Buddhist Philosophy: Madhyamaka and Yogacara

Basic Information
Philosophy 252--Buddhist Philosophy: Madhyamaka and Yogåcåra Fall, 2007 M, W, 1:10-2:30, Engineering 106 Jay L. Garfield, Dewey House, Front Parlor Office Hours: M, W, 9:30-11 or by appt Phone: 585-3649 mailto:jgarfield@smith.edu Email

Required Texts
At Grécourt Bookstore:
 * J Garfield, Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way: Någårjuna’s M ̈lamadhyamakakårikå
 * J Garfield, Empty Words: Buddhist Philosophy and Cross-Cultural Interpretation
 * C W Huntington, and Geshe Namgyal Wangchen,The Emptiness of Emptiness
 * M Kapstein, Reason’s Traces
 * P Gregory, Inquiry into the Origin of Humanity
 * T Kasulis, Zen Action, Zen Person
 * Red Pine, Lao-tzu’s Taoteching with Selected Commentaries of the Past 2000 Years
 * J Blumenthal, The Ornament of the Middle Way: A Study of the Madhyamaka Thought of Såntaraksita
 * Course reader

Course Information
This course examines the relation between the two principal schools of Mahåyåna Buddhism, focusing first on the early Indian texts of Någårjuna, Vasubandhu and Candrak¥rti, and then on the two very different ways in which the relationship between these two schools was taken up in Tibet (principally through the exposition of these systems and their relation to one another by Íåntaraksita and rGyal tshab rje) and in China (with some attention to the non-Buddhist Chinese background against which Buddhism was assimilated into China). In the first part of the course, particular attention will be devoted to the ways in which the highly sceptical Madhyamaka school motivates and then responds to the idealism of Yogåcåra in India. The second and third parts of the course will explore the scholastic understandings of this relation as Buddhism diffuses into two very different cultures. Through close reading of some of the most important primary texts of these traditions along with relevant commentaries and recent Western scholarship students will learn to read and interpret Buddhist philosophy and will gain familiarity with the philosophical outlook, central arguments and tenets of these philosophical schools and with the outlines of the complex debates between them. Students will also gain some familiarity with the theoretical and philosophical problems raised in developing interpretations of these often contested and cryptic texts.

The course will begin with a short overview of the outlines of Mahåyåna Buddhist philosophy and its relation to earlier Buddhism, setting a context for the material we will read. Topics such as dependent co-origination, emptiness, positionlessness, selflessness and impermanence, the distinction between conventional and ultimate reality and the connection between philosophy and soteriology will be introduced. The first major segment of the course will concern the Indian tradition. We begin with the foundations of Madhyamaka. We will read closely two of Någårjuna’s principal epistemological works— M ̈lamadhyamakakårikå and Vigrahavyåvårtan¥ along with parts of Candrak¥rti’s commentary Prasannapadå. The emphasis will be on learning to read and to interpret Mahåyåna Buddhist philosophy as well as, of course, on developing an appreciation for the philosophical system and texts. The second portion of this section of the course will address Yogåcåra. We will read Vasubandhu’s principal idealistic philosophical texts, parts of Madhyantavibhågabhåsya, Trisvåbhåvanirdeßa, Vimßatika and Trimßikakårikå. In addition to coming to grips with this contrasting philosophical system, we will consider the ways in which Yogåcåra develops out of Madhyamaka and will discuss divergent Madhyamaka and Yogåcårin interpretations of central Buddhist tenets. In the third portion of this section of the course we will address the Madhyamaka response to Yogåcåra, prin- cipally through the critique of idealism developed by Candrak¥rti in Madhyamakåvatåra. We will read that text along with Huntington and Wangchen’s commentary. Here we will confront the details of the philosophical and hermeneutical debates between the schools and issues at stake between sceptics and idealists within Buddhism. Particular attention will be devoted to questions concerning the nature of emptiness, the relation between mind and external reality and the concept of essence in Mahåyåna Buddhist philosophy. The second section of the course will be devoted to considering the Tibetan reception of Madhyamaka and Yogåcåra. Tibet, beginning in the middle of the Eighth Century, deliberately adopted and then carefully preserved Indian Buddhist culture as it existed at the highwater mark of Indian Buddhism. Texts were systematically translated; universities and monasteries were established on the Indian model, and the Indian scholastic tradition continued and evolved in Tibet after its destruction in India, right to the present time. We will focus on the work of the Fourteenth Century Tibetan philosopher rGyal tshab rJe, examining the way in which he discusses the realation between Madhyamaka from Yogåcåra in his commentary on Íåntaraksita’s Madhyamakålaμkåra. The third section of the course examines the very different reception of Buddhism into China. While Tibet had no organised academic life or philosophical tradition (lacking even a written language) prior to the introduction of Buddhism, when Buddhism first came to China in the Second and Third Centuries it came to a highly literate society with an old, diverse and sophisticated philosophical tradition. Buddhist philosophy was translated into a language already redolent with non-Buddhist philosophical ideas, and Buddhist philosophy evolved in China in constant dialogue with T’aoist and Confucian philosophy. A plethora of Buddhist schools evolved, and distinctions drawn sharply in Tibet, such as that between Madhyamaka and Yogåcåra were not always seen as significant. Ideas that did not play a major role in some Tibetan philosophy, such as that of Buddha-nature, loom large in China. We will begin this section by familiarizing ourselves (quickly and superficially) with some of the Chinese philosophical ideas that lie in the background of Chinese Buddhism, and then approach some Chinese Buddhist texts, focusing on important Chinese s ̈tras and Tsung Mi’s Ninth Century Yüan jen lun. All students are expected to complete all assigned readings prior to the class in which they are to be discussed, to bring questions to class and to participate in class discussions. Students are also required to participate in on-line Moodle discussion of texts prior to the classes in which they are to be read. I always welcome rough drafts of papers, which can be handed to me at any time or e-mailed. I guarantee that I will return all rough drafts or outlines with comments within two days after I receive them. All work is to be handed in on time unless an extension is arranged prior to the due date. I cannot guarantee either prompt return or feedback on work handed in late.

