Offered online via Zoom by Nalandabodhi Seattle (recorded)
Tuesdays, October 25 – December 16, 2025
6:30 pm – 8:00 pm Mountain Time
The teachings of the Buddha are based on knowledge and wisdom. Our curiosity and enthusiasm about reality is an expression of our wisdom. The Buddha used his curiosity and persistence to explore the nature of reality. He discovered that genuine wisdom is finding a middle way between the extremes of nihilism and permanent existence. This “middle way” approach is most prominently and famously articulated by the Madhyamaka School of Mahayana Buddhism. Its teachings on emptiness are derived from the prajnaparamita sutras.
This course is the third in a six-course series that examines Mahayana Buddhism. It explores how the brilliant scholar and teacher, Nagarjuna, explained the Buddha’s teaching from a logical perspective. It includes a description on the development of the Madhyamaka philosophical school in India and Tibet and explains the distinctions between its major branches. It explores the definitions of the two truths and the “five great Madhyamaka reasonings.”