Two Truths

Dr. Berzin: Rinpoche, you study with both a Gelugpa and a Nyingma teacher, especially about the Prasangika view of voidness (emptiness). Could you please explain the differences between the Gelugpa and Nyingma interpretations of voidness as asserted in Prasangika and please...

Introduction The Four Noble Truths Buddha lived about 2500 years ago in India. Because his disciples had varying dispositions and capacities, he taught each of them in an individual way that would best suit how they would understand. But the first thing that he taught for...

The Two Truths and the Four Noble Truths  Indian religions vary among those that (1) do or do not rely on cause and effect over previous lives, (2) do or do not aim at liberation and (3) do or do not rely on internal or external means to achieve it. There is also a nihilist...

The two truths are a quite complex and deep topic within the sphere of Buddhism and I would like to try to present them in a practical way, trying to indicate that these are not just a topic of intellectual interest, but of practical use. We are aiming in Buddhist practice to...

Definition of the Two TruthsDeepest TruthA mind that analyzes the deepest nature of a knowable phenomenon takes as its involved object (‘jug-yul) its deepest essential nature, i.e. it takes the voidness of the phenomenon as the main object with which it cognitively engages....

The Four Noble Truths: Two Sets of Cause and Effect As Shantideva said: (IX.1) The Sage has spoken about all these branches for the sake of discriminating awareness. Therefore, generate discriminating awareness with the wish to pacify sufferings. Gaining a state of...

Introduction When we speak about the two truths in Chittamatra and the other Mahayana schools, we’re not talking about two different types of true phenomenon, we’re going to talk about the true truths. But speaking about the two truths that are descriptive of all phenomena,...

Brief Review Our text is Bodhisattvacharyavatara, Engaging in Bodhisattva Behavior, by the great master Shantideva. This is one of the texts in a collection of three known as “The Root, Engaging, and the Four” as previously explained. This text has ten chapters, and we are...

Question about Other Voidness Your Holiness spoke of the other voidness view of the Jonangpas yesterday. Could Your Holiness say something about the other voidness view of Mipam. Is this something different? Other voidness, as was discussed yesterday, was the view presented...

The Two Truths Have the Same Essential Nature When the statement is made that the two truths have the same essential nature (ngo-bo gcig), but different conceptual isolates (ldog-pa tha-dad), it does not mean that they are referring to the same essential nature. It is not that...