Description
The Buddhist saint N芋g芋rjuna, who lived in South India in approximately the second century CE, is undoubtedly the most important, influential, and widely studied Mah芋y芋na Buddhist philosopher. His many works include texts addressed to lay audiences, letters of advice to kings, and a set of penetrating metaphysical and epistemological treatises. His greatest philosophical work, the
–read and studied by philosophers in all major Buddhist schools of Tibet, China, Japan, and Korea–is one of the most influential works in the history of Indian philosophy. Now, in
, Jay L. Garfield provides a clear and eminently readable translation of N芋g芋rjuna’s seminal work, offering those with little or no prior knowledge of Buddhist philosophy a view into the profound logic of the
.
Garfield presents a superb translation of the Tibetan text of
in its entirety, and a commentary reflecting the Tibetan tradition through which N芋g芋rjuna’s philosophical influence has largely been transmitted. Illuminating the systematic character of N芋g芋rjuna’s reasoning, Garfield shows how N芋g芋rjuna develops his doctrine that all phenomena are empty of inherent existence, that is, than nothing exists substantially or independently. Despite lacking any essence, he argues, phenomena nonetheless exist conventionally, and that indeed conventional existence and ultimate emptiness are in fact the same thing. This represents the radical understanding of the Buddhist doctrine of the two truths, or two levels of reality. He offers a verse-by-verse commentary that explains N芋g芋rjuna’s positions and arguments in the language of Western metaphysics and epistemology, and connects N芋g芋rjuna’s concerns to those of Western philosophers such as Sextus, Hume, and Wittgenstein.
An accessible translation of the foundational text for all Mah芋y芋na Buddhism,
offers insight to all those interested in the nature of reality.
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