Catuṣkoṭi
Encyclopedia
Catuṣkoṭi also called Nagari , is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal...
: चतुष्कोटि) is a logical argument(s) of a 'suite of four discrete functions' or 'an indivisible quaternity' that has multiple applications and has been important in the Dharmic traditions of Indian logic
Indian logic
The development of Indian logic dates back to the anviksiki of Medhatithi Gautama the Sanskrit grammar rules of Pāṇini ; the Vaisheshika school's analysis of atomism ; the analysis of inference by Gotama , founder of the Nyaya school of Hindu philosophy; and the tetralemma of Nagarjuna...
and the Buddhadharma logico-epistemological traditions
Buddhist logic
Buddhist Logic, the categorical nomenclature modern Western discourse has extended to Buddhadharma traditions of 'Hetuvidya' and 'Pramanavada' , which arose circa 500CE, is a particular development, application and lineage of continuity of 'Indian Logic', from which it seceded...
, particularly those of the Madhyamaka
Madhyamaka
Madhyamaka refers primarily to a Mahāyāna Buddhist school of Buddhist philosophy systematized by Nāgārjuna. Nāgārjuna may have arrived at his positions from a desire to achieve a consistent exegesis of the Buddha's doctrine as recorded in the āgamas...
school.
Robinson (1957: pp. 302–303) states (negativism is employed in amplification of the Greek tradition of Philosophical skepticism
Philosophical skepticism
Philosophical skepticism is both a philosophical school of thought and a method that crosses disciplines and cultures. Many skeptics critically examine the meaning systems of their times, and this examination often results in a position of ambiguity or doubt...
):
A typical piece of Buddhist dialectical apparatus is the ...(catuskoti). It consists of four members in a relation of exclusive disjunction ("one of, but not more than one of, 'a,' 'b,' 'c,' 'd,' is true"). Buddhist dialecticians, from Gautama onward, have negated each of the alternatives, and thus have negated the entire proposition. As these alternatives were supposedly exhaustive, their exhaustive negation has been termed "pure negation" and has been taken as evidence for the claim that Madhyamika is negativism.
Catuṣkoṭi algorithm mapped in partial logical algebra
The following is an adaptation of the model of Puhakka (2003: p. 133) with the clear identification of the positive and negative configurations of the Catuṣkoṭi following Ng (1993: pp. 99–105). Where '--' is a sign denoting a grammatical structure or lexical item that negates the proposition in parenthesis.Where P stands for any proposition and Not-P stands for the diametrical opposite or the contradiction of P (in a relationship of contradistinction): where P and Not-P constitute a complementary bifurcation of mutual exclusivity, collectively constituting an exhaustive set of positions for any given (or determined) propositional array. A propositional array is signified in the model by numerals, traditionally though, propositional arrays were designated 'foot' (Sanskrit: pāda), a lexical item which holds the semantic field
Semantic field
A semantic field is a technical term in the discipline of linguistics to describe a set of words grouped by meaning in a certain way. The term is also used in other academic disciplines, such as anthropology and computational semiotics.-Definition and usage:...
: 'line', 'one quartile of śloka'; where 'śloka
Sloka
Sloka may refer to:* Sloka, Latvia, a neighbourhood of Jūrmala, Latvia* Sloka meter, a Sanskrit meter* Śloka, a Hindu prayer* Sloka Gora, a small settlement in central Slovenia* Sloka...
' (Sanskrit) holds the semantic field: 'verse', 'stanza'.
Śūnyatā is the ninth 'view
View (Buddhism)
View or position is a central idea in Buddhism. In Buddhist thought, in contrast with the commonsense understanding, a view is not a simple, abstract collection of propositions, but a charged interpretation of experience which intensely shapes and affects thought, sensation, and action...
' (Sanskrit: dṛṣṭi), the viewless view, a superposition
Superposition principle
In physics and systems theory, the superposition principle , also known as superposition property, states that, for all linear systems, the net response at a given place and time caused by two or more stimuli is the sum of the responses which would have been caused by each stimulus individually...
of the eight possible arrays of proposition P [and its 'inseparable contradistinction' (Sanskrit: apoha)].
