Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 112-minute session, Kyabje Rinpoche teaches why understanding emptiness is indispensable for liberation, even after developing renunciation and bodhicitta. He traces how ignorance that grasps phenomena as inherently existent is saṃsāra’s root, then offers three levels of dependent arising as the pathway to understanding emptiness: coarse causality, subtle interdependence of parts, and the profound view that cause and effect are mutually dependent. Through concrete examples—seeds and crops, tables, houses, family relations, and recent China-Australia trade dynamics—he makes abstract philosophy clear and grounded. He then addresses the self directly: the vividly apparent inherently existing self is the object of negation, while the dependent-origination self that actually exists continues through rebirths via the four mental aggregates.
File metadata (for organising)
File: Line in 0101.mp3
UUID: 193cd859-9d01-4801-a5ad-e6b6b77a347a
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Three Principal Aspects
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~4,470
# Line in 0101
**Collection:** Audio Recordings — Three Principal Aspects
**Duration:** 112.1 minutes
**Words:** 4,474
**Model:** Deepgram Nova-3
**Corrections applied:** 19
**Transcribed:** 2026-03-09 02:54
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Of the Buddha’s teachings. And the lineage teachers of this tradition are, first and foremost, guru Vajradhāra himself, who imparted the transmission to Ārya Mañjuśrī. And Mañjuśrī, in turn, imparted it to the great practitioner, Lama Umapa Pawo Dorje, who was Je Tsongkhapa’s translator as it were until Je Tsongkhapa had received, or had realized emptiness. And, through him, Je Tsongkhapa had twice visions of Mañjuśrī and received teachings on emptiness from Mañjuśrī. And after that, his understanding of emptiness became stable.
Mhmm. Page one. One b, refuge and bodhicitta for teachings. If you’re not familiar with the Tibetan phonetic, you can read through the English on page two. And now we’re going to recite the emptiness prayer.
Page five the mandala offering verse six we recite the first and the last. So from within the Three Principal Aspects, which was composed and taught by Je Tsongkhapa, Rinpoche has finished explaining the generation of renunciation, and he has finished explaining the generation of bodhicitta. Now he will explain generating the correct view, the view of emptiness. So generally speaking, the presentation of emptiness in the context of the Three Principal Aspects has a fivefold division. Of these, the most important is an understanding of the advantages of realizing emptiness and the disadvantages of not realizing emptiness. The advantages of realizing emptiness are clearly taught in the stanza which says, although renunciation and bodhicitta have been generated without the view no freedom.
Now here the view or suchness refers to that ultimate truth from within the twofold division of ultimate and conventional truths, and it is important to understand this as a preliminary to understanding the defects of not understanding emptiness, which are, if you want, the counterpositive or the opposite of above, which is that even though we train for a long time in the generation of renunciation and bodhicitta, we will be unable to attain liberation because the means whereby we attain liberation is through cutting, through eliminating that ignorance which apprehends phenomena as truly existent. With renunciation or bodhicitta, this is not possible. So irrespective of how much we meditate on renunciation and bodhicitta, there is no liberation, and we cycle again and again in the wheel of existence. Therefore, it is crucial for us to realize an emptiness which is the actual mode of existence of phenomena, which is unmistaken, and uncontaminated. Emptiness is, or an understanding of emptiness, critical both for the lower and for the greater vehicle.
It is critical for the lower vehicle because in dependence on understanding emptiness one can attain liberation, and it is critical for the greater vehicle because in dependence on understanding emptiness one attains a state of full enlightenment. And therefore, in the mantra of the perfection of wisdom, gate, gate, paragate, and so forth, only the two first gates, gone, gone, can actually be realized at the level of the practitioner of the lower scope or the level of the practitioner of the greater scope without an understanding of emptiness. The three latter levels can only be realized by one who has understood emptiness. So as is said in the verse, if one is unable to cut the root of existence, existence here, Rinpoche says, refers to the wheel of lives or saṃsāra in Sanskrit. This is a sequence of life after life after life. And the meaning of this stanza is that that very root of existence is the ignorance of the true nature of phenomena. In the same way as for instance, the root of the tree is that from which the rest of the tree, the trunk, the leaves, the branches, the flowers and so forth arise. In the same way, it is from that ignorance at the root of cyclic existence that cyclic existence arises.
