Madhyamaka

And Trisong Detsen wants to have a monastery built, Samye, and also brings in the Buddhist learned Shantarakshita.

This is a monk who was very learned in philosophy, Madhyamaka, also Abhidharma.

and tries to build this monastery with it, but it doesn't work.

So every night the ghosts come out, the demons come out and do everything that the construction workers did on the day, they do it backwards again.

This message is an ancient one in Buddhism.

It's not just Madhyamaka masters-

Yes

... who are pointing to us.

So this is why the knowledge has to be internalized, and internalization is a process that you cannot outsource.

I mean, that's why, you know, AI with all its brilliance and everything may be fantastic for asking questions here and there, but if you want an inner transformation, there is no substitute for the process that you yourself have to go through.

Now, more specifically with your question, yes, one could say, why bother with the lower school's perspective? Madhyamaka is the highest perspective, especially the Tibetan tradition maintains it, so why don't we just spend all our energy on Madhyamaka and forget the rest?

[laughs]

To complete that study, it takes like, you know, at least six or seven years.

And then after completing this, then we move on to a curriculum called Madhyamaka Philosophy.

So medieval kind of, you know, the philosophy.

Then for that, for three years at least.

So the idea of falsity, mithyatva, that is unique to Advaita Vedanta and also to Buddhism, to, um, Nagarjuna's conception of Prasangika Madhyamaka.

So, you know, I was with Devi the other day.

I was giving some Ajatavada, and she's like, "I don't wanna hear Buddhism right now." And that's a really funny thing to say because a lot of people have accused, uh, uh, uh, the Ajatavadin teachers like Gaudapada of being crypto Madhyamakas 'cause they existed in that same cultural milieu in India with great Buddhist masters like Nagarjuna.

So it's actually not off base that you were like, "Oh, well, that was...

Like, I don't wanna hear Buddhism right now." And then my response is, "Hare, this is not Buddhism.

He says, "The practice of letting go is very effective for minds obsessed by compulsive thinking.

You simplify your meditation practice down to just two words, 'Let go.' Rather than try to develop this practice and develop that, and achieve this and go into that, and understand this and read the suttas and study the Abhidhamma, then learn Pali and Sanskrit, then the Madhyamaka and the Prajnaparamita, get ordination in the Hinayana, Mahayana, Vajrayana, write books and become a world-renowned author- around authority on Buddhism.

Instead of becoming the world's expert on Buddhism and being invited to great international Buddhist conferences, just let go, let go, let go.

[laughing] I did nothing but this for about two years.

And the instructor started off with this, uh, comment that I th- well, I thought was quite nice.

He said, "When you read Mipham Rinpoche's teachings on, uh, say Madhyamaka or Pramana, it feels as though you're reading someone who spent their entire life a great scholar studying," right? But when you read his pith instructions on, on meditation advice, it seems like you're, uh, reading someone who spent their entire life, uh, as a yogi retreat.

Mm-hmm.

Right? And then I was thinking that, oh, this, the same could be said of Tsongkhapa.

Mm-hmm

... is probably the, probably the, the sort of central focus of Madhyamaka Buddhism-

Mm

... would you say?

Sure

... and, and the Madhyamaka picture.

So the theory of emptiness and the school of Madhyamaka Buddhism is not true?

It's not ultimately true.