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== Mahāyāna == In [[Mahayana|Mahāyāna Buddhism]], the ''Middle Way'' refers to the insight into [[śūnyatā]] ("emptiness") that transcends the extremes of existence and non-existence. This has been interpreted in different ways by the various schools of Mahāyāna philosophy. === Madhyamaka === The [[Madhyamaka]] ("Middle Way") school defends a "Middle Way" position between the metaphysical view that things exist in some ultimate sense and the view that things do not exist at all.<ref>Kohn (1991), pp. 131, 143.</ref><ref name=":6">Siderits, Mark; Katsura, Shoryu (2013). ''Nagarjuna's Middle Way: Mulamadhyamakakarika'', p. 153. Simon and Schuster</ref> Madhyamika philosophy, based on the Buddha's Perfection of Wisdom Sutras, was set forth by the great Indian master [[Nagarjuna]]. He was later followed by great masters such as [[Aryadeva]], [[Buddhapalita]], [[Bhavaviveka]] and [[Chandrakirti]]. ==== Nagarjuna==== Nagarjuna's influential ''[[Mūlamadhyamakakārikā]]'' -‘The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way’ (MMK) famously contains a reference to the ''Kacc{{IAST|ā}}yanagotta Sutta'' in its 15th chapter. This chapter focuses on deconstructing the ideas of existence, non-existence and intrinsic nature, essence, or inherent existence (''[[Svabhava|svabhāva]]'') and show how such ideas are incoherent and incompatible with causality and dependent origination.<ref name=":6" /> The MMK states:<ref name=":7">Siderits, Mark; Katsura, Shoryu (2013). ''Nagarjuna's Middle Way: Mulamadhyamakakarika'', pp. 153–163. Simon and Schuster</ref><blockquote> 4. Further, without intrinsic nature and extrinsic nature how can there be an existent (''bhāva'')? For an existent is established given the existence of either intrinsic nature or extrinsic nature. 5. If the existent is unestablished, then the nonexistent (''abhāva'') too is not established. For people proclaim the nonexistent to be the alteration of the existent. 6. Intrinsic nature and extrinsic nature, existent and nonexistent—who see these do not see the truth of the Buddha's teachings. 7. In "The Instructing of Katyāyana" both "it exists" and "it does not exist" are denied by the Blessed One, who clearly perceives the existent and the nonexistent.</blockquote> MMK further discusses the two extremes as follows:<ref name=":7" /><blockquote> 10. "It exists" is an eternalist view; "It does not exist" is an annihilationist idea. Therefore the wise one should not have recourse to either existence or nonexistence. 11. For whatever exists by its intrinsic nature does not become nonexistent; eternalism then follows. "It does not exist now [but] it existed previously"—from this, annihilation follows.</blockquote>According to Mark Siderits and Shoryu Katsura, for Nagarjuna, the two extremes refer to:<ref name=":7" /><blockquote>the view that things exist having intrinsic nature and the view that the lack of intrinsic nature means that things are utterly unreal. The argument is that the first leads to the conclusion that ultimately real things are eternal, while the second leads to the conclusion that ultimately nothing whatsoever exists. </blockquote> ====Aryadeva==== Ayradeva was a student of Nagarjuna. His work the Four Hundred Stanzas on the Middle Way’<ref>Sonam, Ruth (translator), ''Aryadeva's Four Hundred Stanzas on the Middle Way''</ref> principally explains the meaning of Nagarjuna's work, but also includes refutations of non-Buddhist systems. ====Buddhapalita==== Buddhapālita-Mūlamadhyamakavṛtti, is a commentary on Nagarjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakarikā. He explains Nāgārjuna's work by pointing out the necessary but undesired consequences of an opponent's thesis, without maintaining any thesis of his own. This approach became later known as [[Svatantrika–Prasaṅgika distinction|Prasangika Madhyamaka]]. ====Bhāviveka==== Bhāviveka was critical of Buddhapalita's approach to Madhyamaka. Inspired by the buddhist logician [[Dignāga]] he felt it was necessary to present syllogistic arguments which prove the Madhyamaka view. This later became known as [[Svatantrika–Prasaṅgika distinction|Svatantrika Madhyamaka]]. ====Chandrakirti==== Chandrakirti defended Buddhaplita's position and critiqued Bhāviveka's approach.