Nagarjuna and the Philosophy of Openness

by Nancy McCagney

In this innovative study of the philosopher Nagarjuna, Nancy McCagney demonstrates that the concept of space ('akasa') in early Indian Mahayana Buddhism is the root metaphor for Nagarjuna's understanding of 'sunyata', or openness. Nagarjuna's use of the term 'sunyata' was new, and contrasted with the word's use in Pali Buddhist literature. By using the word to mean 'openness,' Nagarjuna was able to elucidate, through a deeper analysis of impermanence, a consistent philosophical foundation for the truth and efficacy of Gautama's Middle Way. McCagney's book will be important for those studying Indian philosophy, Buddhism, and the philosophy of religion.

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Nick]

I appreciate the attempt but I found this book a bit confusing. It seemed like she was outlining the philosophy verbatim rather than trying to make it understandable to someone not already versed in all the Buddhist terms. Probably useful for an academic, but I found it a bit of a chore.

[Nico · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very good book so far, detailing and linking Nagarjuna not to the Mahayanins like most commentators, but instead to the Thervadans, an earlier school of Buddhism. She links sunyata not just to the "emptiness" that we normally translate it into (and all the negative conotations it normally brings up), but also to akasa, or air, sky and space, arguing that what Nagarjuna meant was not that everything was "empty" but that everything was boundry-less, unencumbered by constructed realities, like the sky. So far so good.