Introduction to the Middle Way

Chandrakirti

This text will be studied at Shedra East in Nepal commencing Feb 2023. More details here

Introduction to the Middle Way (Skt. Madhyamakāvatāra; Tib. དབུ་མ་ལ་འཇུག་པ་, Uma la Jukpa, Wyl. dbu ma la 'jug pa) — Chandrakirti's classic commentary on the meaning of Nagarjuna's Root Verses on the Middle Way.

Whereas the Root Verses of the Middle Way is primarily a commentary on the Prajñaparamita sutras, the Introduction to the Middle Way is usually said to be a commentary on the Sutra of the Ten Bhumis.

The Introduction to the Middle Way is included among the so-called "Thirteen great texts", which form the core of the curriculum in most shedras and on which Khenpo Shenga provided commentaries.

Meaning of the Title

Madhyamaka refers to the texts which express the meaning of the middle way beyond extremes, both the Buddha's teachings of the second turning and the commentaries that further elucidate their meaning. Specifically here it refers to Nagarjuna's Mulamadhyamaka-karika.

Avatara means 'entry' or 'introduction'. This text is an introduction in the sense that it clearly brings out the meaning of Nagarjuna's text by means of both scriptures from the sutras as well as the pith instruction passed down through the lineage of masters from Nagarjuna to Chandrakirti. It expresses both the profound aspect of Nagarjuna's text, namely emptiness, as well as the vast aspect, the paths and bhumis.

Structure

The text has eleven chapters, corresponding to the ten bhumis and the state of buddhahood.

Text

It was thought that the Sanskrit original was lost, however, a nearly complete manuscript of the Sanskrit has recently come to light, and project is underway at the Austrian Academy of Sciences to produce an edition of this.

Tibetan

The Tibetan translation by Patsab Nyima Drak (12th cent.) can be found in the Tengyur, Toh 3861

• དབུ་མ་ལ་འཇུག་པ་, dbu ma la 'jug pa
• Sakya Library

English

• Stephen Batchelor in Geshe Rabten, Echoes of Voidness, translated and edited by Stephen Batchelor (Wisdom, 1983) {only chapter 6}
• Huntington, C.W., in The Emptiness of Emptiness (University of Hawaii Press, 1989) {the first complete English translation}
• Anne Klein, in Path to the Middle: Oral Madhyamika Philosophy in Tibet (State University of New York Press, New York, 1994)
• Jeffrey Hopkins, in Compassion in Tibetan Buddhism (Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion, 1980) {only first five chapters}
• Padmakara Translation Group in Introduction to the Middle Way: Chandrakirti's Madhyamakavatara with Commentary by Jamgön Mipham with Mipham Rinpoche's commentary (Shambhala, 2002)
• Jakob Leschly in Introduction to the Middle Way: Chandrakirti's Madhyamakavatara with commentary by Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche, edited by Alex Trisoglio (Khyentse Foundation, 2003)
• Tyler Dewar in The Karmapa's Middle Way: Feast for the Fortunate by the Ninth Karmapa, Wangchuk Dorje, translated by Tyler Dewar (Snow Lion, 2008)
• Fredrik Liland, in Chandrakirti's Auto-Commentary to Entering the Middle Way (BIBLIOTHECA POLYGLOTTA, (Oslo, 2019-2020) available here
• Thupten Jinpa in Tsongkhapa, Illuminating the Intent: An Exposition of Candrakīrti’s “Entering the Middle Way.” Library of Tibetan Classics 19 (Somerville MA: Wisdom Publications, 2021) Available here

French

• Louis de la Vallée Poussin: Madhyamakavatara par Candrakirti, Bibliotheca Buddhica IX. St Petersbourg, 1912. Available for free download here

Commentaries

Indian

• Chandrakirti, An Explanation of “Entering into the Middle Way” (Skt. Madhyamakāvatāra­bhāṣya), Toh 3862
  • English translation: Fredrik Liland, Chandrakirti's Auto-Commentary to Entering the Middle Way (Bibliotheca Polyglotta, (Oslo, 2019-2020) available here
• Jayananda, An Explanatory Commentary on [Candrakīrti's] “Entering into the Middle Way” (Skt. Madhyamakāvatāra­ṭīkā or ṭīkā in short)