<ref>Dreyfus, Georges B. J.; McClintock, Sara L., eds. (2003). The Svatantrika-Prasangika Distinction: What Difference Does a Difference Make?. {{ISBN|978-0-86171-324-0}}</ref> The sixth chapter of Chandrakirti's Madhyamakavatara, ‘Entering the Middle Way’<ref>Trisoglio, Alex, ''Introduction to the Middle Way'', Khyentse Foundation, 2006</ref> explains the meaning of Nagarjuna's work specifically from a [[Svatantrika–Prasaṅgika distinction|Prasangika]] Madhyamika standpoint. === Yogācāra === The Yogācāra school examines emptiness through its central teaching of the three basic modes of existence or "three natures" (''[[Svabhava|svabhāva]]'').<ref>Siderits, Mark, ''Buddhism as philosophy'', 2017, p. 176.</ref><ref name="auto">Gold, Jonathan C., "Vasubandhu", ''The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' (Summer 2018 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2018/entries/vasubandhu/</ref> In Yogācāra, the ultimate basis for the erroneous conceptualizations we make about existence (like ideas of a self, etc.) is the ''Paratantra-svabhāva'', which is the [[dependently originated]] nature of [[dharmas]], or the causal process of the fabrication of things. According to the ''[[Mahāyānasaṃgraha]]'' (2:25) this basis is considered to be an ultimately existing (''[[Paramārtha-satya|paramārtha]]'') basis. However, this basis is empty since the events in this causal flow do not exist on their own and are dependent phenomena.<ref name="auto"/><ref>Siderits, Mark, ''Buddhism as philosophy'', 2017, pp. 177–178.</ref> In Yogācāra, emptiness is understood mainly as an absence of duality which holds that ultimate reality is beyond all dualities like self and other (or any other concepts like 'physical' and 'non-physical', internal and external).<ref name="auto"/><ref>Skilton, Andrew (1994). ''A Concise History of Buddhism''. Windhorse Publications, London:. pg 124</ref> All dualities are an unreal superimposition since ultimately there is only an interconnected causal stream of mental events.<ref name="auto"/> Unlike Madhyamaka, Yogācāra philosophy argues that there is a sense in which consciousness can be said to exist, that is, it exists in a dependent and empty way.<ref name=":16">King, Richard, Early Yogācāra and its Relationship with the Madhyamaka School, Philosophy East & West Volume 44, Number 4 October 1994 pp. 659–683.</ref> Indeed, [[Madhyamaka]] philosophers were criticized by Yogācārins like Asanga for being nihilistic (and thus, of having fallen from the middle way). According to Asanga "If nothing is real, there cannot be any ideas (''prajñapti''). Someone who holds this view is a nihilist."<ref>Garfield, Jay L.; Westerhoff, Jan (2015). ''Madhyamaka and Yogacara: Allies Or Rivals?'' pp. 124–129. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-19-023129-3}}.</ref> The Yogācāra position is that there is something that exists, the empty and purely mental (''prajñapti-matra'') stream of dependent arising. The ''[[Yogacarabhumi-sastra|Bodhisattvabhūmi]]'' argues that it is only logical to speak of emptiness if there is ''something'' that is empty.<ref name=":16" /> ===Svatantrika-Yogachara Madhyamika=== * [[Śāntarakṣita]] outlined his Svatantrika-Yogachara Madhyamika view in the Madhyamakālaṃkāra (The Ornament of the Middle Way). * [[Kamalaśīla]], a student of Sàntaraksita profounds this view in his presentation entitled 'The Stages of Meditation of Madhyamika (uma’i sgom rim) === Tibetan Buddhism === In [[Tibetan Buddhism]], there are numerous interpretations of Madhyamaka philosophy, all of which represent the intent of the Buddha's middle way and the right view outlined by Nagarjuna. Among some of the most influential views are the following: ====Rangtong - Empty of Self==== This philosophy is upheld by the [[Gelug]] school.<ref name=":172">Learman, Oliver (editor), ''Encyclopedia of Asian Philosophy'', Routledge, 2001, p. 374.</ref>{{sfn|Cowherds|2010|p=76}} * The Madhyamaka of [[Je Tsongkhapa]] (1357–1419) argues that emptiness is "an absolute negation" (''med dgag''), which means that everything, including Buddhahood and emptiness itself, is said to be empty. The target of this negation is said to be inherent existence or intrinsic nature. Therefore, in this system, the conventional existence of the world is not negated, only the essentialist superimposition of an intrinsic nature. ====Shentong - 'Empty of other'==== {{Main|Rangtong-Shentong}} This philosophy is mainly propounded by non-Gelug Tibetan schools. Key figures who propound this view are: The third Karmapa, [[Rangjung Dorje]] (Karma Kagyu), [[Longchen Rabjam]] (Nyingma), [[Dolpopa]] Sherab Gyaltsen (Jonang), [[Sakya Chokden]] (Sakya) and [[Taranatha]] (Jonang). * [[Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen|Dölpopa]]'s (1292–1361) held that ultimate reality is only empty of what is impermanent and conditioned, but it is not empty of its own true nature. Buddhahood is therefore not held to be totally empty in this system, instead, it is an ultimately real self that is filled with infinite Buddha qualities.