo for my taste (magical buddhas will visit you and cure your cancer).

There were a few nice ideas in here, but overall I wouldn't recommend this one.

[Daniel]

it is never fair to receive lectures and speeches as if they were essays — a peril of putting such words in a book, i guess. so this is a somewhat basic and repetitive explanation of its concepts.

i appreciated this book for contributing to my understanding of Buddhist psychology, ethics, mereology and metaphysics.

the arguments themselves are primarily epistemic ones that are put in service of metaphysical conclusions. so they are hard to adopt seriously on their own merit. but it is still useful to understand the intuitions and perspectives that point to these particular conclusions and for that i give these transcripts much credit.

glad i spent time reading it. hard to recommend.

[REID NUTTING]

As my understanding and depth of study increases,.....

....at this time, I am unable to verify the unbounded heart's ability to extend full unbridled compassion to all sentient beings. I was unaware of the underlying precepts of the gradual school of thought, and, was discouraged by the descriptions of the experiences which Lama Zola Rinpoche's writings point to....I must be in a distant landscape vis a vis his viewpoint.
More work is necessary, I suppose.
Thank you.
bdbmknetr@gmail.com

[Rob Hermanowski]

This short audiobook, nicely narrated by Subhash Mandal, is a collection of lectures and teachings by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, a renowned teacher of Buddhist philosophical thought. The concept of emptiness and it's connection with universal responsibility can be a very elusive thing to grasp, but I plan on revisiting this and other writings on this topic to more fully understand this rather fascinating idea.

[Richard Pickett]

This is more a book (um, ok, a series of ad-hoc talks) on dependent arising.

Nothing earth-shattering here, but then again, that may be because I'm already well aware of the principle and would rather read something on how to apply that to day-to-day life rather than hear it explained all over again.

[J. Maximilian Jarrett II]

„Reality“ Reality, Reality. It’s taken me several decades of lived experience and nearly a decade of mindful awareness to know the Truth of what the Lama explains here. Now that I do, his teachings are very very clear to me. Simple in fact. Highly recommended for anyone with an open and receptive mind and heart.

[Philippa Dozin]

People have said this is repetitive, and it is in parts. However, I don't think this is a bad thing. The teachings on emptiness are very deep and it can be hard for the "Western " mind to get the true meaning. So I welcome the repetition as a sort of teaching/memory aid.
I read this book as part of the required reading for an FPMT course I am doing.

[SK SHARMA]

EMPTYNESS IS THE WAY

This is an excellent overview of emptiness. Inspires you to meditate and constantly practice emptiness awareness.This work is highly recommended for all seekers after truth that is ultimately empty.

[Misaki Acuna]

Mmm 🤔 I understand the concept but kind of feel sad to think that every thing in existence is merely labels 🏷 I have to learn how to still be happy and grateful to live the life in merely label things…?

[Everett Grandy]

Wakefulness

Sentientness wrapped in western cover will struggle with unwrapping in this yet fact stands in this pointing out that existence as of corporeal cognizance has been misinformed, be at least informed

[Caitlin Scagnelli]

I appreciate the sentiment of the messages repeated in the book. However, compassion, self-care, and love are complicated concepts and are over simplified in a way that make it difficult to apply to daily life in a tangible way.

[My Tien Khuc]

Quite repetitive like many dharma talks but it really brought the subject matter closer to me - giving me a basic understanding of emptiness/dependent arising. Might be too shallow for those already familiar with the subject matter

[Jeanne Lambrianou]

Shunyata/Emptiness is a tough topic

Teaching Emptiness is very tough, especially in a book (rather than face to face with a teacher). The Lama did a great job.

[Anjalica]

Awesome wisdom

[Vibhu]

Be prepared to get your mind blown

[James Russell]

Could have even about a third of the size and it wasn't a long book.

[Sean Harnett]

3.8
Audio

[Janani]

3.25

[Stefanie]

General audiences: 4 stars
Students familiar with dependent arising:emptiness 5 stars

[Jordan Brown]

Very helpful. These were originally speeches, so some might not like the constant repetition of idea, but I found it to be helpful.

[Peter]

Very, very repetitive and far from clear in meaning.

For a really thorough, if somewhat academic, discussion of the topic, try Relative Truth, Ultimate Truth.

[Gabe]

This book is sometimes dense and hard to read simply due to the complex nature of the content being discussed. But this is no fault of the author. Lama Zopa takes a very difficult topic and makes it as easy to understand as it is possible to do. I'm therefore giving a five star rating. It can be repetitive, but I think that's necessary when attempting to change a worldview that we are taught about since birth and which is heavily ingrained. This book cleared up several confusions I had on emptiness.

[Matt]

Five quick chapters focusing on the way we label experiences and things in the world. It is argued that at the root of the world is nothingness other than what we label it to be. This (at least how I am reading it) is both supportive of cognitive thought processes and also with slight adjustments a need to understand ourselves as subjective unconsciously driven individuals. Overall a decent read, and helps me to continue to feel more exposed and aware of Buddhism.

[Anabel Olivo]

Understanding emptiness is not easy. We have lived for countless lives seeing things and phenomena in the wrong way. I love this talk by Lama Zopa because of the simplicity with which he explains such a complex subject. He emphasizes how being aware of it and bringing it to our daily practice is crucial for our advance on the path, helping us especially when we experience problems as a tool to avoid generating more negative karma.

[Patti]

Actually I will never finish reading this book. It doesn't really work that way with the Dharma.Every reading takes you deeper into this infinite subject matter. A teaching I would recommend to any Buddhist practitioner, but especially to those of the Prasagika school of the Middle Way. It is juicy!

[Nor'dzin Pamo]

A wonderful book, giving clear insight into the meaning of Emptiness.

[Connely K Baldwin]

Accessible transcription of sermons, but did not enhance my understanding as much as other sources.