a short, dry, philosophical text written eighteen centuries ago in India. It has become a classic reference work of Buddhist philosophy. Its title is one of those seemingly endless Indian words, Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, which has been translated in various ways, including “The Fundamental Verses of the Middle Way.” I read it in the English translation by the philosopher Jay Garfield, accompanied by an excellent commentary that helps in coming to terms with its language. Garfield has a deep knowledge of Eastern thought, but his philosophical basis is in the Anglo-Saxon analytic tradition and he
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