nagarjuna basics?

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nichiren-123
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nagarjuna basics?

Post by nichiren-123 »

So I'm a nichiren buddhist (hence username) but am interested in the historical lineage which nichiren is a part of.
I've read about tiantai but I know nothing about nagarjuna.
I tried reading commentaries on 'the fundamental wisdom of the middle way' but found them way too difficult to understand.

So I was hoping for a quick and dirty description of what nagarjuna taught?

Thanks,
N-123
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Nyedrag Yeshe
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Re: nagarjuna basics?

Post by Nyedrag Yeshe »

nichiren-123 wrote: Tue Dec 05, 2017 2:02 pm So I'm a nichiren buddhist (hence username) but am interested in the historical lineage which nichiren is a part of.
I've read about tiantai but I know nothing about nagarjuna.
I tried reading commentaries on 'the fundamental wisdom of the middle way' but found them way too difficult to understand.

So I was hoping for a quick and dirty description of what nagarjuna taught?

Thanks,
N-123
I recommed reading and listening to Alex's lectures in Madhyamaka and Buddhist/Indian logic and phenomenology before even considering reading a text like Mulamadhyamakakarika.https://madhyamaka.com/
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Re: nagarjuna basics?

Post by PuerAzaelis »

At the moment i am enjoying the Dharmachakra Translation Committee translation of MMK with commentary by Mabja Jangchub Tsöndrü. It's clarifying a lot of questions I had.
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ItsRaining
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Re: nagarjuna basics?

Post by ItsRaining »

Nagarjuna's Twelve Gate's Treatise was the best concise semi-introductory text I read on the Madhyamaka, it's hailed for its concise nature as one of the three fundamental texts of the East Asian Madhyamaka (San Lun Three Treatises) School that influenced Tian Tai thought.

http://www.fodian.net/world/1568.html
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Rick
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Re: nagarjuna basics?

Post by Rick »

Very quick and dirty:

"Things are not what they appear to be: nor are they otherwise." — Buddha

I second the Alex Trisoglio recommendation. The 8 lessons (videos and written transcripts) are an excellent introduction to the view of the Middle Way.
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Re: nagarjuna basics?

Post by Queequeg »

We assert that whatever arises dependently is as such empty. This manner of designating things is exactly the middle path.
Mulamadhyamikakarika, Ch. 24, Verse 18
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.
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Malcolm
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Re: nagarjuna basics?

Post by Malcolm »

nichiren-123 wrote: Tue Dec 05, 2017 2:02 pm So I was hoping for a quick and dirty description of what nagarjuna taught?
Nāgārjuna is the first Mahāyāna author. It is recorded that he recovered the Perfection of Wisdom Sūtras from the Nāgā realm, where they had been stashed until time was ripe for their promulgation in India.
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Re: nagarjuna basics?

Post by SunWuKong »

Malcolm wrote: Tue Dec 05, 2017 8:52 pm
nichiren-123 wrote: Tue Dec 05, 2017 2:02 pm So I was hoping for a quick and dirty description of what nagarjuna taught?
Nāgārjuna is the first Mahāyāna author. It is recorded that he recovered the Perfection of Wisdom Sūtras from the Nāgā realm, where they had been stashed until time was ripe for their promulgation in India.
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Re: nagarjuna basics?

Post by SunWuKong »

Scholars aren't even agreeing that there was one Nagarjuna, certainly seems like a lot of work for one man, but not impossible. Heart Sutra and Diamond Sutra are condensed from the Prajnaparamita, those are a good place to start IMHO
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Malcolm
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Re: nagarjuna basics?

Post by Malcolm »

SunWuKong wrote: Wed Dec 06, 2017 1:27 am Scholars aren't even agreeing that there was one Nagarjuna, certainly seems like a lot of work for one man, but not impossible. Heart Sutra and Diamond Sutra are condensed from the Prajnaparamita, those are a good place to start IMHO
We are speaking of the Nāgārjuna of the MMK, the Ratnavali, Yutisatika, etc.
Nicholas Weeks
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Re: nagarjuna basics?

Post by Nicholas Weeks »

This PDF (also in book form) gives several of N. works. I suggest starting with his "Good-hearted Letter" - the Intro & notes by the late compiler are good.

http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/nagarjuna.pdf
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amanitamusc
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Re: nagarjuna basics?

Post by amanitamusc »

Any other English translations of Nagarjuna that stand out?
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Re: nagarjuna basics?

Post by thomaslaw »

amanitamusc wrote: Wed Dec 06, 2017 2:33 am Any other English translations of Nagarjuna that stand out?
Nagarjuna teaches about the middle way of emptiness, and considers to promote the essential philosophy of the Buddha. Cf. The Notion of Emptiness in Early Buddhism by Choong Mun-keat.

Thomas
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Re: nagarjuna basics?

Post by Nicholas Weeks »

amanitamusc wrote: Wed Dec 06, 2017 2:33 am Any other English translations of Nagarjuna that stand out?
Several good ones from Kalavinka Press; his Letter from a Friend, for example has three versions, one as early as the 4th century:

http://kalavinka.org/kp_book_pages/letter_book_page.htm
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markatex
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Re: nagarjuna basics?

Post by markatex »

Is Nagarjuna in China the only English translation of Kumarajiva's translation of the Middle Way Treatise? I've seen it available online, but it's very expensive. Are Kumarajiva's translations of Nagarjuna's other works available in English?
Nirveda
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Re: nagarjuna basics?

Post by Nirveda »

I believe that Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso's Sun of Wisdom is by far the most approachable and understandable introduction to Nagarjuna. After reading that, you can make more sense out of other translations of the MMK. I like Garfield's the best.

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Re: nagarjuna basics?

Post by Huseng »

I recommend that you read the Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣya before Nāgārjuna, for the simple reason that the categories and concepts that Nāgārjuna addresses in his work are based on an earlier Buddhist framework that is quite elegantly and thoroughly explained in the Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣya.
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Re: nagarjuna basics?

Post by Malcolm »

Indrajala wrote: Mon Dec 18, 2017 12:19 pm I recommend that you read the Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣya before Nāgārjuna, for the simple reason that the categories and concepts that Nāgārjuna addresses in his work are based on an earlier Buddhist framework that is quite elegantly and thoroughly explained in the Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣya.
Seconded.

Also, Aryadeva's 400 is also more approachable than MMK.
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Re: nagarjuna basics?

Post by Kunzang »

Malcolm wrote: Tue Dec 05, 2017 8:52 pm
nichiren-123 wrote: Tue Dec 05, 2017 2:02 pm So I was hoping for a quick and dirty description of what nagarjuna taught?
Nāgārjuna is the first Mahāyāna author. It is recorded that he recovered the Perfection of Wisdom Sūtras from the Nāgā realm, where they had been stashed until time was ripe for their promulgation in India.
Where is this history recorded?
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Malcolm
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Re: nagarjuna basics?

Post by Malcolm »

Kunzang wrote: Mon Dec 18, 2017 3:43 pm
Malcolm wrote: Tue Dec 05, 2017 8:52 pm
nichiren-123 wrote: Tue Dec 05, 2017 2:02 pm So I was hoping for a quick and dirty description of what nagarjuna taught?
Nāgārjuna is the first Mahāyāna author. It is recorded that he recovered the Perfection of Wisdom Sūtras from the Nāgā realm, where they had been stashed until time was ripe for their promulgation in India.
Where is this history recorded?
You can look at Buton's history of Dharma, pretty sure it is there. It is one of the more widespread legends of Nāgārjuna.
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