Positive configuration
|
|
Negative configuration
|
The eight arrays or octaves of the iconographic Dharmacakra
Dharmacakra
The Dharmachakra , lit. "Wheel of Dharma" or "Wheel of Life" is a symbol that has represented dharma, the Buddha's teaching of the path to enlightenment, since the early period of Indian Buddhism. A similar symbol is also in use in Jainism...
represent drishti
Drishti
Drishti is a multi-platform, open-source Volume Exploration and Presentation Tool. It was written for visualizing tomography data, electron-microscopy data and so forth. It aims to ease understanding of the data set and to assist with conveying that understanding to the research community or a...
or traditional views that Shakyamuni countered. These eight arrays may be plotted
Plot (graphics)
A plot is a graphical technique for representing a data set, usually as a graph showing the relationship between two or more variables. The plot can be drawn by hand or by a mechanical or electronic plotter. Graphs are a visual representation of the relationship between variables, very useful for...
as coordinates on a multidimensional field which may be rendered as a sphere
Sphere
A sphere is a perfectly round geometrical object in three-dimensional space, such as the shape of a round ball. Like a circle in two dimensions, a perfect sphere is completely symmetrical around its center, with all points on the surface lying the same distance r from the center point...
, a mandala
Mandala
Maṇḍala is a Sanskrit word that means "circle". In the Buddhist and Hindu religious traditions their sacred art often takes a mandala form. The basic form of most Hindu and Buddhist mandalas is a square with four gates containing a circle with a center point...
, a multidimensional shunya or zero where shunyata denotes zero-ness. The eight arrays are in a concordant
Concordance
Concordance can mean:* Concordance , a list of words used in a body of work, with their immediate contexts* Concordance , the presence of the same trait in both members of a pair of twins...
relationship where they each constitute a chord
Chord (geometry)
A chord of a circle is a geometric line segment whose endpoints both lie on the circumference of the circle.A secant or a secant line is the line extension of a chord. More generally, a chord is a line segment joining two points on any curve, such as but not limited to an ellipse...
to the sphere. The coordinates are equidistant
Equidistant
A point is said to be equidistant from a set of objects if the distances between that point and each object in the set are equal.In two-dimensional Euclidian geometry the locus of points equidistant from two given points is their perpendicular bisector...
from the epicentre of shunya where the array of the positive configuration (or hemisphere) and the array of the negative configuration (or hemisphere) constitute two polar radii or diametrical complements, a diameter
Diameter
In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the center of the circle and whose endpoints are on the circle. The diameters are the longest chords of the circle...
in sum. These are the 'eight limits' (Wylie: mtha' brgyad; Sanskrit: aṣṭānta) of 'openness' (Sanskrit: śūnyatā), where śūnyatā is amplified by 'freedom from constructs' or 'simplicity' (Wylie: spros bral; Sanskrit: aprapañca). Karmay (1988: p. 118) conveys that 'spros bral' is a homologue of 'thig le' (Sanskrit: bindu
Bindu
Bindu is a Sanskrit term meaning "point" or "dot". The feminine case ending is bindi which denotes a small ornamental, devotional and/or mystical dot that is cosmetically applied or affixed to the forehead in Hinduism....
), where 'spros bral' is literally "without amplification", understood as "that which cannot be displayed".
Exegesis
Puhakka (2003: p. 134-145) charts the stylized reification process of a human sentient beingSentient beings (Buddhism)
Sentient beings is a technical term in Buddhist discourse. Broadly speaking, it denotes beings with consciousness or sentience or, in some contexts, life itself. Specifically, it denotes the presence of the five aggregates, or skandhas...
, the spell of reality, a spell dispelled by the Catuṣkoṭi:
We are typically not aware of ourselves as taking something (P) as real. Rather, its reality "takes us," or already has us in its spell as soon as we become aware of its identity (P). Furthermore, it's impossible to take something (P) to be real without, at least momentarily, ignoring or denying that which it is not (not-P). Thus the act of taking something as real necessarily involves some degree of unconsciousness or lack of awareness. This is true even in the simple act of perception when we see a figure that we become aware of as "something." As the German gestalt psychologists demonstrated, for each figure perceived, there is a background of which we remain relatively unaware. We can extend this to texts or spoken communications. For every text we understand there is a context we are not fully cognizant of. Thus, with every figure noticed or reality affirmed, there is, inevitably, unawareness. Is this how a spell works? It takes us unawares.
