Faculty: Jirka Hladiš
BUD 600: Analytical Meditation II – Progressive Stages of Meditation on Emptiness
A guided, step-by-step emptiness meditation in the Mahāyāna tradition, preparing you for Mahamudra practice.
With consecutive Chinese translation.

Course overview

BUD 600 is a systematic training in special insight (vipashyanā) meditation within the Mahāyāna tradition. Over the semester, you’ll learn to apply analytical meditation to gain certainty in the view of emptiness and Buddha Nature, and to bring that understanding into direct personal experience. The course emphasizes cultivating inferential wisdom and then deepening that insight through progressive stages of meditative practice.

What you’ll experience

In this course, you will:

• Practice guided meditations on emptiness in a clear, progressive sequence
• Learn to use analytical meditation in a way that opens genuine insight rather than reinforcing conceptual thinking
• Explore Śrāvakayāna, Cittamātra, Madhyamaka, and Buddha Nature as practical frameworks for meditation
• Develop increasing confidence in the meaning of selflessness, emptiness, and Buddha Nature
• Understand how this training lays the foundation for authentic Mahamudra practice

How the course works

The Spring 2026 semester introduces four progressive approaches to meditating on emptiness, presented as a clear, practical path.

Each class includes:

• A concise explanation of that stage’s view
• Guided analytical and resting meditation on emptiness
• Time for questions and clarification

All guided meditations are recorded so you can continue the practice between sessions.

Drawing on core materials from Nitartha’s foundational and intermediate curricula, the course leads you step-by-step through four major styles of meditation on emptiness:

• Śrāvakayāna: Analyzing the self and phenomena as lacking inherent existence
• Cittamātra: Recognizing appearances as mind
• Madhyamaka: Seeing the freedom from all extremes of existence and non-existence
• Buddha Nature: Resting in the mind’s fundamental awakened nature

Think of this course as an applied preparatory training for the full range of Nitartha’s teachings and advanced meditative paths.

Why this course matters for Mahamudra

Traditionally, in India and early Tibet, progressive stages of meditation on emptiness were the preliminary training for Mahamudra meditation.

As Susanne Schefczyk notes in her preface to Progressive Stages of Meditation on Emptiness by Khenpo Tsültrim Gyamtso Rinpoche:

Before the dharma spread in Tibet, the traditional approach to Mahamudra meditation in India was to meditate on emptiness. Only those who succeeded in their meditation on emptiness were admitted to Mahamudra teachings… The Progressive Stages of Meditation on Emptiness served as the preliminaries to Mahamudra practice.

This course follows that spirit: it gives you the meditative groundwork in emptiness that supports Mahamudra and other profound practices.

Is this course for you?

This course may be a good fit if:

• You’ve studied teachings on emptiness but want to practice them through clear, guided, step-by-step meditation
• You’re drawn to Mahamudrā or other advanced practices and want to build a solid foundation
• You value Nitartha’s precision and rigor, and are looking for more direct meditative application of those teachings
• You’re new to Nitartha but have some experience with Buddhist practice and want a well-structured path forward

No previous Nitartha courses are required, and there are no required texts.

• None

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Mondays January 12 - May 11, 2026, 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm US Pacific Time/ 7:30 am - 9:00 am CST