And if we do not cut that ignorance, then cyclic existence will keep on arising and arising, and as it arises, suffering will arise with it. Therefore, we have to cut the very root of cyclic existence in the same way as if we want to cut a tree, we destroy it from the roots. Electric saw. So Rinpoche says, in Tibet, when one cut a tree, because conditions were quite basic, one would use an axe and chop it down and eventually tear the roots out. In Australia, we are more sophisticated, so you have electric saws and the tree disappears in an instant.
But in both cases, the axe or the electric saw are metaphors for the wisdom which understands emptiness. So if that wisdom which understands emptiness is good, then one will be able to cut cyclic existence from the root, and one will eliminate all of the aggregates, one will eliminate for that matter the four classes of suffering, the suffering of birth, disease, old age, and death, and one will abide in a state of permanent happiness. So in this respect, one can say that the view of emptiness is the innermost heart, the heart of the heart of the Buddhist teachings. It is both of great benefit and not realizing it is a very great fault. As Ārya Nāgārjuna said, he who has not understood the view of emptiness does not have the basis for liberation.
The meaning of this quote is that one who does not realize emptiness cannot even attain liberation from cyclic existence. Therefore, one who does not realize emptiness is condemned to cycle endlessly in the six realms, the three lower realms, and the three higher realms of cyclic existence enduring permanently suffering. So in this respect, Rinpoche says, the view of emptiness can be said to be that very innermost secret of the Buddhist teachings. And what is meant by the fact that it is a secret is that it is not to be taught to all because they could misunderstand it. In this respect, Candrakīrti says, when ordinary beings hear about emptiness again and again, happiness arises.
And actually, Rinpoche says, the criterion for knowing that a hearer is qualified to hear about emptiness and would realize emptiness is when upon hearing the very term emptiness, his hair, the hair of his pores stand on end, and he is so overtaken by emotion that he cries as if rain were falling. Now this is a sign of having very powerful karmic imprints from past lives regarding emptiness, and such a practitioner most definitely will gain some type of realization of emptiness. Nobody knows. So Rinpoche hopes that all of you are sobbing desperately. And they’re good at it. No.
No. And then otherwise, if we don’t have these great qualities, at least we should have faith that emptiness is, the view which realizes emptiness is very valuable and a great joy at the idea of gaining some understanding of it. So then if one has this sort of faith or happiness at the thought of understanding emptiness, that is very good, Rinpoche says. Then there are these unfortunate people who actually upon hearing about emptiness criticize the notion and do not accept it. And Rinpoche says they will unfortunately go to the lower realms.
Well, those who upon hearing about emptiness misunderstand it and understand it as meaning that there is absolutely nothing and say there is nothing, nothing whatsoever, such actually will abandon the Dharma in this life and go to the lower realms.
So Rinpoche says, therefore, it is not sufficient to gain an understanding of emptiness. It is necessary to meditate on emptiness. And to meditate on emptiness correctly, since it is such a subtle topic, the best approach is to gain an understanding of dependent arising. This will enable us to gain a correct understanding of emptiness. And this is why Je Tsongkhapa said, all of the sufferings of this world arise from ignorance.
May I be blessed to meditate on dependent arising. So dependent arising is the counterpart of emptiness. It is through meditating on it that we can in turn generate an understanding of emptiness in our mind. And when Je Tsongkhapa in this quote referred to the sufferings of this world, he referred to all of the sufferings we know so well, such as the sufferings of disease and so forth, which afflict us, the root of which is always ignorance. And therefore, Rinpoche says, generally speaking, it is important for us to understand dependent origination.