Nomenclature, orthography and etymology
The Catuṣkoṭi in Western Discourse has often been glossed, TetralemmaTetralemma
The tetralemma is a figure that features prominently in the classical logic of the Greeks. It states that with reference to any a logical proposition X, there are four possibilities:-External links:* Wiktionary definition of tetralemma*...
, which is the nomenclature for the Greek form. Both of the variations have similarities but also differences and the traditions were mutually iterating.
Antecedents and pervasion
Antecedents of the Catuṣkoṭi have been charted to grammatical structures in the VedasVedas
The Vedas are a large body of texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism....
. The Nasadiya Sukta
Nasadiya Sukta
The Nasadiya Sukta is the 129th hymn of the 10th Mandala of the Rigveda. It is concerned with cosmology and the origin of the universe. It is known for its skepticism...
of the Rigveda
Rigveda
The Rigveda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns...
(RV 10
Mandala 10
The tenth Mandala of the Rigveda has 191 hymns. Together with Mandala 1, it forms the latest part of the Rigveda, containing much mythological material, including the Purusha sukta and the dialogue of Sarama with the Panis , and notably containing several dialogue hymns...
.129) contains ontological speculation in terms of various logical divisions that were later recast formally as the four circles of catuskoti
Tetralemma
The tetralemma is a figure that features prominently in the classical logic of the Greeks. It states that with reference to any a logical proposition X, there are four possibilities:-External links:* Wiktionary definition of tetralemma*...
: "A", "not A", "A and not A", and "not A and not not A".
McEvilley
Thomas McEvilley
Thomas McEvilley is an American art critic, poet, novelist and scholar, who was a distinguisted lecturer in art history at Rice University and founder and former chair of the Department of Art Criticism and Writing at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.-Biography:Thomas McEvilley studied...
(2002: p. 495) maps an interesting case for mutual iteration and pervasion between Pyrrhonism
Pyrrhonism
Pyrrhonism, or Pyrrhonian skepticism, was a school of skepticism founded by Aenesidemus in the 1st century BCE and recorded by Sextus Empiricus in the late 2nd century or early 3rd century CE. It was named after Pyrrho, a philosopher who lived from c. 360 to c. 270 BCE, although the relationship...
and Madhyamika:
An extraordinary similarity, that has long been noticed, between Pyrrhonism and Mādhyamika is the formula known in connection with Buddhism as the fourfold negation (catuṣkoṭi) and which in Pyrrhonic form might be called the fourfold indeterminacy.
Gorgias
GorgiasGorgias
Gorgias ,Greek sophist, pre-socratic philosopher and rhetorician, was a native of Leontini in Sicily. Along with Protagoras, he forms the first generation of Sophists. Several doxographers report that he was a pupil of Empedocles, although he would only have been a few years younger...
(c 487-376 BCE), the author of a lost work: 'On Nature or the Non-Existent'.
Syādvāda
JainismJainism
Jainism is an Indian religion that prescribes a path of non-violence towards all living beings. Its philosophy and practice emphasize the necessity of self-effort to move the soul towards divine consciousness and liberation. Any soul that has conquered its own inner enemies and achieved the state...
has a sevenfold logical architecture, the Syādvāda
Syadvada
Syādvāda is the Doctrine of Postulation of Jainism. In other words, Syādvāda provides the body of teachings or instruction which one uses to derive a postulate or axiom. The starting assumption or postulate is given as saptabhanginaya, from which other statements are logically derived...
, which is a formulation to convey the insight of Anekantavada
Anekantavada
' is one of the most important and fundamental doctrines of Jainism. It refers to the principles of pluralism and multiplicity of viewpoints, the notion that truth and reality are perceived differently from diverse points of view, and that no single point of view is the complete truth.Jains...
.
Brahmajala Sutta: The Supreme Net (What the Teaching Is Not)
Śākyamuni, as remembered by ĀnandaAnanda
Ānanda was one of the principal disciples and a devout attendant of the Buddha. Amongst the Buddha's many disciples, Ānanda had the most retentive memory and most of the suttas in the Sutta Pitaka are attributed to his recollection of the Buddha's teachings during the First Buddhist Council...
and codified in the Brahmajala Sutta
Brahmajala Sutta (Theravada)
The Brahmajala Sutta is the first of 34 suttas in the Digha Nikaya . The name comes from 'brahma' and 'jala'...
