An Introduction to Indian Philosophy

by Satischandra Chatterjee

To the metaphysical question 'Is there at all any reality, mental or non-mental?' three different replies are given: (a) the Mādhhyamikas hold46 that there is no reality, mental or non-mental; that all is void (śūnya). Therefore, they have been known as the nihilists (śūnya-vādins). (b) The Yogācāras hold that only the mental is real, the non-mental or the material world is all void of reality. They are, therefore, called subjective idealists (vijñānavādins). (c) Still another class of Bauddhas hold that both the mental and the non-mental are real. They may, therefore, be called realists. Sometimes they are styled Sarvāstivādins (i.e. those who hold the reality of all things), though this term is often used in a narrower sense by some Buddhist writers.