‘Why Do I Need to Practice if Everything Is Empty?’
A Tibetan Buddhist teacher and oracle on avoiding nihilistic extremes, in our practice and in our lives
Emptiness
Emptiness in Buddhism, or sunyata in Sanskrit (sunnata in Pali), is the Buddhist principle that everything—including ourselves—is empty of inherent existence and arises interdependently. In the Pali canon, the earliest Buddhist scriptures, the Buddha uses the term to describe how we don't have a fixed, permanent self. In Mahayana Buddhism, the concept became central and extended to all phenomena. The Heart Sutra, an especially famous Mahayana teaching about emptiness, is chanted daily by many practitioners and is also popular among Western Buddhists.
TeachingsMagazine | Practice, Teachings
Exploring Emptiness
What lies on the other side of our fear
Soñar juntos
En el teatro de la vida, el vacío y la compasión van de la mano
TeachingsMagazine | Dharma Talk, Teachings
Dreaming Together
In the theater of life, emptiness and compassion go hand in hand.
The Big Activity
The venerated teacher on the nature of perceiving Zen versus the act of engaging in Zen and why that distinction makes all the difference.
Resting in the Not-Knowing
Four poems from John Brehm’s new collection, Dharma Talk
The Piquantness of Cilantro and the Retelling of Half-Truths
Certain things you believe about yourself for your entire life. Until, one day, you suddenly realize you’ve missed the main story, and all this time you have been fixated on a half-truth.
A Bird With Two Wings: Flying with the Correct View of Emptiness
Adele Tomlin outlines the key differences between the two views of emptiness, developed by Tibetan Buddhist scholars and masters.
Love as the Expression of Emptiness
Joseph Goldstein describes the benefits and means of letting go of the mind’s habits of attachment and delusion.
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