A look at how dependent arising eliminates the extreme of nihilism and the extreme of absolutism.

Review Are there any questions left over from what we discussed this morning? We were discussing how voidness means the absence of impossible ways of existing, or impossible relations of cause and effect, and that it’s the same word as is used in Indian languages for the...

Different Levels of Dependent Arising We have been speaking about voidness, which is an absence of impossible ways of existing, and we have been presenting it in a very general way, using the term a bit loosely, so that we can incorporate in our discussion of voidness the...

What does it mean that a Buddha does not mentally label anything with categories, but a Buddha does designate?

Designation Names, Words and Tags Designation involves the application of a name (ming; word) and/or a tag (brda; label, term) to some item, whether or not that item is validly knowable. Unicorns and self-established existence (rang-bzhin-gyis grub-pa), after all, do not...

When we look at how we act in a certain situation, we need to differentiate between the motivation and the action.

Detail about the Perfection of Patience The next far-reaching attitude is that of patience or tolerance. This again is an attitude, a state of mind, with which we don’t get angry but we’re able to endure various difficulties and suffering. We don’t become disturbed or upset by...

The second far-reaching attitude is ethical self-discipline. We’re not talking about discipline to play a musical instrument or kick a ball, but it has to do with our ethical behavior. It’s not that we are the policeman trying to discipline somebody else, train the dog or...

Let’s look at the six far-reaching attitudes themselves. The first of these is generosity. The Definition of Generosity Generosity is defined as the willingness to give. It’s an attitude, a state of mind. Shantideva wrote: (V.9) (After all,) if the perfection of giving were...

Let us look more closely at the type of nonrevealing form that a pratimoksha vowed restraint (so-sor thar-pa’i sdom-pa, Skt. prātimokṣasaṃvara) is. There Is Only One Nonrevealing Form for All the Branches of a Pratimoksha Vowed Restraint  Vasubandhu adds further detail...