[EJX]≡ PDF The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way Nāgārjuna Mūlamadhyamakakārikā Nagarjuna Jay L Garfield 9780195093360 Books

The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way Nāgārjuna Mūlamadhyamakakārikā Nagarjuna Jay L Garfield 9780195093360 Books

Download As PDF : The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way Nāgārjuna Mūlamadhyamakakārikā Nagarjuna Jay L Garfield 9780195093360 Books

The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way Nāgārjuna Mūlamadhyamakakārikā Nagarjuna Jay L Garfield 9780195093360 Books

Nagarjuna systematically destroys any argument against dependent origination as well as any argument for inherent existence in this dialectical classic. If these terms mean nothing to you, I will give a very brief overview.

The basic idea is that nothing in our experiential world, when examined, can be found to exist by its own volition, or from its own side. The technical term for this type of existence is 'inherent existence'. The problem is that even though no such thing can be found, we as humans innately ascribe inherent existence to various things. This innate ascription leads to suffering.

The truth is that all things come into being dependent on other things. This is what's called 'dependent origination'. Because of dependent origination, we say that all things are 'empty' of inherent existence or essence. This philosophy of emptiness (sunyata) is the foundation of this work. There is much, much more depth to this philosophy, but this isn't the place.

It's not an easy read by any means but the practical benefits of this philosophy are enormous. I recommend starting at the work with commentary because you may be intimidated by the verses on their own. It's also easy to get a little hung up on a tricky verse, but you should try to avoid that because the commentary normally clears such verses up. Another point of confusion is that this is a dialectic work, so some of the verses are his opponent's claims. Keep that in mind.


Tags : The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way: Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā [Nagarjuna, Jay L. Garfield] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Buddhist saint N=ag=arjuna, who lived in South India in approximately the second century CE, is undoubtedly the most important,Nagarjuna, Jay L. Garfield,The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way: Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā,Oxford University Press,0195093364,Neuroscience,Madhyamika (Buddhism) - Early works to 1800,Mdhyamika (Buddhism);Early works to 1800.,Asian,BUDDHISM,Buddhism - General,Criticism & exegesis of sacred texts,Early works to 1800,Eastern,InspirationalDevotional,MEDICAL Neuroscience,Medical,Måadhyamika (Buddhism),Non-Fiction,PHILOSOPHY Eastern,PhilosophyEastern,RELIGION Buddhism General (see also PHILOSOPHY Buddhist),Religion & Theology | Buddhism,Religion - World Religions,ScholarlyUndergraduate,UNIVERSITY PRESS,United States,MED057000,PHI003000,RELIGION Buddhism General,Madhyamika (Buddhism),Religion,Buddhism,Criticism & exegesis of sacred texts

The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way Nāgārjuna Mūlamadhyamakakārikā Nagarjuna Jay L Garfield 9780195093360 Books Reviews

This is very technical and hard to read, but it's mostly a limitation on my end. It is customary to write philosophical arguments in poetry and leave out parts of the "common logic" during Nargarjuna's time. However, what has considered "common logic" has changed considerably between then and now, and the arguments become hard to follow as a result.
This is a great little book to expand your conscious awareness. Has the translation and the explantions of the text which is always helpful. Purchase this book and Master of Wisdom by Nargarjuna which I think is a litte better than this but both books are a must.
It is an essential book to have in understanding the Mahayana, Vajrayana, and tantrayana. it will study it often in the future.
(redaction & addendum of previous review)
In reading the entire text, i found the arguements quite overwelming, however the beginning buddhist is not without help. In searching for applicatons to the examinations it can be said that madhyamaka is the synthsis of all other schools. This is a great starting place for organization. monastics usually study these topics for 20 years intensively , they relate most to the abidharma. Having said this , i would reccomend Geshe Tashi Tsering's Foundations book series, especially Relative truth , ultimate truth ( Vol 2) as the companion to this text. In learning the divisions of the two truths by the four major schools one may place the examinations of nagarjuna in thier context and avoid misintrepretation which garfield says " the danger is to mistakenly view the subtleties of emptiness as nihlism". ( paraphrase) So this would be a great guide to the study applicaton and classification of the book's chapters .. July 8, 2010

