The disputed middle ground: Tibetan mādhyamikas on how to interpret nāgārjuna and candrakīrti Powers, John 2021, The disputed middle ground: Tibetan mādhyamikas on how to interpret nāgārjuna and candrakīrti, Religions, vol. 12, no. 11, pp. 1-14, doi: 10.3390/rel12110991. Attached Files Name Description MIMEType Size Downloads Title The disputed middle ground: Tibetan mādhyamikas on how to interpret nāgārjuna and candrakīrti Author(s) Powers, John orcid.org/0000-0001-8637-5900 Journal name Religions Volume number 12 Issue number 11 Article ID 991 Start page 1 End page 14 Total pages 14 Publisher MDPI Place of publication Basel, Switzerland Publication date 2021 ISSN 2077-1444 Keyword(s) Arts & Humanities Buddhist philosophy Candrakirti Daktsang Sherap Rinchen epistemology Madhyamaka Nagarjuna Purchok Ngawang Jampa Religion Wangchuk Dorje Summary By the twelfth century, a broad consensus had developed among Tibetan Buddhists: The Middle Way School (Madhyamaka) of Nāgārjuna (c. 2nd century), as interpreted by Candrakīrti (c. 600–650), would be normative in Tibet. However, Tibetans had inherited various trajectories of commentary on Madhyamaka, and schools of thought developed, each with a particular reading. This article will examine some of the major competing philosophical stances, focusing on three figures who represent particularly compelling interpretations, but whose understandings of Madhyamaka are profoundly divergent: Daktsang Sherap Rinchen (1405–1477), Wangchuk Dorjé, the 9th Karmapa (1556–1603), and Purchok Ngawang Jampa (1682–1762). The former two contend that Nāgārjuna’s statement “I have no thesis” (nāsti ca mama pratijñā) means exactly what it says, while the latter advocates what could be termed an “anthropological” approach: Mādhyamikas, when speaking as Mādhyamikas, only report what “the world” says, without taking any stance of their own; but their understanding of Buddhism is based on insight gained through intensive meditation training. This article will focus on how these three philosophers figure in the history of Tibetan Madhyamaka exegesis and how their respective readings of Indic texts incorporate elements of previous work while moving interpretation in new directions Language eng DOI 10.3390/rel12110991 Field of Research 2204 Religion and Religious Studies HERDC Research category C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal Free to Read? Yes Persistent URL http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30160425 Document type: Journal Article Collections: Faculty of Arts and Education Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation School of Humanities and Social Sciences Open Access Collection Related Links Link Description Link to full-text (open access)   Connect to Elements publication management system Go to link with your DU access privileges     Unless expressly stated otherwise, the copyright for items in DRO is owned by the author, with all rights reserved. Every reasonable effort has been made to ensure that permission has been obtained for items included in DRO. If you believe that your rights have been infringed by this repository, please contact drosupport@deakin.edu.au. Versions Version Filter Type Fri, 31 Dec 2021, 13:59:11 EST Fri, 31 Dec 2021, 14:51:14 EST Wed, 12 Jan 2022, 21:26:29 EST Thu, 13 Jan 2022, 05:03:58 EST Fri, 04 Feb 2022, 13:49:50 EST Fri, 04 Feb 2022, 14:43:34 EST Fri, 04 Feb 2022, 14:48:43 EST Filtered Full Citation counts:   Cited 0 times in TR Web of Science Cited 0 times in Scopus Search Google Scholar Access Statistics: 29 Abstract Views, 1 File Downloads  -  Detailed Statistics Created: Wed, 12 Jan 2022, 21:26:29 EST