paticcasumupada (pratītyasamutpāda, nāgārjuna, mmk)

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The Dependent Co-arising (pratītya-samutpāda), in the Nāgārjuna's MūlamadhaymakakārikāME6102 Mahāyāna BuddhismInstructor: Dr. Fa QingPresented by: Chhen Sela Nov 03, 2015

May 2, 2023 INTERNATIONAL BUDDHIST COLLEGE (IBC) CHHEN SLEA 2

Contents

IntroductionExaminations of Pratītyasamutpāda in MMK and

Its Common Interpretation The Heart of Pratītyasamutpāda in MMK Conclusion


I. Introduction The Madhyamaka School is grounded in the

Nāgārjuna's book, the Mūlamadhyamakārikā (MMK), the Fundamental Treatise of the Middle Way.

The heart of MMK is that all experienced phenomena are Sūnyāta –whatever is dependently arisen; that is explained to be emptiness.


II. Examinations of Pratītyasamutpāda in MMK and Its Common Interpretation

IgnoranceMental Formation

ConsciousnessName-Form

Six SensesContact

FeelingCraving

GraspingBecoming

BirthAging-Death


Counts… Four pairs of negations –

(1) not arising, not passing away; (2) not eternal, not terminable; (3) not one, not many; and (4) not coming, not going.


Counts… to break the illusion –

The cessation of ignorance occurring through meditation and wisdom.

Therefore, Nāgārjuna said, “I pay homage to the Buddha, the foremost among teachers, who has taught this dependent co-arising in order graciously to uproot all fabrication.”


III. The Heart of Pratītyasamutpāda in MMK

Dependent co-arising is mutual relativity and dependence which is not the action of an essential subjective reality upon an equally essential objective reality.

Emptiness is not, however, simply nothingness. Nāgārjuna’s examination of dependent co-arising is a

systematic scholastic exposition of the theory of emptiness and non-substantiality not only of the self or individual but also of all factors of existence.


IV. Conclusion

Dependent co-arising is no-existence of essences, of selfhood. The realization of Sūnyāta is the main application of MMK, whose logical and rational implications indispensably bases on Pratītyasamutpāda as the fundamental teaching and argument against the discontinuities of other schools.


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paticcasumupada (pratītyasamutpāda, nāgārjuna, mmk)

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