Table Of ContentROUTLEDGE CRITICAL STUDIES IN BUDDHISM
The Refutation of the Self in
Indian Buddhism
Candrak¯ırti on the selflessness of
persons
James Duerlinger
THE REFUTATION OF THE SELF
IN INDIAN BUDDHISM
Since the Buddha did not fully explain the theory of persons that underlies his
teaching, in later centuries a number of different interpretations were developed.
This book presents the interpretation by the celebrated Indian Buddhist philo-
sopher, Candrakīrti (c.570–650 ce).
Candrakīrti’s fullest statement of the theory is included in his Autocommen-
tary on the Introduction to the Middle Way (Madhyamakāvatārabhāṣya), which
is, along with his Introduction to the Middle Way (Madhyamakāvatāra), among
the central treatises that present the Prāsaṅgika account of the Madhyamaka
(Middle Way) philosophy. In this book, Candrakīrti’s most complete statement
of his theory of persons is translated and provided with an introduction and com-
mentary that present a careful philosophical analysis of Candrakīrti’s account of
the selflessness of persons. This analysis is both philologically precise and ana-
lytically sophisticated. The book is of interest to scholars of Buddhism generally
and especially to scholars of Indian Buddhist philosophy.
James Duerlinger teaches in the Philosophy Department at the University of
Iowa, USA. His research interests include the philosophy of religion, ancient
Greek philosophy, and Indian Buddhist philosophy.
ROUTLEDGE cRITIcAL STUDIES IN
BUDDHISM
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Founding Editors: charles S. Prebish
Utah State University, USA
Damien Keown
Goldsmith’s College, London University, UK
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Editorial Advisory Board
James A. Benn, McMaster University, canada; Jinhua chen, The University of
British columbia, canada; Rupert Gethin, University of Bristol, UK; Peter
Harvey, University of Sunderland, UK; Sallie King, James Madison University,
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A SURvEy OF vINAyA ALTRUISM AND REALITy
LITERATURE Studies in the philosophy of the
Charles S. Prebish Bodhicaryavatara
Paul Williams
THE REFLExIvE NATURE
of AWAreneSS BUDDHISM AND HUMAN
A Tibetan Madhyamaka defence RIGHTS
Paul Williams Edited by Damien Keown, Charles
Prebish, and Wayne Husted
WoMen In The THE GLORIOUS DEEDS OF
FOOTSTEPS OF THE PURNA
BUDDHA A translation and study of the
Struggle for liberation in the Purnavadana
Therigatha Joel Tatelman
Kathryn R. Blackstone
EARLy BUDDHISM –
THE RESONANcE OF
A neW APProACh
EMPTINESS
The I of the Beholder
A Buddhist inspiration for
Sue Hamilton
contemporary psychotherapy
Gay Watson
cONTEMPORARy
AMERIcAN BUDDHISM BUDDHIST ETHIcS
Methods and findings in recent Edited by Damien Keown
scholarship
Edited by Duncan Ryuken Williams INNOvATIvE BUDDHIST
and Christopher Queen WoMen
Swimming against the stream
IMAgIng WISdoM
Edited by Karma Lekshe Tsomo
Seeing and knowing in the art of
Indian Buddhism
TEAcHING BUDDHISM IN
Jacob N. Kinnard
The WeST
From the wheel to the web
PAIN AND ITS ENDING
Edited by V.S. Hori, R.P. Hayes, and
The Four Noble Truths in the
J.M. Shields
Theravada Buddhist canon
Carol S. Anderson
EMPTy vISION
EMPTINESS APPRAISED Metaphor and visionary imagery in
A critical study of nagarjuna’s Mahayana Buddhism
philosophy David L. McMahan
David F. Burton
SELF, REALITy AND
