Chapter 1 – Causality [U2T-3S-causality]: 

This chapter refutes independent/inherent/absolute subjects, causes, conditions, parts because the three spheres of causality/production  – cause/producer, causality/production, effect/product – cannot be inherently (i) dependently-arisen /existent /functional /changing /ceasing, (ii) non-dependently-arisen /non-existent /non-functional /non-changing /non-ceasing, (iii) both, or (iv) neither; cannot be inherently (i) different /separate /multiple /dual, (ii) identical /united /one /non-dual, (iii) both, or (iv) neither; cannot be inherently (i) permanent /continuous /eternal /’this’, (ii) impermanent /discontinuous /annihilated /’non-this’, (iii) both, or (iv) neither; etc. [Tetralemma] ⇐⇒ thus the three spheres are empty of inherent existence, never absolute [T2-3S] ⇐⇒ they are inseparable, dependently co-arisen, interdependent, co-defined, co-evolving, co-imputed by the mind, mere designations/names, conventional truths/tools [T1-3S] ⇐⇒ and vice versa, one truth supports/implies/enables the other [U2T-3S] ⇐⇒ they are like illusions, reflections, mirages, dreams, echos, ‘there, yet not there’ [Illusory]
⇐⇒ so we could use these models /concepts /dualities /triads / quads, like subject/relation/object, actor/action/result, cause/causality/effect, producer/production/product, goer/going/destination, perceiver/perception/perceived, knower/knowing/known, part/composing/aggregate, characteristic/characterizing/characterized, definition/defining/defined, origination/duration/cessation, before/during/after, past/present/future, and other dualities/triads/quads, including the two truths, conventionally/relatively, but never in absolute terms [U2T-in-action], using them without apprehending /opposing /unifying /accepting /rejecting /changing /increasing /decreasing /liberating anything in absolute terms.

There are no inherent subjects/causes/conditions/parts because all subjects/causes/conditions/parts have their own subjects/causes/conditions/parts, because they are also objects/effects/aggregates/wholes,  because they are dependently co-arisen in a limitless and centerless cycle. The same for the objects/effects/aggregates/wholes.

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Last update: December 27, 2025
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Source Text: Garfield, PTG, Streng, Batchelor. 

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A. Introduction – Beyond Causality and Acausality

Chapter 1 introduces the inseparable relativity [T1] and emptiness of inherent existence [T2] of causality, of causes, conditions, causal relations and effects. It affirms that there is no inherent/absolute causality whether it is (i) self-causation / independent-origination, (ii) other-causation / dependent-origination, (iii) both, or (iv) neither (causeless). Meaning the three spheres of causality – subject/cause, relation/causality and object/effect – cannot be (i) identical/united/one/non-dual, (ii) different/separate/multiple/dual, (iii) both, or (iv) neither. Meaning the essence of the effect/product is not in the causes and conditions, individually or collectively; nor are they completely unrelated. Meaning subject/perceiver and object/perceived/world are not independent/separate/in-opposition, nor can one be reducible to the other (materialism, idealism). Meaning there is no (i) continuity or (ii) discontinuity of any thing, being, process or cycle in the three times (before, during and after the actual action/production); no (i) permanent or (ii) impermanent essence, self, or 5 aggregates. Instead of indulging in any to those four extreme positions (i-iv), Nagarjuna proposes a Middle Way free from all extremes (‘this’, ‘non-this’) and middle (both, neither), with nothing to accept/reject/change in absolute terms, only conventionally/relatively/temporarily if it helps on the path at this point.

Chapter 1 introduces four types of conventional conditions: (a) the primary or efficient cause of a particular effect, (b) the objects of sensation in the case of perception, (c) the preceding moment of consciousness and its concomitant mental factors in the case of mental causality, and (d) the dominant condition which is the purpose or end for which an action is undertaken These four types of conditions are briefly discussed in this chapter, but are analysed in more detail in the subsequent chapters. Thus this chapter deconstructs all the causal explanations of the Abhidharma, showing that they are never absolute, only relatively useful when not grasped, otherwise they turn into poison and become counter-productive by grasping at illusory dharmas and dualities/triads/quads.