2.27, when expounding the sixteenth wrong view, or the fourth wrong view of the 'Eel-Wrigglers' (Pali: amarā-vikheppikā)
Sanjaya Belatthaputta
' was an Indian ascetic teacher who lived around the 5th or 4th c. BCE, contemporaneous with Mahavira and the Buddha....
, the non-committal equivocators, though the grammatical structure is identical to the Catuṣkoṭi (and there are numerous other analogues of this fourfold grammatical structure within this Sutta), the intentionality of the architecture employed by Nagarjuna is not evident, as rendered into English by Walshe (1987, 1995: p. 81):
'What is the fourth way? Here, an ascetic or Brahmin is dull and stupid. Because of his dullness and stupidity, when he is questioned he resorts to evasive statements and wriggles like an eel: "If you ask me whether there is another world. But I don't say so. And I don't say otherwise. And I don't say it is not, and I don't not say it is not." "Is there no other world?..." "Is there both another world and no other world?..."Is there neither another world nor no other world?..." "Are there spontaneously-born beings?..." "Are there not...?" "Both...? "Neither...?" "Does the Tathagata exist after death? Does he not exist after death? Does he both exist and not exist after death? Does he neither exist nor not exist after death?..." "If I thought so, I would say so...I don't say so...I don't say it is not." This is the fourth case.'
Literature review
Robinson (1957: p. 294) holds that StcherbatskyFyodor Shcherbatskoy
Fyodor Ippolitovich Shcherbatskoy or Stcherbatsky , often referred to in the literature as F. Th. Stcherbatsky, was a Russian Indologist who, in large part, was responsible for laying the foundations in the Western world for the scholarly study of Buddhist philosophy...
(1927), opened a productive period in Madhyamaka
Madhyamaka
Madhyamaka refers primarily to a Mahāyāna Buddhist school of Buddhist philosophy systematized by Nāgārjuna. Nāgārjuna may have arrived at his positions from a desire to achieve a consistent exegesis of the Buddha's doctrine as recorded in the āgamas...
studies. Schayer (1933) made a departure into the rules of inference employed by early Buddhist dialecticians and examines the Catuskoti (Tetralemma) as an attribute of propositional logic and critiques Stcherbatsky. Robinson (1957: p. 294) states that "Schayers criticisms of Stcherbatsky are incisive and just." Murti (1955) makes no mention of the logical contribution of Schayer. According to Robinson (1957: p. 294), Murti furthered the work of Stcherbatsky amongst others, and brought what Robinson terms "the metaphysical phase of investigation" to its apogee though qualifies this with: "Murti has a lot to say about 'dialectic,' but practically nothing to say about formal logic." Robinson (1957: p. 294) opines that Nakamura (1954), developed Schayer's methodology and defended and progressed its application.
Robinson (1957: p. 293) opines that the 'metaphysical approach' evident foremost in Murti (1955) was not founded in a firm understanding of the 'logical structure of the system', i.e. catuskoti, for example:
Several fundamental limitations of the metaphysical approach are now apparent. It has tried to find comprehensive answers without knowing the answers to the more restricted questions involved - such questions as those of the epistemological and logical structure of the system.
Robinson (1957: p. 296) conveys his focus and states his methodology, clearly identifying the limitations in scope of this particular publication, which he testifies is principally built upon, though divergent from, the work of Nakamura:
In considering the formal structure of Nagarjuna's argumentation, I exclude epistemology, psychology, and ontology from consideration.... Such extra-logical observations as emerge will be confined to the concluding paragraphs...
Nargarjuna
The Catuṣkoṭi was employed particularly by NagarjunaNagarjuna
Nāgārjuna was an important Buddhist teacher and philosopher. Along with his disciple Āryadeva, he is credited with founding the Mādhyamaka school of Mahāyāna Buddhism...
who developed it and engaged it as a 'learning, investigative, meditative' portal to realize the 'openness' (Sanskrit: Śūnyatā), of Shakyamuni's Second Turning of the Dharmacakra
Dharmacakra
The Dharmachakra , lit. "Wheel of Dharma" or "Wheel of Life" is a symbol that has represented dharma, the Buddha's teaching of the path to enlightenment, since the early period of Indian Buddhism. A similar symbol is also in use in Jainism...
, as categorized by the Sandhinirmocana Sutra
Sandhinirmocana Sutra
The Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra or the Sutra of the Explanation of the Profound Secrets is a Buddhist scripture classified as belonging to the Yogācāra or Consciousness-only school of Buddhist thought. This sūtra was translated from Sanskrit into Chinese four times, the most complete and reliable of...
