Introduction to the Middle Way: Chandrakirti's Madhyamakavatara with Commentary by Ju Mipham [Hardcover]

Chandrakirti (Author), Padmakara Translation Group (Translator), Ju Mipham (Commentary)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 24, 2002

Introduction to the Middle Way combines the timeless devotional-scholarly poetry of Indian master Chandrakirti (ca. seventh century) with the exhaustive explanation of its meaning by Jamgön Mipham (1846–1912), whose commentary was composed eleven centuries after Chandrakirti lived. Chandrakirti is one of several Indian thinkers whose treatises were brought to Tibet and whose realized teachings about the nature of the mind are the foundation of Tibetan Buddhist thought. Hidden in his verses are the guideposts to enlightenment, composed in this way to help those students who have received instruction to commit it to memory. Mipham's commentary, presented in thorough outline form, offers a point-by-point explanation of Chandrakirti's meaning.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"For the 'hands-on' Madhyamaka practitioner, this translation of Chandrakirti's Introduction with Mipham's commentary is like a well-stocked tool box, complete with detailed instructions for use."— Buddhadharma

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Shambhala; 1st edition (September 24, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570629420
• ISBN-13: 978-1570629426
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,719,964 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Text for Students of Tib. Buddhism and Madhyamaka, February 2, 2004

By 

Nessander - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Introduction to the Middle Way: Chandrakirti's Madhyamakavatara with Commentary by Ju Mipham (Hardcover)

All four schools of Tibetan Buddhism follow the philosophical approach of the Prasangika-Madhyamaka tenet system and its explanation of emptiness. They consider the wisdom of emptiness the one and only essential component to liberation from suffering and understanding of true reality.

Of course, this "wisdom" aspect of the path is conjoined with the "method" aspect of love, compassion, and bodhicitta -- or seeking enlightenment for the sake of others. It is said that while the method aspect is easy to explain but very difficult to realize (Think of Jesus's "love your neighbor as yourself" - it's not hard to grasp this idea, but how many of us can do it?), so the wisdom of emptiness is very difficult to explain, yet much easier to realize through meditation.

Still, we like to have things explained, and that is what makes this text by Chandrakirti, and the accompanying commentary by Ju Mipham, so essential. The fundamental explanation of emptiness is laid out by Nagarjuna in his "Root Verses on the Middle Way" (multiple translations are available -- the one by Jay Garfield entitiled "Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way" includes his own commentary and can be recommended), but Nagarjuna is notoriously difficult to approach, even with commentary. This is why Tibetan Buddhists studying in monasteries begin with Chandrakirti. The title of Chandrakirti's work, in fact, could more elaborately be translated as "Introduction to Nagarjuna's Root Verses on the Middle Way".

Chandrakirti lays out in a much simpler way the fundamental wisdom of emptiness and conjoins his explanation with the perfection of the paramitas of the "method" aspect -- generosity and so on. The language is poetic and the translation lends itself to memorization (which is how Tibetan monks and nuns learn it). Memorizing stanzas, entire chapters, or the whole text, can be recommended as a way of internalizing the knowledge, and this translation is skilful enough to make that possible and enjoyable.

Still, Chandrakirti's volume could hardly be called "Emptiness for Dummies" -- it is still a challenging text, and this is what makes the accompanying commentary by Ju Mipham so invaluable. Mipham was an exemplary master, and is supremely qualified to offer commentary. He places the writings of Chandrakirti in a much broader context and offers copious explanations.

Unfortunately, one must admit that his text is quite difficult in its own right. This is exacerbated by the fact that he died before completing the commentary, and it was compiled by his students, who, in their zeal not to omit anything written by the late master, included everything they could find, with the result that there is much repetition and the organization is less clear than one might desire.

Thus, one must conclude by saying that the study of this text would be much facilitated by reading it with a study group and preferably in communication with an authentic master who has studied and personally realized the teachings.

And lastly -- best wishes to those who undertake to study such masterpieces. May you and all beings be happy.

