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“That which is dependent origination Is explained to be emptiness. . . …There does not exist anything That is not dependently arisen. Therefore there does not exist anything That is not empty.” (31) In his chapter, “Nagarjuna’s Mulamadhyamakakarika,” Jay Garfield … Continue reading →

The branches of Buddhism debate with each other. They are conversations of different interpretations or stories that they believe the Buddha told. Emptiness, as we’ve learned describes lack of essence, or the interconnectedness of everything. However, these debates call into … Continue reading →

During the last few classes, I have noticed that there seems to be a deep connection between Theravada (specifically The Four Noble Truths) and the Mahayana (specifically the ideas of Nagarjuna on Madhyamika about essence/emptiness.) It took me a while to … Continue reading →

My previous blog post highlighted the lack of access to female roles and spaces in Buddhism in order to challenge its perception as an egalitarian faith. However, I began to reevaluate my previous critique after reading about how female followers … Continue reading →

In class the other day, I mentioned that my I think my ego gets in the way of my accepting emptiness/essenceless as Nagarjuna believed it to be.  How could I not have an essence, not even in this world?  It’s … Continue reading →

When first trying to wrap my head around Nagarjuna’s theory of emptiness, I seemed to understand the world as ultimately meaningless and stagnant. Everything is always and unchangingly empty, including emptiness itself! However, greater reflection has lead me to understand … Continue reading →

Through the readings on emptiness, our discussions in class, in particular a comment made by a student in class today (4/4/15), and reading the other blog posts it seems that the ultimate and final criticism of Nagarjuna’s theory is that … Continue reading →

Nagarjuna, who founded the Middle Way School of Buddhist philosophy, reasoned that everything, without exception, is empty. Through his writings translated by Garfield, he attempts to convince his audience of his ideas on permanence and essence: that all things equally … Continue reading →

In the past couple of weeks, I have been trying to understand the concepts of emptiness and essence. Before this course, I never would have connected essence to dependence, as is a simplified paraphrasing of the argument made by Nagarjuna. … Continue reading →

The Madhyamika school of Buddhism argues that emptiness is at the core of Buddhism. Focusing on dependent origination, Nagarjuna argues that there is no essence, which he defines as something permanent and intrinsic. The idea that everything is empty, while … Continue reading →