Part 8.8 - Buddhist Philosophy

[Full title: A Comparative Study of different Indian Philosophies (d) Darsanas system of Indian Philosophies (8): Buddhist Philosophy]

Buddhist philosophy is a system of beliefs based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, a Nepalese prince later known as the “Buddha” (Pali word for "awakened one").

Early Buddhism is represented the doctrines belonging to the period between the rise of Buddhism and the time of Asoka. The Buddhist views that prevailed in the time of Asoka may be said to be the Hinayana doctrine. The tendencies that developed during the period from Asoka to Kaniska and became explicit thereafter form the Mahayana Buddhism. From its inception, Buddhism has had a strong philosophical component. Buddhism is founded on the rejection of certain orthodox Hindu philosophical concepts. Mahayana with Sanskrit as its language is younger branch as compared to Hinayana with Pali language. Mahayana possesses no canon, since it does not represent any homogeneous sect.^[1]

As per Visuddhimagga of Buddhism, one who wants to attain nirvana should resort to the cremation ground, which is a school of many exquisite virtues and imparts to us the lesson that the world and the self are unreal. The Hinayana Buddhism is not merely a way to nirvana, but also teaches us the way to rebirth into the world of Brahma by the grace and help of holy saints.^[2]

The Hinayana emphasizes the necessity of saving knowledge, and aims at the salvation of the individual, and refuses to develop the mystery of nibbana (nirvana) in a positive sense. It is a religion for the thinking and the strong in spirit, while a new development had to arise for the emotional and the worshipful. Mahayana lays a greater stress on love, and aims at the salvation of every sentient being, and finds in nirvana the one reality which is free from limitations of every phase of the limited experience of which we have empirical knowledge.

The ethical ideal of the Mahayana is the bodhisattva, as distinct from the arhat of the Hinayana. Bodhisattva literally means “one whose essence is perfect know-ledge”. A bodhisattva out of the abundance of his love for suffering humanity stops short of nirvana. This stage is comparable to “jivanmukta” of Hindu Philosophy.

The Hinayana ideal of complete absorption or arhattva is lonely journey on the trackless path of eternity. While Hinayana made nirvana attainable by a few only through the life of a monk, the Mahayana taught that every man could aim at becoming bodhisattva by the practice of virtue and devotion to Buddha. Though, the help of savior is necessary. To become Buddha is to become one in essence with the infinite^[3].

Buddha used critical analysis insisting on observation and reasoning as the way to truth. His thoughts are reflected as: “One must not accept my law from reverence, but first try it as gold is tried by fire” The Hinayana schools are two namely, the vaibhasikas and the sautrantikas or sarvastivadims that are realists. The Mahayana schools are the Yogacaras, who that idealists, and the madhyamikas, whose philosophy is a negative critical system. The Yogacaras practice yoga, as it helps to acquire intuitive insight. The metaphysical truth requires Yogic discipline. When the mind is clear of all prejudice or illusion, it reflects the truth. The Vijnanamatra Sastra distinguishes four kinds of nirvana.^[4]

1. Dharmakaya nirvana is possessed by every sentient individual, pure and spotless, in its negative being.

2. Upadhisesa nirvana has some residue left. It’s a state of relative being which, though frees from all affection, all hindrance, is still under the influence of materialism causing suffering.

3. Anupadhisesa nirvana has no residue. A state of complete liberation from all fetters.

4. The nirvana, an absolute enlightenment, the highest kind of nirvana. According to Buddha, nirvana is a state of perfection, is only a negation of the influx and a positive return of self to self.^[5]

Thus, nirvana is to put end to all misery by giving up false notions of the reality of things which is avidya. Mind is the source of all trouble and unhappiness. Once we get rid of ignorance, nirvana can easily be attained. The true aspirant should practice the six transcendental virtues of charity, morality, patience, enterprise, meditation and supreme wisdom. The coming into being of life, which is suffering as well as cessation, is accounted for by the doctrine of pratityasamutpada (dependent origination).

A common metaphor used in the spiritual traditions of the world's great religions is that of walking a path.^[6] Thus, a spiritual practice takes a person or pilgrim along the path towards the goal of salvation or liberation. According to Pali, the language used in Buddhist literature, the word Yoga has been translated as the “spiritual practice”. In one of the Budhhist sect, Theravada, the generic term for spiritual cultivation is “bhavana”.

In Zen Buddhism, meditation (zazen), the writing poetry (haiku), painting, calligraphy, flower arranging, tea making and serving, maintenance of Zen gardens are considered to be spiritual practices.

The principle doctrines of Buddhist philosophy are as under:

1. Four Noble Truths (cattari aryasaccani);
2. The Law of dependent origination;
3. Momentariness, Non-self and dukkha (ksanikavada);
4. Emphasis on practice of Meditation (samatha and vipassana);

Four Noble truths and Law of dependent origination are explained in details below. Meditation is a spiritual practice performed by most followers of Buddhism. Its primary function is to help people relax and attain a state of inner peace. Meditation only requires that participants be conscious of their thoughts, actions and intents, but some Buddhists incorporate breathing exercises, the chanting of mantras and writing into this spiritual practice. Many Buddhists attempt to awaken their spiritual self and attain enlightenment by penetrating the true nature of experiences, choices and relationships by practicing meditation at least once each day. The method of emancipation in Hinayana is contemplation and meditation on four truths as mentioned below.

