Ancient Eastern Religion/Philosophy

Recap
The last lecture left off at about 322 BC with the death of Aristotle.
Although it is said by some scholars that “philosophy was only born once” I would argue that during time between Thales and Aristotle (about 288 years) philosophical traditions were also developing in other parts of the world.
I argue that some of the discussions that developed during ancient asian philosophical/spiritual traditions should be considered as every bit as “philosophical” as those from the ancient greek tradition.

There are at least two reasons scholars don’t see this ancient Asian philosophy as very relevant to the history of “philosophy.”
It developed in a distant and foreign culture and therefore did not have as much influence in the development of western philosophy. (Writings were not translated until the 1800’s).
It developed within the context of religions, and did not define itself in opposition to religious explanations of the world in the way that early Greek philosophers had.

Although there were many Asian spiritual/philosophical traditions (The Ancient Vedic religion, Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism etc…) I will focus in particular on Buddhism during this lecture.
While the pre-Socratics sought to discover a universal principle that underlies all phenomenon in nature a spiritual leader developing a radically “new” philosophy.
This thinker is named Siddhartha Gautama, he lived and traveled in the Ganges river basin where India and Nepal share a border, and he is also known as “the Buddha.”

Siddhartha Gautama c. 563 – 483 BCE

He is said to have been born in Lumbini, Nepal.

This map shows the area where the Buddha spent his live traveling.

To understand Siddhartha Gautama’s essential message we need to first examine the world-view that he had inherited. (Much like in order to understand Thales it was important to have some understanding of Greek mythology.)
Siddhartha Gautama lived in a time where Hinduism was predominant belief system in this region of the world.
Hinduism has its roots in the Vedic religion, which dates back to 1500 BCC.

Similar to ancient Greek mythology, the Vedic religion was a form of polytheism. That is to say, they believed in multiple gods. In fact, there are a great many parallels between late Vedic/Early Hinduism and Ancient Greek mythology. For example, in early Hinduism, the god Indra, sits on top of a cloud and controls the weather (he also throws lightning bolts).

This aspect of the Vedic religion would carry on when Hinduism was born.
That is to say, Hinduism is a form of polytheism.
However, we will come to see that the Buddha, much like Thales (yet for different reasons than Thales), abandoned many of these superstitious, or mythological, explanations.

It is a common misconception that Siddhartha Gautama invented meditation.
In fact, there was a rich tradition of meditation in Hinduism prior to Siddhartha’s birth.
Many individuals at this time were seeking a path toward spiritual salvation, and meditation techniques were common in these pursuits.

The essential teachings of Siddhartha Gautama are often introduced with the story of his transition from childhood to adolescence then to adulthood.
According to the traditional story, Siddhartha’s father was a king.
Most likely his father was only the ruler of a small city, but nonetheless was a powerful member of his community.
He therefore grew up surrounded by luxury.
It is said that by the time that Siddhartha was 16 years old, his father had built three palaces for him.

For all of Siddhartha’s life (before the age 29) his father had systematically prevented him from witnessing sickness, suffering, old age, and death.
Everything changed when he encountered sickness, death, and suffering.
He was so shocked by these phenomenon that he made trips into the public to learn about the nature of these processes.
At this point, one might say that Siddhartha became depressed about frailty of human existence.

Due to these life changing experiences Siddhartha left behind his life of luxury as a prince and tried to discover a spiritual path that would end his depression.
He therefore adopted a lifestyle of asceticism.
“Asceticism describes a life-style characterized by abstinence from various sorts of worldly pleasures (especially sexual activity and consumption of alcohol) often with the aim of pursuing religious and spiritual goals.”

During this period of his life, Siddhartha went from one extreme to the other: Extreme luxury to owning nothing, and eating and drinking very little.

After he became so weak from this lifestyle that he collapsed in river and nearly drowned, he began to rethink his spiritual mission.
He eventually stopped his practice of asceticism.
It was after leaving leaving this lifestyle behind when the Buddha first began to think about his path toward enlightenment as a “middle way.”
The middle way is also known as “the path of moderation”

At one point in his spiritual journey he sat down underneath the shade of a Bodi Tree and vowed never to get up again until he had reached enlightenment.

