Emptiness is the central insight of Buddhism, and what makes it unique among religions. According to Buddhism, neither we, nor other beings, nor any phenomenon in the universe, has a permanent, separate, and independent core, soul, or identity. Another way to look at it is interdependence: all relative phenomena are
Mind-Body duality is a complicated topic in Buddhism. The Buddhist position could perhaps be best described as a middle way approach of ‘neither-duality-nor-identity’. This is a very basic explanation of Dualism. Dualism is a perception that something — or everything, including reality itself can be sorted into two fundamental and
Nagarjuna’s point of view Nagarjuna is an Indian Buddhist philosopher, the founder of the Madhyamaka school. What is Madhyamaka? According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy“The Madhyamaka school of Buddhism, the followers of which are called Mādhyamikas, was one of the two principal schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism in India, the
Attachment can manifest in trauma, self-destructive habits, or negative lifestyle practices. Buddhist non-attachment encourages peace of mind and self-preservation. Factoring the idea of non-attachment in alcohol or drugs with the awareness that meditation can bring peace is a powerful step in attaining positive change. Buddhist doctrines deal in detail with
Nagarjuna (A.D. c. 150 – c. 250 CE) is regarded by many as the second greatest teacher in Buddhism. Some people even feel that Nagarjuna is the second Buddha who The Buddha prophesied would come sometime after to clarify things. Nagarjuna did much to clarify the nature of emptiness and
Madhyamaka is “the school of the Middle Way.” Main texts: The Wisdom Sutras – forty texts collected under the title Prajnaparamita (Perfection of Wisdom) Sutra. Founder of Madhyamaka school is Nagarjuna. Nagarjuna’s principal contribution to Buddhism was his systematization of the sutras’ teachings and focus on Emptiness (“Sunyata”). Emptiness is
By Nagarjuna Buddhists all agree that there is nothing in reality that is the basis of our sense of “I” and “mine.” They agree that it is our mistaken belief in the existence of something behind this sense of “I” and “mine” that brings about suffering. So they should all
We all are experiencing suffering, and we all naturally desire happiness. To be free from suffering, we need to clearly understand the causes and conditions that give rise to suffering and ways to eliminate them. Until we understand that, no matter our wealth, intellect, the success we may have achieved,
The state in between Death and Life The bardo—or the “in-between”—has come to describe the transitional state between death and rebirth, but its qualities also characterize the gap arising between any two states. In fact, we live in a continuous bardo, forever suspended between past and future, although we seldom
The Buddha’s first teaching after his enlightenment centered on the Four Noble Truths, which are the foundation of Buddhism. It is said that when the Buddha first realized enlightenment, he had no intention of teaching. But upon reflection—in the myths, he was asked to teach by gods—he decided to teach
Gratitude is one of the most powerful practices for living the dharma in daily life and the most easily cultivated, requiring the least sacrifice for what is gained in return. We should be grateful not just because we got what we want or we had good fortune, rather, we should
It’s relatively easy to be enlightened when sitting in the meditation hall. But the point of our practice is to extend the energy and composure of our sitting practice into daily life. Returning from the meditation retreat, kindly inhabiting your experience, being present with your posture and breathing, you are
