The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way: Nagarjuna's Mulamadhyamakakarika

Rating:
Summary: Demanding but satisfying
Review: As Garfield states in the introduction, his analysis of the text is more from an analytical, Western philosophical perspective than from a "Buddhalogical" (his word) one. The result is authoritative, scholarly and a little dry. His presentation reminds me of David Brazier's presentation of the Abhidharma in his book "Zen Therapy: Transcending the Sorrows of the Human Mind." The experience of reading this book is very demanding, but also very satisfying. The benefits to be derived are probably directly proportional with the work one puts in to understanding it.

A more poetically compelling translation of the Mulamadhyamikakarika, along with a very thought-provoking introduction, is to be found in Stephen Batchelor's "Verses from the Center."

Rating:
Summary: Demanding but satisfying
Review: As Garfield states in the introduction, his analysis of the text is more from an analytical, Western philosophical perspective than from a "Buddhalogical" (his word) one. The result is authoritative, scholarly and a little dry. His presentation reminds me of David Brazier's presentation of the Abhidharma in his book "Zen Therapy: Transcending the Sorrows of the Human Mind." The experience of reading this book is very demanding, but also very satisfying. The benefits to be derived are probably directly proportional with the work one puts in to understanding it.

A more poetically compelling translation of the Mulamadhyamikakarika, along with a very thought-provoking introduction, is to be found in Stephen Batchelor's "Verses from the Center."

Rating:
Summary: The Prasangika Madhyamika view on Nagarjuna's masterpiece
Review: The Mulamadhyamakakarika(MMK) by Nagarjuna is one of the most important scriptures within Mahayana Buddhism. It's the Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way. Although other English translations exist already, Mr Garfield's rendition is the first that shows the Prasangika Madhyamika (Middle Way Consequence school) view on the MMK.

The MMK consists of 27 chapters which are examinations of fundamental theoretical elements in Buddhist ontology like Dependent origination, Impermanence, Perception, Aggregates (skandhas), Self, and relations between Substance and Attribute. The book is divided into two sections: 1. The translation of the 27 chapters, 2. The translation + commentaries.

It's noteworthy to mention that this book is based on the Tibetan dBu-ma rtsa-ba shes-rab, the Tibetan translation of the original Sanskrit work of MMK.

Garfield asserts in this book that Nagarjuna's goal was to refute the view of extremism of the Sarvastidas (All exists) and the other side of Nihilism (Nothing exists), proposing a Middle Way position. Pointing out the Two Truths of reality; Absolute Truth and Conventional Truth, Nagarjuna uses the Emptiness (shunyata) doctrine to show the reader upon examination that phenomena (both mental and physical) are empty of inherent-exitestence, but also that they are NOT non-existent (they exist within the Absolute Truth). Through these Examination one will obtain insight into the relativity of concepts and phenomena.

As a side note: Nagarjuna's goal is not to bring about a philosophical debate on metaphysical elements. Garfield points this out perfectly in the Introduction to the Commentary section of this book.

I have not read other renditions in English on the MMK, but so far this one is a very bright shining jewel in my extensive collection on Buddhism.

For further reading I would suggest Candrakirti's Prasannapada (Lucid Exposition of the Middle Way), which is a commentary on the MMK and it's best companion in my opinion.

Rating:
Summary: A precious resource, but I suspect it tames Nagarjuna
Review: This book has been a treasure to those of us who had stared in consternation at K. Inada's translation or wrestled with the misprints in D. Kalupahana's edition. Here lucidity reigns. But there is something excessively dry and scholastic about Garfield's Nagarjuna. I think this is partly due to the fact that Garfield translates from the Tibetan, not the original Sanskrit. Compare his translation of Ch. 19, verse 1: "If the present and the future/Depend on the past,/Then the present and the future/Would have existed in the past", with Sprung's: "If what is arising here and now and what is not yet realized are dependent on what is past, what is arising here and now and what is not yet realized will be in past time" (which could be further improved by translating "atita" as "what has been"). So dry is Garfield's diction that his retention of a verse format seems pointless. The Gelug-pa Tibetan interpretation of Nagarjuna is a scholasticizing one, and loses some of the savor of emptiness and liberation which gives meditative point to Nagarjuna's laconic logic. Also, Garfield keeps referring to Hume and Wittgenstein in a way that further domesticates and scholasticizes Nagarjuna, making him a linguistic therapist who frees us from substantializations and reifications, but who also allows us to install ourselves comfortably in the conventional dependently co-arising world. It seems to me that in Buddhism this samsaric world is always painful, radically unsatisfactory, and that Nagarjuna is not just curing us of false theories about it, but is revealing it as radically self-contradictory even in its everyday pragmatic or conventional texture. To say that emptiness "is not a self-existent void standing behind a veil of illusion comprising conventional reality, but merely a characteristic of conventional reality" (p. 91) sounds very bland. Emptiness is not just any characteristic, but a radically subversive quality of our world, which it is by no means easy to realize. "The actuality of the entire phenomenal world, persons and all, is recovered within that emptiness" (p. 95) is again too bland. Only a Buddha can grasp the world in its ultimate emptiness and its conventional texture at once. The recovery of the conventional from the point of view of ultimate emptiness is not a comfortable restoration or even a disillusioned Humean resignation to conventions. It means realizing that the apparently solid world of experience is only a flimsy, provisional raft or skillful means, surpassed by the empty ultimacy which it can serve to indicate. "The eventual equation of the phenomenal world with emptiness, of samsara with nirvana, and of the conventional and the ultimate" (p. 101) is very, very eventual, so that only a Buddha can perceive it correctly. Asserted too early, too sweepingly, it can short-circuit the path to liberation.

