Madhyamaka, Shentong and Realising Mahamudra

In response to a mail where it was said that:

3rd Karmapa in his Mahamudra verses actually says that 3 different approaches – Maha Ati, Mahamudra and Madhyamaka – lead to the same goal and, when you realize one, you realize other two as well. So, from the level of accomplishment, they are the same thing.

Hi, I just wanted to add one small thing to *****’s excellent email, where he has perfectly summed up both the potential difficulties and the opportunities in combining Mahamudra and Dzogchen.

The usefulness of Madhyamaka and Shentong

In terms of the relation between Madhyamaka and Mahamudra within Kagyu practice, it is often said that the Madhyamaka perspective is most useful for clarifying the view, and then the Shentong perspective is most useful for meditation itself. Utilising the two together in this way is the best way for developing realisation of Mahamudra.

Another way of putting this is that utilising Madhyamaka is most excellent for cutting away all the false views of how things are, then on that basis utilising Shentong is most excellent for realisation how things actually are.

Again, it is said that Madhyamaka is ideal for preparing the ground for realising emptiness (shunyata), and Shentong is ideal for recognising the inseparability of emptiness and luminosity (clarity).

In all these senses, Madhyamaka has traditionally been used in Kagyu practice as an important basis for the realisation of Mahamudra.

I will have to respond to your other points later.

best wishes in the Dharma.