Sonam Thakchoe

Much of the commentary and scholarship on Candrakirti-whether canonical or contemporary-has been concerned with the question of whether Candrakirti is a radical nihilist who denies the possibility of any knowledge and the reality of both the external world and of the mind. Eminent Tibetan exegetes have argued that this is the correct understanding of Candrakirti and of Madhyamaka itself, and that Madhyamaka so understood is the correct philosophical position. Others have argued that Candrakirti provides the resources for reconciling realism with the emptiness of all phenomena. This debate continues among contemporary scholars: many, while less sanguine regarding the cogency of the position they ascribe to Candrakirti, read him explicitly as an ontological and epistemological nihilist. Others take him to advocate a plausible, moderately realist position. The book argues that Candrakirti is not a nihilist. The authors show instead that Candrakirti develops a sophisticated understanding of knowledge in the context of massive delusion, of reality in the world of conventional truth, and of ethics in the domain of human life. This analysis reconciles the claim that all phenomena are empty-that they lack any intrinsic existence or identity-with a moderate realism about the conventional world.

Much of the commentary and scholarship on Candrakirti-whether canonical or contemporary-has been concerned with the question of whether Candrakirti is a radical nihilist who denies the possibility of any knowledge and the reality of both the external world and of the mind. Eminent Tibetan exegetes have argued that this is the correct understanding of Candrakirti and of Madhyamaka itself, and that Madhyamaka so understood is the correct philosophical position. Others have argued that Candrakirti provides the resources for reconciling realism with the emptiness of all phenomena. This debate continues among contemporary scholars: many, while less sanguine regarding the cogency of the position they ascribe to Candrakirti, read him explicitly as an ontological and epistemological nihilist. Others take him to advocate a plausible, moderately realist position. The book argues that Candrakirti is not a nihilist. The authors show instead that Candrakirti develops a sophisticated understanding of knowledge in the context of massive delusion, of reality in the world of conventional truth, and of ethics in the domain of human life. This analysis reconciles the claim that all phenomena are empty-that they lack any intrinsic existence or identity-with a moderate realism about the conventional world.

An insightful and illuminating survey of key insights into one of the most foundational and profound topics in Buddhist thought. In this clear and exemplary approach to one of the core philosophical subjects of the Buddhist tradition, Sonam Thakchoe guides readers through the range of Indian Buddhist philosophical schools and how each approaches the two truths: ultimate truth and conventional truth. In this presentation of philosophical systems, the detailed argumentations and analyses of each school's approach to the two truths are presented to weave together the unique contributions each school brings to supporting and strengthening a Buddhist practitioner's understanding of reality. The insights of the great scholars of Indian Buddhist history--such as Vasubandhu, Bhavaviveka, Kamalashila, Dharmakirti, Nagarjuna, and Chandrakirti--are illuminated in this volume, with profound implications for the practice and views of modern practitioners and scholars. The Vaibhashika, Sautrantika, Yogachara, and Madhyamaka schools provide a framework for a continuum of philosophical debate that is far more interrelated, and internally complex, than one may presume. Yet we see how the schools build upon the findings of one another, leading from a belief in the realism of external phenomena to the relinquishment of any commitment to realism of either external or internal realities. This fascinating movement through philosophical approaches leads us to see how the conventional and ultimate--dependent arising and emptiness--are twin aspects of a single reality.