Introduction to the Middle Way
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)[1]. 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
Translations
English
- Stephen Batchelor in 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)
- Padmakara Translation Group in Introduction to the Middle Way: Chandrakirti's Madhyamakavatara with Commentary by Jamgön Mipham with Mipham Rinpoche's commentary (Shambhala, 2002)
- 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)
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
- 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
- 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
- English translation: 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)
- 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
Notes
- ↑ Source: Adam Pearcey. Would be good to find a written source.
Further Reading
- Kevin A. Vose, Resurrecting Candrakirti: Disputes in the Tibetan Creation of Prasangika (Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2009)