The Four Buddhist Philosophical Schools

The four philosophical schools of thought were developed directly from the teachings that the Buddha gave during his lifetime, using different descriptions in different teachings to best meet the varying needs of his students. Rinpoche explained how to understand and interpret these different views.

English language version of Jamyang Shepa’s text on tenets that will will be used for the classes on the four Buddhist philosophical schools is “Cutting Through Appearances,” translated by Jeffrey Hopkins and Geshe Lhundup Sopa. It’s available on line at: http://www.amazon.com/Cutting-Through-Appearances-Practice-Buddhism/dp/0937938815

March 19th, 2016

Today’s teaching laid the foundation for discussing the Four Philosophical Schools of Buddhism
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April 9th, 2016

Today’s teaching will be going through the non-Buddhist philosophical tenants. We do this to examine the opponents and examine their way of looking at phenomenon. This opens your mind to the way they understand existence of phenomenon, and this will allow you to compare how they view phenomenon compared to Buddhist views.

Pages: 145-150
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April 23rd, 2016

Today’s teaching continued the discussion on non-Buddhist schools’ tenants.

Pages: 150-161
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May 7th, 2016

Today’s teaching focused on the Samkya and Mamasaka traditions

Pages: 161-166
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June 18th, 2016

Today’s teaching focused on the Lokayata tradition.

Pages: 166-170
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July 9th, 2016

Today’s teaching began the discussion on the four Buddhist schools of thought, starting with the Vaibhāṣika school.

Pages: 171-187
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July 23rd, 2016

Today’s teaching continued the discussion on the Vaibhāṣika school of Buddhist thought.