Hello everybody and welcome.
Today we will be having a quick Buddhist lecture on a character from Buddhism known as Nagarjuna.
We'll be touching on,
Exploring,
And introducing his lives and teachings.
Nagarjuna lived around the 2nd century CE,
So 200,
And is considered one of the most important figures in Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism.
He is often referred to as the second Buddha due to his vast contributions to the development of Buddhist philosophy,
Particularly the school of Madhyamaka.
It is supposed he was born in South India,
Though we don't know a ton about his life actually.
It is said that he was a prodigious scholar and practitioner,
And that he was once an adept in the arts of magic and alchemy before converting to Buddhism.
He went on to study the extensive collection of Buddhist scriptures and eventually became an influential teacher and philosopher running the college at Nalanda.
Nagarjuna's primary contribution to Buddhist philosophy was the development of the Madhyamaka school,
Though,
Which is based on the concept of emptiness,
Or shunyata,
And the middle way.
Emptiness in this context refers to the lack of inherent existence in all phenomena,
And Nagarjuna argued that all things are dependent on other factors and conditions and therefore have no intrinsic nature.
In his seminal work the Mūḍhyamākamakamkarika,
Or in English,
The Fundamental Verses on the Middle Way,
Nagarjuna expounded on this concept using rigorous logical reasoning to demonstrate the interconnectedness of all phenomena.
This,
Of course,
Was a radical departure from the previous Buddhist philosophy,
Which focused primarily on the self and personal liberation rather than the analytical analysis of reality before them,
Though they had done so in the Abhidhamma with states of consciousness.
The concept of the middle way is the cornerstone of Nagarjuna's teaching,
Though.
It refers to the path of avoiding the extremes of nihilism and eternalism,
A view that he shared with the Buddha himself,
While embracing the understanding of emptiness.
In other words,
The middle way,
As Nagarjuna and Buddha explain it,
Is the path that transcends both the belief in the inherent existence of things and the belief in their total non-existence.
Nagarjuna's teachings have had a profound impact on the development of Buddhist thought,
Particularly the Mahayana and Vajrayana tradition,
Though he is held in high regard in the Theravada as well.
His emphasis on the understanding of emptiness and the middle way has influenced various schools such as the Yogacara,
Zen,
And Tibetan Buddhism,
And he also laid the foundation for the later emergence of more esoteric and exoteric Vajrayana traditions.
In conclusion,
Nagarjuna's contributions to Buddhist philosophy and his development of the Madhyamaka school have had a lasting and significant impact on the evolution of Buddhism.
His teachings on emptiness and the middle way continue to inspire and guide practitioners on the path to enlightenment,
And he acts as a stalwart example of a profound Buddhist practitioner,
Philosopher,
And teacher.
Funnily enough,
His name means something like the snake-awakened one,
As Naga means snake and Juna means wise teacher.
So this has been a short Buddhist introduction and lecture on the character of Nagarjuna.
I'm Silas Day,
And I hope you enjoyed this short look into Nagarjuna.
