In this talk Geshe Michael Roach explains, in a simple and often humorous way, the Buddhist idea of emptiness and how understanding it lets us reach the very practical goals of wealth, health, loving relationships and inner peace.
What Is Emptiness?
Emptiness doesn’t mean darkness, blankness or apathy. Geshe Michael illustrates it with the famous “pen & puppy” example: a human sees a pen, a puppy sees a chew toy. When both leave the room the object is neither—just “some yellow thing.” The object’s identity comes from the perceiver’s own mind-seed, not from the object itself.
“Of course this is not enlightenment—
Geshe Michael Roach
that would be a vegetable. …
That’s the meaning of emptiness.”
Planting the Seeds of Karma
Because every experience sprouts from seeds in our own minds, the sure way to money, health, partnership or world peace is planting the right karma. “If you learn emptiness and you want to make a $100 million business, you can do it—with no experience—because you know how to plant the seed.”
“Work six months, relax six months—good system. If you understand seed, you can do that.”
Geshe Michael Roach
Key Moments:
What can learning emptiness give you?
“Enough money to do anything I want … a beautiful relationship … fix my body … peace inside … peace in the world.”
Where does a pen really come from?
“The pen is not coming from the pen; the pen is coming from me … from a seed in my mind.”
How fast do seeds ripen?
“Buddha said: 65 times in one second.”
As Geshe Michael concludes, once we grasp emptiness we no longer struggle or fight—we simply plant the seeds for the reality we wish to experience, then let them blossom.
