Lama Yeshe tells us that mahamudra is "the universal reality of emptiness, of nonduality" and its unique characteristic is its emphasis on meditation: "With mahamudra meditation there is no doctrine, no theology, no philosophy, no God, no Buddha. Mahamudra is only experience."

He relies on the First Panchen Lama's well-known Root Text of Genden Mahamudra, which in a few short pages provides the pith instructions for, first, overcoming distraction and resting in meditative stillness on the clarity of one's own mind, and then, with subtle awareness, penetrating its ultimate nature, its emptiness.

As always, Lama Yeshe's words are direct, funny, and incredibly encouraging. He gets us to go beyond ego's addiction to a limited sense of self and to taste the lightness and expansiveness of our own true nature.