.
Robinson (1957: p. 294), building on the foundations of Liebenthal
Walter Liebenthal
Walter Liebenthal, was a German philosopher and sinologist who specialized in Chinese Buddhism. He translated many philosophical works from Pali, Sanskrit and specially from Chinese into German...
(1948) to whom he gives credit, states:
What Nagarjuna wishes to prove is the irrationality of Existence, or the falsehood of reasoning which is built upon the logical principle that A equals A.... Because two answers, assertion and denial, are always possible to a given question, his arguments contain two refutations, one denying the presence, one the absence of the probandum. This double refutation is called the Middle Path. [emphasis evident in Robinson]
Catuṣkoṭi post-Nargarjuna
The Catuṣkoṭi, following Nagarjuna, has had a profound impact upon the development of Buddhist logicBuddhist logic
Buddhist Logic, the categorical nomenclature modern Western discourse has extended to Buddhadharma traditions of 'Hetuvidya' and 'Pramanavada' , which arose circa 500CE, is a particular development, application and lineage of continuity of 'Indian Logic', from which it seceded...
and its dialectic
Dialectic
Dialectic is a method of argument for resolving disagreement that has been central to Indic and European philosophy since antiquity. The word dialectic originated in Ancient Greece, and was made popular by Plato in the Socratic dialogues...
al refinement of Tibetan Buddhism.
Robinson (1957: p. 294) qualifies the import of Nagarjuna's work (which includes Nagarjuna's application of the Catuskoti) due to the embedded noise in the scholarly lineage: "Certainly some of Nagarjuna's ancient opponents were just as confused as his modern interpreters...". This noise may also have co-arisen with Nagarjuna, following the work of Jayatilleke
K. N. Jayatilleke
Kulatissa Nanda Jayatilleke was an internationally recognized authority on Buddhist philosophy whose book "Early Buddhist theory of knowledge" has been described as "an outstanding philosophical interpretation of the Buddha's teaching" in the Encyclopedia of Philosophy -Biography:Jayatilleke, was...
(1967).
Catuṣkoṭi paradox: a simple complex
Wayman (1977) proffers that the Catuṣkoṭi may be employed in different ways and often these are not clearly stated in discussion nor the tradition. Wayman (1977) holds that the Catuṣkoṭi may be applied in suite, that is all are applicable to a given topic forming a paradoxParadox
Similar to Circular reasoning, A paradox is a seemingly true statement or group of statements that lead to a contradiction or a situation which seems to defy logic or intuition...
ical matrix; or they may be applied like trains running on tracks (or employing another metaphor, four mercury switch
Mercury switch
A mercury switch is a switch whose purpose is to allow or interrupt the flow of electric current in an electrical circuit in a manner that is dependent on the switch's physical position or alignment relative to the direction of the "pull" of earth's gravity, or other inertia.Mercury switches...
es where only certain functions or switches are employed at particular times). This difference in particular establishes a distinction with the Greek tradition of the Tetralemma. Also, predicate logic has been applied to the Dharmic Tradition, and though this in some quarters has established interesting correlates and extension of the logico-mathematical traditions of the Greeks, it has also obscured the logico-grammatical traditions of the Dharmic Traditions of Catuṣkoṭi within modern English discourse.
Four Extremes
The 'Four Extremes' is a particular application of the Catuṣkoṭi:- Being (Wylie: yod)
- Non-being (Wylie: med)
- Both being and non-being (Wylie: yod-med)
- Neither being and non-being (Wylie: yod-med min)
Dumoulin
Heinrich Dumoulin
Heinrich Dumoulin, S.J. was a Jesuit theologian, a widely published author on Zen Buddhism, and a professor of philosophy and history at Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan...
et al. (1988, 2005: pp. 43–44), in the initially groundbreaking work on Zen
Zen
Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
which is now for the most part dated due to progress in scholarship (though still useful as the premier English work of comprehensive overview), model a particular formulation of the Catuṣkoṭi that approaches the Caturanta engaging the Buddhist technical term 'dharmas' and attribute the model to Nagarjuna
Nagarjuna
Nāgārjuna was an important Buddhist teacher and philosopher. Along with his disciple Āryadeva, he is credited with founding the Mādhyamaka school of Mahāyāna Buddhism...
