Merleau-Ponty and Buddhism explores a new mode of philosophizing through a comparative study of Maurice Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology and philosophies of major Buddhist thinkers such as Nagarjuna, Chinul, Dogen, Shinran, and Nishida Kitaro. Challenging the dualistic paradigm of existing philosophical traditions, Merleau-Ponty proposes a philosophy in which the traditional opposites are encountered through mutual penetration. Likewise, a Buddhist worldview is articulated in the theory of dependent co-arising, or the middle path, which comprehends the world and beings in the third space, where the subject and the object, or eternalism and annihilation, exist independent of one another. The thirteen essays in this volume explore this third space in their discussions of Merleau-Ponty's concepts of the intentional arc, the flesh of the world, and the chiasm of visibility in connection with the Buddhist doctrine of no-self and the five aggregates, the Tiantai Buddhist concept of threefold truth, Zen Buddhist huatou meditation, the invocation of the Amida Buddha in True Pure Land Buddhism, and Nishida's concept of basho.

In his philosophical project, Merleau-Ponty makes vigorous efforts to challenge the boundaries that divide philosophy and non-philosophy, the East and the West, experience and concepts, the subject and the object, and body and mind. Combining the Eastern philosophical tradition of Buddhism with Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology, Merleau-Ponty and Buddhism offers an intercultural philosophy in which opposites intermingle in a chiasmic relationship, and which brings new understanding regarding the self and the self's relation with others in a globalized and multicultural world.

The principal subject of the 2007 shedra is a famous text by Mipham Rinpoche entitled the Tongthun Senge Ngaro (Lion's Roar That Explains Tathagatagarbha). This treatise explores such topics as the provisional (drangdon) and definitive (ngedon) meaning of the teachings presented in the three turnings of the wheel of Dharma; the distinguishing features of the Rangtong and Shentong views; and the differences between the Prasangikas and Svatantrikas in terms of the methods they use to approach and explain the ultimate nature. Of course, the main focus of Mipham Rinpoche’s work is tathagatagarbha, or buddha-nature.

 Many Tibetan Buddhist masters have extensively debated the authentic nature of mind, known as tathagatagarbha. Generally speaking, Rangtongpas believe tathagatagarbha to be free from all dualities and extremes, claiming that it is empty of intrinsic reality. Thus they assert buddha-nature to be “empty of itself.” In contrast, Shentongpas claim that buddha-nature is actually full of the beautiful, natural qualities of mind, which shine forth unobstructedly after the temporary defilements and obscurations have been removed. Shentongpas therefore believe buddha-nature to be “empty of other,” or empty of the habitual negativities and obscurations that cloud the beauty of our inherent nature. As explained by the great Mipham Rinpoche in the Tongthun Senge Ngaro, the Nyingma school does not see any essential contradiction between these two positions. By uniting these views, Mipham clarifies how Buddha Shakyamuni’s three turnings of the wheel of Dharma are perfectly compatible and harmonious.