Moonshadows: Conventional Truth in Buddhist PhilosophyThe doctrine of the two truths a conventional truth and an ultimate truth is central to Buddhist metaphysics and epistemology. The two truths (or two realities), the distinction between them, and the relation between them is understood variously in different Buddhist schools and is of special importance to the Madhyamaka school. The fundamental ideas are articulated with particular force by Nagarjuna (2nd 3rd century CE) who famously claims that the