Now dependent origination can be divided into three broad categories, coarse, subtle, and extremely subtle dependent origination or dependent arising. Now all the Buddhist schools accept coarse dependent arising. This is the arising of an effect in dependence on causes and conditions. To give an example of this, Rinpoche says, if we were to think of a field, the seed which is planted in the field would be the cause of the crop, and the conditions would be water, sunlight, and so forth. Or if we were to take examples such as, for instance, our body, our human body at present, the cause of the human body is a virtuous karma we have accumulated in past lives, but the condition for this virtuous karma to mature in this present life as a human body is actually thirst or desire, craving.
If craving is not present, then this virtuous seed which could give rise to a human rebirth will abide in our mind stream for thousands or millions of years. It is only when the condition, in this case craving is present, that it gives rise to a precious human rebirth. And the same thing can be said for various other phenomena such as flowers, trees, crops, or houses for that matter, all arise in dependence on causes and conditions. In the case, for instance, of a house, a house we are in at present, it arises in dependence on a constructor, a maker, but also in dependence on the parts, the raw materials to build the house. So we must understand, therefore, that this coarse level of dependent arising refers to the fact that when the causes are completely collected, and only then will the effect arise.
And if we reflect in this manner on, for instance, karma and causality, which we all accept, we understand clearly that from virtuous karma, happiness arises and from non-virtuous karma, unhappiness arises. Now this is another clear case of the operation of coarse dependent arising. If we actually gain an understanding of coarse dependent arising, we will have something of a clue of what emptiness is about. To understand clearly what emptiness is about, it is helpful to understand the object of negation of emptiness. The object of negation of emptiness refers to that with which emptiness is incompatible.
It’s the exact opposite. It’s what emptiness is refuting. Now what is the object of negation of emptiness at the level of coarse dependent arising. It is the existence of phenomena independent or irrespective of causes and conditions. Now this obviously does not exist because phenomena, all phenomena arise in dependence on others.
So the existence of phenomena which do not arise in dependence on others is the object of negation which is refuted. It’s the absence of this which leads us to an understanding of emptiness in as much as all phenomena depend on causes and conditions. All effects specifically depend on causes and conditions. And there is no effect which is not something which arises in dependence on causes and conditions. So if we understand in this way, dependent arising, then the understanding of emptiness is relatively easy.
Buddha said, he who sees that existence is a dependent arising, that one sees phenomena, and such a one attains Buddhahood. When Buddha said that one sees phenomena, the term phenomena here refers to emptiness. Therefore, this realization of emptiness is fundamental for us.
So then as Rinpoche explained, the understanding of coarse dependent arising, which is dependent arising on the basis of causality is easy. As a matter of fact, farmers who plant fields do understand clearly that through planting seeds, a crop will arise, but nonetheless, they don’t have an understanding of emptiness. There are, generally speaking, four schools of Buddhist philosophy, the Vaibhāṣika, Sautrāntika, Cittamātra, and Madhyamaka school. All four schools of Buddhist philosophy accept causality without exception. However, the two lowest schools do not accept the view of emptiness.
They only accept the selflessness of persons. It’s only the two higher schools, the Cittamātra and Madhyamaka, who accept the view of emptiness, specifically the Madhyamaka school. And precisely because emptiness is such a subtle and profound topic, it must be understood in these higher schools, specifically Madhyamaka, through reasoning, through various reasons, and specifically by the means of a mind which is a valid cognizer, which is a pramāna. So this is the mind which has to realize emptiness. So to be quite frank, Rinpoche says, to understand emptiness, we must study.
Otherwise, it will be very difficult for us to generate such an understanding. And we must progressively gain the realization that inherent existence on the one side, and dependent origination on the other side are mutually incompatible. They are contradictory. So if phenomena are dependently originated, they cannot be inherently arisen. So in the same way as there are coarse, subtle and very subtle presentations of dependent arising, there are also coarse, subtle and very subtle presentations of emptiness.
