The Dhammapada, in its various versions, famously begins with the observation that the mind is foremost, and that suffering and happiness follow from the way our mind is. Subsequent Buddhist traditions retain this emphasis on the importance of the mind, and they invite us to explore how the mind works, how it can be transformed, and how we can realize its ultimate nature. In this program, we will engage with various Buddhist accounts of the mind and its workings along with practices that are meant to reveal the mind’s intricacies and essence. Our exploration will begin with accounts found in the Abhidharma, sometimes called “Buddhist psychology.” Moving on to philosophical perspectives and practices that arise later in Buddhist history, we will see how a deep understanding of the mind itself is said to reveal the ultimate nature of reality. We will ask what it means to say that the mind is “empty, yet luminous,” especially from the perspective of nondual awareness and the central role played by compassion. Our philosophical and experiential inquiry will be aided by examining some suggestive parallels in the cognitive scientific study of consciousness.