Customer Reviews

Emptiness Yoga: The Tibetan Middle Way

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Although, I had only a beginners understanding of Tibetan Buddhism before I read this book, I felt myself easily acquainted with the analytical methods discussed in "Emptiness Yoga." Hopkins is able to elucidate complex philosophical and experiential topics concerning the meditative practices of Tibetan Buddhism so that anyone with a good philosophical background or an acquaintance with meditation will be able to gain a more profound understanding of emptiness. My only criticism is that I often felt myself being tantalized by what appeared, at least on closer inspection, to be over-simplistic analytical tools. Though, this is perhaps more a problem with the subject matter than the writer. I had always envisioned Tibetan Buddhism to be more experiential and subtle in its understanding of cause and effect and emptiness. Yet, perhaps further complexity is not within the scope of this book. Nevertheless, I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Buddhism or in attaining a more profound understanding of emptiness.

The essential text for Westerners interested in the Pransangika view of emptiness. Covers profound topics while maintaining clarity of prose.Best for those with some familiarity with Buddhist philosophy, but educational for beginners as well.

For anyone interested in understanding emptiness analysis and meditation that lies at the heart of Tibetan Buddhism, this book is a must. In instructive detail, "Emptiness Yoga" presents reasonings and methods that refute an inherently existing self and other phenomena. Hopkins exposes the falseness that anything exists separately, autonomously, as its own thing. The deception of inherent cause and effect is also wonderfully detailed, and when something that is so assumed is refuted, nothing is ever seen the same way again.

Jeffrey Hopkins guides the reader toward realizing Buddhist emptiness with remarkable thoroughness. If one is committed to examining false appearances that lie at the root of human suffering, studying this work will be transformational.