We have not merely a presentation of dependent arising in terms of causality, but a more subtle presentation of dependent arising in terms of the parts constituting a phenomenon. For instance, if we were to take the table in front of Rinpoche as an example, this table has four parts, the north, south, east, and west of the table. Now if any of the parts were absent, it would no longer qualify as a basis of designation as a table. Likewise, this table can be analyzed in terms of its superior and lower dimensions. If either of them were absent, once again, it would not qualify as a basis designation for a table, or for that matter, phenomena can be analyzed in terms of the previous and the latter instant of the phenomena.
If the previous instant of a phenomenon is absent, then the latter instant cannot arise. Finally, a phenomena can also be analyzed in terms of its directional parts, the north, south, east, west or other directional parts. If we were to take another example, which is the example of the house or the teaching hall we are in, then if the eastern part of this teaching hall were absent, this teaching hall would not qualify as a teaching hall. It would be incomplete. And therefore, as Rinpoche was explaining, we have different levels of dependent origination from the coarse level, which refers to causality accepted by all the Buddhist schools, the more subtle level, which refers to the dependent origination in terms of the parts of phenomena, and finally, the most subtle level of all, which is only accepted by the Prāsaṇgika School, the Madhyamaka Prāsaṇgika School, which is the ultimate view, and the view of the Madhyamaka Prāsaṇgika School, which is accepted by all of the great teachers of ancient India, such as Nāgārjuna, Candrakīrti, and later on, Palden Atisha, Je Tsongkhapa, and so forth in Tibet, is that phenomena depend on each other.
Phenomena are mutually dependent. So, for instance, all Buddhist schools accept without exception that an effect is dependent upon its cause, the uncommon assertion of the Prasangikas is that the cause, which is temporally precedent to the effect, is actually dependent on the effect, and for that matter, that cause and effect are mutually dependent. Now we can get a sense of what is meant here by this interdependence of phenomena if we think of economics. In economics, the wealth of the one depends on the wealth of the other. So as the seller’s situation improves, he needs buyers to buy his goods, and it’s a mutually advantageous relationship.
Both can move upwards. Unfortunately, Rinpoche says both can also move downwards. Now if we take the case of China in recent years, China’s situation has dramatically improved economically because they found buyers for all their goods. So their situation improved and their buyers’ situation improved as well. Now on the other hand, if they’re no longer able to send their goods abroad or export them, then both themselves and the buyers of their goods may eventually be reduced to a state of destitution, maybe literally become beggars.
Likewise, in ordinary life, if we were to take the case of family relations, it is clear that without the cause, the father, there is no result, the child. That’s obvious to all. But from a Prāsaṇgika standpoint, without child, there is no father. The reason for this is that it is in dependence on the existence of the child that the name father can be imputed on someone who otherwise would just be a layperson without children. So this is how we have to understand these matters.
Likewise, the distinction we make between ourselves and others is made in the same terms. To give you an example, the wealth of Australia in recent years has been built on the export of iron ore and coal to China. And as long as the Chinese could buy iron ore and coal, both the financial situation of Australia and China rose. Now the Chinese economic situation has declined dramatically, and they can no longer buy Australian iron ore and coal. So the economic situation of Australia is going to decline sharply.
So, therefore, the subtle interdependence, the subtle dependent arising is the most profound presentation of dependent arising, and the Prāsaṇgika view is that emptiness entails interdependence, and interdependence entails emptiness. So this is very profound and really requires considerable reflection from our part. Rinpoche presented, therefore, the three types of interdependence, coarse, subtle, and very subtle. The coarse, as you remember, is causal interdependence. It is obvious to all of us that there is no phenomena which does not arise in dependence.
