For the ancient city of Madhyamika, see Nagari, Rajasthan.
Classical Indian Mādhyamika thinkers. Clockwise from upper left: Nāgārjuna (founder), Bhāvavivēka and Candrakīrti (commentators), Śāntarakṣita (synthesized the school with Yogācāra).
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Mādhyamaka ("middle way" or "centrism"; Chinese: 中觀見; pinyin: Zhōngguān Jìan; Tibetan: དབུ་མ་པ་ ; dbu ma pa), otherwise known as Śūnyavāda ("the emptiness doctrine") and Niḥsvabhāvavāda ("the no svabhāva doctrine"), refers to a tradition of Buddhist philosophy and practice founded by the Indian Buddhist monk and philosopher Nāgārjuna (c. 150 – c. 250 CE).[1][2][3] The foundational text of the Mādhyamaka tradition is Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā ("Root Verses on the Middle Way"). More broadly, Mādhyamaka also refers to the ultimate nature of phenomena as well as the non-conceptual realization of ultimate reality that is experienced in meditation.[4]
Since the 4th century CE onwards, Mādhyamaka philosophy had a major influence on the subsequent development of the Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition,[5] especially following the spread of Buddhism throughout Asia.[5][6] It is the dominant interpretation of Buddhist philosophy in Tibetan Buddhism and has also been influential in East Asian Buddhist thought.[5][7]
According to the classical Indian Mādhyamika thinkers, all phenomena (dharmas) are empty (śūnya) of "nature",[8] of any "substance" or "essence" (svabhāva) which could give them "solid and independent existence", because they are dependently co-arisen.[9] But this "emptiness" itself is also "empty": it does not have an existence on its own, nor does it refer to a transcendental reality beyond or above phenomenal reality.[10][11][12]
^Williams 2000, p. 140.
^Thakchoe, Sonam (Summer 2022). "The Theory of Two Truths in Tibet". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. The Metaphysics Research Lab, Center for the Study of Language and Information, Stanford University. ISSN 1095-5054. OCLC 643092515. Archived from the original on 28 May 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
^Wynne, Alexander (2015) Early Buddhist Teaching as Proto-śūnyavāda. Journal of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies, 6. pp. 213-241.
^Brunnholzl 2004, p. 29-30.
^ abcDonnelly, Paul B. (25 January 2017). "Madhyamaka". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.191. ISBN 9780199340378.
^Acri, Andrea (20 December 2018). "Maritime Buddhism". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.638. ISBN 9780199340378. Archived from the original on 19 February 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
^Hugon, Pascale (Spring 2020). "Tibetan Epistemology and Philosophy of Language". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. The Metaphysics Research Lab, Center for the Study of Language and Information, Stanford University. ISSN 1095-5054. OCLC 643092515. Archived from the original on 20 June 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
Mādhyamaka ("middle way" or "centrism"; Chinese: 中觀見; pinyin: Zhōngguān Jìan; Tibetan: དབུ་མ་པ་ ; dbu ma pa), otherwise known as Śūnyavāda ("the emptiness...
CE (disputed)] was an Indian Mahāyāna Buddhist philosopher monk of the Madhyamaka (Centrism, Middle Way) school. He is widely considered one of the most...
most influential traditions of Mahayana Buddhism in India, along with Madhyamaka. The compound Yogācāra literally means "practitioner of yoga", or "one...
approach became later known as Prasangika Madhyamaka. Bhāviveka was critical of Buddhapalita's approach to Madhyamaka. Inspired by the buddhist logician Dignāga...
movement, and scholastic traditions such as Prajñāpāramitā, Sarvāstivāda, Mādhyamaka, Sautrāntika, Vaibhāṣika, Buddha-nature, Yogācāra, and more. One recurrent...
philosophy, logic, hermeneutics and practice. He wrote numerous works on madhyamaka philosophy (such as Ocean of Reasoning, a commentary on the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā)...
of other") is term for a type of Buddhist view on emptiness (śūnyatā), Madhyamaka, and the two truths in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism. It is often contrasted with...
Buddhist schools and traditions. The best known interpretation is from the Madhyamaka school of Mahāyāna Buddhism, whose founder was the Indian Buddhist monk...
Mahāyāna Buddhist philosophy also promotes unique theories, such as the Madhyamaka theory of emptiness (śūnyatā), the Vijñānavāda ("the doctrine of consciousness"...
Verses on Madhyamaka) Gaudapada's Māṇḍukya Kārikā (on the Māṇḍukya Upanishad) Bhavaviveka's Madhyamakahṛdayakārikā (Verses on the Heart of Madhyamaka) Kallata's...
Laṅkāvatāra), and the Huayan school. The Prajñāpāramitā literature, as well as Madhyamaka thought, have also been influential in the shaping of the apophatic and...
finite), depending upon the type of existentialist discourse. Within the Madhyamaka school of Mahayana Buddhism, Candrakirti identifies the self as "an essence...
Mahāyāna Buddhism, especially in Nagarjuna's Madhyamaka school, and in the Prajñāpāramitā sutras. In Madhyamaka philosophy, emptiness is the view which holds...
Bodhisattva), was a Mahayana Buddhist monk, a disciple of Nagarjuna and a Madhyamaka philosopher. Most sources agree that he was from "Siṃhala", which some...
gsum): subject object, action. When Madhyamaka first migrated to Tibet, Śāntarakṣita established a view of Madhyamaka more consistent with Bhāvaviveka while...
typically refers to the two truths doctrine of Mahayana Buddhism, especially Madhyamaka. The English term "nondual" was informed by early translations of the...
major traditions of Mahāyāna Buddhist philosophy. The earliest was the Mādhyamaka ("Middle Way"), also known as the Śūnyavāda ("Emptiness") school. This...
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