School
Madhyamaka
Also known as Middle Way school
Mahāyāna Buddhist school founded by Nāgārjuna, which teaches that all things are empty because they arise in dependence on other things.
Madhyamaka, the “middle way” school, traces its origin to Nāgārjuna. Its central claim is that all things are empty (śūnya): nothing exists independently, because everything arises in dependence on other things. Its thinkers used rigorous arguments to show that any view which assumes fixed essences leads to contradiction. It remains central to Tibetan Buddhism.
Philosophers
- Nāgārjunafl. 150–250 CE
- Sengzhaoc. 378 – 413 CE
- Buddhapālitafl. 490–510 CE
- Bhāvivekac. 500 – c. 570 CE
- Candrakīrtic. 600 – c. 650 CE
- Śrīguptafl. 650–720 CE
- Śāntidevafl. 680–760 CE
- Śāntarakṣitac. 725 – c. 788 CE
- Kamalaśīlac. 740 – c. 795 CE
- Tsongkhapa1357–1419
- Gorampa1429–1489
Terms on this page
- śūnyatā
- Emptiness: the central notion of Nāgārjuna’s Madhyamaka, that all things are empty of intrinsic nature (svabhāva), since nothing exists independently of other things.
Sources
- Richard Hayes, Madhyamaka, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Sonam Thakchoe, The Theory of Two Truths in Tibet, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy