Nāgārjuna
c. 150–250 CE · India
- First attested
- 250 CEMūlamadhyamakakārikā; Tibetan and Chinese Buddhist Canons.
Letting go of grasping at fixed, separate realities unveils the boundless freedom of interdependent existence.
Indian Buddhist philosopher and founder of the Madhyamaka (Middle Way) school of Mahayana Buddhism. In his primary treatise, the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, Nāgārjuna demonstrated through rigorous dialectic that all phenomena lack intrinsic, independent existence (svabhāva) and are empty (śūnya) because they arise dependently (pratītyasamutpāda).
Light
Profound cognitive liberation from dogma, dissolution of fear, and universal compassion.
Shadow
Risk of falling into nihilistic despair if emptiness is misunderstood as nothingness.