A problemática do vazio e do sofrimento na perspetiva do filósofo Nägärjuna

Abstract

The purpose of our work aims to analyze the themes of emptiness and suffering, two themes of paramount importance in today's society, under the gaze of one of the greatest thinkers in the history of Asian philosophy Nāgārjuna. The proposed path will pass throughan in-depth understanding of its meanings, using the mediation of the two truths, the conventional, or relative and the last, or absolute. Through these, we will understand that phenomena have no intrinsic substance or nature, but what characterizes them is their essential voidness – a principle that consequently contributes to the cessation of the cycle ofsuffering. Next, we will establish the articulations between emptiness and suffering manifested in the correct understanding of the nature of reality. Finally, we will ask the applicability and usefulness of these Buddhist teachings in the current context, marked by the ubiquitous experience of human, animal and environmental suffering on a planetary scale and which eliminates from our daily lives the sharing of certain feelings, such as love, fraternity, benevolence and compassion. The reflection on these two themes of Nāgārjuna, transversal to the history of humanity, highlights the convergence of thought between distinct religions, such as Buddhism and Christianity, both valuing spiritual, meta-rational and meta-conceptual experience, converted into deep silence, as the true appeasement of the mind.

Date of Award	27 Jul 2022
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Carlos Bizarro Morais (Supervisor)