Middle Way School
Nagarjuna
Mula-Madhyamaka-Karika (MMK)
18 Chapters
Letters to King Andhra
Evolution (not revolution) of Buddhist Doctrines
Examination of Svabhava
(?)Emptiness school
Sprout Example
No Svabhava
Cause and effect
Intellectual vs. Ultimate Understanding
Two Truths: Conventional and Ultimate
Reductio ad Absurdum
Cause and effect examinations
Cottonseeds, cloth
Sprout, plant, fruit
Relative Concepts
Long and short
Nirvana and Samsara
"All phenomena are interdependent, therefore all phenomena are empty"
Emptiness = Interdependence
Pratityasamutpada-Hrdaya-Karika
Purpose = instruction manual to reverse samsara
Afflictions (klesa)
Action (karma)
Suffering (duhkha)
Erroneous Causes: Primordial matter, time, chance, God
Interconnectedness of things
Analogy of Chariot Parts
House Beams
Samaropana
Superimposition
Coil of rope seen as a snake (mind tricks)
Avoid Eternalism and Nihilism = Middle Way
Mula-Madhymaka-Karika
27 chapters, each is an examination of ______
Study of Prapanca
Interdependent co-arising = extinction of prapanca (mental fabrications) and 8 Negations:
Not extinguished, not originated
Not annihilated, not permanent
Not identical, not different
Not coming, not going
Chapter 1
Objective to convince all about truth of emptiness (refers to other docs and teachings
known by target audience)
Look for self-existence of entities in factors
Won't find in causes and conditions because everything is interdependently
originated
Cause and effect not bound to time
Fever from mosquito bite
Appeals to conventional (lay) wisdom
Plant a seed, a plant will grow
Sastra Literature (explanations, enhancements of Sutra Lessons)
Dry and logical
svabhava = self existence
klesa = afflictions
duhkha = suffering
Reductio ad Absurdum
Mula-Madhyamaka-Karika (MMK)
Pratityasamutpada-Hrdaya-Karika