It still seems to me that Buddhism attracts many people with nihilist tendencies, whether they know that or not, and that it is very easy to rationalize that outlook in Zen and Madhyamika.ASunThatNeverSets wrote:Madhyamaka only results in nihilism in those who don't understand it, if it's understood what Madhyamaka is pointing to then nihilism is impossible
I don't agree that what Son of Buddha is advocating in this thread, is 'eternalism'. 'Eternalism' is the view that 'the self and the world will be reborn in perpetuity', as explained in Bikkhu Bodhi's commentary on the Brahmajala Sutta. But 'true nature' or 'Buddha nature' is not mere absence, nothingness, or non-being, and nirvana is not simply annihilation. However it is also inconceivable, beyond the samsaric mind, and beyond categories of existence and non-existence.
But I am not going to repeat multiple pages of argumentation about it.
Karl Brunnholzl does not agree and provides extensive citations in support. He also says '..as much as some people might like to do so, it is impossible to restrict [Nagarjuna's] approach to negative or deconstructive rhetoric' (p25}. As he is a senior teacher at Nitartha Institute, I think his arguments ought to be heeded.The Nāgārjuna who wrote 'In Praise of the Dharmadhātu' is not the same as the original Indian Nāgārjuna.