Explore/Cultivating Wisdom: Difference between revisions

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|definition=The Middle Way school is one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Nāgārjuna around the second century CE, it is rooted in the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras, though its initial exposition was presented in Nāgārjuna's ''Mūlamadhyamakakārikā''. A proponent of the Madhyamaka philosophy is known as a Mādhyamika.
|definition=The Middle Way school is one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Nāgārjuna around the second century CE, it is rooted in the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras, though its initial exposition was presented in Nāgārjuna's ''Mūlamadhyamakakārikā''. A proponent of the Madhyamaka philosophy is known as a Mādhyamika.
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Beginning his exegesis with the above pithy, and often quoted, definition of the two truths, Śāntideva then spends much of the chapter in a sort of mock debate with the various philosophies of ancient India. In terms of non-Buddhist Indian philosophical systems, the Samkhya is his most frequent target, but he also frequently targets the views of the Naiyayika, Vaiśeśika, and the Carvaka. As for the four main Buddhist tenet systems, these are divided by vehicle (''yāna''), thus there are the two Śrāvaka Schools, Vaibhaśika (Particularists) and Sautrāntika (Followers of Sūtra) and the two Mahāyāna Schools Cittamatra (Mind Only) and Madhyamaka (Middle Way), the last of which is of course Śāntideva's own tradition and the perspective from which he sets out to refute all the others.
Śāntideva spends much of the Wisdom Chapter engaged in a sort of mock debate with the various philosophies of ancient India. In terms of non-Buddhist Indian philosophical systems, the Samkhya is his most frequent target, but he also frequently targets the views of the Naiyayika, Vaiśeśika, and the Carvaka. As for the four main Buddhist tenet systems, these are divided by vehicle (''yāna''), thus there are the two Śrāvaka Schools, Vaibhaśika (Particularists) and Sautrāntika (Followers of Sūtra) and the two Mahāyāna Schools Cittamatra (Mind Only) and Madhyamaka (Middle Way), the last of which is of course Śāntideva's own tradition and the perspective from which he sets out to refute all the others.


The following verse marks the point when, according to legend, Śāntideva began to rise off the throne from which he was teaching and float off into the sky.
The following verse marks the point when, according to legend, Śāntideva began to rise off the throne from which he was teaching and float off into the sky.
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Revision as of 11:59, 17 October 2022