Rating:
Summary: The best book on emptiness
Review: This is a translation and commentary of the central philosophical writing of Nagarjuna, the Mulamadhyamakakarika, or The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way. Nagarjuna, an Indian Buddhist master who lived in the First Century A.D., was the first to clearly articulate the Madhyamika philosophy, the most profound view of reality to be found among the various schools of Buddhism, and the philosophy that permeates the Prajnaparamita, the various Perfection of Wisdom Sutras that form the foundation for Mahayana Buddhism. Nagarjuna's writings were elaborated upon by his disciples Aryadeva and Chandrakirti, and by later Tibetan masters such as Je Tsongkhapa. In fact, it is a Tibetan translation of Nagarjuna's original Sanskrit text that Mr. Garfield has translated here, and since his own practice follows the Tibetan tradition, this allows him to bring a more sympathetic understanding to the text and its insights.

This is a marvelous book, the likes of which I never thought I would find. You will understand something of my despair, and hopefully likewise appreciate the many fine qualities this book embodies if you have also spent years as a Buddhist practitioner trying to understand the profundities of Eastern and Buddhist philosophies by reading the currently extant English translations and commentaries to the great scriptures. Most such books suffer from one or more of a number of serious flaws, such as writing and thinking that is sloppy, imprecise, or hopelessly fuzzy and full of vaguely defined mystical jargon that clouds understanding, or interpretations and conclusions that are idiosyncratic and out of sync with other major scriptural sources. None of that here! Mr. Garfield has done a masterful job of presenting in English one of the most difficult of all scriptures, and he has done so in a way that is both pleasurable and understandable.

This is challenging material. Nagarjuna's philosophy is both very subtle and very profound. To gain liberation or enlightenment a Buddhist practitioner must (among other practices) first gain an intellectual understanding of this philosophy, and then thoroughly deepen that understanding through skillful meditation under the guidance of a master until it intuitively informs every level of being. Mr. Garfield expressly states in his preface that this book is "meant to be a presentation of a philosophical text to philosophers, and not an edition of the text for Buddhologists", so it is clear that he does not intend the text to help at all with the second phase of this process, but his book adds masterfully to the preliminary intellectual understanding.

The book is in two parts. The first part is simply an English translation of Nagarjuna's text. The translation is extremely well thought out, and the directness and clarity of the language, seldom found in this sort of translation, makes it as easy to follow as possible. But such is the depth and subtlety of the arguments, and the writing is so condensed in the original text that few could follow it without a commentary. The second section, then, provides a verse by verse commentary, and herein lies the real brilliance of Mr. Garfield's book, for he leads us with all the confidence and assuredness of a master through the mental gymnastics of Nagarjuna's arguments. He is invariably on top of every argument and counter-argument, and presents all in absolute clarity. He writes with philosophical authority, and yet without being overly dogmatic or arrogant. But more than this: He involved me in the arguments and the flow of Nagarjuna's reasoning, such that I felt more a participant than a mere spectator. As I was led along, I was often reminded of a great mystery writer, or of a skillful naturalist leading students on a nature hike. It was at times exhilarating. And yet more than this too: He also wrote beautifully, with elegance and erudition. His use of language is clear, precise and well-informed, a pleasure to read.

But there's even more than this here: He not only wrote persuasively and beautifully, but also accurately. He has truly done this scripture justice. At no point did I detect any views not completely in accord with what I have gleaned and struggled hard to learn from my own teacher and my own readings of the scriptures. Indeed, my own understanding was clarified and expanded greatly and provided with solid logical underpinning, and for that I am most grateful.

I might also add that this is a handsome book, with quietly elegant binding, paper and typesetting. I encountered no typos. The preface, references and index were truly helpful, and the overall organization flowed smoothly.

The only two problems I encountered reading the book were problems of my own. First, I was surprised to learn that despite two decades studying Eastern philosophy, I know very little about Western philosophy. Someone reading this text with as little knowledge as I had about the ideas of Kant, Hume, Berkeley, Descartes and Wiggenstein, and with only non-formal training in philosophical vocabulary and logic may be a bit lost at times. I found the Oxford Companion to Philosophy helpful, but plan to further fill this glaring gap in my education later. Second, Mr. Garfield's command of vocabulary was extensive enough to finally propel me to fulfill a long held wish to purchase a truly fine dictionary. I went to the book store with a vocabulary list from the first several chapters of the commentary, and quickly realized that none of the many dictionaries there had more than half the words, with the exception of the two volume New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, which had them all. I purchased it gladly.

It remains for someone with sophisticated philosophical training to review this book from that perspective, but I can recommend it highly to any Buddhist practitioners who long for a clear and deep presentation of these most profound truths.