Tibetan

• Gorampa, dbu ma la ’jug pa’i dkyus kyi sa bcad pa dang gzhung so so’i dka ba’i gnas la dpyad pa lta ba ngan sel
• Jamgön Mipham, The Necklace of Spotless Crystal (Wyl. dbu ma la 'jug pa'i 'grel pa zla ba'i zhal lung dri me shel phreng)
  • English translation: Introduction to the Middle Way: Chandrakirti's Madhyamakavatara with Commentary by Jamgön Mipham with Mipham Rinpoche's commentary, translated by Padmakara Translation Group (Shambhala, 2002)
• Khenpo Ngawang Palzang

དབུ་མ་འཇུག་པའི་འབྲུ་འགྲེལ་བློ་གསལ་དགའ་བའི་མེ་ལོང་, dbu ma 'jug pa'i 'bru 'grel blo gsal dga' ba'i me long

• Khenpo Shenga

དབུ་མ་ལ་འཇུག་པའི་འགྲེལ་མཆན་ལེགས་པར་བཤད་པ་ཟླ་བའི་འོད་ཟེར་, dbu ma la 'jug pa'i 'grel mchan legs par bshad pa zla ba'i 'od zer

• Mikyö Dorje
  • English translation: Eight Karmapa Mikyö Dorje, The Moon of Wisdom: Chapter Six of Chandrakirti's Entering the Middle Way with Commentary from the Eighth Karmapa Mikyo Dorje's Kagyu Siddhas (Snow Lion, 2006)
• Rendawa Shyönnu Lodrö, dbu ma la 'jug pa'i rnam bshad de kho na nyid gsal ba'i sgron ma
  • English translation: Commentary on the Entry into the Middle, Lamp which Elucidates Reality, translated by Stotter-Tillman & Acharya Tashi Tsering (Sarnath, Varanasi, 1997)
• Tsongkhapa (Wyl. dbu ma la ’jug pa’i rnam bshad dgongs pa rab gsal)
  • English translation: Jeffrey Hopkins, Compassion in Tibetan Buddhism (Ithaca: Snow Lion, 1980) (first five chapters based on Tsongkhapa’s commentary)
  • English translation: Anne Klein, Path to the Middle: Oral Madhyamika Philosophy in Tibet (State University of New York Press, New York, 1994)
  • English translation: Tsongkhapa, Illuminating the Intent: An Exposition of Candrakīrti’s “Entering the Middle Way. Library of Tibetan Classics 19 (Somerville MA: Wisdom Publications, 2021)
• Wangchuk Dorje
  • English translation: The Karmapa's Middle Way: Feast for the Fortunate by the Ninth Karmapa, Wangchuk Dorje), translated by Tyler Dewar (Snow Lion, 2008)

Teachings Given to the Rigpa Sangha

• Khenpo Sönam Tobden, Rigpa Shedra East, 2010
• Ane Lopön Damchoe Wangmo, Rigpa Shedra East, 2016
• Khenpo Tashi Tseten, Rigpa Shedra East
  • Ch.1-5, February-March 2023
  • Ch. 6-11, January-March 2024

Further Reading

• Kevin A. Vose, Resurrecting Candrakirti: Disputes in the Tibetan Creation of Prasangika (Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2009)
• Jan Westerhoff, Candrakīrti's Introduction to the Middle Way: A Guide (Oxford University Press, 2024)

Internal Links

• Quotations from Candrakīrti's Introduction to the Middle Way

External Links

• A translation of the Madhyamakavatara and its Auto-Commentary by Chandrakirti with additional commentary by Khenpo Namdrol Rinpoche
• Introduction to the Middle Way— book containing Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche's extensive commentary and teachings on Chandrakirti’s Madhyamakavatara at Chanteloube, France (1996-2000)
• Teachings on Madhyamakavatara by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, Sydney, Australia, 2005-2008