The Madhyamaka logic is always similar [Tetralemma ⇔ Emptiness ⇔ Dependent Origination ⇔ Illusory ⇔ Middle Way ⇔ Acting-without-acting]: by showing that in the various dyads/triads/quads — e.g., subject/relation/object, cause/causality/effect, goer/going/destination, seer/seeing/seen, part/composing/whole, characteristic/defining/characterized, producer/production/produced, acquirer/acquiring/acquired —
the apparent opposites cannot be
(i) existent/real/identical/united/simultaneous/one/non-dual/’this’,
(ii) non-existent/non-real/different/separate/multiple/dual/’non-this’,
(iii) both, or (iv) neither, and there is no fifth [Tetralemma];
⇐⇒ this implies that the apparent opposites are empty of inherent existence, never absolute [T2/Emptiness];
⇐⇒ but dependently co-arisen, interdependent, co-defined, co-evolving, co-imputed by the mind, mere designations/names, conventional truth/tools [T1/Dependent-Origination];
⇐⇒ one aspect/truth supports/implies the other [U2T];
⇐⇒ like illusions, reflections, mirages, dreams, echos, ‘there, yet not there’ [Illusory];
⇐⇒ Pointing to the Middle Way free from all extremes;
⇐⇒ so we can use them conventionally/relatively but never in absolute terms [Acting-without-acting].
(Where ‘⇐⇒’ means one side implies the other.)

All the subsequent chapters are exploring causality in all of its aspects that are relevant to awakening/enlightenment: causality in movement, perception, composing of the aggregates, defining the irreducible elements, the theory of successive moments of consciousness and their mental factors, the three stages/times of becoming (origination/coming/before, duration/transformation/during, cessation/going/after), the continuity of a self/5-aggregates, the production of suffering, the Four Noble Truths, the acquisition of karma, the unification of opposites, the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination, the attainment of Nirvana, the transcendence of all views / extremes.

Dependent origination and emptiness are useful tools, but not absolute reality, which is more like the Union of the Two Truths [U2T]. Everything is empty of inherent existence [T2] ⇐⇒ precisely because everything is dependently arisen  [T1] ⇐⇒ and vice versa; one truth supports/implies the other [U2T]. Even the two truths are like that [U2T-2T]. The Union of the Two Truths is just a finger pointing at the moon, not the moon itself.

B. Analysis – Like a limitless and centerless karmic fractal

• • Nagarjuna refutes all forms of causality: It is never absolute, but still relatively useful.

  • Nagarjuna refutes the four extreme types of causality, for a Middle Way solution.

  • There are no real/inherent causes [T2] ⇐⇒ because they are always dependent on their own causes and conditions [T1] [U2T]; and because of the conceptual interdependence of the three spheres [U3S / U2T-3S].

  • Causality is not linear: Each point is the effect of an infinity of causes and conditions, and the cause of an infinity of effects; dependent on an infinity of perspectives. Causes, effects and causal relations (all dharmas) do not exist objectively out there or in there, we are not ‘discovering them’, but are part of models imagined by the mind(s), co-evolving with the mind(s).

  • There are no real/inherent cause/causality/effect [T2] ⇐⇒ because the three spheres
    cannot be existent/different/separate/'this', non-existent/identical/united/'non-this', both, or neither [Tetralemma]
    ⇐⇒ Because one sphere is conditioned-by and conditioning the others; they are inseparable, interdependent, co-evolving.

  • There are no real/inherent cause/causality/effect [T2] ⇐⇒ because we cannot find the true origination / beginning, duration / middle, cessation / ending for any thing, being, process, cycle.

  • There is no continuity or discontinuity of any being, thing, process, cycle, or karma, across the three times of any activity, association, aggregation, definition.

  • It is a limitless and centerless fractal cycle: All dharmas are both cause and effect; are multiple causes and effects depending on the perspective, all merely imputed by the mind in dependence of its past experience, conditioning, karma (individual, collective, cosmic).

  • It is like a limitless centerless empty fractal conditioning/causal/karmic cycle — the effect becomes a new cause: All phenomena/dharmas are both cause and effect; have/are an infinity of causes, conditions and effects in space, time and nature depending on the perspective; are ever changing, never the same for two consecutive infinitesimal moments. There is no first inherent/absolute cause, no final inherent/absolute effect, no middle inherent/absolute causal-relations. Causality (dependent origination) is conventionally/relatively functional/useful to navigate the world [T1], but never absolute [T2] [U2T]. Absolute determinism/prediction/control is impossible. The three spheres of causality – cause, causality, effect – are interdependent, co-defined, co-evolving, co-imputed after the fact [T1-3S] ⇐⇒ empty of inherent existence [T2-3S] ⇐⇒ like illusions, reflections, mirages, dreams, echos, ‘there, yet not there’ [U2T-3S].

