This book is compiled based on the lectures of the Tibetan teacher Geshe Jumpa Thinley, who lives in Russia, which he gave in Moscow in 1997–98. The lectures are related to the main themes of Buddhist philosophy - the theory of valid knowledge and the concept of emptiness, or the true vision of reality. The author of the book gives an idea of the views of the four philosophical schools of Buddhism, gradually leading the reader to the point of view of the highest of them - Madhyamika Prasangika. All explanations are based on the precise logical analysis traditional for Buddhism, combined with accessible and vivid examples. When preparing the book, we turned to the works of recognized Tibetan masters of Buddhist philosophy (His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso, Jamyan Shepa, Geshe Lobsang Gyatso and Geshe Rabten) , as well as to the works of respected Western scholars of Buddhism, such as Professor Geoffrey Hopkins. At the same time, we tried to preserve the lively author's style of Geshe Tinley's lectures. Considering the fact that the system of translating Buddhist terminology into Russian has not yet been fully developed, we admit that certain inaccuracies may be found in the book. We apologize in advance for this. We express our gratitude to the members of the Moscow Buddhist Center of Lama Tsongkhapa, who sponsored this publication. We spent almost a year and a half preparing this book, and it was not without difficulty. We hope that it will benefit all those who are interested in Buddhist philosophy, and we dedicate it to the happiness and prosperity of all living beings. Maya Malygina, Ksenia Stepanenko, Sergey Khosaprel 1999