Madhyāntavibhāga

Madhyāntavibhāga (T. dbus mtha' rnam 'byed, དབུ་མཐའ་རྣམ་འབྱེད་; C. Bianzhougbian, 辨中邊論頌), known in English as Distinguishing the Middle from Extremes, is a Mahayana treatise that, according to tradition, was presented to Asanga by the Buddha Maitreya. In the Tibetan tradition, this text is identified as one of the Five Treatises of Maitreya.

According to Mipham Rinpoche:

It is a treatise that correctly "distinguishes" the "extremes" of permanence and annihilation from the "middle"--reality free from extremes.

It is counted among the thirteen great texts in the Nyingma tradition.

Text

Along with Chinese, Tibetan and Mongolian translations, the text survives in a single Sanskrit manuscript discovered in Tibet by the Indian scholar Rahul Sankrityayan. The Sanskrit version also included a commentary (bhāsya) by Vasubandhu. An important sub-commentary (tīkā) by Sthiramati also survives in Sanskrit as well as a Tibetan version.

According to Robert Buswell et al, this text includes one of the most important Yogacara explanations of the three natures.

Outline of text

The Madhyānta-vibhāga-kārikā consists of 112 verses (kārikā) which delineate the distinctions (vibhāga) and relationship between the middle (madhya) view and the extremes (anta).

The text contains five chapters:

1. Characteristics (lakṣaṇa),
2. Obscurations (āvarana),
3. Reality (tattva),
4. Cultivation of Antidotes (pratipakṣa-bhāvanā) and the
5. Supreme Way (yānānuttarya).

Sanskrit edition

A Sanskrit edition was prepared by Gadjin M. Nagao in 1964.

Translations

Translations of the Madhyāntavibhāga-kārikā include:

• Stcherbatsky, Th. (1936), Mathyanta-Vibhanga, "Discource on Discrimination between Middle and Extremes" ascribed to Bodhisattva Maitreya and commented by Vasubhandu and Sthiramathi, translated from the Sanskrit by Theodore Stcherbatsky, Bibliotheca Buddhica XXX, Academy of Sciences USSR Press, Moscow/Leningrad.
• Friedmann, David Lasar (1937). Madhyāntavibhāga-ṭikā: An Analysis of the Middle Path and the Extremes by David Lasar Friedmann. Rijksuniversiteit te Leiden.
• Kochumuttom, Thomas (1982). A Buddhist Doctrine of Experience: A New Translation and Interpretation of the Works of Vasubandhu the Yogacarin by Thomas Kochumuttom. Motilal Banarsidass.
• Anacker, Stefan (1984). Seven Works of Vasubandhu Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi:
• The Principles of Buddhist Psychology by David J. Kalupahana. State University of New York Press. Albany.
• Stanley, Richard (1988). A Study of the Madhyāntavibhāga-bhāṣya-ṭikā. Doctoral dissertation, Australian National University, April.
• Wood, Thomas E. (1991). Mind Only: A Philosophical and Doctrinal Analysis of the Vijnanavada. University of Hawaii Press.
• Thrangu Rinpoche (2000). Distinguishing the Middle from the Extremes. The root text by Maitreya and a Commentary by The Venerable Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche. Namo Buddha Publications.
• Dharmachakra Translation Committee (2001). Middle Beyond Extremes: Maitreya's Madhyantavibhaga with Commentaries by Khenpo Shenga and Ju Mipham. Snow Lion Publications.
• D'Amato, Mario ( 2012). Maitreya's Distinguishing the Middle from the Extremes (Madhyāntavibhāga): Along with Vasubandhu's Commentary (Madhyāntavibhāga-Bhāṣya): A Study and Annotated Translation. New York, American Institute of Buddhist Studies. ISBN 9781935011057
• Dunne, John D. (Unpublished). Distinguishing the Middle and the Extremes by Asaṅga, Commentary by Vasubandhu: Draft Translation with brief annotations.

External links

• Distinguishing the Middle from Extremes, Rigpa Shedra Wiki
• Madhyantavibhaga, Rangjung Yeshe Wiki
• Madhyanta-vibhaga-karika, Wikipedia