C. Verses – 3 translations – 14 verses

D. Questions and Answers

Q: Is there anything else we should say about this chapter?

Answer: Beyond what we’ve explored, a few additional points about Chapter 1 of Nāgārjuna’s Mūlamadhyamakakārikā could deepen our understanding. 

First, this chapter sets the stage for the entire text by targeting causation — the bedrock of how we conventionally understand reality — as the entry point to emptiness. Nāgārjuna’s methodical negation of the four conditioning causes (a. hetu, b. objects of sensation, c. immediately preceding condition, and d. predominant influence) isn’t just a critique of specific Indian philosophical schools (like Nyaya or Abhidharma); it’s a universal challenge to any system that assumes phenomena arise from fixed, inherent principles.

By dismantling these causal models, he undermines our tendency to reify the world into stable "things" with independent origins, pushing us toward the insight that all phenomena are conceptually constructed and relationally contingent [T1] ⇐⇒ thus empty of inherent existence [T2] [U2T].

Additionally, Chapter 1 introduces the dialectical method that defines Madhyamaka: Nāgārjuna doesn’t propose an alternative theory of causation but uses reductio ad absurdum to expose the incoherence of all causal assertions when assumed in absolute terms. This refusal to posit any other absolute positive doctrine — often called the "emptiness of emptiness" — is itself a key takeaway.

The chapter isn’t about proving emptiness as a "thing" to grasp but about clearing away misconceptions, leaving us with a direct, non-conceptual encounter with reality’s interdependence. It’s a foundational move that primes us for later chapters, where he applies this lens to motion, self, time, and more, consistently revealing that emptiness of inherent existence is not a nihilistic void but the very condition for the world’s apparent functionality. This makes Chapter 1 not just an argument but a meditative invitation to see beyond dualities (not dual, not non-dual, not both, not neither).

E. Summary – Union of the three spheres causality [U3S / U2T-3S]

In Chapter 1 of Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, titled "An Analysis of Conditioning Causes," the philosopher systematically dismantles the notion that phenomena arise from inherent, independent causes (i.e. refuting absolute causes, causality, effect) [U2T-causality].

He begins by asserting that nothing originates
(i) from itself (self-causation / independent-origination),
(ii) from another (other-causation / dependent-origination),
(iii) from both together, or
(iv) from neither (without a cause) (and there is no fifth),
challenging the very foundation of causation [U2T-causality].

Nāgārjuna then examines the four traditionally accepted conditioning causes —
(a) hetu (cause),
(b) objects of sensation,
(c) immediately preceding condition, and
(d) predominant influence —
arguing that these causes lack self-existence (svabhava) [U2T-causes]. 

Without self-existence (independent-origination) (i),
the concept of "other-existence" (dependent-origination) (ii) (parabhava)
also collapses [U2T-opp].
Through a series of logical deconstructions, he demonstrates that
– these (i) causes/producer (a-d)
    cannot effectively (ii) cause/produce
    real, non-real, both, or neither (iii) phenomena (effect / product),
– nor can they account for the three stages of becoming of any composite products
  (1. origination / birth, 2. duration / life, 3. cessation / death or rebirth).
(i.e Union of the Two Truths [U2T]
– about the three spheres of causality / production for any type of causality, and
– about the three stages of becoming of any composite product;
– even if the effect is real, non-real, both, or neither.)

For instance, if something is already real, a cause is redundant;
if it is non-real, a cause is irrelevant.
This leads to the paradox that
products neither reside in their causes nor arise from non-causes,
rendering the conventional understanding of causation
incoherent in absolute terms [T2],
but still useful conventionally [T1] [U2T].

Nāgārjuna concludes that what we perceive
as products or effects do not inherently consist in
their conditioning causes (not identical),
nor do they emerge from the absence of causes (not different).
The interdependence of causes and effects (1st truth)
reveals their lack of intrinsic existence (2nd truth)
(i.e. Union of the Two Truths of causes, causality and effects),
as causes themselves are not self-constituted (i.e. cause are themselves effects).
This radical critique underscores the central Madhyamaka insight:
phenomena are empty of inherent nature [T2],
existing only in relational terms [T1] [U2T]
rather than as independently real entities [T0].

