“We are like travelers in a desert who exhaust themselves running after mirages, or like someone walking down a road at night mistaking the shadows of the trees for criminals or wild animals waiting to attack.” – Modern Buddhism, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso
Emptiness is the way things really are. It is the way things exist as opposed to the way they appear. Emptiness is not nothingness, and it is not just emptying our mind of all conceptual thoughts. Realizing emptiness is the method to release our mind from the ignorance of self-grasping. As the great Yogi Saraha said, “If your mind is released permanently from self-grasping, there is no doubt that you will be released permanently from suffering.” This is because the result of grasping tightly at appearances is that we develop self-cherishing, attachment, hatred, jealousy and other delusions, our mind becomes agitated and unbalanced, and our peace of mind is destroyed. Start at the beginning of the series if you can, but if you miss the beginning, then start when you are able.
Recommended reading: How to Transform Your Life by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso. Free download here – www.howtotyl.com
September 10 – Seeing Through the Illusion: What is Emptiness?
September 17 – Letting Go of our Body Issues: The Emptiness of our Body
September 24 – Who do you Think you Are?: The Emptiness of our I
October 1 – How to Change Everything: The Emptiness of Phenomena
October 8 – Stop Grasping: Conventional and Ultimate Truths
October 15 – Living Lightly: The Practice of Emptiness in our Daily Activities
