Madhyamika

Madhyamika (Tib. umapa; dbu ma pa). The followers of the Middle Way philosophy, which teaches freedom from all extremes. They say that just as a truly existent external phenomena were refuted by the Chittamatra school, a truly existent perceiving mind must also be refuted, since both are equally lacking in inherent existence, being mere dependent originations.

The Madhyamika school originates with Nagarjuna, who commented upon the direct meaning of the Prajñaparamita sutras in hisCollection of Reasoning, which includes the famous Root Verses on the Middle Way.

Subschools

There are two ‘schools’ or streams within the Madhyamika: the Svatantrika and the Prasangika.