The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way

Nagarjuna's Mulamadhyamakakarika

De: Nāgārjuna, Jay L. Garfield - translator

Narrado por: Zehra Jane Naqvi

The Buddhist saint Nāgārjuna, who lived in South India in approximately the second century CE, is undoubtedly the most important, influential, and widely studied Mahāyāna Buddhist philosopher. His greatest philosophical work, the Mūlamadhyamikakārikā - 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 The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way, Jay L. Garfield provides a clear translation of Nāgārjuna's seminal work, offering those with little or no prior knowledge of Buddhist philosophy a view into the profound logic of the Mūlamadhyamikakārikā. Garfield presents a superb translation of the Tibetan text of Mūlamadhyamikakārikā in its entirety and a commentary reflecting the Tibetan tradition through which Nāgārjuna's philosophical influence has largely been transmitted. Illuminating the systematic character of Nāgārjuna's reasoning, Garfield shows how Nāgārjuna develops his doctrine that all phenomena are empty of inherent existence, that is, than nothing exists substantially or independently. He offers a verse-by-verse commentary that explains Nāgārjuna's positions and arguments in the language of Western metaphysics and epistemology and connects Nāgārjuna's concerns to those of Western philosophers.

©1995 Jay L. Garfield (P)2021 Tantor

Gem. Paradoxes everywhere.

Paradoxes everywhere. Dense. Emptiness is empty. For me describing emptiness of emptiness in words are like cutting the branch I am standing on - the branch are the language/words. Words are main part of the empty boxes. Basically says that only consciousness somehow "is". Everything is a simulation and nothing really exists and stuff. 2000 years old and still brilliant.

wow!

if you can handle it, you should read it. it is like Euclidean geometry in the way it starts with axioms, their staying beliefs, then through logical argument expounds in the consequences of all things and flows through the finite and infinite. Jay L. Garfield's consolidation of the ideas into a more comprehensible read for modern readers is an absolute gem.

for the well versed

This is not a book for your average reader. It is very detailed and full.of jargon. Yet the philosophy of the middle way is intriguing. worth the effort in my opinion.

Essential Reading for All

The insights contained in this book are profound for their depth and brevity. Highly recommended for people new to Buddhist philosophy as well as for those who have practiced for a long time.

Treasury

I wish to express the highest praise for those who brought this text to audio. Easily one of my favorite releases from thee audible catalogue. This release provides limitless insight - and this wisdom grows with every repeat listen. For those who are seeking clarity - this release is the clear gold standard by which all future efforts will be measured.

Good, heavy

This book and commentary are very interesting. The commentary is very helpful with the sometimes difficult to understand textual jargon for those of us who are not deeply steeped in Middleway philosophy. I found the points quite intuitive, despite the technical philosophical language and reasoning. I would definitely recommend it for anybody willing and wanting to go deeper into Buddhist thought.

I gained some understanding of Nirvana

There was some attempt to tie the book to Western philosophy Good references to Hume and Wittgenstein

Frankly—Awesome

I'll say a little bit about the work and why I like it, and then about why I like this version -

Nagarjuna's Wisdom of the Middle Way is a classic of, not only buddhist philosophy, but Indian philosophy, and perhaps world philosophy. It is a sutra not in the sense that it is a recollection of the Buddha's teachings, but in the sense that it is a document made of terse, philosophically potent statements that usually require some sort of explanation in the form of commentary, read along side the dense, aphoristic sections.

Nagarjuna's Middle Way uses a fourfold analysis, employed frequently by the Buddha, to analyze all of reality. He attempts finds that reality cannot be, cannot not be, can neither be nor not be, and cannot both be and not be. he then attempts to prove and show the logical result of this idea in the rest of the treatise. I won't spoil it, but if you are very astute, or have done the preliminary study (maybe this isn't your first "read"through) then it becomes much clearer by the middle—and borderline lucidly available by the end.

This version of the work is the most commonly available one in anglophone countries, with the sutras presented first, then commented upon afterwards, one by one. the context of the commentary is modern/western philosophical language and analysis, more aimed at making the work accessible to those with west-leaning philosophical background than providing an extended analysis for experts. in other words, it explains its arguments in easy to understand terms and tells you why it's a great philosophic work (even if you end up disagreeing with it.) I would love for there to someday exist recorded versions of this work with Buddhist/Indic commentators and explanations, but this is a great first step.

the recording itself is great. the narrator has a voice you will probably either love or hate, because it is steely and sharp. Her narration is honestly otherworldly, I'm not convinced she's not a voice actor. A lot of Buddhist literature is narrated by august British men with profound voices. I think that would lull me to sleep on this one. She gives energy and great intellectual-emotional depth to the reading. Crazy that she brought this to life

Wish i could get a refund.

I am truly sorry to admit that the Narration is so unpleasant in pitch and cadence that, after several attempts to endure, I stopped listening to a book i really wanted to have read to me.

Awful narration

The shrill narration makes this completely unlistenable. Very disappointed , I had to return. A shame.