Empty logic: Mādhyamika Buddhism from Chinese sources

by Hsueh-li Cheng

There has been a growing interest in Buddhist thought among Western scholars, especially in the philosophical teachings of the Madhyamika. In this book Prof. Cheng deals with its principle doctrines, its philosophy and its influence on Zen Buddhism. Madhyamika Buddhism was founded by Nagarjuna in India in the second century A.d. It is considered to be "the most important outcome of Buddha's teaching" and "philosophical Buddhism par excellence".

220 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1984

Reviews

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Madhyamika spread from India into Tibet, but also it traveled up through Persia, where it was carried along with the caravans that traversed the Silk Road, into the Middle Kingdom, or what we now call China. There it encountered Taoist and Confucian thought. And, so it is, that before the Maoist Era many Chinese embraced all three philosophies equally. A Chinese male, for instance, could be strictly orthodox in all his Confucian family roles--meek towards his father, respectful to his uncles, a strict disciplinarian to his wife, sternly advising to his younger brothers, ruinously indulgent towards his small son--and moonstruck with his fifteen-year-old concubine. In in his idle hours with her, he would abandon all Confucian decorum and apply the Taoist arts of "clouds and rain." Then all day long, at the office, he would dream of renouncing the world to become a Buddhist monk. If he went to war, he would employ Taoist strategies and tactics.

This volume discusses Nagarjuna's Madhyamikda (Middle Path) Buddhism not only in its Chinese contexts, but also in relation to Western thinkers such as Wittgenstein. One really nice thing is that one entire chapter is devoed to Chinese Madhyamika and the genesis of Chinese zen, which eventually developed Japanese forms and has hence spread worldwide.