THE SOUND OF
REASON IN TIBETAN
LIBERATING TRUTH
PHILOSOPHy
Buddhist–christian dialogues in honor
Tsongkhapa’s quest for the middle
of Frederick J. Streng
way
Edited by Sallie B. King and
Thupten Jinpa
Paul O. Ingram
BUDDHIST THEOLOGy IN DEFENSE OF
Critical reflections by contemporary DHARMA
Buddhist scholars Just- war ideology in Buddhist
Edited by Roger R. Jackson and Sri Lanka
John J. Makransky Tessa J. Bartholomeusz
BUDDHIST THE cONcEPT OF THE
PHENOMENOLOGy BUDDHA
A philosophical investigation of Its evolution from early Buddhism to
Yogacara Buddhism and the Ch’eng the Trikaya theory
Wei- shih Lun Guang Xing
Dan Lusthaus
THE PHILOSOPHy OF
RELIGIOUS MOTIvATION DESIRE IN THE BUDDHIST
AND THE ORIGINS OF PALI cANON
BUDDHISM David Webster
A social-p sychological exploration of
the origins of a world religion THE NOTION OF
Torkel Brekke DITTHI IN THERAvADA
BUDDHISM
DEvELOPMENTS IN The point of view
AUSTRALIAN BUDDHISM Paul Fuller
Facets of the diamond
Michelle Spuler THE BUDDHIST THEORy
OF SELF- cOGNITION
Zen WAr STorIeS Zhihua Yao
Brian Victoria
BUDDHIST STUDIES FROM
THE BUDDHIST INDIA TO AMERIcA
UNcONScIOUS Essays in honor of
The Alaya-v ijñana in the context of charles S. Prebish
Indian Buddhist thought Edited by Damien Keown
William S. Waldron
MORAL THEORy
INDIAN BUDDHIST In SAnTIdeVA’S
THEORIES OF PERSONS SIKSASAMUccAyA
Vasubandhu’s refutation of the theory cultivating the fruits of virtue
of a Self Barbra R. Clayton
James Duerlinger
BUDDHIST THOUGHT AND
AcTION DHARMA APPLIED PSycHOLOGIcAL
New studies in engaged Buddhism RESEARcH
Edited by Christopher Queen, Transcending the boundaries
Charles Prebish, and Damien Keown Edited by D.K. Nauriyal,
Michael S. Drummond, and Y.B. Lal
TIBETAN AND ZEN
BUDDHISM IN BRITAIN BUDDHISM, cONFLIcT
Transplantation, development and AND vIOLENcE IN
adaptation MODERN SRI LANKA
David N. Kay Edited by Mahinda Deegalle
BUDDHISM IN cANADA BUddhISM, PoWer And
Edited by Bruce Matthews POLITIcAL ORDER
Edited by Ian Harris
DIScOURSE AND
IDEOLOGy IN MEDIEvAL BUDDHIST RITUALS OF
JAPANESE BUDDHISM DEATH AND REBIRTH
Edited by Richard K. Payne and contemporary Sri Lankan practice and
Taigen Dan Leighton its origins
Rita Langer
TherAVādA BUddhISM
AND THE BRITISH ENvIRONMENTAL ETHIcS
ENcOUNTER IN BUDDHISM
Religious, missionary and colonial A virtues approach
experience in nineteenth century PRAGATI SAHNI
Sri Lanka
Elizabeth Harris THE cULTURAL
PRAcTIcES OF MODERN
BEyOND cHINESE BUDDHISM
ENLIGHTENMENT Attuning the Dharma
Buddhism, religion, modernity Francesca Tarocco
Richard Cohen
MINDFULNESS IN EARLy
BUDDHISM IN THE BUDDHISM
PUBLIc SPHERE New approaches through psychology
Reorienting global interdependence and textual analysis of Pali, chinese
Peter D. Hershock and Sanskrit sources
Tse- fu Kuan
BRITISH BUDDHISM
Teachings, practice and development RELIGION, MEDIcINE
Robert Bluck AND THE HUMAN
EMBRyO IN TIBET
BUDDHIST NUNS IN Frances Garrett
TAIWAn And SrI LAnKA
A critique of the feminist PoWer, WeALTh And
perspective WoMen In IndIAn
Wei- Yi Cheng MAHAyANA BUDDHISM
The Gandavyuha-s utra
neW BUddhIST Douglas Osto
MOvEMENTS IN
THAILAND BUDDHIST MANUScRIPT
Towards an understanding of cULTURES
Wat Phra dhammakaya and Knowledge, ritual and art
Santi Asoke Edited by Stephen C. Berkwitz,
Rory Mackenzie Juliane Schober, and Claudia Brown
BUDDHIST MONASTIcISM BUDDHIST AND
IN EAST ASIA cHRISTIAN?
