Nagarjuna (Ca. 150 CE—Ca. 250 CE) is widely considered one of the most important Buddhist philosophers after the historical Buddha. Along with his disciple Aryadeva, he is credited with founding the Madhyamaka school of Mahayana Buddhism. Nagarjuna is also credited with developing the philosophy of the Prajnaparamita Sutras and, in some sources, with having revealed these scriptures in the world, having recovered them from the nagas (dragons). Furthermore, he is traditionally supposed to have written several treatises on rasayana alchemy as well as serving a term as the head of Nalanda University.
Nagarjuna was a great contributor to the Mahayana tradition. He acted as the interpreter and clarifier of the tradition’s texts clarifying the notion of the Middle way as offered and taught by Buddha. Nagarjuna’s system of the Middle Way greatly influenced not only the Mahayana tradition but also would influence the future developing schools of thought that would originate from the Mahayana Buddhist tradition, namely the Zen Buddhist tradition. Nagarjuna’s philosophy of the Middle Way is manifested in the methods of the Zen Buddhist tradition. There are fundamental elements in Nagarjuna’s philosophy of the Middle Way that are manifested in the Zen Buddhist tradition and way of thought. A case can be made for the Zen tradition being a practical application of Nagarjuna’s Middle Way. Hsueh-li Cheng in one of his published works has already explored the proposition that Zen is a practical application of the Middle Way in 1979. The aim of this paper is to build upon the foundation Hsueh-li Cheng has already laid down to bring closer the ties of a notion of a Middle Way in the thought of Nagarjuna and Zen. The approach taken will examine the central tenets of the Middle Way.
Nagarjuna may have arrived at his position from a desire to achieve a consistent exegesis of the Buddha’s doctrine as recorded in the Agamas. In the eyes of Nagarjuna, the Buddha was not merely a forerunner, but the very founder of the Madhyamaka system. David Kalupahana sees Nagarjuna as a successor to Moggaliputta-Tissa in being a champion of the middle-way and a reviver of the original philosophical ideals of the Buddha.
Vocabulary
Fundamental—basic
Consistent—continuous