According to the legend, after over 40 days he was said to have reached enlightenment.
One of his fundamental insights was that human suffering stems from ignorance.
The ignorance that he discusses is an ignorance with regard to the impermanence of all things.
The Buddha described all things as coming and going. Everything is continually in a process of changing.
He thought that although this is the way that reality is, it is not the way that we want reality to be.

We want reality to conform to our desires, and we don’t want to become sick, or suffer, or die.
The fact is that this desire is also a cause of pain, because it can never be satisfied.
At times we become sick, we suffer, and we will all eventually die.
The Buddha’s most basic point is that all forms of suffering can be overcome and transcended.
His ideas was that with the help of meditation, we can calm our minds down to the extent that we no longer feel the habitual fear toward change (in all of its forms).

At this point the Buddha devoted the rest of his life to teaching and practicing his method for attaining enlightenment. He traveled in the plain of the Ganges river, and as time went on more and more students would travel with him to listen to his teachings and participate in the growing community.

The Buddha taught about 4 noble truths:
1. The nature of suffering (Dukkha): Suffering is present in birth, aging, illness, and death.
2. The origin of suffering: suffering originates in craving. In other words, suffering originates in our desire for life to be something other than what it actually is.
3. Suffering’s cessation: It is possible to end suffering by eliminating craving.
4. The way leading to the cessation of suffering: Suffering can be ended by following the eightfold path.

The eight-fold path is divided into three categories: wisdom, ethical conduct, and concentration.
The eight-fold path consists of:
Right view
Right intention
Right Speech
Right Action
Right Livelihood
Right Effort
Right Mindfulness
Right Concentration

With the ethical elements of this eightfold path the overriding principle compassion and non-violence toward all beings.
With regard to the elements of the eightfold path which concern “wisdom”, one of the underlying principles is selflessness.
According to Buddhist philosophy “the self” is an illusion that is constructed through our desires.
When we eliminate our desires, the Buddhist will claim that we also eliminate our “self”
That is to say, we become selfless as opposed to “selfish”

One of the terms that you are probably already familiar with to some extent is the Buddhist notion of Karma.
Karma is literally translated as “action.” The Buddha taught that Karma works in a cyclical manner. To have good Karma is like planting a seed, from which good consequences will grow. Likewise, if one has bad Karma it is thought that the negative actions will produce negative consequences.

Buddhist Ethics
If one had to put Buddhist philosophy into a category of Western philosophy it would be ethics.
The Buddhist answer to the question of “how we ought to act” is the “eightfold path.”
This path contains ethical “rules” that one must follow in order to live the best life possible.
From this perspective Buddhist ethics is closely related to the western ethical theory called “deontology”, which maintains that there are moral rules that should be followed.
For a deontologist, to determine whether an action is moral or immoral is to measure the action against the moral rule.

That said, “Buddhist ethics” does not fit neatly into any western theoretical categories.
Buddhist often seem like consequentiality, or utilitarians on some issues.
E.G. For many Buddhists it is ok to kill someone who is about to kill many people.
This is an example where the Buddhist seems to break the moral principle that “murder is wrong” to ensure the greatest good for the greatest number.

What makes murder permissible in this case is that it is done, not out of anger for the person was killed, but out of compassion. (you might have saved them from having a huge setback when the would be re-incarnated.)
The principle of compassion as an aspect of virtue perhaps plays the greatest role in the moral guiding of Buddhists.
In this way, Buddhist ethics seem to have resonances with Aristotelian (virtue ethics).

As described above the three major ethical theories in the western philosophical tradition seem to be relevant in some way for Buddhist ethics.
In fact it seems as though Buddhist ethics is really a unique synthesis between these three competing theories.

The Buddha claimed that one can gain insight into any of the aspects of his teaching through meditation.
What is meditation?
There are many different styles of meditation, but the Buddha taught a form of meditation called Vipassana (meaning “insight into the nature of reality”).
Vipassana meditation is based on an extremely basic principle, but is one of the most difficult things in the world to master.

