Madhyamaka

View on BuNay + Add to BuNay + Add to BCA

Key Term	Madhyamaka
Hover Popup Choices	The Middle Way School of Mahāyāna philosophy
In Tibetan Script	དབུ་མ་པ་
Wylie Tibetan Transliteration	dbu ma pa
Devanagari Sanskrit Script	मध्यमक
Romanized Sanskrit	Madhyamaka
Tibetan Phonetic Rendering	umapa
Chinese Script	中觀見
Chinese Pinyin	Zhōngguān Jìan
English Standard	Middle Way School
Term Type	School
Source Language	Sanskrit
Basic Meaning	Along with Yogācāra, it was one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Nāgārjuna in the C. 2nd to 3rd Centuries, it is rooted in the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras, though it's initial exposition was presented in Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā.
Definitions
Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism	In Sanskrit, “Middle Way (school)”; a proponent or follower of the middle way” (madhyamapratipai); Buddhism is renowned as the middle way between extremes, a term that appears in the Buddha’s first sermon (see P. Dhammacakkappavattanasutta) in which he prescribed a middle path between the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification. Thus, all proponents of Buddhism are in a sense proponents of the middle way, for each school of Buddhist philosophy identifies different versions of the two extremes and charts a middle way between them. The term Madhyamaka has however come to refer more specifically to the school of Buddhist philosophy that sets forth a middle way between the extreme of eternalism (śāśvataḍṛṣṭi) and the extreme of annihilationism (ucchedaḍṛṣṭi)- The Madhyamaka school derives from the works of Nāgārjuna, the c. second Century CE philosopher who is traditionally regarded as its founder. His major philosophical works, especially his Mūlamadhyamakakārikā (a.k.a. Madhyamakaśāstra), as well as the writings of his disciple Āryadeva, provide the locus classicus for the school (which only seems to have been designated the Madhyamaka school after Āryadeva’s time). Commentaries on their works (by such figures as Buddhapālita, Bhāvaviveka, and Candrakīrti) provide the primary medium for philosophical expression in the school. Madhyamaka was highly influential in Tibet, where it was traditionally considered the highest of the four schools of Indian Buddhist philosophy (Madhyamaka, Yogācāra, Sautrāntika, and Vaibhāṣika). Tibetan exegetes discerned two branches in the Madhyamaka, the Prāsaṅgika (associated with Buddhapālita and CandrakIrti) and the Svātantrika (associated with Bhāvaviveka and Śāntarakṣita). The works of Nāgārjuna and Āryadeva were also widely studied in East Asia, forming the basis of the “Three Treatises” school (C. San lun zong ; K. Sam non chong; J. Sanronshū), where the three treatises are the Zhong lun (the “Middle Treatise,” or Madhyamakaśāstra), the Shi’ermen lun (“Twelve Gate Treatise,” or *Dvādaśamukhaśāstra), and the Bai Lun (“Hundred Verses Treatise,” * Śataśāstra), the latter two attributed to Āryadeva. The Madhyamaka school is most renowned for its exposition of the nature of reality, especially its deployment of the doctrines of emptiness (śūnyatā) and the two truths (satyadvaya).

Along with Yogācāra, it is one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Nāgārjuna around the second century CE, it is rooted in the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras, though its initial exposition was presented in Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā.

Along with Yogācāra, it is one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Nāgārjuna around the second century CE, it is rooted in the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras, though its initial exposition was presented in Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā.

Mahāyāna, or the Great Vehicle, refers to the system of Buddhist thought and practice which developed around the beginning of Common Era, focusing on the pursuit of the state of full enlightenment of the Buddha through the realization of the wisdom of emptiness and the cultivation of compassion.

Along with Madhyamaka, it was one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Asaṅga and Vasubandhu around the fourth century CE, many of its central tenets have roots in the Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra and the so-called third turning of the dharma wheel (see tridharmacakrapravartana).

The disciples of the Buddha who aspire to attain individual liberation or nirvāṇa. The final goal of the Hearers is to become an arhat, a state in which one has totally eliminated the inner problems of attachment, hatred and ignorance, the main causes for rebirth in this cycle of existence. There are four stages of a śrāvaka path including eight phases.

The state of being empty of an innate nature due to a lack of independently existing characteristics.