Places of practice An exploration of dual belonging
Edited by James A. Benn, Lori Meeks, Rose Drew
and James Robson
THE SPREAD OF TIBETAN
TIBETAN RITUALS OF
BUDDHISM IN cHINA
DEATH
charisma, money, enlightenment
Buddhist funerary practices
Dan Smyer Yu
Margaret Gouin
THE REFUTATION OF
BUDDHISM IN AUSTRALIA
THE SELF IN INDIAN
Traditions in change
BUDDHISM
Cristina Rocha and Michelle Barker
Candrakīrti on the selflessness of
BUDDHIST PRAcTIcE AND persons
vISUAL cULTURE James Duerlinger
The visual rhetoric of Borobudur
Julie Gifford
The following titles are published in association with the Oxford centre for Bud-
dhist Studies.
The Oxford centre for Buddhist Studies conducts and promotes rigorous
teaching and research into all forms of the Buddhist tradition.
EARLy BUDDHIST REMAKING BUDDHISM
METAPHySIcS FOR MEDIEvAL NEPAL
The making of a philosophical The fifteenth-c entury reformation of
tradition Newar Buddhism
Noa Ronkin Will Tuladhar- Douglas
MIPhAM’S dIALeCTICS METAPHOR AND
AND THE DEBATES ON LITERALISM IN
EMPTINESS BUDDHISM
To be, not to be or neither The doctrinal history of Nirvana
Karma Phuntsho Soonil Hwang
hoW BUddhISM BegAn THE BIOGRAPHIES OF
The conditioned genesis of the early REcHUNGPA
teachings The evolution of a Tibetan
Richard F. Gombrich hagiography
Peter Alan Roberts
BUDDHIST MEDITATION
An anthology of texts from the THE ORIGIN OF
Pāli Canon BUDDHIST MEDITATION
Sarah Shaw Alexander Wynne
T H E R E F U T A T I O N O F
T H E S E L F I N I N D I A N
B U D D H I S M
Candrakīrti on the selflessness of persons
James Duerlinger
First published 2013
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, oxon oX14 4rn
Simultaneously published in the USA and canada
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New york, Ny 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa
business
© 2013 James Duerlinger
The right of James duerlinger to be identified as author of this work has
been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Duerlinger, James.
The refutation of the self in Indian Buddhism : candrakirti on the
selflessness of persons / James duerlinger.
pages cm. – (routledge critical studies in Buddhism)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Candrakirti. Madhyamakavatara. 2. Madhyamika (Buddhism)
3. Anatman. I. candrakirti. Madhyamakavatara. English. II. Title.
BQ7479.8.C364M3333 2012
294.3'422–dc23
2012026007
ISBn: 978-0-415-65749-5 (hbk)
ISBn: 978-0-203-07471-8 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Wearset Ltd, Boldon, Tyne and Wear
cONTENTS
Preface xiv
1 Introduction 1
Part I: On the translation and its study 1
Part II: On the commentary 16
Part III: On Candrakīrti’s terminology and its philosophical
import 32
Part IV: On Candrakirti’s theory of persons in relation to other
Indian Buddhist theories 50
2 Translation 55
Verse 120 55
Verse 121 56
Verse 122 58
Verse 123 59
Verse 124a 59
Verse 124b 59
Verse 124cd 60
Verse 125 60
Verse 126ab 60
Verse 126cd 61
Verse 127 62
Verse 128 63
Verse 129ab 64
Verse 129c 65
Verse 129d 65
Verse 130 66
Verse 131 67
Verse 132 68
ix
