Author: C W Huntington, Jr.
Geshe Namgyal Wangchen/
Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass
Year: 2007
Language: English
Pages: 287
ISBN/UPC (if available): 9788120808140
Description
The Madhyamika or middle way, a school of Buddhist thought that originated in India in the second century, was a decisive influence on the subsequent development of Mahayana Buddhism. In a new approach, this book reconsiders the central doctrine of emptiness and shows that the Madhyamika critique of all philosophical views is both subtler and more radical than most western interpretations indicate.
Building on earlier research into Sanskrit and Tibetan sources, the present work also examines the assumptions that have governed the study of Asian soteriological philosophy. In assessing the philosophical significance of the Madhyamika, the author demonstrates that the thrust toward an elf-critical awareness of methodological presuppositions lies at the very heart of early Indian Madhyamika.
In this analysis, the self-deconstructing categories of Nagarjuna and his immediate followers emerge as an edifying philosophy that may have a great deal to offer to discussion to the related problems of objectivity and relativism – issues crucial to current philosophical conversation in the West.
The volume also contains the first complete English translation of Candrakiriti’s Madhyamakavatara (The Entry into the Middle Way), with extensive and text-critical notes.
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
PART ONE: CANDRAKIRTI AND EARLY
INDIAN MADHYAMIKA
1. Methodological Considerations
2. Candrakirti’s Historical and Doctrinal Context
3. The Philosophical Language of the Madhyamika
4. The Ten Perfections of the Bodhisattva Path
5. The Emptiness of Emptiness: Philosophy
As Propaganda
PART TWO: THE ENTRY INTO THE MIDDLE WAY
Sources for the Translation
1. The Joyous
2. The Immaculate
3. The Luminous
4. The Radiant
5. The Unconquerable
6. The Directly Facing
7. The Far Advanced
8. The Immovable
9. The Unerring Intellect
10. The Cloud of Dharma
Conclusion
Epilogue
Notes
Bibliography
Index