Review Regarding the seven vajra points, our text states: (2) The sequential connection of these that is due to their defining characteristics, in the order in which they are to be understood, is as in The Sutra (Requested) by King Dharani. From its introduction, one is to be...

The First Chapter of the Text  Let’s begin our discussion of the text. The first chapter is the chapter on Buddha-nature, and the text starts by giving its subject matter in an outline form (remember that Maitreya’s texts start with an outline); the text is going to cover...

The Dharma Gem The first of the seven vajra points was the Clear Evolved Ones, the Buddhas. Now, we are up to discussing the second point, the Dharma Gem. For this, just as there were eight qualities for the Buddha Gem, there are eight qualities for the Dharma Gem. Of the...

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 Sangha Gem  We were speaking about the seven diamond-strong points, which are first outlined in chapter one. We’ve covered the Buddha Gem and the Dharma Gem, and now we are up to the Sangha Gem.  The Sangha Gem here is referring to the arya bodhisattvas...

Explanation of the Title With these points in mind, let us now turn to the text. The title of this classic is, in Sanskrit, Mahayana-uttaratantra Shastra and in Tibetan Theg-pa chen-po rgyud bla-ma'i bstan-bcos (An Indicative Composition on a Vast Vehicle of Mind, the...

Proper Motivation and Explanation of the Title and Homage Before beginning, we set the motivation of wishing to listen to these teachings in order to actually achieve the state of enlightenment in order to benefit everyone. If we set this type of motivation, the benefits of...

Question about Method and Wisdom Could Your Holiness explain a little bit more about method and wisdom? When we speak of method and wisdom in Buddhism, method is referring primarily to the various actions and practices that will act as a cause for being able to generate a Form...

Introduction  When we look at the concept of the self in Buddhism, we need to analyze it from the points of view of the four schools of the Indian tenet systems. We’re going to refine our understanding further and further as we work our way through these schools. When we...

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...