Books on Nagarjuna

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Caoimhghín
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Books on Nagarjuna

Post by Caoimhghín »

Hello all,

I was wondering if anyone knew some good foundational reading to get into before I try to wrap my head around the philosophy of Nagarjuna.

:anjali:
Caoimhghín
Then, the monks uttered this gāthā:

These bodies are like foam.
Them being frail, who can rejoice in them?
The Buddha attained the vajra-body.
Still, it becomes inconstant and ruined.
The many Buddhas are vajra-entities.
All are also subject to inconstancy.
Quickly ended, like melting snow --
how could things be different?

The Buddha passed into parinirvāṇa afterward.
(T1.27b10 Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra DĀ 2)
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Queequeg
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Re: Books on Nagarjuna

Post by Queequeg »

I don't know... I think you just jump in the deep end and learn while you drown...

I'm still drowning so, my 2 cents may not even be worth that.
There is no suffering to be severed. Ignorance and klesas are indivisible from bodhi. There is no cause of suffering to be abandoned. Since extremes and the false are the Middle and genuine, there is no path to be practiced. Samsara is nirvana. No severance achieved. No suffering nor its cause. No path, no end. There is no transcendent realm; there is only the one true aspect. There is nothing separate from the true aspect.
-Guanding, Perfect and Sudden Contemplation,
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Wayfarer
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Re: Books on Nagarjuna

Post by Wayfarer »

I've always liked this book:

Nagarjuna's Philosophy: As Presented in the Maha-Prajnaparamita-Sastra
by K. Venkata Ramanan
Link: http://a.co/dX8i4aM

Translated mainly from Chinese sources, with a good commentary. It's a Motilal Banarsadis publication, I note from Amazon that it has been re-printed recently.

An historical study of Nāgārjuna situating him in relation to history and culture

Nagarjuna in Context: Mahayana Buddhism and Early Indian Culture
by Joseph Walser
Link: http://a.co/5eMmcHx

also

The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way: Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā
by Nagarjuna et al.
Link: http://a.co/7Qs06jV
'Only practice with no gaining idea' ~ Suzuki Roshi
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gad rgyangs
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Re: Books on Nagarjuna

Post by gad rgyangs »

Nagarjuna's Middle Way: Mulamadhyamakakarika (Classics of Indian Buddhism) Paperback – June 11, 2013
by Mark Siderits (Author), Shoryu Katsura (Author)
Thoroughly tame your own mind.
This is (possibly) the teaching of Buddha.

"I must finally conclude that this proposition, I am, I exist, is necessarily true whenever it is put forward by me or conceived in my mind."
- Descartes, 2nd Meditation 25
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Tsongkhapafan
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Re: Books on Nagarjuna

Post by Tsongkhapafan »

Coëmgenu wrote:Hello all,

I was wondering if anyone knew some good foundational reading to get into before I try to wrap my head around the philosophy of Nagarjuna.

:anjali:
Caoimhghín
Find a good Teacher who you judge is teaching emptiness through their own experience and follow their teachings and meditation. If you treat Nagarjuna's teachings as a philosophically interesting or intellectual exercise you will gain nothing. To gain experience of Nagarjuna's teachings requires the right motivation so my recommendation is to gain some experience of lamrim teachings to prepare yourself. Just dryly reading Nagarjuna's texts will just lead to confusion and intellectualisation.
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