LISTEN TO: Why and How We Approach Emptiness

Without Emptiness, the whole path ceases to function

How and Why We Approach Emptiness A Teaching by Chöying Khandro

In this talk, Khandro-la introduces the role of wisdom—specifically, the wisdom of emptiness—as the culmination of the Buddhist path. She contextualizes emptiness within the structure of spiritual development, comparing it to the roof or crown of a palace built upon foundations of discipline and bodhicitta.

She discusses the diversity of Buddhist traditions and encourages openness and respect across lineages, emphasising that different paths all lead toward awakening depending on one's karmic resonance. Reflecting on her own journey, she shares how the question of emptiness led her to India and into deep study with Tibetan masters.

Khandro-la explains that emptiness is not a philosophy to be grasped intellectually, but a reality to be experienced. She explores why this understanding is essential—rooted in the Buddha’s insight into suffering caused by ignorance and misunderstanding of reality. Using a vivid analogy of cleansing cloth through increasingly deeper washing, she illustrates how different Buddhist practices help purify confusion, with the wisdom of emptiness serving as the final and most powerful means for cutting through innate ignorance.

She concludes by highlighting the importance of embodied, heart-centred meditation—not as a dry conceptual exercise, but as a direct, experiential path grounded in shamatha (concentration), compassion, and presence.