Distinguishing the Middle from Extremes

Courtesy of Himalayan Art Resources

The treatise titled "Distinguishing the Middle from Extremes" is attributed to Maitreya and holds a significant place among the "Thirteen great texts", which constitute the fundamental curriculum in Tibetan Buddhist monastic colleges.

Online teaching from 6th April 2023 every Monday and Thursday

6.30 a.m. - 8.00 a.m. CET

Teacher: Geshe Lharampa Nyima Gyaltsen

Language: Tibetan

If you are interested in audio recordings, please send us an e-mail at info@siddhartha.cz. Attention, the lectures are only in Tibetan!

Study of Five Treatises of Maitreya

Under the guidance of Geshe Lharampa Nyima Gyaltsen, we will embark upon a comprehensive study of all five philosophical works attributed to the bodhisattva Maitreya. These texts were transmitted to the bodhisattva Asanga and transcribed as the Five Treatises of Maitreya, which constitute the core curriculum in Tibetan Buddhist monastic colleges, also known as shedras.

Our study will commence with an in-depth examination of "Distinguishing the Middle from Extremes" (Skt. Madhyāntavibhāga; Tib. དབུས་མཐའ་རྣམ་འབྱེད་), followed by "Distinguishing Phenomena from Their Nature" (Skt. Dharma-dharmatā-vibhāga; Tib. ཆོས་དང་ཆོས་ཉིད་རྣམ་པར་འབྱེད་པ), "The Ornament of the Mahayana Sutras" (Skt. Māhayānasūtrālaṃkāra; Tib. ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ་སྡེ་རྒྱན་), "The Sublime Continuum" (Skt. Uttaratantra Śāstra; Tib. རྒྱུད་བླ་མ་), and finally "The Ornament of Clear Realization" (Skt. Abhisamayālaṃkāra; Tib. མངོན་རྟོགས་པའི་རྒྱན་).

It is worth noting that these teachings will be delivered in the Tibetan language.

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Distinguishing the Middle from Extremes (Skt. Madhyāntavibhāga; Tib. དབུས་མཐའ་རྣམ་འབྱེད་)

Distinguishing the Middle from Extremes" (Skt. Madhyāntavibhāga; Tib. དབུས་མཐའ་རྣམ་འབྱེད་) is a profound and extensive text that comprises five chapters. This work is highly valued within the Buddhist tradition as an inexhaustible treasure of deep and vast Dharma. The five chapters of the text are:

1. Characteristics: This chapter discusses the characteristics of the middle, extremes, and the ultimate truth.

2. Obscurations: This chapter explores the obscurations that hinder the realization of the middle way.

3. Reality: This chapter elucidates the nature of reality, which is the ultimate object of realization.

4. Cultivating Antidotes: This chapter provides instructions for cultivating the antidotes to the obscurations and for developing the qualities necessary for the realization of the middle way.

5. The Unsurpassed Path: This chapter presents the path to the unsurpassed state of enlightenment, which is the ultimate goal of the Buddhist path.

Geshe Lharampa Nyima Gyaltsen

Geshe Lharampa Nyima Gyaltsen is a highly respected scholar of Buddhist philosophy and a distinguished graduate of the Sera Je monastery in South India. He has dedicated over two decades to studying and practicing Buddhism, earning the highest academic degree in the Gelug tradition and achieving the Rigchen Tsonglawa title for being the top graduate of his class.