- Lived:
- c. 150–250 CE · South India, under the Sātavāhana dynasty
- Tradition:
- Indian Buddhist; founder of the Madhyamaka ("Middle Way") school of Mahāyāna philosophy
- The Big Idea:
- Nothing — no thing, no self, no atom, not even nirvana — exists independently, from its own side; everything is empty of intrinsic essence because everything arises through dependence, and that emptiness is not a void but the very reason change, life, and liberation are possible.
- In their words:
- "Whatever is dependently arisen, that is explained to be emptiness."
- If you remember one thing:
- Emptiness doesn't mean things don't exist — it means nothing exists on its own, and for Nāgārjuna that is the best news there is.