Apophatic and kataphatic Discourse in Mahāyāna--A Chinese View.pdfVIP

Apophatic and kataphatic Discourse in Mahāyāna: A Chinese View Author s : Robert M. Gimello Source: Philosophy East and West, Vol. 26, No. 2 Apr., 1976 , pp. 117-136 Published by: University of Hawaii Press Stable URL: /stable/1398185 . Accessed: 19/10/2011 13:50 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms Conditions of Use, available at . / JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@. University of Hawaii Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Philosophy East and West. Robert M. Gimello Apophatic and kataphatic discourse in Mahiyina: A Chinese view It is a widely held view, among modern scholars of Mahayana as well as within certain of the Mahayana traditions themselves, that Prasafigika-Madhyamika of the sort one finds in such works as Nagarjunas Mulamadhya-makirika and is the definitive rendition of the Greater Vehicles VigrahavydvartanTl ultimate purport. T. R. V. Murti, in his classic study, has called Madhyamika the CentralPhilosophy of Buddhism.2 Kenneth Inada has called Nagarjuna the giant among giants of all Buddhist thinkers.3 Bimal K. Matilal has recently argued that there is a sense in which the Madhyamika position may be considered logically unassailable, thereby raising it to a status of universal rather than just Buddhist preeminence.4 Such judgments abound in the litera- ture of Buddhist scholarship. Nor is it surprising that they should, for they only echo the centuries-old conviction of many eminent Buddhist that Nagar- junas thought is the most perfect expression of the Buddhas own middle path. The pride of place accorded to it by Tsofi kha pa and