 Image search results - "Nagarjuna" |
Nagarjuna-upaya.pdfNÄgÄrjuna and the Philosophy of UpÄya 1951 viewsThe purpose of this article is to offer a different account of NÄgÄrjuna than is found in contemporary Western scholarship. It will not ask what it means for causality, truth, the self, or consciousness to be "empty" in a very general sense, but rather how NÄgÄrjuna’s philosophy relates to the soteriological practices of Buddhism and what it means for those practices to be "empty" of inherent nature. Rather than describing NÄgÄrjuna as a metaphysician this study will situate him squarely within the early MahÄyÄna tradition and the philosophical problem of practice that is expressed through the doctrine of “skill-in-means†(upÄya-kauÅ›alya). It should become evident in what follows that the doctrine of upÄya has little in common with Western metaphysics. It is unconcerned with problems regarding causality, personal identity, consciousness, logic, language, or any other issues that are unrelated to specific problems surrounding the nature and efficacy of Buddhist practice. Given that every major tradition in Buddhism stresses the indispensable nature of practice, it is highly unlikely that Nagarjuna’s philosophy is concerned with metaphysical issues or that his doctrine of “emptiness†can be separated from the soteriological practices of Buddhism.
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nagarjuna.pdfThe Wisdom of Nagarjuna3985 viewsNagarjuna holds an almost unequaled place among the ranks of those Buddhist saints who expounded the teaching of the Buddha Sakyamuni for the benefit of the world. Nagarjuna revolutionized the interpretation of the doctrine of the Enlightened One which was current at his time and lent it a vitality and dynamism which has continued to sustain it even to our day among the votaries of the Mahayana. The revolution which Nagarjuna accomplished within the fold of Buddhism was not a radical departure from the original doctrine of the Buddha Sakyamuni. On the contrary, the adherents of the Madhyamaka school are undoubtedly justified in asserting that their interpretation represents the true import of the doctrine of the Buddha and the essence of Buddhism.
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