Books & Edited Vols. by Krzysztof Jakubczak
Buddhism: Traditions and ideas, ed. by Krzysztof Jakubczak, 2022
Poza bytem i niebytem. Filozofia buddyjska wobec zarzutu nihilizmu, 2019
Beyond being and non-being: Buddhist philosophy against the charge of nihilism
Oblicza sztuki buddyjskiej, 2018
Faces of Buddhist Art, ed. by K. Jakubczak, Kraków 2018.
Nāgārjuna's Madhyamaka: Philosophy or therapy?
Między wiarą a gnozą. Doświadczenie mistyczne w tradycjach Orientu, 2003
Mystical experience in the Buddhist tradition
Papers & chapters by Krzysztof Jakubczak
ARCHIWUM HISTORII FILOZOFII I MYŚLI SPOŁECZNEJ • ARCHIVE of the HISTORY of PHILOSOPHY and SOCIAL THOUGHT, 2023
Nāgārjuna’s Hymn to the Ultimate (Paramārthastava), or a Few Words about a Fine Line between Phil... more Nāgārjuna’s Hymn to the Ultimate (Paramārthastava), or a Few Words about a Fine Line between Philosophical Analysis and Devotional Practice
Paramarthāstava is the fourth hymn in a set of four Nagarjuna’s hymns called Catuḥstava. It differs from the other hymns in this set in its narrative. In the three earlier hymns, especially in the first and third one, Nāgārjuna presents the Buddha as the spokesman of Madhyamaka philosophy. In the fourth hymn, the Buddha is presented as an object of worship arising from an attitude of religious devotion (bhakti). Nāgārjuna praises the Buddha using apophatic epithets. At the end, however, there is a positive denomination. Nāgārjuna states that the Buddha has reached the state of the fundament of the dharmas (dharmadhātu). The distinctiveness of this hymn attracted the attention of scholars. The most revealing interpretation was presented by Drasko Mitrikeski. He concluded that in this hymn Nāgārjuna proposes a meditation practice based on the meditation scheme of recollection of the Buddha (buddhānusmṛti), which is an alternative practice to analytical meditation presented in philosophical treatises. In this text, I agree with the statement that the structure of Paramarthāstawa can be modeled on the pattern of recollection of the Buddha. However, I reject the belief that for Nagarjuna this is an alternative practice and equivalent to analytical meditation. After examining the hymn, I find that for Nāgārjuna, the fine line between philosophical analysis and religious practice is humor.
Buddyzm. Tradycje i idee [Buddhism: Traditions and Ideas], 2022
The author intends to explicate the content of the Buddhist experience. The first part of the tex... more The author intends to explicate the content of the Buddhist experience. The first part of the text discusses the cognitive and existential aspects of
Buddhist experience. The second part deals with some historical issues
of Indian Buddhism. In the third part the author strives to indicate this
moment in Buddhist thought, embedded in the early texts of the Indian
period, in which there is a fundamental split in the way of expressing the
original intuition of the Buddhist experience of existence. In the author’s
opinion, all subsequent Buddhist ontological disputes originated in the
discrepancies already revealed in the texts of the early canons, especially
in the Pāli and Sanskrit versions of the Discourse to Kātyāyana.
Oblicza sztuki buddyjskiej, 2018
Summary of the dispute about aniconism in early Buddhist art, [in:] Faces of Buddhist Art, ed. by... more Summary of the dispute about aniconism in early Buddhist art, [in:] Faces of Buddhist Art, ed. by K. Jakubczak, Kraków 2018, pp. 11-32.
Seeing of emptiness and mystical experience — the case of Madhyamaka: The problem of Buddhist rel... more Seeing of emptiness and mystical experience — the case of Madhyamaka: The problem of Buddhist religiosity is one of the most classic problems of Buddhist studies. a particular ver‑ sion of this issue is the search for mystical experience in Buddhism. This is due to the convic‑ tion that mystical experience is the essence of religious experience itself. The discovery of such an alleged experience fuels comparative speculations between Buddhism and the philosophical and religious traditions of the Mediterranean area. Madhyamaka is the Buddhist tradition which many researchers saw as the fulfillment of such mystical aspirations in Buddhism. In this paper I specify the standard parameters of mystical experience (non ‑conceptuality, inef‑ fability, paradoxicality, silence, oneness, fullness) and I conclude that they either cannot be applied to Madhyamaka or that the application is only illusory.
