At first glance, one cannot find any more statements more at odds with each other than the two following emblematic stanzas. Nagarjuna's Mulamadhyamakakarika XIII.7 says:
- If there were anything nonempty,
there'd also be something "empty."
There is nothing that is nonempty,
so how could there be the empty?
Maitreya's Uttaratantra I.155 declares:
- The basic element is empty of the adventitious,
which has the characteristic of being separable.
It is not empty of the unsurpassable attributes,
having the characteristic of being inseparable
Let's explore the relationship between these stanzas, which seem to make arguments for what I'll call here "not to be" and "to be." Nagarjuna (considered to have lived during the second century CE) is of course most famous—or notorious—for his Madhyamaka approach of relentlessly nixing all phenomena, including even buddhahood. Most of his lesser-known praises also evidence this approach, discussing familiar notions such as emptiness, nonarising, lack of nature, no-self, and dependent origination. Even the Dharmadhatustava ("Praise of the Dharmadhatu"), which otherwise presents the dharmadhatu (in the sense of mind's luminous nature; often used synonymously with buddhanature) in a positive light, clarifies "not to be":
- As the dharmadhatu is not a self,
neither any woman nor any man,
free of all that could be grasped,
how could it be designated "self"?
…
- The dharma purifying mind the best
consists of the very lack of a nature
…
- But once we see the double lack of self,
the seeds of our existence find their end.
…
- The nonbeing of all beings—
this nature is its sphere.
Such verses illustrate the underlying unity of Nagarjuna's thought, as far as emptiness goes, in his Madhyamaka texts and praises.
However, some of Nagarjuna's praises express phenomena's nature and buddhahood in more affirmative terms, supporting "to be," which are absent in Madhyamaka. His Niruttarastava states:
- Your luminous singular wisdom
determines all knowable objects
His Niraupamyastava says:
- O flawless one, you overcame afflictions
at their very roots, their latent tendencies.
At the same time you procured the nectar
that is the very nature of these afflictions.
…
- Your body is eternal, immutable, peaceful,
consisting of the dharma, and victorious.
Nagarjuna's Acintyastava even uses several terms as synonyms of ultimate reality that have a strong ontological flavor (super "to be"!) and are common in non-Buddhist systems, but also among sravakas (disciples) and Yogacaras ("yoga practitioners"):
- It is said to be a nature of its own, the primordial nature,
true reality, the basic substance, and the real thing too
Nagarjuna's Cittavajrastava says:
- I pay homage to my own mind,br>that dispels the mind’s oblivion
by ridding the mind-sprung web
through this very mind as such.
…
- As it is familiarization with the vajra of mind,
this is what is designated "supreme awakening."
Such passages are reminiscent of the teachings on buddhanature in Maitreya's Uttaratantra. The clearest example of this approach among Nagarjuna's praises is his Dharmadhatustava, with its many similes of how the dharmadhatu—mind's luminous nature, the sphere of ultimate reality—is obscured, but completely untainted, by adventitious stains and can be revealed. (Read more here)
