View source for Introduction to the Middle Way

[[Image:Chandrakirti.JPG|frame|[[Chandrakirti]]]]
'''Introduction to the Middle Way''' (Skt. ''Madhyamakāvatāra''; Tib. [[དབུ་མ་ལ་འཇུག་པ་]], ''Uma la Jukpa''; [[Wyl.]] ''dbu ma la 'jug pa'') — [[Chandrakirti]]'s classic commentary on the meaning of [[Nagarjuna]]'s ''[[Mulamadhyamaka-karika]]''. It is also a commentary on the ''[[Sutra of the Ten Bhumis]] (Dashabhumika-Sutra)''. It is included among the so-called "[[Thirteen great texts]]", which form the core of the curriculum in most [[shedra]]s and on which [[Khenpo Shenga]] provided commentaries.


==Meaning of the Title==
''Madhyamaka'' refers to the texts which express the meaning of the middle way beyond extremes, both the Buddha's teachings of the [[Three Turnings|second turning]] and the commentaries that further elucidate their meaning. Specifically here it refers to [[Nagarjuna]]'s [[Mulamadhyamaka-karika]]. 

''Avatara'' means entry or introduction. This text is an introduction in the sense that it clearly brings out the meaning of Nagarjuna's text by means of both scriptures from the sutras as well as the pith instruction passed down through the lineage of masters from [[Nagarjuna]] to [[Chandrakirti]]. It expresses both the profound aspect of Nagarjuna's text, namely emptiness, as well as the vast aspect, the paths and bhumis. 

==Structure==
The text has '''eleven chapters''', corresponding to the [[ten bhumis]] and the state of [[buddhahood]].

==Tibetan Text==
*{{TBRCW|O1GS6011|O1GS60111GS36114$W23703|དབུ་མ་ལ་འཇུག་པ་, ''dbu ma la 'jug pa''}}

==Translations==
===English===
*Geshe Rabten, ''Echoes of Voidness'', translated and edited by Stephen Batchelor, Wisdom, 1983
*Huntington, C.W., ''The Emptiness of Emptiness'', University of Hawaii Press, 1989
*''Introduction to the Middle Way'' with [[Mipham Rinpoche]]'s Commentary, translated by Padmakara Translation Group, Shambhala, 2002
*''Introduction to the Middle Way: Chandrakirti's Madhyamakavatara with commentary by Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche'', edited by Alex Trisoglio, Khyentse Foundation, 2003
*''The Karmapa's Middle Way: Feast for the Fortunate (translation of Chandrakirti's root text along with commentary by the Ninth Karmapa, [[Wangchuk Dorje]])'', translated by Tyler Dewar, Snow Lion, 2008.

===French===
*Louis de la Vallée Poussin: ''Madhyamakavatara par Candrakirti'', Bibliotheca Buddhica IX. Osnabrück, Biblio Verlag, 1970. [http://www.archive.org/details/madhyamakavatara00canduoft Available for free download here]

==Commentaries==
===Indian===
*[[Jayananda]], ''Ṭīkā''

===Tibetan===
*[[Khenpo Shenga]]
:{{TBRCW|O01DG10852|O01DG10852893$W23198|དབུ་མ་ལ་འཇུག་པའི་འགྲེལ་མཆན་ལེགས་པར་བཤད་པ་ཟླ་བའི་འོད་ཟེར་, ''dbu ma la 'jug pa'i 'grel mchan legs par bshad pa zla ba'i 'od zer''}}
*[[Khenpo Ngawang Palzang]]
:{{TBRCW|O00JR3377|O00JR33773559$W22946|དབུ་མ་འཇུག་པའི་འབྲུ་འགྲེལ་བློ་གསལ་དགའ་བའི་མེ་ལོང་, ''dbu ma 'jug pa'i 'bru 'grel blo gsal dga' ba'i me long''}}

===In Translation===
*[[Jeffrey Hopkins]], ''Compassion in Tibetan Buddhism'', Ithaca: Snow Lion, 1980 (first five chapters based on [[Tsongkhapa]]’s commentary)
*Rendawa Shonnu Lodro, ''Commentary on the Entry into the Middle, Lamp which Elucidates Reality'', translated by Stotter-Tillman & Acharya Tashi Tsering, Sarnath, Varanasi, 1997.
*Eight Karmapa Karmapa Mikyo Dorje, The Moon of Wisdom: Chapter Six of Chandrakirti's Entering the Middle Way with Commentary from the Eighth Karmapa Mikyo Dorje's Kagyu Siddhas, Snow Lion, 2006, ISBN 978-1559392310

==Further Reading==
*Kevin A. Vose, ''Resurrecting Candrakirti: Disputes in the Tibetan Creation of Prasangika'' (Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2009)

==Internal Links==
* [[Quotations: Indian Masters#Candrakīrti|Quotations from Candrakīrti's ''Introduction to the Middle Way'']]

==External Links==
*[http://www.lotsawahouse.org/indian-masters/chandrakirti/ A translation of the Madhyamakavatara and its Auto-Commentary by Chandrakirti with additional commentary by Khenpo Namdrol Rinpoche]

[[Category:Madhyamika Texts]]
[[Category:Mahayana Shastras]]