Definitions for "Madhyamaka"
(Skt; also MADHYAMIKA. Tib. umapa). Buddhist philosophical school, traditionally developed by the ?2nd century Buddhist philosopher Nagarjuna, and emphasizing the identity of SAMSARA and NIRVANA, and the empty or void ( shunya) nature of our ordinary dualistic perceptions of reality.
The Middle Way School of Buddhist philosophy; a system of analysis founded by Nagarjuna, based on the Prajñaparamita sutras of Shakyamuni Buddha, and considered to be the supreme presentation of the wisdom of emptiness. This view holds that all phenomena are dependent originations and thereby avoids the mistaken extremes of self-existence and non-existence, or eternalism and nihilism. It has two divisions, Svatantrika and Prasangika. With Cittamatra, one of the two Mahayana schools of philosophy.
Madhyamaka (Also known as Śunyavada) is a Buddhist Mahayāna tradition popularized by Nāgārjuna and Aśvaghoṣa. The school of thought and its subsidiaries are called "Madhyamaka"; those who follow it are called "Mādhyamikas."