A
Here’s the SBQ (Summary Bullet Quotes) for the foundational text and commentaries on:
📘 Nāgārjuna’s Madhyamaka (Middle Way Philosophy)
— Root text: Mūlamadhyamakakārikā by Nāgārjuna
— With insights from key commentaries by Chandrakirti, Tsongkhapa, and modern scholars (e.g., Garfield, Siderits)
🕉️ CORE THEMES:
-
Reality is empty (śūnya) of intrinsic, independent existence.
-
All things arise dependently (pratītyasamutpāda) — there is no essence or self-nature (svabhāva).
-
Madhyamaka is the middle path between eternalism and nihilism.
-
Language and concepts are conventional tools, not absolute truths.
💡 Summary Bullet Quotes (SBQ):
-
“Whatever is dependently arisen, that is explained to be emptiness.”
-
“Emptiness itself is empty — not a substance, not an absolute.”
-
“There is no phenomenon that is not dependently arisen. Therefore, there is no phenomenon that is not empty.”
-
“The ultimate truth is that there is no ultimate reality independent of conceptual designation.”
-
“To grasp at reality as either existent or nonexistent is to fall into extremes.”
-
“Without emptiness, nothing could function. It is precisely because things are empty that they can change.”
-
“Conventional truth is valid, but only provisionally — like a raft to cross a river.”
🧘 KEY INSIGHTS:
-
Nāgārjuna dismantles all philosophical views — even his own — to reveal that non-clinging is wisdom.
-
Madhyamaka offers not metaphysical speculation but a method of deconstruction — freeing the mind from dualities.
-
True understanding leads to compassion, not despair — recognizing emptiness makes suffering workable.
🔍 FOURFOLD REFUTATION (Catuṣkoṭi):
Nāgārjuna refutes all possibilities of existence:
-
It exists.
-
It does not exist.
-
It both exists and does not exist.
-
It neither exists nor does not exist.
→ None withstand ultimate analysis.
🎯 Key Insight:
Nāgārjuna’s Madhyamaka is not about denying reality, but realizing that all appearances are relational, contingent, and interdependent — and that liberation lies in releasing our grasping for fixed truths.
Would you like a simple diagram of the Two Truths doctrine, or a comparison of Nāgārjuna and Western post-structuralism?
No comments:
Post a Comment