Phenomena arise in dependence on each other. And for instance, to give the example once again of the table in front of Rinpoche, this table actually appears when we observe it as if it existed inherently from its own side, as if it existed without depending on anything for its existence. Now, this mode of appearance where the table appears to exist from its own side is actually the appearance of true existence. And in dependence on this appearance of the table to the sense consciousness perceiving it as truly existent, then there is a mind which assents to this and says, this is the way the table actually is. This is so.
Now that mind which assents to it is the ignorance apprehending true existence. Once that ignorance apprehending true existence has arisen, then in dependence on it, we accumulate karma, both virtuous and non-virtuous. To give also the example of the self, when we say I, I, very powerfully, we have a sense of the I as Rinpoche was showing with his hand, which sort of rises like this within us, and which exists independently of anything else. This I is an I which is postulated by the ignorance which grasps the I as truly existent or self-existent. The I, the self, which does exist, does not exist in that manner.
It exists in dependence on the aggregates. It exists in dependence on the karma we have accumulated to get this rebirth. It exists in dependence on the spermatozoa of the father and the egg of the mother and so forth. So such an I which exists as a dependent origination is an existent phenomena, whereas the I which exists without depending on anything else does not exist. And it is through being convinced of the existence of this I which exists independently of anything else that we engage in non-virtuous deeds such as fighting, beating others, stealing, deceit, and so forth.
So Rinpoche says, just check it for yourself that this I appeared, and it’s like this very powerful. It’s like there are goosebumps on your hands. So this apprehension of the I or the apprehension of the self as a phenomenon existing from its own side, as an inherently existing phenomenon, is the object of abandonment. It is what we have to eliminate, what we have to refute, what we have to put an end to, because it does not exist. What does exist is an I which is merely imputed on the basis of aggregates, which is imputed on the basis of the union of the spermatozoa of the father and the egg of the mother on the conjoined fleshes as it were of the parents, which is imputed on the basis of the afflictions and the karma from past lives which acted as causes and conditions for taking a human rebirth in this life.
And we have to generate a strong conviction of this using syllogisms such as, the inherently existing I does not exist because it arises in dependence on parents. It does not exist because it is imputed on the basis of the aggregates and so forth. So Rinpoche says, then through these reasonings of dependent origination, such as coarse dependent origination, that all phenomena arise or impermanent phenomena arise in dependence on causes and conditions, we can generate an understanding of emptiness. And then it’s in dependence on these reasonings of dependent origination that we should meditate on emptiness and ask ourselves, for instance, with respect to the I, does this I exist in the way it seems to exist? And if it does, well, since we’re composed of body and mind or of the physical aggregate and the four mental aggregates, then is it the physical aggregate?
No. And within the mental aggregates, is it the virtuous minds or the non-virtuous minds? And we will find it is neither. And when we search for this very powerful inherently existing I, we cannot find it here, nor can we find it in the elements such as earth, water, fire, and air, which constitute the body. And we can then at this point meditate on the passage from the Heart Sūtra, which says, there is no form, there is no sound, there is no smell, and so forth.
But we must qualify this passage through remembering that what is being said here is not that there is no self, because indeed there is a self which conventionally goes around, does things, we go, we speak, we eat, so we do conventionally exist. We are cold, we are hot, we are happy, we are unhappy. So that self exists. What doesn’t exist is a very powerful self, which from its own side says I. That does not exist.
So if you have any questions, Rinpoche says we have a minute or so for questions. But to give you an idea of what the topics are, they would be things such as meditation on emptiness in general, the reasonings which are to be used to meditate on emptiness, the identification of the object of negation, or for instance, the measure of having realized emptiness or not, which is the way for us to know whether we have actually gained a realization of emptiness in our mind or not. So Rinpoche says, for the two categories of beings, beings of the form realms, which have five aggregates, and beings of the formless realms have four.
