Tibetan Buddhism articulates a vision of reality grounded in the Middle Way, where all phenomena are understood as empty of inherent existence and arising only through dependent origination. This is expressed through the doctrine of the two truths: on the conventional level, the world of persons, objects, and causal relations functions reliably; on the ultimate level, these same phenomena are seen as empty, lacking any independent, fixed essence. Emptiness and dependent origination thus illuminate one another, showing that because things arise in dependence on causes, conditions, parts, and conceptual imputation, they cannot possess an isolated, self-established nature.

Within this framework, great emphasis is placed on Buddha-nature, the assertion that every sentient being possesses an inherent potential for complete awakening. This potential is often described as a fundamentally pure, luminous mind that is temporarily obscured by mental afflictions and confusion. Philosophical and contemplative training are therefore not aimed at creating something new, but at uncovering what is already present yet veiled. The three bodies of the Buddha are sometimes used to express this awakened reality: the truth body as the ultimate nature, and the other bodies as its compassionate manifestations within the world of experience.

Ethically and existentially, Tibetan Buddhism is shaped by the bodhisattva ideal and the cultivation of bodhicitta, the altruistic resolve to attain enlightenment for the sake of all beings. This aspiration is embodied through the six perfections—generosity, ethics, patience, effort, concentration, and wisdom—which guide conduct and meditation alike. Compassion is not treated as an optional ornament but as inseparable from insight into emptiness; wisdom without compassion is regarded as incomplete, and compassion without wisdom as ultimately blind to the deeper nature of suffering and its cessation.

At the same time, Tibetan Buddhism integrates Vajrayāna, or tantric, principles that emphasize transformation rather than rejection of ordinary experience. Through practices such as deity yoga and visualization, practitioners train in viewing body, speech, mind, and environment as expressions of awakened purity, using even strong emotions as material for the path when supported by the correct understanding of emptiness. The unity of method and wisdom is highlighted here, with the guru–disciple relationship regarded as central to transmitting and embodying these methods. All of this is systematized in graded presentations of the path, where rigorous study, contemplative analysis, and meditative practice are woven together to lead from ordinary perception to the direct realization of emptiness, compassion, and the fully manifest Buddha-nature.