Summary: This podcast features a lecture by Tomas Sander titled "Western Emptiness and Joyful Freedom." It was recorded on October 14th, 2010, in NYC. The Buddhist emptiness teachings are considered key for attaining liberation from suffering. Yet their difficulty has made them less accessible than they could be. This class will show how Western resources can assist the Western student in understanding emptiness. We will also look at some of the radical implications of the emptiness teachings for us today and show through an example how studying emptiness can foster joy, lightness, compassion, and freedom. Tomas Sander is a Buddhist practitioner since 2002. He has studied mostly in the Tibetan tradition and received teachings from Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche and other Tibetan masters. With Greg Goode he has been studying Buddhist philosophy and its soteriological applications, which is one of his main interests today. Tomas grew up in Germany, holds a doctoral degree in mathematics and works as a research scientist in the computer industry.
