This work is a textual based discourse on the Cittavisuddhi-prakarana of Aryadeva, a seminal text which describes the principle and philosophy of Buddhist Tantra. The dispute on the question of Tantric meditative practices having any philosophical foundation or whether those practices have been introduced into the ethico-religious praxis of various religious traditions as a later introduction is a continuing discussion. In this work, it is trying to prove that the introduction of Tantra into Madhyamika philosophy is a natural development and it is proved beyond doubt by reviewing an important work in the Buddhist tradition written by Aryadeva, the Cittavisuddhi-prakarana. The unique dialectical method introduced and used by the Madhyamikas to interpret their philosophy and the conception of sunyata is the guiding principle in this regard. Madhyamika envisages that the conception of sunyata can be interpreted as the proper understanding of the insubstantial nature of object of the world (dharma-nairatmya) and the insubstantial nature of the subjective self which perceives such objects of the world (pudgala-nairatmya). The dialectics advanced by the Madhyamika is efficient in deconstructing the substantiality of the phenomenal world of objects, but that is effectively possible only after reconstructing the notion of a substantive self using Tantric spiritual practices. The sunyata as the conception of dharma-nairatmya is achieved through reconstructing the substantive notion of the phenomenal world using dialectics, while it as the conception of pudgala-nairatmya is achieved using Tantric spiritual practices.

Principles of Buddhist Tantra: A Discourse on Cittavisuddhi-prakarana of Aryadeva, Mathew Varghese, Mushiram Manoharlal Publishers,
282 Pages, $30.00

Mathew Varghese is a scholar of the early Madhyamika philosophy of Nagarjuna and Aryadeva, and shows a keen interest in researching their philosophical method and interpreting it in contemporary perspective. He received his PhD from the University of Madras. He has published a number of articles on Buddhist philosophy and now working on a book about the scope and conception of negative arguments in Philosophy based on pre-Buddhistic and Hellenic thought which would be published soon. He is now teaching at Aoyama Gakuin University, Tokyo, Japan.