:
If we focus on the doctrinal agreement that exists between the Wisdom Sūtras and the tracts of the Mādhyamika we note that both schools characteristically practice a didactic negation. By setting up a series of self-contradictory oppositions, Nāgārjuna disproves all conceivable statements, which can be reduced to these four:
- All things (dharmas) exist: affirmation of being, negation of nonbeing
- All things (dharmas) do not exist: affirmation of nonbeing, negation of being
- All things (dharmas) both exist and do not exist: both affirmation and negation
- All things (dharmas) neither exist nor do not exist: neither affirmation nor negation
With the aid of these four alternatives (catuṣkoṭika: affirmation, negation, double affirmation, double negation), Nāgārjuna rejects all firm standpoints and traces a middle path between being and nonbeing. Most likely the eight negations, arranged in couplets in Chinese, can be traced back to Nāgārjuna: neither destruction nor production, neither annihilation nor permanence, neither unity nor difference, neither coming nor going.
Alternate Four Limits/Four Extremes
A Mantrayana enumeration of the Four Limits or the Four Extremes within the Buddhadharma is also common. These four 'limits' are evident in the earliest sutras of the Theravadin of the First Turning, through the Second Turning philosophy of Nagarjuna and his disciples and commentators and also evident in the Third Turning as evidenced in the presentation of Padmasambhava. Padmasambhava in his 'Secret Instruction in a Garland of Vision' lists them as follows with the English rendering following Dowman (2003) and Wylie following Norbu et. al. (2001) :- the Hedonist' or 'Chalpas' : does not perceive, ascribe to the view or realize that all events, dharmas, etc. have a cause and an effect;
- the 'Atheist' or 'Gyangphenpas' : unable to see or perceive past and future lives, the atheist toils for wealth and power in this lifetime alone. They engage in intrigue;
- the 'Nihilist' or 'Murthugpas' : holds that there is no causality or causal relationship between events and dharmas. They are of the view that everything is adventitiously arisen due to chance and events and that dharmas dissipate and vanish into the void. Death is the ultimate cessation and there is no continuity between lives; and
- the Eternalist' or 'Mutegpas' : holds to the view of an eternal, unchanging 'atmanAtman (Buddhism)The word Ātman or Atta refers to a self. Occasionally the terms "soul" or "ego" are also used. The words ātman and atta derive from the Indo-European root *ēt-men and are cognate with the Old English æthm and German Atem....
', where atman is often rendered as 'soul' in English. There is considerable diversity of the mechanics of causality with proponents of this view. Some perceive the atman as having a cause but not effect, an effect but no cause, or indeed a complex causality or causal relationship.
Each one of these extreme views, limits and binds the open, unbounded spaciousness of the natural mind.
Lexicon: technical language and terminology
Within English Buddhist logico-epistemological discourse, there is and has been historically, much obstruction to an understanding of the Caturanta (as the Catuṣkoṭi) due to inherent negligence in terminology not being clearly defined from the outset. That said, acquisition of terminology must be engaged and actualized though the sadhanaSadhana
Sādhanā literally "a means of accomplishing something" is ego-transcending spiritual practice. It includes a variety of disciplines in Hindu, Sikh , Buddhist and Muslim traditions that are followed in order to achieve various spiritual or ritual objectives.The historian N...
of the 'mūla prajñā', as definitions are slippery and challenging to pinpoint that hold for all contexts. Language usage in Buddhist logic is not intuitive but technical and must be learnt, acquired through the perfection
Pāramitā
Pāramitā or pāramī is "perfection" or "completeness." In Buddhism, the pāramitās refer to the perfection or culmination of certain virtues...
and power
The Five Powers
The Five Strengths in Buddhism are faith, effort, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom. They are one of the seven sets of "qualities conducive to enlightenment." They are parallel facets of the five "spiritual faculties."...
of 'diligence' (Sanskrit: vīrya
Virya
Vīrya literally means "state of a strong man" or "manliness." In Vedic literature, the term is often associated with heroism and virility...
). The following quotations are cited to provide insight (in lieu of technical definitions) into the understanding of the technical Buddhist terms 'existence', 'nature', 'being', 'entity' and 'svabhava' which are all mutually qualifying.
