"Time is free, but it is also priceless." "The nature of all beings is always Buddha [Awakened]. འགྲོ་བའི་རང་བཞིན་རྟག་ཏུ་སངས་རྒྱས་" —3rd Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje "The reason samsara is beginningless is because it is an illusion. When you realise this then the illusion ends. The reason texts describe samsara as endless is because countless sentient beings are still… Continue reading “EMBODYING THE ESSENCE” WITH LOVE, TIME, PRESENCE AND STABILITY: “One Gone to Bliss” Buddha Nature experiential teachings on text by 3rd Karmapa by 9th Gyalton Rinpoche in Belgium (Part I: 11-12 September 2025)
Tag: zhentong
RECOGNISING JONANG AND RIGHTING PAST WRONGS IN TIBET: New online campaign launched by Tibetan Jonang lineage holder to demand that central Tibetan exile government authorities officially recognise one of the main Tibetan Buddhist lineages
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." --George Santayana "History repeats itself, but in such cunning disguise that we never detect the resemblance until the damage is done." ~ Sydney J. Harris Introduction A new campaign and online petition to recognise the Jonang Tibetan Buddhist tradition has been launched by the… Continue reading RECOGNISING JONANG AND RIGHTING PAST WRONGS IN TIBET: New online campaign launched by Tibetan Jonang lineage holder to demand that central Tibetan exile government authorities officially recognise one of the main Tibetan Buddhist lineages
BUDDHA NATURE IS NOT LIKE A ‘CHILDLESS WOMAN’S CHILD’: THE CLARITY ASPECT OF BUDDHA NATURE AND MIND: The importance of bodhicitta, devotion and recognising the nature of mind as a union of clarity-emptiness (Magic Key, Day 8, Thrangu Rinpoche)
“It is not completely non-existent emptiness, mere nothingness like space, or the child of a barren woman.” --Khenpo Gangshar in the Magic Key to the Philosophical Tenets commentary "When we think about that emptiness of space what is it like? It is inanimate, there is no clarity to it in any way. But when we… Continue reading BUDDHA NATURE IS NOT LIKE A ‘CHILDLESS WOMAN’S CHILD’: THE CLARITY ASPECT OF BUDDHA NATURE AND MIND: The importance of bodhicitta, devotion and recognising the nature of mind as a union of clarity-emptiness (Magic Key, Day 8, Thrangu Rinpoche)
MAGIC KEY FOR ENTERING KNOWLEDGE (PART III): ‘CONEQUENTIALIST MIDDLE WAY’ SCHOOL. The Consequentialist (Prasangika) Middle Way school and the fault of negating everything into empty-of-self (rang-tong) without asserting the ultimate ‘basis’ and qualities of Buddha Nature, the union of clear awareness-emptiness
“These days in this scriptural tradition people take mere words that appear as 'no propositions' as a refuge. They do not accept the presentation of the path and result, and do not even assert the Buddha Nature (Dezheg Nyingpo). Then they focus their mind single-pointedly on the blank, mere emptiness of the lack of elaborations…… Continue reading MAGIC KEY FOR ENTERING KNOWLEDGE (PART III): ‘CONEQUENTIALIST MIDDLE WAY’ SCHOOL. The Consequentialist (Prasangika) Middle Way school and the fault of negating everything into empty-of-self (rang-tong) without asserting the ultimate ‘basis’ and qualities of Buddha Nature, the union of clear awareness-emptiness
New Video: Short Meditation on the Two Views of Emptiness and their relevance to daily life(from Tricycle Dharma Talk: May 2023)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7wGBV9s7VI Here is a short meditation on the two views of emptiness developed in Tibetan Buddhism, Empty-of-Self (Rangtong) and Empty-of-Other (Zhentong) which concluded a longer Dharma Talk on the topic for Tricycle Magazine. For the full Dharma Talk, see here. Moving away from the philosophical explanations to a more practical way to experience the… Continue reading New Video: Short Meditation on the Two Views of Emptiness and their relevance to daily life(from Tricycle Dharma Talk: May 2023)
