Encyclopedia of Buddhism

the final truth. In East Asian Buddhism, the influence
of emptiness can be seen in Chinese and Japanese art,
in poetry, in the martial arts, and even, ostensibly, in
Japanese business practice.

In the West, attempts have been made to compare
Na
ga
rjuna’s thought with Immanuel Kant, G. W. F.
Hegel, or Francis Herbert Bradley, and more recently
with Jacques Derrida (deconstruction, particularly of
egocentricity) and Ludwig Wittgenstein (liberation of
others from philosophical predicaments that result
from fundamentally confused preconceptions; return
to the everyday world of praxis). Emptiness has also
been portrayed as a philosophy of relativity, or eco-
logical cosubsistence.

Bibliography

Bhattacharya, Kamaleswar, ed. and trans. The Dialectical Method
of Na
ga
rjuna (Vigrahavya
vartanl
),critically ed. E. H. John-
ston and Arnold Kunst. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1978.

Hayes, Richard. “Na
ga
rjuna’s Appeal.” Journal of Indian Philos-
ophy22 (1994): 299–378.

Inada, Kenneth K. Na
ga
rjuna: A Translation of His Mu
lama-
dhyamakaka
rika
, with an Introductory Essay.Tokyo: Hoku-
seido Press, 1970.

Lindtner, Christian. Na
ga
rjuniana: Studies in the Writings and
Philosophy of Na
ga
rjuna.Copenhagen, Denmark: Akademisk
Forlag, 1982.

Potter, Karl H., ed. Buddhist Philosophy from 100 to 350 A.D.,
Vol. 8:Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies.Delhi: Motilal Ba-
narsidass, 1999.

Ruegg, David S. The Literature of the Madhyamaka School of Phi-
losophy in India.Wiesbaden, Germany: Harrassowitz, 1981.

Tola, Fernando, and Dragonetti, Carmen. On Voidness: A Study
on Buddhist Nihilism.Delhi: Banarsidass, 1995.

Williams, Paul. Maha
ya
na Buddhism: The Doctrinal Founda-
tions.London and New York: Routledge, 1989.

Williams, Paul, with Tribe, Anthony. Buddhist Thought: A Com-
plete Introduction to the Indian Tradition.London and New
York: Routledge, 2000.

PAULWILLIAMS

NARA BUDDHISM

The term Nara Buddhismrefers to Buddhist scholar-
ship and monasteries in Nara, the first permanent cap-
ital of Japan, during the Nara period (645–794 C.E.).
From the time of the official introduction of Buddhism
to Japan in the mid-sixth century, the Japanese ac-

quired a wide variety of Buddhist scriptures and other

texts from Korea and China, where doctrinal schools

had developed. By the Nara period, Buddhism in Japan

was classified into six philosophical schools. These

schools did not comprise exclusive sectarian organiza-

tions, but were custodians of doctrinal traditions stud-

ied freely by monks and nuns.

The six doctrinal traditions were: (1) the Jo
jitsu,

which denied the permanent reality of the self and the

world; (2) the Kusha,which denied the permanent re-

ality of the self but not the world; (3) the Sanron,which

asserted that the self and the world are empty; (4) the

Hosso
,which asserted the nature of reality as a func-

tion of the mind; (5) the Kegon,which linked all exis-

tences into a web of connections; and (6) the Ritsu,

which taught the precepts governing the lifestyle of

monks and nuns. Large monasteries such as To
daiji,

Ko
fukuji, and To
sho
daiji served as home bases for

these schools.

Nara Buddhism was incorporated into the govern-

ment, which enforced a legal code for monks and nuns.

The code prohibited clergy from practicing and prop-

agating Buddhism in the countryside and restricted

them to their home monasteries. The government also

limited the annual number of monks receiving ordi-

nation, which could only be carried out at an officially

sanctioned ordination platform. The court conferred

ranks on leading monks, thus creating a sense of grat-

itude and obligation as well as a chain of command

used to regulate the clerical community. The official

system gave rise to illegal monks, who were often self-

ordained and worked freely among the people.

The court also created a national system, the PROVIN-

CIAL TEMPLE SYSTEM(KOKUBUNJI, RISHO
TO
). The cen-

tral monastery was To
daiji, which established a branch

monastery in each of the provinces. This national sys-

tem emphasized the power of the court as the central

political authority, and also placed Buddhism in the ser-

vice of the nation. The provincial monasteries were

dedicated to the ritual protection of the country.

Large families and clans also built private monaster-

ies. Ko
fukuji, for example, was the clan monastery for

the powerful Fujiwara family. At the family level, Bud-

dhist rites were conducted for the well-being of the clan,

and for commemorating their ancestors. Nara Buddhism

thus consisted of the national system, family monaster-

ies, and illegal monks working among the people.

Late in the Nara period, the monk DO
KYO
(d.u.–772)

gained political power through an intimate relation-

ship with a reigning empress, and attempted to usurp

NARABUDDHISM