Tsongkhapa’s refutations of the positions that over-refute or under-refute the object to be refuted in vipashyana meditation on voidness.

Learn about the various levels of using the imagination to give rise to the appearances of Buddha-figures, representing the Enlightening Form Bodies of a Buddha.

Many meditation practices involve visualization. “Visualization,” however, might be a bit of a misleading translation, because we’re not using our eyes. We’re working with our imagination, so it’s not just visual, but we have to imagine sounds, smells, tastes and physical...

Learn why Study Buddhism prefers the term “voidness” over “emptiness.”

Verses 12-14 Recap We have been studying Dharmarakshita’s text Wheel of Sharp Weapons, which is the earliest version of this genre of literature – lojong, attitude training. We have seen that bodhisattvas – bodhisattvas are those who are aimed at enlightenment, they have...

Verses 15-17 Recap We’ve been working through the lojong or attitude training text Wheel of Sharp Weapons. In this, Dharmarakshita has been speaking about the various things that ripen from our negative karma – various difficult situations. What we are trying to do then is to...

Verses 18-19 Poetical and Literal Translations of the Text We have been going through the text by Dharmarakshita, Wheel of Sharp Weapons, a Mahayana cleansing of attitudes. We’ve been using the translation that I had prepared with a few others in 1973. That’s a long time ago,...

Verses 20-22 Recap  We’ve been going through the text by Dharmarakshita, the Indonesian teacher of Atisha, which is Wheel of Sharp Weapons. It’s an attitude training or mind training text. In it, we are looking at the first large section which deals with the various...

Verses 20-22 Recap  We’ve been going through the text by Dharmarakshita, the Indonesian teacher of Atisha, which is Wheel of Sharp Weapons. It’s an attitude training or mind training text. In it, we are looking at the first large section which deals with the various...

Verses 23-25 Recap We’re discussing this text, Wheel of Sharp Weapons. Actually, the image of the wheel of sharp weapons is star with blades that the ninjas throw – they had that in India as well. In the text, what is being discussed here is the practice of tonglen: taking on...