It is through the method of negation that Nagarjuna, on the one hand, affirms the Buddha's noble silence concerning that which is inexpressible, and confirms, on the other hand, that the Absolute as Emptiness can be intuited only through the silence of negation. The Emptiness of the Madhyamaka, thus, must not be seen as a philosophy of nihilism; rather it must be viewed as pointing out the limitations of reason, or what we call conceptual knowledge, in the context of that which is beyond reason, and therefore transcendent to thought and language. This book is a veritable treasure of information concerning the evolution of human thought in the East and West. This book is a must for such seekers of truth who would like to plunge to the depths of knowledge.
Book Description
There is a class of scholars who are of the opinion that Buddhism in general, and Madhyamaka of Nagarjuna in particular, is not only deconstructionistic in orientation, but also nihilistic in content. How far this assertion is tenable or valid depends from what perspective we look at the Middle Way philosophy of Nagarjuna. While analyzing the general orientation of Buddhist thought, Prof. Murti shows that Nagarjuna's philosophy, although deconstructionistic in its approach, is not at all nihilistic in orientation. The dialectical methods of the reductio ad absurdum, which Murti employs as a basic tool of critique, is meant to show that reason cannot reach or comprehend that which is a priori of the Beyond, or what we call Transcendent.
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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another vote in support of T.R.V Murti,
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This review is from: Central Philosophy of Buddhism: A Study of Madhyamika System (Paperback)
Since Murti's Central Philosophy of Buddhism seems to be out of fashion these days with some academic Buddhologists, I would like to add my vote in its favor. The winds of philosophical fashion are variable, and we may find that tomorrow this work might well be on the Best Seller list. Who knows?
Central Philosophy was first published in 1955 (revised in 1960), so this will be (in a couple of hours) its fiftieth anniversary. I had the good fortune to know and to take several courses with Professor Murti while he was on teaching leave at the University of Chicago in the late 1950's. I recall one of his offhand remarks that "Buddhism was Hinduism for export" and I questioned him at the time as to whether he thought that one system was "true" (as opposed to the other), or at least "better" (in the sense of more rationally coherent). His reply, as I recall, was that one system was based on "atman" (self) and the other on "anatman" (no-self); both rationalizations had their characteristic strengths and weaknesses, but, as an Indian raised in India, he happened to prefer the Vedanta (Hinduism). Had he been born elsewhere, he might just as likely have preferred Buddhism. . . That a committed Hindu could write such a sympathetic book on Buddhism still impresses me, living as I do in a society of believers one or another One-and-Only-True Faith. I suspect that Murti's attitude may also shed some light on the current ambivalence about his work. The dangers of reifying the ineffable have always troubled Buddhists, but the issues can easily enough be resolved if we view all rational/mythological systems as "word games" (another of Murti's favorite phrases), some more plausible or interesting than others, but none as being "True" to the exclusion of all others. Murti also had the temerity to compare the Madhyamika with philosophers in the Western tradition -- Kant, Hegel, and Bradley -- and no good Eurocentric philosopher is going to sit still for this. Well, maybe eventually, but not quite yet. Meanwhile, the paperback is still print, inexpensive, and well worth a second look.
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
THE exposition of the madhyamika system in english,
This review is from: Central Philosophy of Buddhism: A Study of Madhyamika System (Paperback)
Though it is a few decades old now still trv murti's work is easily the single best exposition of the madhyamika system in english. Historically Buddhist philosophy in India only developed in opposition to its native cousins - the vedic and jain schools - and unless you clearly know the philosophies of the rival schools it is difficult to understand what the madhyamika dialectic was aimed at. trv murti was a professor of classical Indian philosophy from the famed and revered benaras hindu university and was also a student of the great s radhakrishnan (which didn't stop him from criticizing his teacher's evaluation of buddhist philosophy). Murti's knowledge of Indian philosophy enables him to understand the madhyamika system in its right perspective unlike many non-indian authors who due to their lack of knowledge of Indian philosophy as a whole, can only shed partial light on the madhyamika system and thus often misinterpret it. So little surprise that murti's work has stood the test of time. Additionally trv murti was also a strong believer in the validity of the madhyamika system.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Classic scholarship arriving at utter brilliance.,
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This review is from: Central Philosophy of Buddhism: A Study of Madhyamika System (Paperback)
This is how philosophy should be done. Murti is logical, readable, topical and brilliant. For all those who still think philosophy can be reduced to analysing concepts and doing away with "meaningless" questions, beware. There are answers out there and Murti shows that philosophy can lead us to them. One may have to give up metaphysics and the mindless piffle of language games that analytic philosphers play, philosophy by jargon and argots, but there are answers out there for those who have the guts to follow logical arguments to their limits.
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