Home
Emptiness
Oldest

Emptiness

The Devil Debates an Angel, Part 15: Stepping into Our Next World (2022, Arizona)

If you really understand the emptiness of your primary practices, they become much, much more powerful. This is our third course covering the most famous of all works by Nagarjuna (c. 200AD) which he named simply “Wisdom”. For 2000 years, hundreds of commentaries were written about these 27 chapters in poetry. And it is really all the emptiness teachings that you've ever heard. All the emptiness teachings in Tibet, China, Korea, and Japan are based on Nagarjuna's "Wisdom".
Read More

The Wisdom of Arya Nagarjuna Course 3: The Emptiness of Mantra (2021, Arizona)

If you really understand the emptiness of your primary practices, they become much, much more powerful. This is our third course covering the most famous of all works by Nagarjuna (c. 200AD) which he named simply “Wisdom”. For 2000 years, hundreds of commentaries were written about these 27 chapters in poetry. And it is really all the emptiness teachings that you've ever heard. All the emptiness teachings in Tibet, China, Korea, and Japan are based on Nagarjuna's "Wisdom".
Read More

Lower Middle Way – An Analysis of Dependence: All Things Depend on Each Other: The Buddhist Teaching of the Wheel of Life

Around 1000 AD, 1500 years after the time of the Buddha, the Tibetans undertook a monumental task: to translate thousands of pages of Buddhist literature from Sanskrit into Tibetan. It took them 700 years to complete translations of the kangyur (the word of the Buddha) and the tengyur (the Indian commentaries). Now, as Buddhism has been making a big push westward, Geshe Michael’s aim is to complete an even larger task: to translate hundreds of thousands of pages of Buddhist literature into modern languages.
Read More

The Devil Debates an Angel, Part 13: A Dialogue on Mind and Meditation (2019, Arizona)

Geshe Michael Roach gave three days of special teachings on meditation and the nature of the mind in Sedona. These teachings are taken directly from The Angel Debates The Devil, a dialogue between the good and evil that happens in our mind, by Lobsang Chukyi Gyeltsen. The text is at the same time extremely funny and extremely deep, as it reveals the tricky ways that our mind deceives us into believing we are thinking and acting in a way that actually helps us. This teaching will help us to unravel these seductive arguments of the Devil in our own mind to order to be successful in this life, and to learn how to develop the skills necessary to confront any obstacle.
Read More

Arya Nagarjuna’s 8 Impossibles in the Kitchen: Highest Wisdom for Real Life (2018, Thailand)

This is a special class that Geshe Michael taught to the volunteers during the recent retreat in Thailand. It focuses on Buddhism’s most important idea, from perhaps the most influential work ever written on emptiness, from the most important teacher of emptiness to come after the Buddha — Arya Nagarjuna. Geshe Michael manages to masterfully weave the very heart of this idea into a very real life example that we can all use in our everyday lives.
Read More

Daily Practice Series Course 07: Marriage of Karma and Emptiness (1997, Raleigh)

This presentation provides a good overview of how karma and emptiness (ultimate reality) interact to form you, your world, and all of its experiences. Ultimate reality is described along with the principles of karma, and how those two come together to form all things and experiences. The union of karma and emptiness is the basis of all reality, and this practice explores what you can do to affect and change your reality. It is a wonderful practice to transform the world around you by understanding the laws of karma, and the idea of ultimate reality, in your everyday life.
Read More

Upper Middle Way – The Great Books of Wisdom Series: Making the ancient classics of Tibetan Buddhist literature accessible to the modern world

Around 1000 AD, 1500 years after the time of the Buddha, the Tibetans undertook a monumental task: to translate thousands of pages of Buddhist literature from Sanskrit into Tibetan. It took them 700 years to complete translations of the kangyur (the word of the Buddha) and the tengyur (the Indian commentaries). Now, as Buddhism has been making a big push westward, Geshe Michael’s aim is to complete an even larger task: to translate hundreds of thousands of pages of Buddhist literature into modern languages. Since the blossoming of Buddhism in Tibet, no less than 200,000 pages of brilliant commentary have been composed by masters and scholars in the Tibetan language. In this ongoing series of courses, Geshe Michael’s goal is to create and guide a team of young translators to translate these great classics.
Read More

A Gift of Liberation 28: Building My Practice Space Retreat (2017, Thailand)

For the second year, we return to Thailand for another installment of the Gift of Liberation series, which is based upon the Lam Rim teachings of Pabongka Rinpoche, in his seminal book, "Liberation Thrust into the Palm of Your Hand". At this retreat on the stunning beaches of Thailand, Geshe Michael Roach will teach us how to identify the six majors problems that most people experience at one time or another, and the how to finally end them.
Read More

Master Kamalashila: Meditations on the Diamond Cutter Sutra, Part Two (Arizona, 2016)

This is the second in a four-part series based on Master Kamalashila’s commentary on the Diamond Cutter Sutra led by Geshe Michael Roach. This retreat provided a unique opportunity to delve deeply into rarely taught meditations on emptiness. The retreat consisted of morning sessions led by Geshe Michael Roach followed by individual practice in the student's private retreat cabin.
Read More

Daily Practice Series Course 08: The Heart Sutra, A Meditation on Emptiness (1998, Redding)

The Heart Sutra is one of the most popular prayers in Buddhism. It contains seemingly mystical, impenetrable verses that describe how reality does exist, and the way in which it does not exist. This meditation penetrates into the real meaning of the sutra, which describes how our very nature, including our bodies, minds and identities are not what they appear to be. We meditate on the very nature of ultimate reality (emptiness) to discover where things come from and how they really exist. This is an excellent introductory overview meditation on emptiness.
Read More

Daily Practice Series Course 08: The Heart Sutra, A Meditation on Emptiness (2000, Soquel)

The Heart Sutra is one of the most popular prayers in Buddhism. It contains seemingly mystical, impenetrable verses that describe how reality does exist, and the way in which it does not exist. This meditation penetrates into the real meaning of the sutra, which describes how our very nature, including our bodies, minds and identities are not what they appear to be. We meditate on the very nature of ultimate reality (emptiness) to discover where things come from and how they really exist. This is an excellent introductory overview meditation on emptiness. This topic was covered twice, each time with a different emphasis, and both versions have been provided.
Read More

Daily Practice Series Course 09: The Emptiness of the Mind (Mahamudra) (1999, Soquel)

This meditation practice focuses on understanding ultimate reality (emptiness) on a more advanced level. Mahamudra is meditation on the ultimate nature of one’s own mind. We meditate on our mind, examining it on six different levels, each one leading to a more sophisticated understanding of our mind and its nature. Meditating on the ultimate nature of one’s own mind is an important part of a larger practice that leads to the direct perception of ultimate reality. The direct experience of ultimate reality is a key meditative realization that assures very quick enlightenment.
Read More