Thupten Jinpa: The Nature of Reality (#241)

This Wisdom Podcast episode, recorded live as a Dharma Chat, features special guest Thupten Jinpa. Join Jinpa and host Daniel Aitken as they discuss Jinpa’s newest Wisdom Academy online course, The Nature of Reality. Journey into the nature of reality and emptiness with the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Jinpa contrasts the “mundane,” unexamined view with the yogi’s disciplined inquiry into appearance and reality, explaining how grasping and belief in a true self arise through mental interpretation. They also address debates about Madhyamaka “relinquishing views,” emptiness of emptiness, how realizations of emptiness can make appearances feel illusion-like, and so much more.

Jinpa and Daniel also discuss:

how mind interprets experience through “I, me, and mine”;

the value of studying the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism;

why studying the lower schools strengthens Madhyamaka understanding, provides contrast, and supplies tools like Abhidharma mental factors and Yogācāra accounts of imprints;

Tsongkhapa’s take on conventional validity; and

so much more!

Mentioned in the episode:

Mark Siderits Video Podcast

The Bodhisattva Ideal translated by Thupten Jinpa and Julia Stenzel

The Library of Tibetan Classics

Buddha’s Words for Tough Times by Peter Skilling