 In contrast, Madhyamaka Buddhists (like Nagarjuna) argue that, because all dharmas are causally dependent, nothing is ultimately grounded. They describe this by saying that reality is characterized by “emptiness”  (Skt. sunyata), in the sense that everything is “empty” of self-nature and an independent, persistent self. The doctrine of emptiness is easy to misunderstand, and is sometimes mistakenly conflated with metaphysical nihilism. However, Buddhists distinguish their view from both Annihilationism (Skt. uccheda-drsti) and Eternalism (Skt. sasvata-drsti). Annihilationism is the view that nothing exists in any sense, while Eternalism is the view that something exists that is eternal, unchanging, and unconditioned by anything else. Madhyamaka denies both extremes, and holds that while dharmas do exist, each dharma’s existence is “conditioned” (causally or conceptually dependent) on something else, without any ultimate ground. 