8221; Ineluctable means, “being incapable of being evaded” or something that is inescapable (Webster’s 1996). So what Nagarjuna was saying was that these distinctions that the Abhidharma Buddhist believed in eventually lead to absurdities that cannot be escaped from. Kasulis focuses on two of Nagarjuna’s points or rather critiques against the Abhidharma; time and causality. Nagarjuna’s critique on time can be seen as a good introduction to his “methodology.” Nagarjuna argues four points against time. The first critique is that “if the existence of the present and future depends upon the past, then present and future should be in the past” (Kasulis). An example from my life to help illustrate this point would be driving. The past is when I was 16 years old and I got my driver’s license. The present is me currently driving and the future is that I will have a wreck. If the present (driving) and the future (my wreck) depends on the past (my obtaining my drivers license), then my being able to drive (present), and my having a wreck (future) should be in the past.Nagarjuna’s second critique against time is that if present and future was not in the past, how could present and future is dependent upon the past? It can be illustrated this way. If my driving (present) and my having a wreck (future) are not in the past then how could my driving (present) and my having a wreck (future) are dependent upon my obtaining my license?Nagarjuna goes on to say that if we don’t depend on the past, then the present and future will not occur. If this is the case then present and future times also do not occur. We can also say that if I am not dependent on getting my driver’s license then my driving and my having a wreck will not occur.Nagarjuna’s last critique against time was that “the remaining two periods of time as well as above, below, and middle, shou...