We are beings of the form realms, so we have five aggregates. And at the time of death, the time of our form aggregate of our body is over, so we leave our body behind. And what actually moves on to the future life is the remaining four mental aggregates. In other words, the aggregate of feeling, recognition, volition, and consciousness. So in this life, our I or the self is imputed nominally and conceptually on the basis of the five aggregates, body, feeling, recognition, volition, and consciousness. But at the time of death and from death onwards until the next life, it is imputed only on the basis of the four aggregates.
That is what continues.
So Rinpoche says these four last aggregates, feeling, recognition, volition, and consciousness, are all consciousnesses. In as much as they are consciousnesses or minds, their continuum is not interrupted. So it goes from life to life, and therefore, in the intermediate state, these four mental aggregates continue. They enter a new body created from the flesh of two different parents, and then the self is imputed in that new life on the five aggregates of this new person until once again that body is left behind, and once again the four mental aggregates continue into the next life. So Rinpoche says, if you have good karma, then you will move in the body of a human being, a demigod, or a god.
And if you have bad karma, then you will move into the body of a preta, an animal, or a hell being. No good karma? No. You know what to do. So you understand where no good karma leads you.
Right? Yeah. So Rinpoche says, generally speaking, there are two I’s you can posit. The first is the nonexistent I. This is an I which appears to exist as an inherently existing phenomenon from its own side and which we feel very strongly, but which actually does not exist.
And the other phenomenon, the other I is a non-inherently existing, interdependently existing I, which exists in dependence, as Rinpoche explained, on the spermatozoa and the egg of the parents, on the karma, afflictions from past lives which led us to this life, and this interdependently existing I is what accumulates virtuous and non-virtuous karma, and actually what transmigrates. Now, within the various schools of Buddhist philosophy, various parts of the aggregates are identified as this interdependently existing I. Generally speaking, the Vaibhāṣika and the Sautrāntika, the two lowest schools, consider that the I, the interdependently existing I or person which transmigrates, is a mental consciousness because the mental consciousness is what takes the aggregates. The Cittamātra school considers that it is the seventh of the eight consciousnesses they posit, the Alaya Vijñāna, the consciousness which is the foundation of everything. Whereas the view of the Prāsaṇgika school is extremely subtle, Rinpoche says, because the Prāsaṇgika school says that it is merely that I or that name which is posited on the basis of the continuum of the aggregates, which can be said to transmigrate and nothing else.
Rinpoche says, but if you have any questions, please write them down for next time. Page nine. Mandala offering. Verse nine.
Key terms in this teaching
- Cittamatra sem tsam pa (Tib)
- The Mind Only school, one of the two Mahayana (Great Vehicle) philosophical schools. The Mind Only school does not accept external objects but does assert truly established self-knowers. LYWA
- dependent origination pratityasamutpada (Skt); ten drel (Tib)
- Also called dependent arising. The way that the self and phenomena exist conventionally as relative and interdependent. LYWA
- Madhyamaka u ma (Tib)
- The Middle Way school, one of the two Mahayana (Great Vehicle) philosophical schools. The Middle Way school does not assert true establishment even conventionally. There are two divisions of the Middle Way school: 1) Autonomists and 2) Consequentialists. LYWA
- mandala offering
- The symbolic offering of the entire purified universe to the spiritual teacher (guru) and the visualized merit field. LYWA
- object of negation gag cha (Tib)
- An object to be refuted or eliminated. There are different objects of negation in different contexts, but when meditating on emptiness according to Prasangika (the Middle Way Consequence school), the object of negation is inherent existence. LYWA
- preta
- Hungry ghost, or spirit. The preta realm is one of the three lower realms of cyclic existence. LYWA
- Sautrantika do de pa (Tib)
- The Sutra school, one of the two main Hinayana (Lesser Vehicle) philosophical schools. The Sutra school accepts both self-knowers and external objects. LYWA
- true existence den par yö pa (Tib)
- The concrete, real existence from its own side that everything appears to possess; in fact, both self and phenomena are empty of true existence. LYWA
Definitions adapted from the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive glossary, as taught in the Gelug tradition.