An Introduction to the Philosophy of Nagarjuna

This book is a study of the Mulamadhyamakakarika (Middle Stanzas), the fhief work of Nagarjuna (2nd-3rd cent.), who established the theoretical foundations of Mahayana Buddhism and is known in Japan as the founder of the eight sects. The Middle Stanzas is a treatise that integrates the concepts of dependent co-arising (Pratityasamutpada) and emptiness (sunyata), fundamental to the thought of Mahayana Buddhism, but the manner in which Nagarjuna develops his arguments is unusual, and the Middle Stanzas has acquired a reputation as a difficult work. The present book attempts to elucidate the distinctive and abstruse arguments presented in the Middle Stanzas by means of an original method not previously used in this context. In addition to its examination of the logic of emptiness, this book also aims to explore the idea of emptiness from the perspective of religious studies. That is to say, the author seeks to situate the intuitive wisdom of emptiness within the full compass of religious experiences. Towards this end, he employs the concepts of the sacred and the profane, basic concepts in the field of religious studies, and proposes a method for considering the experience of the wisdom of emptiness within the same framework as Tantric practices such as mandala visualization and group rituals such as funeral rites.