The problem of identity of being in Buddhist philosophy the Buddhist philosophical school of madh... more The problem of identity of being in Buddhist philosophy the Buddhist philosophical school of madhyamaka is famous for its statement that things do not have their own inherent nature, essence or self ‑nature (svabhāva). As a result, it is said that there is no objective foundation of the identity of things. thus, the identity of things is not grounded in things themselves but is solely imputed and externally imposed on them. things are what they are only for us, whereas for themselves, or from their 'own side' they are empty (śūnya). that is why madhyamaka philosophy is often compared to the philosophical con‑ ceptions inspired by a linguistic reflection (from Wittgenstein to Derrida) which defines the problem of identity in terms of cognitive subjectivism and constructivism. Starting the analysis from the Abhidharma Buddhist tradition I will show that this reading of madhyamaka view is too narrow. I will demonstrate that it is a result of an assumption, shared by Parmenides and Plato and wrongly ascribed to this Buddhist school, that the identity of being must be grounded in the self ‑existing, self ‑defined and (relatively) permanent ontological foundation. this tacit assumption, if rejected, makes any identity a completely subjective and relative con‑ struct. the point I am going to argue for, however, is that the madhyamaka school sticks to an alternative understanding of objectivity; the foundation of all things is nothing but pure relation that precedes, in the ontological sense, all co ‑related elements (i.e. things). therefore, the question comes up: how being ‑in ‑relationship or 'relationality' may be the foundation of identity and what kind of identity it endows. I will try to answer these questions.
Philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism - Madhyamaka and Yogācāra
About a philosophy that does not exist. Notes in the margin of the book 'Zen Philosophy' by A. Ko... more About a philosophy that does not exist. Notes in the margin of the book 'Zen Philosophy' by A. Kozyra
The function of positive language in the negative philosophy of Madhyamaka
The apparent and real foundations of the Christian-Buddhist community
How Much Nothingness Can We Suffer? Some Remarks on the Philosophical Foundations of Christian-H... more How Much Nothingness Can We Suffer? Some Remarks on the Philosophical Foundations of Christian-Hindu and Christian-Buddhist Dialogue
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Books & Edited Vols. by Krzysztof Jakubczak
Papers & chapters by Krzysztof Jakubczak
Paramarthāstava is the fourth hymn in a set of four Nagarjuna’s hymns called Catuḥstava. It differs from the other hymns in this set in its narrative. In the three earlier hymns, especially in the first and third one, Nāgārjuna presents the Buddha as the spokesman of Madhyamaka philosophy. In the fourth hymn, the Buddha is presented as an object of worship arising from an attitude of religious devotion (bhakti). Nāgārjuna praises the Buddha using apophatic epithets. At the end, however, there is a positive denomination. Nāgārjuna states that the Buddha has reached the state of the fundament of the dharmas (dharmadhātu). The distinctiveness of this hymn attracted the attention of scholars. The most revealing interpretation was presented by Drasko Mitrikeski. He concluded that in this hymn Nāgārjuna proposes a meditation practice based on the meditation scheme of recollection of the Buddha (buddhānusmṛti), which is an alternative practice to analytical meditation presented in philosophical treatises. In this text, I agree with the statement that the structure of Paramarthāstawa can be modeled on the pattern of recollection of the Buddha. However, I reject the belief that for Nagarjuna this is an alternative practice and equivalent to analytical meditation. After examining the hymn, I find that for Nāgārjuna, the fine line between philosophical analysis and religious practice is humor.
Buddhist experience. The second part deals with some historical issues
of Indian Buddhism. In the third part the author strives to indicate this
moment in Buddhist thought, embedded in the early texts of the Indian
period, in which there is a fundamental split in the way of expressing the
original intuition of the Buddhist experience of existence. In the author’s
opinion, all subsequent Buddhist ontological disputes originated in the
discrepancies already revealed in the texts of the early canons, especially
in the Pāli and Sanskrit versions of the Discourse to Kātyāyana.
Paramarthāstava is the fourth hymn in a set of four Nagarjuna’s hymns called Catuḥstava. It differs from the other hymns in this set in its narrative. In the three earlier hymns, especially in the first and third one, Nāgārjuna presents the Buddha as the spokesman of Madhyamaka philosophy. In the fourth hymn, the Buddha is presented as an object of worship arising from an attitude of religious devotion (bhakti). Nāgārjuna praises the Buddha using apophatic epithets. At the end, however, there is a positive denomination. Nāgārjuna states that the Buddha has reached the state of the fundament of the dharmas (dharmadhātu). The distinctiveness of this hymn attracted the attention of scholars. The most revealing interpretation was presented by Drasko Mitrikeski. He concluded that in this hymn Nāgārjuna proposes a meditation practice based on the meditation scheme of recollection of the Buddha (buddhānusmṛti), which is an alternative practice to analytical meditation presented in philosophical treatises. In this text, I agree with the statement that the structure of Paramarthāstawa can be modeled on the pattern of recollection of the Buddha. However, I reject the belief that for Nagarjuna this is an alternative practice and equivalent to analytical meditation. After examining the hymn, I find that for Nāgārjuna, the fine line between philosophical analysis and religious practice is humor.
Buddhist experience. The second part deals with some historical issues
of Indian Buddhism. In the third part the author strives to indicate this
moment in Buddhist thought, embedded in the early texts of the Indian
period, in which there is a fundamental split in the way of expressing the
original intuition of the Buddhist experience of existence. In the author’s
opinion, all subsequent Buddhist ontological disputes originated in the
discrepancies already revealed in the texts of the early canons, especially
in the Pāli and Sanskrit versions of the Discourse to Kātyāyana.