<ref>Hopkins, 2006, pp 8–15</ref>{{sfn|Brunnholzl|2009|p=108}} This philosophy is very influential among non-Gelug Tibetan schools. * The Madhyamaka interpretation of [[Gorampa]] (1429–1489) has also been very influential among non-Gelug Tibetan orders.<ref>Thakchoe, Sonam, ''The Two Truths Debate: Tsongkhapa and Gorampa on the Middle Way'', Wisdom Publications, 2007</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Kassor|first=Constance|editor=Edward N. Zalta|title=Gorampa [go rams pa]|url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2017/entries/gorampa/|access-date=2021-04-02|encyclopedia=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2017 Edition)|date=2 May 2011}}</ref> Gorampa's interpretation is an [[Anti-realism|anti-realist]] philosophy which sees emptiness as meaning that all phenomena lack the four extremes: existence, nonexistence, both and neither.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cabezón |first1=José Ignacio |last2=Dargyay |first2=Geshe |year=2007 |title=Freedom from Extremes: Gampopa's "Distinguishing the Views" and the Polemics of Emptiness |publisher=[[Wisdom Publications]] |isbn=9780861715237|page=50}}</ref> Therefore, in this interpretation of Madhyamaka, conventional everyday reality is also negated and is seen as unreal, illusory, and ultimately non-existent since they are just conceptual fabrications.{{sfn|Cowherds|2010|p=82}} Other important presentations include: * [[Mikyö Dorje, 8th Karmapa Lama|Eighth Karmapa Mikyö Dorje]]'s commentary on Chandrakırti's Entering the Middle Way, entitled ‘Chariot of the Dagpo Kagu Siddhas’.<ref>''Chariot of the Dagpo Kagu Siddhas'', Snow Lion Publications, 2008</ref> * [[Wangchuk Dorje, 9th Karmapa Lama|Ninth Karmapa Wangchuk Dorje]]'s commentary entitled ‘Feast for the Fortunate’.<ref>Dewar, Tyler, ''Feast for the Fortunate'', Snow Lion Publications, 2005</ref> * Pawo Rinpoche Tsuglag Trengwa's ‘Exposition of The Entrance to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, the Essence of the Immeasurable, Profound, and Vast Ocean of the Dharma of the Great Vehicle’.<ref>Brunnhölzl, Karl, ''The Center of the Sunlit Sky: Madhyamaka in the Kagyü Tradition'', Snow Lion Publications, 2004, pp.617-790</ref> The ninth chapter of this text propounds many of Mikyö Dorje's explanations on Madhyamaka. === East Asian conceptions === ==== Tendai ==== In the [[Tendai]] school, the ''Middle Way'' refers to the synthesis of the thesis that all things are śūnyatā and the antithesis that all things have phenomenal existence.<ref>Kohn (1991), pp. 143–144.</ref> ==== Chan Buddhism ==== In [[Chan Buddhism]], the Middle Way describes the realization of being free of the one-sidedness of perspective that takes the extremes of any polarity as objective reality. In chapter ten of the ''[[Platform Sutra]]'', [[Huineng]] gives instructions for the teaching of the Dharma. Huineng enumerates 36 basic oppositions of consciousness and explains how the Way is free from both extremes: {{blockquote|If one asks about the worldly, use the paired opposite of the saintly; if asking about the saintly use the paired opposite of the worldly. The mutual causation of the Way of dualities, gives birth to the meaning of the Middle Way. So, for a single question, a single pair of opposites, and for other questions the single [pair] that accords with this fashion, then you do not lose the principle.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://wonderwheels.blogspot.com/2010/09/platform-sutra-1st-section-of-chapter.html|title=Turning the Wheel of Wonder: The Platform Sutra, 1st Section of Chapter 10|first=Alan Gregory|last=Wonderwheel|date=September 12, 2010}}</ref>{{NoteTag|For example: "Suppose there is a person who asks, 'What is taken for and called darkness?' Reply and say, 'Light is the proximate cause and darkness is the contributory cause. When light is ended, then there is darkness. By the means of light, darkness manifests; by the means of darkness, light manifests. [Their] coming and going are mutually proximate causes and become the meaning of the Middle Way.[http://wonderwheels.blogspot.com/2010/09/platform-sutra-1st-section-of-chapter.html] {{citation needed|date=April 2012}} }}}}
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