ABSTRACT
The Madhyamaka tradition that Nagarjuna founded in India in the second century bce grew out of a need to explain and defend the core insights of the Perfection of Wisdom tradition. Nagarjuna's success made Madhyamaka a major influence on the development of Mahayana Buddhist thought and practice throughout Asia. The philosophical aspect of Madhyamaka thought, however, represents only one side of development of the Middle Way tradition. This chapter examines the Madhyamaka analysis and the defense of this central Mahayana teaching. Nagarjuna's method can be seen in his examination of causality in the first chapter of the Fundamental Verses. Yogacara accepts and develops the Mahayana emphasis on the emptiness of self-existence as the right understanding of interdependent arising. The theories of store consciousness and the three aspects come together in early Yogacara philosophy to provide a middle way between realism and idealism.
