When voidness is cognized conceptually, its superficial truth appears; this is known as denumerable voidness. When voidness is cognized non-conceptually, an absolute absence of truly established existence appears; this is known as non-denumerable voidness.

To know how to cognize voidness, both conceptually and non-conceptually, and thus how to rid ourselves of the true causes of our true sufferings, we need to know the steps that each Indian Buddhist tenet system explains for the meditative process for realizing voidness.

Shakyamuni Buddha first taught the four noble truths: true sufferings, true origins or causes of sufferings, true stoppings or cessations of suffering and its causes, and the true pathway mind that will lead to these stoppings.

Having reached the age of eighty, Dr. Berzin looks back on his life and provides a full picture from childhood up to the present.