Madhyamaka is a Buddhistphilosophical tradition that asserts that all phenomena are empty of "self-nature" or "essence" (Sanskrit: Svabhāva), that they have no intrinsic, independent reality apart from the causes and conditions from which they arise.
Madhyamaka represents the "middle way" between eternalism (the view that something is eternal and unchanging) and nihilism (the assertion that all things are intrinsically already destroyed or rendered nonexistent. This is nihilism in the sense of Indian philosophy, and may differ somewhat from Western philosophical nihilism).
According to Tibetan sources, Indian Madhyamaka schools were eventually divided into
The Prasangika Madhyamaka, whose sole avowed technique is to show by prasanga (or Reductio Ad Absurdum) that any positive assertion (such as "asti" or "nāsti", "it is", or "it is not") made about, or view proclaimed of, phenomena must be regarded as merely conventional (saṃvTemplate:Rti or lokavyavahāra). Therefore there is no position that constitutes the ultimate truth (paramartha), including the views and statements made by the Prasangikas themselves, which are held to be solely for the purpose of defeating all views. The Prasangikas also identify this to be the message of the Buddha who, as Nāgārjuna put it, taught the Dharma for the purpose of refuting all views.
The Yogacara Madhyamaka, who claim that all phenomena are nothing but the 'play of mind', and that mind, thus, is the basis of everything.
The Svatantrika Madhyamaka, who differed from the Prasangika in that they believed conventional phenomena could exist for themselves without existing ultimately. Thus they felt that positive assertions in logical debate served a useful purpose, and did not restrict themselves to using only prasanga methods.
The school of thought and its subsidiaries are called "Madhyamaka"; those who follow it are called "Mādhyamikas."
Madhyamika [Skt.,=of the middle], philosophical school of MahayanaBuddhism, based on the teaching of "emptiness" (see sunyata) and named for its adherence to the "middle path" between the views of existence or eternalism and nonexistence or nihilism.
Santaraksita and Kamalasila were the chief representatives of the Madhyamika's last phase, a syncretism with the Yogacara school that was transmitted to Tibet.
Madhyamika was also transmitted to China as the San-lun, or Three Treatises, school, introduced by Kumarajiva.
The Middle Way of Madhyamika refers to the teachings of Nagarjuna, who, at a time when the Mahayana (Great Vehicle) teachings were falling into decline, wrote his Six Treatises, four of which directly expound the doctrine of sunyata, or emptiness.
To inquire what the various schools mean by "emptiness" is to open the can of worms, for their definitions are contingent upon which scriptures are held to be the word of the Buddha, and within that limit, which scriptures are definitive and which are interpretable.
It is also important to note that the Indian scholars who are credited with founding the branches of Madhyamika, the so-called Partisan Madhyamikas, did not recognize themselves as Svatantrikas or Prasangikas, and only Candrakirti among them recognized their subtle divergences on the meaning of emptiness.
Feeds |
Contact