Empty When Full: An introduction to the Middle Way
(But is it Full when Empty?)

In this course, we will focus on the core text for the Madhyamaka traditions in India and Tibet—the Madhyamakavatara, or The Introduction to the Middle Way, and in particular on its sixth chapter on the paramita of wisdom. To do this, we will study a number of commentarial presentations from the Tibetan tradition, primarily the following:

  1. Introduction to the Middle Way by Chandrakirti, Chapter Six, Far Gone

  2. Introduction by Wulstan Fletcher to The Introduction to the Middle Way

  3. Introduction by Wulstan Fletcher to The Adornment of the Middle Way

  4. “Middle from Beginning to End” from The Center of the Sunlit Sky by Karl Brunnholzl

  5. The Key to the Middle Way by H.H. the Dalai Lama

  6. Appearing Yet Empty: The Middle Way View of Shunyata by Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche.

Core Materials

  1. Syllabus

  2. Source Book

Supplemental Materials

  1. Insight into Emptiness Terms and Definitions

  2. Course Schedules

Class Recordings

  1. January 14, 2020

  2. January 21, 2020

  3. January 28, 2020

  4. February 4, 2020

  5. February 18, 2020

  6. February 25, 2020

  7. March 3, 2020

  8. March 10, 2020

  9. March 17, 2020

  10. March 24, 2020

  11. March 31, 2020

  12. April 7, 2020