Splitting the middle : a history of Middle Way reasoning / Kevin A. Vose.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Vose, Kevin, 1970- Author.

Series:

Studies in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mādhyamika (Buddhism)--History.

Mādhyamika (Buddhism).

Prāsaṅgika.

Svātantrika.

Buddhism--Tibet Region--History.

Buddhism.

Physical Description:

x, 533 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Wisdom Publications, [2026]

Summary:

"Splitting the Middle explains how 12th-century Tibetans created the foremost form of Buddhist philosophy, the Prāsaṅgika interpretation of the Middle Way, from the works of the famed Indian philosopher Candrakīrti. This book traces Bhāviveka's (ca. 500-570) and Candrakīrti's (ca. 570-640) understandings of the kinds of arguments that could prove the central Middle Way claim that all things are empty of intrinsic nature, svatantra inference and arguments by "consequence" (prasaṅga). It examines developments of these arguments in the works of Śāntarakṣita (725-788) and Kamalaśīla (ca. 740-795), who were instrumental in the transmission of the Middle Way from India to Tibet. It shows how the perspectives of Candrakīrti, on one hand, and Śāntarakṣita and Kamalaśīla, on the other, inspired the 12th century renaissance of the Middle Way in Tibet, where the differences between their viewpoints became the basis for two philosophical schools, named after their chosen forms of argumentation, Prāsaṅgika and Svātantrika. Patsab Nyima Drak (ca. 1070-1145), the Tibetan translator of Candrakīrti's major works, and his disciples Shang Thangsakpa, Khutön Dodé Bar, and Maja Jangchup Tsöndrü (d. 1185), together with their collaborator, the Kashmiri Jayānanda's (fl. mid-12th century) forged a systematic interpretation of the Middle Way and the Mahāyāna Buddhist path to awakening. They saw Candrakīrti's arguments by consequence to be a central technique in overcoming the twin delusions of holding philosophical positions and seeing things to have intrinsic natures. Championing Candrakīrti's austere vision of transformation, these creators of Prāsaṅgika argued that proper reasoning and contemplation induced a radical break with consciousness that enabled the practitioner to become a Buddha. This examination of the first Prāsaṅgikas casts this reading of the Middle Way in new light, challenging contemporary interpretations that present it as a form of skepticism. Splitting the Middle argues that Prāsaṅgika constitutes a thoroughgoing challenge to the validity of mental states and ways of knowing"-- Provided by publisher.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version Vose, Kevin A. Splitting the middle

ISBN:

9798890700049

OCLC:

1554270732

Publisher Number:

90104514592