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This chapter examines the main features of Arthur Schopenhauer’s thoughts about the reality-status of the empirical world and how they relate to the Mādhyamika teaching of Mahāyāna Buddhism. It first considers monk-scholar Nāgārjuna’s reinterpretation of the doctrine of dependent origination and compares his views with the Mādhyamika reinterpretation. It then explores Nāgārjuna’s throughts about emptiness (śūnyatā) and inherent being (svabhāva). It also discusses the importance of the teaching of the doctrine of Two Truths (satya-dvaya), together with the doctrines of dependent origination and emptiness, for the Mādhyamika school. Finally, it analyzes the concept of the everyday truth (samvrti-satya).

This chapter examines the Indian affinities of Arthur Schopenhauer’s doctrine of representation. It first considers the teachings of Advaita Vedānta and Mādhyamika schools regarding the deceptive nature of the empirical world. In particular, it discusses the concept of māyā, and the likening of the empirical world to a dream; the world as a creation of mind, devoid of inherent reality; and the doctrine of dependent origination as it was reformulated by Nāgārjuna. It then explores the views of Schopenhauer, the Advaita philosophers and the Mādhyamikas about the reality-status of the world, along with the agreement between the Mādhyamika and Advaita teaching of the doctrine of Two Truths and Schopenhauer’s transcendental idealism. The chapter also highlights the link between the Western philosophical tradition and Indian thought in Schopenhauer’s doctrine of the world as representation.

This book explores Arthur Schopenhauer’s encounter with Indian thought, with particular emphasis on his doctrine of representation and his account of the genesis of the will. It considers the extent and nature of the affinities between Schopenhauer’s thought and the philosophical and religious ideas of India by concentrating on the schools associated with Hinduism and Buddhism: the Advaita Vedānta and the Mādhyamika and Yogācāra schools. The book is divided into four sections. The first section provides the background to Schopenhauer’s interest in Indian thought and the growth and extent of his knowledge of Hindu and Buddhist ideas. The second section deals with the doctrine of representation and related views found in India, while the third section discusses the doctrine of the will and its relation to Indian thought. The fourth and lasr section focuses on the ontological status of the will and the nature of final reality.

This concluding chapter summarizes the numerous affinities between Arthur Schopenhauer’s ideas and Indian thought. It first considers Schopenhauer’s belief that a notable resemblance existed between the epistemological idealism of Immanuel Kant, which provided the starting point for his own philosophy, and Indian ideas then becoming known to Europe concerning the illusory nature of empirical reality. It then discusses similarities between Schopenhauer’s doctrines of representation and will and the teachings of the Mādhyamika school within Buddhism and Advaita Vedānta within Hinduism. It also examines other interesting points of contact between Schopenhauer’s philosophy and Indian thought, including the doctrine of Two Truths, the concepts of śakti and dependent origination, karmic impressions, store-consciousness, formative forces, better consciousness or final denial of the will, the pure subject of knowing, and salvation.