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 Mulamadhyamaka-karika. It is also a commentary on the Sutra of the Ten Bhumis (Dashabhumika-Sutra). It 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.

Tibetan Text

The Tibetan translation can be found in the Tengyur, Toh 3861

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

Translations

English

• Geshe Rabten, Echoes of Voidness, translated and edited by Stephen Batchelor, Wisdom, 1983
• Huntington, C.W., The Emptiness of Emptiness (University of Hawaii Press, 1989)
• 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)
• Introduction to the Middle Way: Chandrakirti's Madhyamakavatara with commentary by Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche, edited by Alex Trisoglio, Khyentse Foundation, 2003
• The Karmapa's Middle Way: Feast for the Fortunate (translation of Chandrakirti's root text along with commentary by the Ninth Karmapa, Wangchuk Dorje), translated by Tyler Dewar, Snow Lion, 2008.

French

• Louis de la Vallée Poussin: Madhyamakavatara par Candrakirti, Bibliotheca Buddhica IX. Osnabrück, Biblio Verlag, 1970. Available for free download here

Commentaries

Indian

• Chandrakirti, An Explanation of “Entering into the Middle Way” (Skt. Madhyamakāvatāra­bhāṣya), Toh 3862
• Jayananda, An Explanatory Commentary on [Candrakīrti's] “Entering into the Middle Way” (Skt. Madhyamakāvatāra­ṭīkā or ṭīkā in short)

Tibetan

• Jamgön Mipham, The Necklace of Spotless Crystal
• 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 Shonnu Lodro, Commentary on the Entry into the Middle, Lamp which Elucidates Reality, translated by Stotter-Tillman & Acharya Tashi Tsering (Sarnath, Varanasi, 1997)
• Sakya Pandita
  • English translation: Jeffrey Hopkins, Compassion in Tibetan Buddhism (Ithaca: Snow Lion, 1980) (first five chapters based on Tsongkhapa’s commentary)

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)

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
• Teachings on Madhyamakavatara by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, Sydney, Australia, 2005-2008