Acharya Nagarjuna Philosophy

Acharya Nāgārjuna

was an Indian philosopher who

founded the Madhyamaka school of Mahāyāna

Buddhism.

His writings are the basis for the formation

of the Madhyamaka school, He is

credited with developing the philosophy of

the Prajnaparamita sutras, and was closely

associated with the Buddhist university of

Philosophy Nalanda.

Nagarjuna's primary contribution to Buddhist philosophy is in the use of the concept of sunyata, or "emptiness," which brings together other key Buddhist doctrines, particularly anatman (no-self) and pratityasamutpada (dependent origination), to refute the metaphysics of Sarvastivada and Sautrantika (extinct non-Mahayana schools). For Nagarjuna, as for the Buddha in the early texts, it is not merely sentient beings that are "selfless" or non-substantial; all phenomena are without any svabhava, literally "own-being" or "self-nature", and thus without any underlying essence; they are empty of being independently existent; thus the heterodox theories of svabhava circulating at the time were refuted on the basis of the doctrines of early Buddhism. This is so because all things arise dependently: not by their own power, but by depending on conditions leading to their coming into existence, as opposed to being. Nagarjuna was also instrumental in the development of the two-truths doctrine, which claims that there are two levels of truth in Buddhist teaching, one which is directly (ultimately) true, and one which is only conventionally or instrumentally true, commonly called upaya in later Mahayana writings. Nagarjuna drew on an early version of this doctrine found in the Kaccayanagotta Sutta, which distinguishes nitartha (clear) and neyartha (obscure) terms -

this world is supported by a polarity, that of existence and non-existence. But when one reads the origination of the world as it actually is with right discernment, 'non-existence' with reference to the world does not occur to one. When one reads the cessation of the world as it actually is with right discernment, 'existence' with reference to the world does not occur to one. this world is in bondage to attachments, clingings (sustenances), and biases. But one such as this does not get involved with or cling to these attachments, clingings, fixations of awareness, biases, or obsessions; nor is he resolved on 'my self.' He has no uncertainty or doubt that just stress, when arising, is arising; stress, when passing away, is passing away. In this, his knowledge is independent of others. It's to this extent, that there is right view.
"'Everything exists': That is one extreme. 'Everything doesn't exist': That is a second extreme. Avoiding these two extremes, the Tathagata teaches the Dhamma via the middle.
Nagarjuna differentiates between(conventionally true) and (ultimately true) teachings, but he never declares any conceptually formulated doctrines to fall in this latter category; for him, even sunyata is sunyata; even emptiness is empty. For him, ultimately,