Grades
Grades will be determined as follows: Two Short essays: 20% each Final essay:  35% Moodle Participation: 15% Class Participation: 10%

Schedule of Readings and Written Work
Date Required Reading Written Work Primary Texts Secondary Texts 1. India 1.1 Madhyamaka 9/10 Introduction --- 9/12 The Heart of Wisdom S ̈tra 9/17 MK Ded.Verses I, II, PP I-IV, EW 1,2 9/19 MK III-VII, IX, XV, XVIII, XXII PP V-VII, X, XII-XIV, XVI 9/24 MK XXIV-XXV, PP XVIII-XIX EW 3,4 926 Vigrahavyåvartan¥ EW 5, Nagao, “The Silence of the Buddha”

1.2 Yogåcåra 10/1 Samdhinirmocana-s ̈tra Paramarthasamutgata chapter, EW 6, Kapstein 14 EW7 10/3 VS, TS and Sthiramati’s commentary EW 9, Kapstein 7 10/10 Madhyanta-vibhåga-bhåsya, I Nagao, “The Buddhist World View as Elucidated in the Three Nature Simile,” EW 8 1.3 The Madhyamaka Strikes Back 10/15 MAV VI: 1-44 Emptiness of Emptiness Intro 10/17 MAV VI: 45-116 Kapstein 1-3 10/22 MAV  VI: 117-178 Kapstein 4-5 First PaperDue 2. Philosophy in the Land of Snows 10/24 Ornament Intro Kapstein 12 10/29 Ornament I 10/31 Ornament II Kapstein 13 11/5 Ornament 1-39, Remembering 1-39 11/7 Ornament 40-97, Remembering 40-97 Kapstein 8 3. Why did Bodhidharma Come from the West? 11/12 Tao te-ching 1-38 Garfield, “Why DidBodhidharma Come from the West?:Buddhism’s Struggle with Mind in the World" 11/14 Tao te-ching 39-81

Second Paper Due 11/26 Seng-chao, Chi-Tsan (Sourcebook) 11/28 T’ien Tai, Fa-Tsang (Sourcebook) Kasulis 1-4 12/3 Diamond S ̈tra and S ̈tra of Hui Neng (sourcebook) Kasulis 5-6 12/5 YJL  1-50, 65-104 Kasulis 7-8 12/10 YJL, 52-56, 105-176 Nagao, “Emptiness” 12/12 YJL 57-62, 177-206 12/22 Third Paper Due