Nagarjuna, citing an early sutra, expanded the notion of the middle way into the philosophical sphere, identifying a middle way between existence and nonexistence, or between permanence and annihilation.
Nagarjuna’s founding of the Madhyamaka school transformed Buddhist thought, placing the essential concept of Śūnyatā, or emptiness, at its core. This revolutionary philosophy explores the nature of reality, existence, and the intricate relationships between all phenomena.
Nagarjuna, an eminent figure in Buddhist philosophy, was a sage and scholar who lived around the 2nd or 3rd century CE in India. He is widely recognized as the founder of the Madhyamaka (Middle Path) school of Mahayana Buddhism.
Nagarjuna may have arrived at his positions from a desire to achieve a consistent exegesis of the Buddha's doctrine as recorded in the āgamas. In the eyes of Nagarjuna, the Buddha was not merely a forerunner, but the very founder of the Madhyamaka system. [13]
A Tibetan depiction of Nagarjuna; the snakes are depicted as protectors around Nagarjuna's head and the nagas rising out of the water are offering Buddhist sutras.
Nagarjuniana. Studies in the Writings and Philosophy of Nāgārjuna, Copenhagen: Akademisk Forlag. Mabbett, Ian, 1998. “The problem of the historical Nagarjuna revisited”, Journal of the American Oriental Society, 118 (3): 332–346. McGuire, Robert, 2017. “An all-new timeless truth”, Contemporary Buddhism, 18 (2): 385–401. Oetke ...
Nagarjuna was able to escape when they were detected, but his friends were all apprehended and executed, and, realizing what a precarious business the pursuit of desires was, Nagarjuna renounced the world and sought enlightenment.
Nagarjuna's writings had a major influence not only on the development of Mahayana Buddhist thought, but also in triggering Hindu responses to Buddhism (particularly evidenced in Advaita).