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An absolute "must-read" for serious students, November 10, 2002

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Introduction to the Middle Way: Chandrakirti's Madhyamakavatara with Commentary by Ju Mipham (Hardcover)

Carefully translated into English by the Padmakara Translation Group, Introduction To The Middle Way: Chandrakirti's Madhyamakavatara With Commentary by Jamgon Mipham is a seminal and highly recommended treatise drawn from the Madhyamika school of Buddhism. Introduction To The Middle Way contains Chandrakirti's Madhyamakavatara, enhanced with Jamgon Mipham's extensive textual outline and interpretation of this classic text called "The Word of Chandra: The Necklace of Spotless Crystal", as well as a brief yet highly informative introduction to the Madhyamika school and Chandrakirti's role in it, including a background on Jamgon Mipham's point of view. An absolute "must-read" for serious students and dedicated followers of the Madhyamika school of Buddhism, Introduction To The Middle Way is very highly recommended for Buddhist Studies reference collections and reading lists.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A few points, July 8, 2007

By 

L. Breaux (Spokane, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Introduction to the Middle Way: Chandrakirti's Madhyamakavatara with Commentary by Ju Mipham (Paperback)

This books includes a long introduction explaining the genesis of the translation project from a summer teaching session in France in the late 90s that brought up Jamgon Mipham, who lived in the nineteenth century and wrote a commentary on the Madhyamakavatara. Chandrakirti wrote the Madhyamakavatara about 500 years after Nagarjuna wrote the Mulamadhyamakakarika, which happened around 200 CE. Chandrakirti's text comments on Nagarjuna's text, which is itself Nagarjuna's presentation on emptiness, the Middle Way (Madhyamika) between extremes of eternalism and nihilism. In turn, his work is based on sutras, the words of Buddha, written down from an oral tradition hundreds of years after Buddha's death.

I find it interesting that Jamgon Mipham (a Tibetan) wrote a commentary on a commentary (Chandrakirti) on an interpretation (Nagarjuna) of the writings on an oral tradition of a teacher who lived hundreds of years before. Seems these ideas might have a bit of potency and staying power.

After the introduction, which lasts about 50 pages and gives a good background on these and other matters, the translation of the actual text of Chandrakirti's commentary begins, in verse form, and lasts about 50 pages. Following this we have Jamgon Mipham's commentary for over 200 pages.

In my little view of the universe, I always try to start with source texts, if at all possible, so I read Garfield's translation of the Mulamadhymakakarika before this text. I'd recommend this, since it gives a grounding, and by the time you get to Mipham, it helps your understanding to have read what both Chandrakirti and Mipham are refering to.

Obviously this is a work of profound depth and requires rereading and study to begin to appreciate. Mipham wrote an incredibly detailed outline of the Chandrakirti text and uses it to explicate from. The translators have included it in full. Also, the translators include extensive and useful footnotes which cover many aspects of Mipham's text.

Of course, it's hard to find the heart to be critical of such a work, but I need to raise two points. First, passive voice. Sometimes I just wanted to scream. I might have. I'm not sure if Mipham wrote in the passive (or if Tibetan even has one), but the translators sure do. Perhaps they think this makes their meaning more accurate, I don't know. But I found myself rewriting things in active voice in my head in order to understand what the heck was, uh, being said. It seems to me that a difficult text with Mipham was made unecessarily moreso by too much passive voice. Second, I also found it a bit frustrating that the glossary didn't cover a lot of the terms in the text. I'd say about 40% of the items that I went to the glossary for were there.

Mipham's text itself is both profound and charming, and he take great pains to make something clear, repeating himself from different angles until he drives the point home. I laughed in several places, for example when he says that if you tell someone who just broke a vase that it doesn't matter because it's just a falsely existent object of knowledge, the person will only get angry. He's illustrating a difference between the two truths, the conventional and the ultimate, and making me laugh from over a hundred years and huge cultural differences away. He has a solid, down-to-earth style that I really appreciated.

I take a star off because of the passive voice. Understanding was being made more difficult than it was needing to be made, if you get my passive drift. The translation of the Madhymakavatara didn't skimp on the passive either, but here this didn't adversely affect clarity much.

Even with these flaws, I'd still recommend the book. And maybe the passive won't bother you as much as me. I think it's possible some people might actually think in the passive... perhaps these translators... or even you.