I am not a monk, nor have i been given a systematic , structured schooling in buddhist philosophy. My review is based solely upon comparison with my limited understanding of the subtleties of madhyamaka. Nagarjuna is called a master by many prominent buddhist thinkers, to note Tsong khapa. It is said that Nagarjuna is an "Arya" being. "Arya" meaning sees all subtle levels of Dukkha. ( Rather elementary) However it is said repeadedly that without ethics,concentration and then wisdom the madhaymaka is an enigma. Thats why the dalai lama explains it as such. Presupposing the student has built this foundation - Ethics, Concentration, Wisdom. Then one is ready for Madhyamaka.

Garfield gives the best version to western philosophers. I would caution though taking Garfield's view as the monastic view. Even though he gives a great explanation , thouroughly extensive and simplifies deep points in the madhyamaka, he is not able to approach it from the soterilogical point of view, as compared to that of an Arya being. in the madhyamakaavatara, which is like an introduction to Nagarjuna, chandrakirti says that he isn't even an Arya, of the 6th bhumi. Im sure Garfield would agree, that to have a thourough understanding of this text one would have to explain from that view.

This text would be greatly understanded by the most extensive commentary extant by Rje Tsong Khapa. (Ocean of reasoning) with this commentary one would get the jest of the major commentaries from Chandrakirti, Buddhapalita, and Tsong Khapa. Ocean is a great companion to this text.

With this in mind this version of Nagarjuna's seminal treatise is the best buddhist book available, aside from Lamrim Chenmo.

100% gift to the west, Thank you Garfield,Newland and everyone else for this gift to us all.
As Garfield states in the introduction, his analysis of the text is more from an analytical, Western philosophical perspective than from a "Buddhalogical" (his word) one. The result is authoritative, scholarly and a little dry. His presentation reminds me of David Brazier's presentation of the Abhidharma in his book "Zen Therapy Transcending the Sorrows of the Human Mind." The experience of reading this book is very demanding, but also very satisfying. The benefits to be derived are probably directly proportional with the work one puts in to understanding it.
A more poetically compelling translation of the Mulamadhyamikakarika, along with a very thought-provoking introduction, is to be found in Stephen Batchelor's "Verses from the Center."
As someone who has a masters degree and an excellent command of the English language, I found the writing difficult to follow. Nagarjuna's wisdom is challenging enough to assimilate, but this is significantly compounded by Prof Jay L. Garfield's highly academic style of writing. Whether Prof Garfield is unwilling to step off his academic pedestal to write in simple plain English, or has just been in academia too long to do so, I cannot say. What I do know is this feels like an academic dissertation rather than an attempt to, as plainly as possible, bring Nagarjuna's seminal text to light for the layman. It's unfortunate as my perception is that Prof Garfield has the heart and the mind to bring this text alive for the reader, but is too quagmired in academic language to do so. It falls to the reader to read and reread this book with a dictionary on hand to tap into the insights contained therein.
Nagarjuna systematically destroys any argument against dependent origination as well as any argument for inherent existence in this dialectical classic. If these terms mean nothing to you, I will give a very brief overview.

The basic idea is that nothing in our experiential world, when examined, can be found to exist by its own volition, or from its own side. The technical term for this type of existence is 'inherent existence'. The problem is that even though no such thing can be found, we as humans innately ascribe inherent existence to various things. This innate ascription leads to suffering.

The truth is that all things come into being dependent on other things. This is what's called 'dependent origination'. Because of dependent origination, we say that all things are 'empty' of inherent existence or essence. This philosophy of emptiness (sunyata) is the foundation of this work. There is much, much more depth to this philosophy, but this isn't the place.

It's not an easy read by any means but the practical benefits of this philosophy are enormous. I recommend starting at the work with commentary because you may be intimidated by the verses on their own. It's also easy to get a little hung up on a tricky verse, but you should try to avoid that because the commentary normally clears such verses up. Another point of confusion is that this is a dialectic work, so some of the verses are his opponent's claims. Keep that in mind.