The Harmony of Emptiness and Dependent-Arising

Book excerpt: The Harmony of Emptiness and Dependent-Arising is a commentary to Tsong Khapa’s The Essence of Eloquent Speech, Praise to the Buddha for Teaching Profound Dependent-Arising. The subject of the work concerns two important themes of Buddhist philosophy: emptiness and dependent-arising. All schools of Buddhism expound theories of emptiness and dependent-arising, but their interpreptations vary greatly and are even contradictory. Here Ven. Lobsang Gyatso, very skilfully explains these two theories through logical analysis combined with simple and wonderful illustrations. Late Ven. Lobsang Gyatso was born in Kham province, Tibet, in 1928 and educated at Drepung Monastic University. He escaped from Tibet in 1959 and was one of the first trained Tibetan teachers in exile and was also a member of the Tibetan Textbook Committee of Council for Tibetan Education. In 1973, with the blessing of H. H. the Dalai lama, he founded the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics in Dharamsala. He has toured and lectured in many countries of the world, and has authored many books and articles. Above all, he is a meditation master, who lives his life according to the Buddhist philosophy of wisdom and compassion.