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BOOK REVIEWSIntroduction to the Middle Way: Chandrakirti’sMadhyamakavatara with Commentary by JamgönMipham. . Translated by Padmakara Translation Group.Boston and London: Shambhala Publications, 2002. xiv,409 pages, includes glossary. Hardcover, $34.95; paper-back, $29.95.The Svåtantrika–Pråsaçgika Distinction: What DifferenceDoes a Difference Make? Edited by Georges B.J. Dreyfusand Sara L. McClintock. Boston: Wisdom Publications,2003. 396 pages, includes bibliography and index. Paper-back, $34.95.Richard PayneThe Institute of Buddhist StudiesThe Introduction to the Middle Way (Madhyamakåvatåra) is a translationof one of the key works of medieval Indian Buddhist thought.Candrak∆rti is considered to be the founder of the Pråsaçgika interpretationof Madhyamaka, which claims that the Madhyamaka should not makeany claim, but rather only demonstrate that the arguments of his/heropponent are self-contradictory or lead to absurd conclusions. This isdistinguished from the Svåtantrika interpretation, which is considered tohave been established by Bhåvaviveka, and which is described as allowingthe Madhyamaka to assert claims of his/her own.The Madhyamakåvatåra is central to understanding the origins ofPråsaçgika perspective. Organized in terms of the ten stages (bh¥mi) of thebodhisattva path, this work leads from the initial stages of practice to thefull awakening of buddhahood. Of the eleven chapters, one for each of theten stages and a concluding one on “the ultimate ground of buddhahood,”by far the greatest attention is given to the sixth—that devoted to theperfection of wisdom. Indeed, the discrepancy between the length of thesixth and the other chapters is so great as to make it clear that the tengrounds simply provide a vehicle for focusing on what is often presentedas the most important of the perfections, that of wisdom.377