	Preface	xv
	CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION	1
1.1	The Knowing-Subject and the Objects Known	6
1.2	The Madhyamika View-Its Origin and Development	8
1.2.1	Early Madhyamikas and Their Contribution	9
1.2.2	Madhyamika Dialectics-Rejection of the Theoretical Evaluation of Phenomena	12
1.3	Pudgala-nairatmya through Tantrism	16
1.4	Aryadeva-the Person and the Philosopher	18
1.4.1	Aryadeva II and the Authorship of the Cittavisuddhi-prakarana	20
1.5	A Review of Other Works of Aryadeva	24
1.5.1	The Catuhsataka	24
1.5.2	The Aksarasatakam	27
1.5.3	The Hastavalanama-prakaranavrtti	27
1.6	Cittavisuddhi-prakarana-Introducing Tantrism in Madhyamika	29
1.7	About the Text	33
	CHAPTER TWO STRUCTURE OF MADHYAMIKA DIALECTICS	42
2.1	Dialectics as a Method to Discern Dharma-nairatmya	42
2.2	Buddha�s Silence-the Source of Madhyamika Dialectics	24
2.3	The Development of Madhyamika Dialectics	45
2.4	Dharma-nairatmya-Through the Method of Regressive Analysis	48
2.4.1	Discerning Dharma and Dharmadhatu-On Authority of Pramanas	49
2.4.2	Examining Truth Function of the Pramanas-the Concept of Dharma-nairatmya	52
2.5	Dharma-nairatmya-Through the Method of Progressive Analysis	62
2.6	�Uncertainty Principle� of Werner Heisenberg-Proof of Dharma-nairatmya	66
2.7	Sunyata as a Took to Restructure the Phenomena (Dharma)	71
2.8	The Characteristic Features of Madhyamika Dialectics	74
2.8.1	The Relevance of Negative Argumentation	76
2.9	Madhyamika Dialectics-from Sanjaya to Nagarjuna	77
2.10	Conclusion	80
	CHAPTER THREE DHARMADHATU-A RATIONAL RECONSTRUCTION OF �PHENOMENON�	88
3.1	The Rational Structuring of Dharma-nairatmya and Dharmadhatu	88
3.2	Cittavisuddhi for Realisation of Pudgala-nairatmya and the Experience of Dharma-nairatmya	91
3.3	The Materialists� View on Pudgala-nairatmya	92
3.3.1	Silencing of the Mind-Spiritual Practices of the Ucchedavadins	93
3.4	Aryadeva�s Refutation-the Catuskoti to solve Avyakrta Problems	94
3.4.1	Controlling the Thought Process-not Absolute Silencing of the Mind	95
3.5	Realisation of the Eternal Self Brahmanical View	96
3.5.1	Sankhya School-Philosophisation inspired by the Vedas	98
3.5.2	Sankhya and Yoga-Understanding of Cittavisuddhi	99
3.6	The Importance of Middle Way in Spiritual Practice	102
3.7	Phenomenal World and Means of Liberation	103
3.7.1	The Arising of Suffering (Duhkha-samudaya)	104
3.7.2	Cessation of Suffering (Dukhha-nirodha)	105
3.7.3	The Means of Cessation of Suffering (Duhkha-nirodhagamini-patipada)	107
3.8	Cessation of Suffering and Freedom through Budhicitta	108
3.8.1	Bodhicitta through Sexuality and Martial Arts	112
3.8.2	Other Important Spiritual Practices	114
3.9	Bodhicitta-the Middle of Adherence and Aversion	114
3.10	Bodhicitta-Removal of Vikalpas and Realization of Dharmadhatu	116
3.11	The Dharmadhatu	121
	CHAPTER FOUR THE INTERSECTION OF TANTRA AND MADHYAMIKA PHILOSOPHY	127
4.1	The Philosophical Significance of Prajna	127
4.1.1	Theravada and Mahayana Views on Prajna	129
4.1.2	Buddhi and Prajna to Understand the Nature of Phenomena	130
4.2	Conception of Duality as Karuna and Sunyata	131
4.2.1	Spiritual Dimension of Dharmadhatu	132
4.2.2	Optimum Intermingling of Prajna and Upaya	133
4.2.3	The Bodhisattva�s Mind	135
4.3	Importance of Cittavisuddhi	136
4.3.1	Purvamimamsa View on Physical Purity	137
4.3.2	Dharma (Spiritual Virtue) through rituals-the Difficulties	138
4.3.3	Cittavisuddhi and Removal of the Notion of the Eternal Self	141
4.4	The Vastness of Phenomenon and the Idea of Sunyata	143
4.4.1	Knowing Sunyata through Perfected Knowledge	144
4.4.2	Realising Selflessness through Tantric Practices	145
4.4.3	The Personality of a Bodhisattva	147
4.5	Referential Importance of Textual Injunctions	149
4.6	The Vehemence of Prajna to remove Misconceptions	150
4.6.1	Removal of Suffering with the Realization of Dharmadhatu	151
4.7	Significance of the Mantras to protect Bodhicitta	153
4.7.1	Sexo-yogic (Kriyatantra) Spiritual Practices and Transcendence of Dualism	154
4.8	Not Destruction of Desires but Appeasement of Desire	156
4.9	Realising Pudgala-nairatmya through Tantric Practices	157
4.9.1	The Removal of Ignorance clears the Notion of Permanent Self	158
4.9.2	The Removal of Permanent Self with the Permanent Self	158
4.9.3	The Yogic Practices that facilitate the Mastery of Mantras	160
4.10	Right Concentration (Sraddha) as the Supreme Upaya	162
	CHAPTER FIVE CITTAVISUDDHI-A PRACTICAL METHOD FOR PHILOSOPHICAL REALIZATION	170
5.1	The Object of Experience	170
5.1.1	The Truth-Value of the Cognised Objects	171
5.2	Phenomena and the Psychophysical Personality	172
5.2.1	The Importance of Dispositions	174
5.3	The Dialectical Restructuring of Phenomena-Aryadeva�s View	175
5.3.1	Dialectical Analysis of Phenomena Philosophical Methodology of Early Madhyamikas	178
5.3.2	Meaning of Sunyata-Some New Perspectives	181
5.4	Dharmadhatu-The Elemental Composition of the Cognized Objects	182
5.4.1	Aryadeva�s View on Dharmadhatu and Dharma-nairatmya	185
5.5	Cittavisuddhi, Dharmadhatu, and the Tantric Spiritual Techniques	188
	CHAPTER SIX TANTRIC INDOCTRINATION AND ESOTERIC PRACTICES-ETHICAL DIMENSION OF CITTAVISUDDHI-PRAKARANA	192
6.1	Cittavisuddhi and the Conception of Yuganaddha	192
6.2	The Dualism of Masculinity and Femininity	193
6.2.1	The Subtle Dynamics of Mind	194
6.2.2	The Bio-dynamics of Sexuality and the Dispositions	195
6.3	The Transcendence of Dualism: The Tantric Way	196
6.3.1	Martial Art as a Tantric Discipline	198
6.4	Bodhidharma and the Indian Tradition of Martial Arts	201
6.5	The Tantric Spiritual Practices of Cittavisuddhi-prakarana	202
6.6	Pudgala-nairatmya (Essencelessnees of the Self) as the Manifestation of God	209
	CHAPTER SEVEN SUNYATA AND TANTRA: THE INNATE RELATIONSHIP	212
	Appendix: The Cittavisuddhi-prakarana (of Aryadeva) with Sanskrit Text and English Translation	226
	Bibliography	263
	Index	271