NAGARJUNA'S PHILOSOPHY Even a reply to these ql.\estions would be of no use ; (but when clung to, the reply) could lead one to errors and make one fall into wrong notions The Buddha knows that these fourteen questions always (by their very nature) cover up and conceal the Four Noble Truths which con stitute the true nature of things (viz., conditioned origination) If in the sp ot where one has to cross over to the, other side there is any venomous creature, no one should be allowed to cross there ; one should (on the c o n t rary) be shown a safe, secure place where one can cross over (with out any difficulty) Some say that these questions are not intelligible to one who is not all-knowing and that the Buddha did not give any answer to these as people would not understand (74c-7Sa) The revealer of the Middle Way : It is necessary to note that the Sastra leaves no doubt that the range which is covered by the fourteen ques tions is the range of cOl1dition �d origination What they assume is a perversion as they cling ' exclusively to being and to non-being and thus they constitute the extremes of etemalism and negativism What is revealed by their rejection is the Middle Way, the truth of pratitya saltlutpada (The bodhisattva who has obtained the ability to bear the truth of things) investigates unimpededly the subjeCt-matter of the fourteen unanswered questions which are all based on the extremes of etemality and evanescence, (i.e., unconditioned existence and total perishing of things) (By virtue of this investigation) he never loses the Middle Way (/f���il).39 (I70a) The non-clinging use of concepts: Still, to the non-clinging the truth may be told that Beings are endless and even the knowledge of the Buddha is endless This is the (mundane) truth But if one would cling to this teaching, seize this character and give rise to contention and quarrel, then the 148 KNOWLEDGE Buddha would say that it is perversion For instance, that the world is permanent and that the world is impermanent, both these (become) perversions when these enter the fourteen questions (A + Il!UI tfl) (and thus come to be seized as absolute being and absolute non-being) (266a) Spoken non-clingingly "is" and "is not" or permanence and imper manence are true of things ; it is as such that the Buddha makes use of them in His teachings He mostly taught through impermanence (and that in a non-cling ing way, not conceiving it as absolute) ; this He did in order to help people to get rid of their perversion ; He rarely used the teaching through permanence But if one would cling to (the teaching of) im permanence, seize the character, and give rise to contention, then the Buddha would say, it is a perversion, a falsity If one would not cling to impermanence (then it would open up the truth of things, it would be the first door to lunyataj for) then one would understand that imper manence is the same as pain, pain is the same as the devoidness of self hood and devoidness of self'hood is itSelf siinyatii In this way one can enter the liinyata of all elements (A#If?t:1:) through the comprehension of impermanence ; (in this way "impermanence") is just the truth of thirigs Therefore it should be known that (in this way) impermanence enters the true nature of things (X'U*tfl ) ; and this is the true (under standing) But impermanence becomes an object of clinging in the fourteen questions and so (there) it is a perversion.40 (266a) The Right Way: It is essential to note that the points raised in the f"ourteen questions are not in themselves unanswerable ; but they be come unanswerable when the aspects are clung to as absolute, when the conditioned is seized as unconditioned In regard to all these fourteen questions the answer is pr(/tityasamlltpiid(/ or the Middle Way, the wny that sees things as they are.4 ] It is through the Middle Way that the Buddha met these questions whenever He answered them The wise see things in their true nature and teach it to everyone j ust as they have themselves seen 49 NAGARJUNA'S PHILOSOPHY If any one would spc:ak of the non-existent as existent and of the ex istent as non-exis tent, chen he would not be the all-knowing person The Buddha, the all-comprehensive in understanding, sp eaks of the existent as existent and of the non-existent as non-existent He does not speak of the existent as non existent nor of the non-exi s tent as ex istent ; He just speaks of things as they are in their true nature (mJ�3f� to) (In this regard He is comparable to the sun) The sun for ex ample does not make anything tall or short nor does he level (all thi ngs ) down to the ground It illumines all things equally This is the case even with the Buddha He does not make the non-existent existent nor the existent non-existent He always sp eaks the truth ; and lig ht of His wisdom He illumines all things.42 ( 75 a) I SO by the CHAPTER VI EXTRE M E S AND ALTE R NATIVE S Section I THE E X T R E M E S Extremes and clinging: Extremes are species of blindness, kinds of dogmatism They are of the form: "This alone is true, all else is false " The aspects singled out in the concrete beco ming are exclusively clung to and held as ultimate ; they are not app reci ated as mere aspects The relative distinctions within the natural polarity of the self-conscious intellection are turned into absolute divisions Contrasting concepts of "is" and "is not," "identity" and "diffe rence," etc., constitute the very fo rm in which rational comprehension of the conditioned entities is worked out and by which the world of the determinate is appreciated as a system This is the essence of the doctrine of conditioned origina tion But under ignorance which functions by way of clinging, concepts are seized and an ultimacy is imposed on one of the sides in the pair of the contrasting terms and this ultimacy is then transferred to the entity to which the term refers and from which it de rives its import Thus what has only rel ative being is mistaken as a substantial entity ; the frag mentary is seize d as complete While the relative alternatives are true of thing! as their different perspectives from different standpoints, under clinging the alternatives are turned into extremes and the original inte grity ofthe thing and the essential rela tivity of the aspects are lost sight of Criticism: Its principle and purpose: The primary purpose of criticism is to lay bare the truth that the entities to which the different philo sophical schools cling as ultimate a re ill truth relative, conditioned, that 151 NAGARJUNA'S PHILOSOPHY the specific perspectives to which they cling as limitless are in truth determinate That the specific is not the ultimate, the rdative is not the absolute, is the principle that wlderlies criticism It is intended to help people to overcome the basic confusion of the real and the unreal, the absolute and the relative In this the one way which Nagarj una frequently adopted was of showing up the self-contradiction and ab surdity to which the holders of exclusive views would lead themselves on their own grounds I The most convincing way of enli ghtening people on the limitation of their position is to bring to light the natural consequences to which they are led by their own exclusive claims Criticism : Its procedure : The modus operandi of criticism consists in assuming the particular view in question as right and drawing the conclusions to which one is led by following its natural consequences which, on account of the falsity of the initial assumption, turn out to be false By the falsity of the conclusions the falsity of their ground is revealed and the exclusive claim of dogmatic thought is thereby shown to be absurd What is most essential to bear in mind is that the absurd conclusions not belong to the critic himself; they belong to the up holders of exclusive claims Again, the conclusions by which the holders of views stand contradicted on their own grounds, are negative, ,neither of the mundane entities nor of the relative validity of the specific views, but of the exclusive claims of absoluteness in regard to them In the critical examination the several possible alternatives of a posi tion are tried not as relative positions but as absolute views with exclu sive claims For, that is the way in which they are held by their up holders The arguments leading the different positions to their natural conclusions are all framed in reference to absolute concepts Being is total being, non-being is total non-being, a complete extinction ; self is wholly self-contained, other is wholly other, totally different Identity is absolute identity, and difference is total separateness The holders of views swing from extreme to extreme, from one exclusive position to another exclusive position So, it is as extremes, exclusive positions, that the alternatives are tried These are truly the relative and distinct falsely seized as absolute and divided.2 The purpose of criticism is to I52 ... things as they are.4 ] It is through the Middle Way that the Buddha met these questions whenever He answered them The wise see things in their true nature and teach it to everyone j ust as they... when the aspects are clung to as absolute, when the conditioned is seized as unconditioned In regard to all these fourteen questions the answer is pr(/tityasamlltpiid(/ or the Middle Way, the. .. (then it would open up the truth of things, it would be the first door to lunyataj for) then one would understand that imper manence is the same as pain, pain is the same as the devoidness of self