Robinson (1957: p. 297) renders Mūlamadhyamakakārikā
Mulamadhyamakakarika
The Mūlamadhyamakakārikā , or Fundamental Verses on the Middle Way, is a key text by Nagarjuna, one of the most important Buddhist philosophers.-Competing interpretations:...
21.14, thus:
"He who posits an entity becomes entangled in eternalism and annihilism,
since that entity has to be either permanent or impermanent."
Robinson (1957: p. 300) in discussing the Buddhist logic of Nagarjuna
Nagarjuna
Nāgārjuna was an important Buddhist teacher and philosopher. Along with his disciple Āryadeva, he is credited with founding the Mādhyamaka school of Mahāyāna Buddhism...
, frames a view of 'svabhava
Svabhava
Svabhava Pāli: sabhāva; Chinese: 自性 zìxìng; ) is intrinsic nature, essential nature or essence.The concept and term svabhāva are frequently encountered in Dharmic traditions such as Advaita Vedānta , Mahāyāna Buddhism Svabhava (Sanskrit: स्वभाव; IAST: svabhāva) Pāli: sabhāva; Chinese: 自性 zìxìng; )...
':
Svabhava is by defini[t]ion the subject of contradictory ascriptions. If it exists, it must belong to an existent entity, which means that it must be conditioned, dependent on other entities, and possessed of causes. But a svabhava is by definition unconditioned, not dependent on other entities, and not caused. Thus the existence of a svabhava is impossible. [NB: typographical errors repaired]
"Nature" (a gloss of prakrti
Prakrti
Prakrti or Prakriti or Prakruti means "nature". It is, according to Hindus, the basic nature of intelligence by which the Universe exists and functions. It is described in Bhagavad Gita as the "primal motive force". It is the essential constituent of the universe and is at the basis of all the...
which in this context equals svabhava) does not entail an alter-entity:
The term "nature" (prakrti equals svabhava) has no complement..."If (anythings) existence is due to its nature, its non-existence will not occur, since the alter-entity (complement) of a nature never occurs." (MūlamadhyamakakārikāMulamadhyamakakarikaThe Mūlamadhyamakakārikā , or Fundamental Verses on the Middle Way, is a key text by Nagarjuna, one of the most important Buddhist philosophers.-Competing interpretations:...
, 15.8)
That is, a nature is the class of properties attributed to a class of terms Since they are necessarily present throughout the range of the subject or class of subjects, cases of their absence do not occur.
Karunadasa (1999, 2000: p. 1) holds that Early Buddhism
Early Buddhism
The term Early Buddhism can refer to:* Pre-sectarian Buddhism, which refers to the Teachings and monastic organization and structure, founded by Gautama Buddha....
and early Buddhist discourse "often refer to the mutual opposition between two views":
- 'permanence' or 'eternalism' (Pali: sassatavadaSassatavadaSassatavada is a kind of thinking rejected by the Buddha in the nikayas . One example of it is the belief that the individual has an unchanging Self. Views of this kind were held at the Buddha's time by a variety of groups....
) also sometimes referred to as 'the belief in being' (Pali: bhava-ditti); and - 'annihilation' or 'nihilismNihilismNihilism is the philosophical doctrine suggesting the negation of one or more putatively meaningful aspects of life. Most commonly, nihilism is presented in the form of existential nihilism which argues that life is without objective meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value...
' (Pali: ucchadevada) also sometimes referred to as 'the belief in non-being' (Pali: vibhava-ditti).
As Shakyamuni relates in a 'thread' (Sanskrit: sūtra
Sutra
Sūtra is an aphorism or a collection of such aphorisms in the form of a manual. Literally it means a thread or line that holds things together and is derived from the verbal root siv-, meaning to sew , as does the medical term...
) of discourse to Kaccānagotta in the Kaccānagotta Sutta, rendered into English by Myanmar Piṭaka Association Editorial Committee (1993: p. 35):
"For the most part, Kaccāna, sentient beings depend on two kinds of belief - belief that 'there is' (things exist) and belief that 'there is not' (things do not exist).
Karunadasa (1999, 2000: p. 1) states that:
...it is within the framework of the Buddhist critique of sassatavada and ucchadavada that the Buddhist doctrines seem to assume their significance. For it is through the demolition of these two world-views that Buddhism seeks to construct its own world-view. The conclusion is that it was as a critical response to the mutual opposition between these two views that Buddhism emerged as a new faith amidst many other faiths.