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A journalist once asked Khenpo Sodargye, What are you addicted to?
The Khenpo answered candidly, I’m addicted to reading books on Madhyamaka.
What kind of wisdom could inspire such deep fascination with the Middle Way?
Within the Madhyamaka tradition, Nāgārjuna’s Root Stanzas of the Middle Way, Aryadeva’s Four Hundred Stanzas on the Middle Way, and Chandrakirti’s Entering the Middle Way are regarded as three of the most essential treatises. For centuries, they have been highly revered by all schools of Tibetan Buddhism.
Khenpo Sodargye once systematically received teachings on this text before his guru, His Holiness Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche, including Mipham Rinpoche’s teaching notes Teachings of Candrakirti and Chandrakirti’s Auto-Commentary on Entering the Middle Way. He also continued studying this treatise with many other great masters. Through memorization, deep study and contemplation, and repeated teaching of the text, he developed a firm and extraordinary realization of Madhyamaka.
Entering the Middle Way thus became one of the treatises to which the Khenpo devoted the greatest effort during his years of study and contemplation.
Let us now approach this classic that made a great Buddhist scholar “addicted,” and explore together the profound wisdom at the very heart of the Madhyamaka tradition.