Gaining Certainty in the View, Part One: An Introduction to the Radical Rejection of Primitive Beliefs about Reality
What is the root of samsara?
What is the root of our attachment, fixation and ignorance?
The belief in real existence.
This course will examine the nature of this belief, why it is considered a mistaken view, how it comes about, how we continually perpetuate it, and how we can unravel it. Through this inquiry, we will be introduced to the view of the Middle Way, or Madhyamaka, and explore its birth, teachers, development, message, and technique. This will include a focus on how to practice letting go of understanding as the path to experiencing emptiness.
This course is an introduction to the understanding and experience of the profound view of emptiness, and will pave the way for study of the core texts of the tradition by Rongzom, Gorampa, Shakya Chokden and Mipham in the next course.