The Dreamlike Illusory Nature of All Things

Buddha’s teachings on the wisdom that realizes the true nature of all things, known as emptiness, allows us to understand and eventually experience directly how things actually exist. At the moment our minds are continually under the influence of a deep-seated ignorance – a mistake – that causes us to misapprehend how things exist. We perceive phenomena as existing entirely outside of our minds. This mistake leads us to assigning intrinsic qualities (good/bad…attractive/unattractive) to persons, things and situations, which then gives rise to the various uncontrolled and reactive emotional responses that are the underlying causes of all the conflicts and sufferings that trouble our minds.

Through the meditation on emptiness we discover that in fact all phenomena are “empty” of existing outside of our mind. This in turn allows us to experience our lives in a wonderfully different way. We understand that objects exist in a much more pliable state and that it’s up to us to decide what’s the best way to relate to them. We become like someone who is dreaming and becoming aware that they are dreaming. In this way we gain the freedom to transform the circumstances of the dream (our life!) into something joyful and meaningful.

In this course, following Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso’s practical and accessible Modern Buddhist presentation, Kadam Lucy will explain and guide meditations on emptiness, emphasizing in particular how to apply this liberating wisdom in daily life.