By negating the possibility of a substantial, self-existent causal framework [T0], Nāgārjuna invites a reevaluation of how we conceptualize existence, pointing toward the doctrine of the Union of the Two Truths [U2T] – dependent origination [T1] and emptiness (shunyata) [T2] – as the ultimate truth beyond dualistic notions of cause, causality, effect, even beyond the duality of dependent origination and emptiness. (i.e. beyond our dualistic conceptual mind(s).).

F. Conclusion – It is about how we imagine causal relations out of luminous-emptiness depending on our perspective

We can analyse ‘causality’ / ‘dependent origination’ in terms of the three spheres of any relation/action (physical, conceptual, mental), and in terms of the opposites of any duality, triad, quad … Why? Because that is the way our ordinary conditioned dualistic conceptual mind(s) operates/creates; and because our goal is to transcend (without rejecting) it by realizing the way it naturally functions and the real nature of its fabrications.

There is useful relative conventional dependent origination (causality) [T1] ⇐⇒ but it is never absolute, never reality as it is [T2] [U2T]. There are no independent/absolute/inherently-existing/sure causes, conditions, causal relations and effects about anything anytime. Reality as it is is not causal nor dual in absolute terms. So we can use those concepts conventionally/relatively [T1] but never in absolute terms [T2] [U2T-in-action]; without attachment, reification, effort or absolutes; without apprehending anything in absolute terms; non-dualistically, without opposing/uniting anything in absolute terms, without accepting / rejecting / changing anything in absolute terms; thus acting more and more in accord with the Middle Way free from all extremes and Middle, acting more and more in accord with reality as it is (tathata, suchness) as pointed out by the Union of the Two Truths [U2T] and its corollaries [U3S / Uopp / U3T / UGM / U3K / U2T-2T].

Union of the Two Truths [U2T]: All phenomena/dharmas are empty of inherent existence, never absolute, not really dependent, originating/coming, conditioned, existent, changing, increasing, decreasing, ceasing/going, /liberated [T2] ⇐⇒ precisely because they are dependently co-arisen, interdependent, co-defined, co-evolving, co-imputed by the mind, mere designations/names, conventional truths/tools [T1] [U2T] ⇐⇒ like illusions, reflection, mirages, dreams, echos, ‘there, yer not there’ [Illusory] ⇐⇒ not inherently existent/functional, not completely non-existence/non-functional, not both, not neither; not different/separate/multiple/dual, not identical/united/one/non-dual, not both, not neither; not permanent/continuous/eternal, not impermanent/discontinuous/annihilated, not both, not neither; not dependently-arisen [T1-only], not empty of inherent existence [T2-only], not both truths together and in opposition [2T], not neither of the two truths [1T]; not ‘this’, not ‘non-this’, not both, not neither, and there is no fifth, for whatever ‘this’ is [Tetralemma]. They are conventionally relatively functional and useful but never in absolute terms.

Union of opposites [Uopp]: The opposites of any duality/triad/quad (including the three spheres [3S] of any relation/activity, self-others [opp], the three times [3T], the two truths [2T], the Ground and its manifestations [GM], the three kayas [3K], the four noble truths, the 12 links or dependent oritination, saṃsāra and nirvāṇa [opp]) are empty of inherent existence, never absolute, not really dependent, originating/coming, conditioned, existent, changing, increasing, decreasing, ceasing/going, afflicted/liberated [T2] ⇐⇒ precisely because they are dependently co-arisen, interdependent, co-defined, co-evolving, co-imputed by the mind, mere designations/names, conventional truths/tools [T1] [U2T] ⇐⇒ like illusions, reflection, mirages, dreams, echos, ‘there, yer not there’ [Illusory] ⇐⇒ not inherently arising/existent/functional/changing/ceasing, not completely non-arising/non-existent/non-functional/non-changing/non-ceasing, not both, not neither; not different/separate/multiple/dual, not identical/united/one/non-dual, not both, not neither; not permanent/continuous/eternal, not impermanent/discontinuous/annihilated, not both, not neither; not dependently-arisen [T1-only], not empty of inherent existence [T2-only], not both truths together and in opposition [2T], not neither of the two truths [1T]; not ‘this’, not ‘non-this’, not both, not neither, and there is no fifth, for whatever ‘this’ is [Tetralemma]. They are conventionally relatively functional and useful but never in absolute terms.