Kamalaśı̄la’s Interpretation and Philosophy of the Middle Way

Abstract Madhyamaka philosophy is considered the philosophy of the middle way ( madhyamā pratipad ). Madhyamaka philosophers acknowledge that the middle way is free from the two extremes of existence and nonexistence. However, when analyzing the way they understand the middle way, we encounter differing interpretations. In his Mūlamadhyamakakārikā 24.18, Nāgārjuna says “precisely this [voidness] is the middle way ( pratipad … madhyamā )” (18d). According to Avalokitavrata, Bhāviveka interprets the term pratipad madhyamā in stanza 18d as referring to two types of middle way, i.e., a conventional type and an ultimate one, while Candrakı̄rti comments on stanza 18d that voidness is the middle way. When in his Madhyamakālaṃkārapañjikā Kamalaśı̄la comments on verse 18, he seems to interpret that term neither as voidness or the two types of middle way. His interpretation of the term seems to be different from Nāgārjuna’s and his commentators’. In this article, in order to clarify his interpretation and philosophy of the middle way, we first analyze Kamalaśı̄la’s comments on verse 18. Next is an examination of whether he accepts the conventional type of middle way and the ultimate type, that is, voidness (= ultimate reality) free from the two extremes, and a clarification of his central idea of the middle way and his systematization of the different types of middle way. After an analysis of his idea of the practice for eliminating the two extremes, we will lastly examine his philosophy of the middle way. These analyses will allow us to say that by means of his central idea of the middle way, Kamalaśı̄la systematized his Madhyamaka philosophy as the path ( mārga ) for fully achieving the understanding of the middle way.