Madhyamaka, with its analysis of emptiness (śūnyatā) and the lack of inherent existence in all phenomena, can indeed be meaningfully understood by those who do not identify as Buddhist. At its core, it offers a rigorous philosophical examination of how things exist, arguing that all phenomena arise dependently and therefore lack a fixed, independent essence. This line of reasoning can be followed, debated, and appreciated using logic and philosophical training alone. Non-Buddhists can thus engage with Madhyamaka as a sophisticated critique of metaphysical essentialism and as a challenge to rigid, reified views of self and world.

However, the tradition itself situates these analyses within a broader soteriological framework aimed at liberation from suffering. Madhyamaka did not arise merely as an abstract metaphysics, but as part of a path that includes ethical discipline, meditative practice, and a transformative reorientation of experience. From this perspective, there is a distinction between conceptual understanding and what is regarded as realization. The former is accessible to anyone willing to study the arguments; the latter is said to require contemplative practice and the wider Buddhist path structure.

This means that non-Buddhists can attain a substantial and even profound intellectual grasp of Madhyamaka principles, including its methods such as the use of logical analysis and reductio arguments. They can also fruitfully compare its insights with other philosophical traditions and employ its tools to question assumptions about identity, causation, and existence. Yet, from within the tradition, such engagement remains partial if it does not culminate in the experiential insight that transforms how reality is lived, not just how it is thought about. In that sense, the door to understanding is open to all, while the full depth of what Madhyamaka intends is closely tied to the Buddhist path in which it was originally articulated.