Khenpo Tsultrim has always stressed the importance of the Progressive Stages of Meditation on Emptiness. Whenever Rinpoche was invited for dharma expositions for the first time, he taught the meditation on emptiness.

Rinpoche has mentioned repeatedly that, before the dharma spread in Tibet, the traditional approach to mahamudra meditation in India was to meditate on emptiness. Only those who succeeded in their meditation on emptiness were admitted to mahamudra teachings. Thus, the Progressive Stages of Meditation on Emptiness served as the preliminaries to mahamudra practice. The preliminaries of the Four Times Hundred Thousand as we know them today developed later in Tibet and has served as the traditional preparation for the mahamudra practice among Tibetans since then.