The meditation technique is that you are to simply to be aware of your breath. Not just one breath or two, but each breath that you take for a period of one hour or more. (however long the meditation session lasts).
What one begins to realize is that this seemingly simple task is actually incredibly difficult.
While you try to focus only on the sensations involved with breathing it is inevitable that certain thoughts will pop up in your mind, and before you know it your attention is taken away from your breath, and your mind is racing.
When you realize that you have lost concentration, you bring your attention back to the breath and begin again.

After the practitioner develops the ability to focus their concentration on the breath indefinitely without losing focus, they are then able to take the “attentiveness” that they have gathered and take their focus away from their breath and toward all of their interactions in the world.
As I mentioned before, the Buddha saw this training as critical to comprehending his philosophical insights.
One goal of this form of meditation is “mindfulness.”
The larger goal is (Nirvana).
Nirvana in Pali means “blowing out” — that is, blowing out the fires of greed, hatred, and delusion

Two major traditions in Buddhism developed after the Buddha had passed away: Theravada and Mahayana.
Each tradition has its own interpretations of the Buddha’s message.
Each tradition is also broken into more specific (sub-branches) which also have a unique interpretation of the Buddha’s message.
Roughly speaking, Theravada is a more traditional or literal interpretation, whereas Mahayana is open to less than literal interpretations in order to get closer to the essence of the teachings.
Also, the differences between the sub-branches of Theravada are more minor than the differences that exist between the sub-branches in the Mahayana tradition.

As the Mahayana tradition grew it spread to the north-east (to China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam etc…)

As the Theravada tradition grew it spread in a south-eastern direction (to Burma, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia).

One branch of Mahayana Buddhism that you have likely heard of is Zen.
Zen is always a difficult concept to explain because it de-emphasizes theoretical knowledge.
According to this tradition, enlightenment occurs through experience, rather than any kind of philosophical discourse.

The founder of Zen Buddhism is said to be Bodhidharma.
Although there is some debate about whether this figure actually existed, we are fairly certain that the Zen Buddhism was born around 520 AD.
One of the many ways in which Zen Buddhism differs from other forms of Buddhism is in its conception of enlightenment.
According to the Theravada school, the Buddha is claimed to have said that enlightenment (Nirvana) happens very slowly over a long period of time. The metaphor that is often used is “single drops of water that fill up a large bucket over time.”

Zen Buddhists claim that enlightenment can occur in a momentary “flash.”
Furthermore, Zen Buddhism claims that all living beings are capable of enlightenment. Another way of saying this would be to say that “wisdom” is already a part of all living beings.
Zen monks practice a rigorous form of meditation called Zazen.
This form of meditation requires very strict discipline. Oftentimes the meditation sessions can go on for a very long time, and if you begin to lose your proper posture, the master will strike you.

Lastly, one important aspect of Zen Buddhism is in their use of the Koan.
A Koan is a question that is asked by the teacher to the student, or by the student to the teacher about some fundamental aspect of Zen Buddhism. One famous example is where a student asks of his teacher “What is the Buddha”, and the teacher responds “three pounds of flax.”
The teachers answer is supposed to show the student that such questions are not answerable. The student must find the answer to these questions via direct experience.

Another well-known branch in the Mahayana tradition is Tibetan Buddhism.

Tibetan Buddhism is well known because of the international celebrity of the spiritual leader of Tibet, (the Dalai Lama.)

Although he has written many influential books on Buddhism, the popularity of the Dalai Lama also stems from the fact that he is a political leader.
In 195o the People’s Republic of China invaded Tibet.
Around 1,148,000 Tibetans died as a result of the invasion, and the Dalai Lama was forced to to live in exile (where he still lives in India.)
The PRC is an “atheist” government, and much of the hostility that was directed toward Tibet focused on the Buddhist tradition.

Today the Dalai Lama still lives with a community of Tibetans (called Tibet in Exile) in Dharamshala, India.
“Tibet in Exile” is still arguing that Tibet should be an autonomous country again, yet the PRC is not negotiating its position on the issue.

PBS documentary on “The Buddha”

http://video.pbs.org/video/1461557530/