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Podcast: New Books in Buddhist Studies
Episode: Rafal K. Stepien, "Buddhism Between Religion and Philosophy: Nāgārjuna and the Ethics of Emptiness" (Oxford UP, 2024)
Description: Nāgārjuna (c. 150-250), founder of the Madhyamaka or Middle Way school of Buddhist philosophy and the most influential of all Buddhist thinkers aside from the Buddha himself, concludes his masterpiece, Fundamental Verses on the Middle Way, with these baffling verses:For the abandonment of all viewsHe taught the true teachingBy means of compassionI salute him, GautamaBut how could anyone possibly abandon all views? In Buddhism Between Religion and Philosophy: Nāgārjuna and the Ethics of Emptiness (Oxford UP, 2024), Rafal K. Stepien shows not only...