Aryadeva
Aryadeva
c. 170 – c. 270
Aryadeva was the principal disciple of Nagarjuna and the fifteenth Indian patriarch of the Chan lineage. He was a master debater who encountered Nagarjuna after a series of remarkable encounters with Buddhist teachers and became his most capable student. His own philosophical works, particularly the Catuhsataka (Four Hundred Verses), extend and defend the Madhyamaka analysis of Nagarjuna with great precision and polemical force.
According to traditional accounts, Aryadeva had the physical characteristic of one eye, having offered it to an image of Kuan Yin in a past life. His debates with non-Buddhist philosophers were legendary, and his skill in articulating the view of emptiness contributed enormously to the spread of Mahayana in India. As the sixteenth link in the chain, he transmitted the essence of awakening to Rahulata, carrying the Indian lineage forward through another generation.
Teachings
- sayingOn the Emptiness of All Dharmas
Just as the body is not the foot, the foot is not the body, and neither is the self—so too with all dharmas: none has an inherent nature that can be found upon investigation. If things existed inherently, what need would there be for the path? But because all phenomena are empty of self-nature, transformation is possible, liberation is possible, and the path of awakening stands open. The student of Nagarjuna sees that emptiness is not a void to be feared but the very condition that makes compassion and awakening possible.
Master Record Sources
- datesZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
c. 170-270 CE
- nameZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
Aryadeva
- schoolZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
Indian Patriarchs
- teachersZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
Nagarjuna