A SHINING MASS OF DHARMA: The Extraordinary and Vast Collected Works of Jetsun Tāranātha. New website and translation on his Life and Works
Introduction For the New Moon today, the first day of the sacred month of Saga Dawa tomorrow,and the recent commemoration of Jetsun Tāranātha's passing (May 17th), I am happy to launch and announce a brand-new website and first ever published English translation of the outline/contents of Tāranātha’s Collected Works, see https://taranathascollectedworks.com. To accompany the launch,… Continue reading A SHINING MASS OF DHARMA: The Extraordinary and Vast Collected Works of Jetsun Tāranātha. New website and translation on his Life and Works
New Dharma Talk: “A Bird With Two Wings: Flying with the Correct View of Emptiness” by Adele Tomlin (Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, May 2023)
As promised, my first Dharma Talk with Tricycle Buddhist Review, on the two views of emptiness, Empty-of-Self (Rang-tong) and Empty-of-Other (Zhen-tong) was published today and can be watched here. The talk is split into six sections and a transcript can be downloaded on the Tricycle website too: 00:00 Introduction 03:36 Great Wisdom Mother symbolism (Yum… Continue reading New Dharma Talk: “A Bird With Two Wings: Flying with the Correct View of Emptiness” by Adele Tomlin (Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, May 2023)
THE GREAT WISDOM MOTHER (YUM CHENMO) NEW ART, BOOK EDITION AND WEBSITE: TĀRANĀTHA’S COMMENTARY ON THE HEART SŪTRA. Second edition of book with original Tibetan calligraphy artwork and new project/website dedicated to Tāranātha’s Life and Works
"Empty does not mean completely empty, but primordial awareness empty of dualistic appearances.""[The Heart Sūtra] teaches that the ultimate perfectly established [nature] is empty of apparent saṁsara and nirvana. The primordial awareness of the perfectly established ultimate nature pervades all of saṁsara and nirvana but is not contaminated by either saṁsara or nirvana. Since it… Continue reading THE GREAT WISDOM MOTHER (YUM CHENMO) NEW ART, BOOK EDITION AND WEBSITE: TĀRANĀTHA’S COMMENTARY ON THE HEART SŪTRA. Second edition of book with original Tibetan calligraphy artwork and new project/website dedicated to Tāranātha’s Life and Works
MOTHER OF ALL THE BUDDHAS: PRAJNAPARAMITA AND THE ULTIMATE HEART ESSENCE
"Empty does not mean completely empty but primordial awareness empty of dualistic appearances." "[The Heart Sutra] teaches that the ultimate perfectly established [nature] is empty of apparent samsara and nirvana. The primordial awareness of the perfectly established ultimate nature pervades all of samsara and nirvana but is not contaminated by either samsara or nirvana. Since… Continue reading MOTHER OF ALL THE BUDDHAS: PRAJNAPARAMITA AND THE ULTIMATE HEART ESSENCE
MIND-ONLY IN TIBET (PART II): FIVE DHARMAS OF MAITREYA; KAGYU, JONANG AND SAKYA ZHENTONG VIEWS AND DIFFERENCES; DOLPOPA’S ASSERTIONS ABOUT MIND-ONLY TEXTS AS ZHENTONG MIDDLE WAY; AND THE NEED FOR THE THIRD MAHAYANA SCHOOL ‘BUDDHA NATURE’ (17th Karmapa teaching, Day 8)
"Generally, when talking about the 3rd Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje, he had studied and contemplated the Five Levels and many other Mind-Only texts. However, he mainly emphasized the Dharmas of Maitreya, and was the first Kagyupa, in the general and the sub-Kagyu lineages to spread the teachings of the Dharmas of Maitreya in Tibet. He left… Continue reading MIND-ONLY IN TIBET (PART II): FIVE DHARMAS OF MAITREYA; KAGYU, JONANG AND SAKYA ZHENTONG VIEWS AND DIFFERENCES; DOLPOPA’S ASSERTIONS ABOUT MIND-ONLY TEXTS AS ZHENTONG MIDDLE WAY; AND THE NEED FOR THE THIRD MAHAYANA SCHOOL ‘BUDDHA NATURE’ (17th Karmapa teaching, Day 8)