Lesson 28

The Sutra of Great Liberation L28 28

This session is a journey through the paradoxes of spiritual life: how the Buddha’s story is both a mythic narrative and a mirror for our own struggles with attachment, pride, and meaning. Khenpo Sodargye moves between ancient biography and modern campus life, reflecting on why the Buddha’s renunciation, asceticism, and even his beard are not just symbols, but living metaphors for letting go. The teaching explores the five aspects of the Buddha’s body, the subtle dangers of arrogance near teachers, and the importance of collective identity and humility. With real details from daily life—summer breaks, library renovations, and the exhaustion of exams—this talk invites us to see wisdom not as escape, but as a way to engage reality with clarity, humor, and a sense of shared humanity.

Teachings by Khenpo Sodargye.The Sutra of Great Liberation is a profound scripture taught by the Buddha near the time of his parinirvana. It is treasured in nearly every Tibetan household, where it is commonly recited for 49 days to help the deceased attain liberation. The sutra is filled with the sacred names of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and merely hearing or reciting them brings inconceivable merit. Khenpo Sodargye was deeply moved since childhood by witnessing a kind elderly man devotedly reciting this sutra daily, thus forming a profound connection with it. Through confession and practice of this sutra, one can purify negative karma and attain Buddhahood—it is truly an extraordinary path to liberation.