Lecture: Khenpo Chöying Dorjee on Emptiness: “How to Milk a Painted Cow”

DATE
Thursday, February 28, 2019

TIME
6:30 to 8:00 PM

LOCATION
UBC | Henry Angus Building
Room 241 | 2053 Main Mall

The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Program in Buddhism and Contemporary Society is delighted to welcome Khenpo Chöying Dorjee, who will give a lecture entitled:

‘How to Milk a Painted Cow’: Considering the Buddhist View of Emptiness

Abstract: Candrakīrti, an Indian scholar-monk who flourished in the 5^th century CE, wrote the “Introduction to the Middle Way” (Madhyamakāvatāra), one of the most popular commentaries on Nagarjuna’s foundational Madhyamaka text and included among the “thirteen great texts” which form the core of the curriculum in Buddhist monastic education. The text states that Candrakīrti was able to “milk a painted cow” in a display of wisdom and compassion that cut through ordinary beings’ mistaken understanding of how things like “cows” exist.

Khenpo Chöying Dorjee will explain the Buddhist view of emptiness based on this classic text showing how it is possible to milk a painted cow; in particular, he addresses how wisdom and compassion can be integrated and the pitfalls mistaken views that keep us trapped in suffering and confusion.

This lecture is free and open to the public. Please email bcs.program@ubc.ca to register. Seating on a first-come, first-served basis.

Co-sponsored by UBC’s Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Program in Buddhism and Contemporary Society (何鴻毅家族基金佛學與當代社會課程) and Himalaya Program (https://himalaya.arts.ubc.ca).

Khenpo Chöying Dorjee is a distinguished Tibetan Buddhist scholar and teacher, in particular, specialized in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy (Madhyamaka). He received his degree as Khenpo, roughly equivalent to a Western Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies, in 2004. Since then, he has held several leadership positions at Dzongsar Khyentse Chokyi Lodro Institute, which is Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche’s monastic university in India. He served as Abbot for several years and initiated a number of educational innovations. He was a visiting scholar at UC Berkeley in 2011 and serves on the Khyentse Foundation India Program Committee.