Thupten Jinpa: Nagarjuna's Philosophy of Emptiness and Why It Matters

🤓 Admin Zone 🛠️ hidden to non-admins

view on research edit on research Add an excerpt Add a bilingual page Add full text subpage

Nagarjuna's Philosophy of Emptiness and Why It Matters

Multimedia

LibraryMediaBibliography

Please note that many items in our library are simply pages that represent a detailed library catalog entry and citation of someone else's work, presentation, or performance. Read our General Disclaimer for more information.

Descriptionངོ་སྤྲོད།

In this profound talk, Thupten Jinpa unpacks Nagarjuna's influential teachings on emptiness, the cornerstone of Madhyamaka philosophy. Jinpa explains how emptiness reveals the interconnected nature of reality, challenging our tendency to grasp at things as independently existing. Through this lens, he explores how clinging to a fixed self fuels emotional reactivity, division, and suffering. Drawing from Nagarjuna, Aryadeva, Chandrakirti, and Tibetan masters like Tsongkhapa, Jinpa highlights how understanding emptiness can liberate us from attachment and open the door to true wisdom.

Thupten Jinpa Langri was educated in the classical Tibetan monastic academia and received the highest academic degree of Geshe Lharam. Jinpa also holds a BA in philosophy and a PhD in religious studies, both from the University of Cambridge, England. Since 1985, he has been the principal translator to the Dalai Lama, accompanying him to the United States, Canada, and Europe.

This video is part of "The Dalai Lama Global Vision Summit 2023": https://learn.lionsroar.com/p/dalai-lama-global-vision-summit-2023.

Citation

Jinpa, Thupten. "Nagarjuna's Philosophy of Emptiness and Why It Matters." Produced by Lion's Roar Foundation Oct 20, 2024. Video, 7:13. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awzUd3wzTCM.

Interconnections

Works related to this item

Śūnyatā - The state of being empty of an innate nature due to a lack of independently existing characteristics. Skt शून्यता  Tib སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་  Ch 空;空門  

Go to the page with the definition of 'emptiness'

Madhyamaka - Along with Yogācāra, it is one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Nāgārjuna around the second century CE, it is rooted in the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras, though its initial exposition was presented in Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā. Skt मध्यमक  Tib དབུ་མ་  Ch 中觀見  

Go to the page with the definition of 'Madhyamaka'

Prajñā - One of the key terms for wisdom or knowledge, most often having the sense of insight, transcendent knowledge, or perhaps gnosis. In some contexts it can also refer to cognition or intellectual understanding. Skt प्रज्ञा  Tib ཤེས་རབ་  Ch 般若  

Go to the page with the definition of 'wisdom'