Need a recommendation

[samsara]

Can anyone recommend any Buddhist books that give a comprehensive study on emptiness? Most of the books i have read do discuss emptiness but they seem to skirt over a really detailed discussion of the subject. Yet this seems to be one of the most important concepts to understand within Buddhism.

                                                                                                    Samsara

[gillian]

I'm not sure how much about emptiness specifically is discussed but I have found Nan-Huai Chin's books to be  alright.  In general though I find Buddhist books to be severely lacking when it comes to bridging the gap between practical experience and doctrine.

[samsara]

Thanks Gillian,
                   I will have a look. Reading about Buddhism does raise a lot of questions which never seem to be fully answered. Maybe its because it deals with issues outside conceptuality

                                                                                                       Samsara

[gillian]

No problems Samsara.  Hey, if you haven't read it already, "Cave in the Snow" by Vicki Mackenzie is a pretty inspiring book about Tenzin Palmo, the nun who meditated in a cave for 12 years.  There are also interesting parts where she mentions telling off the high lamas including the dalai lama about keeping secrets and higher teachers from females(the dalai lama also acknowledged this as truth).  She also mentions how a high lama talks about how they just tell laypeople certain myths to keep them in line.  It does kind of point to some problems that I personally find in Buddhist literature in general, not just Tibetan either. 

If you are into channelling and astral projection it may be interesting to try and get some direct experience with the Buddha or Buddha consciousness and see or feel the differences between the philosophy and the "reality."  This can really fill in a lot of gaps in practice and propel your understanding by leaps and bounds.    In my opinion a lot of the extra knowledge that you can gain this way is what the higher lamas are getting and being taught anyhow.     

[Seeking ET]

"The Tibetin Book on Living and Dying" discusses a great array of buddhist beliefs, with chapters on all the fundamental ideas and teachings by the great Tibetin masters.  There is a great deal of emphasis on emptiness in many of those teachings.  Might find what you're looking for there.

[samsara]

Yeah, ET. I have been looking at the book you mentioned for a long time whenever i'm at the bookshop. I might get it eventually A lot of books explain emptiness in the form of an analogy like "See form as a reflection in a mirror." Fair enough to understand an analogy but a reflection cannot be touched or felt so that produces more questions. I'm beginning to amass a lot of buddhist books because of all the questions

                                                                                                     Samsara