“Enjoy[ing] life with paradoxes … is probably the gift of Buddhism. The whole notion of enlightenment or freedom is just an illusion but it’s a necessary illusion.”

In this introductory talk, Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche provides a rich survey of buddhist teachings on karma, suffering, impermanence, the six realms, mind training and bodhicitta. Rinpoche also emphasizes what Buddhism is not: a reliable set of dogma and techniques that can be applied the same way in all situations and contexts. The gift of Buddhism is that it accommodates the many paradoxes of our existence. What we think we see is, like a rainbow, unreliable and fleeting and like a dream. But while unreal, our samsaric dream is something we may want to awaken from. For that, the buddhist path offers many methods.

Subtitles: English, Portuguese, Serbian, Spanish

Read the transcript here.