The teachings on the Four Noble Truths are regarded as central to the teachings of Buddhism, and are said to provide a conceptual framework for Buddhist thought. Meditation on these noble truths is a pure act above all consequences and is highest level of contemplation. They are as good as prayers in Hinayana school. It has four progressive and methodological stages, namely 1) Gladness and joy accompanied by insight, reflection, contemplation and enquiry. 2) Elation, internal calm, deep peace of mind. 3) Total absence of all passions and prejudices, lust is stilled. 4) Self possession and complete tranquility without care and joy.

The four noble truths explain the nature of dukkha (suffering, anxiety or dissatisfaction), its causes, and how it can be overcome.

The four noble truths are:

1. The truth of dukkha (suffering, pain, anxiety and dissatisfaction): whoever is born is going to suffer from illness, old age and death, no one can escape from this.

2. The truth of the origin of dukkha: dukkha samudaya the cause or origin of dukkha can be known, which is craving conditioned by the root cause, ignorance (in Pali, avijja) of the true nature of the things or happenings.

3. The truth of the cessation of dukkha: dukkha nirodha the complete cessation of dukkha is possible.

4. The truth of the path leading to the cessation of dukkha: dukkha-samudaya-gamini-pratipat this noble truth identifies the path which is ethical and spiritual or the remedies of cessation of all sufferings forever^[7].

This remedy consists of a set of eight interconnected factors or conditions, that when developed together, leads to cessation of all sufferings (dukkha). This path was taught by Buddha to his disciples. This set is also called as “Noble eightfold path” or Budhhist’s path to self-awakening and liberation.

These eight factors are:

1. Right View: Right observation, samyak drsti, (samma ditthi in Pali). It means viewing reality as it is, not just as it appears to be. It is the true knowledge of four noble truths.

2. Right Intention: Right Thought, samyak samkalpa (samma sankappa in Pali). It means intention of renunciation, introspection, resolve, freedom and harmlessness.

3. Right Speech: It is samyak vac (samma vaca) or abstaining from lying, from abusive speech.

4. Right Action: It is samyak karmanta (samma kamanta). It is abstaining from killing, stealing and illicit sex or unchastity according to magga-vibhanga sutta.

5. Right Livelihood: samyak ajiva (samma-ajiva). It is abstaining from dishonest livelihood. The scripture abandons five types of business or activities like dealing in weapons, meat, human trading, intoxicants and poisons.

6. Right Effort: samyak vyayama (samma vyayama). It is right diligence or endeavor. One has to make efforts to avoid wrong, unwholesome and harmful thoughts, speech and actions.

7. Right Mindfulness: samyak smrti (samma-sati). It is right memory, awareness, alertness and attention.

8. Right Concentration: samyak samadhi (samma-samadhi). It is an advanced meditation; one develops with constant concentration and getting absorbed into the object.

The noble eightfold path is, from the sutrachological viewpoint, an attempt to change patterns of thought and behavior. These are not the stages where each stage is completed before moving to the next stage. Actually, these are eight significant dimensions of one’s behavior–mental, spoken and bodily taken together, they define a complete path, a way of living. This gives to a true practitioner, wisdom (panna) by 1 and 2, ethical conduct (sila) by 3, 4 and 5, and concentration (samadhi) by 6, 7 and 8 from above.

There are twelve causal wheels of dependent origination as described below.^[8] One leads to another, hence the solution is to destroy avidya, the others in turn will be destroyed one by one in the same order and cessation of the whole mass of suffering.

1. avidya: Ignorence;
2. samskara: Impression of karmic forces;
3. vijnana: Initial consciousness of the embryo;
4. namarupa: Sutracho-physical organism;
5. sadayatana: Six sense organs including mind;
6. sparsa: Sense object–contact;
7. vedana: Sense experience;
8. trsna: Thirst of sense enjoyment;
9. upadana: Clinging to this enjoyment;
10. bhava: Will to be born;
11. jati: Birth or re-birth;
12. Jaramarana: Old age and death;

Redemption from suffering is the motive of Buddha’s teachings. As the greatest sin of man is to have been born, the will to live is the ground of our existence; its negation is our salvation^[9].

Buddhism is not a doctrine or belief system but a process of observation, introspection and inquiry. Any preconceived faith or belief detrimental to objective enquiry. Hence Buddha advised us not to accept even his ideas until we acquire ownership of the same through self-investigation. Buddhist meditation is neither an exercise in relaxation nor an effort for an elevated state of consciousness. It is basically about living in each moment and observing the flow of phenomena. It involves dwelling in a state of non-reactive witnessing of reality knowing fully well that there is neither doer nor sufferer but mere flow of phenomena amidst universal flux of mind and matter.^[10]

Buddhism shares many philosophical views with other Indian systems, such as belief in karma, a cause-and-effect relationship between all that has been done and all that will be done. Events that occur are held to be the direct result of previous events. A major departure from Hindu and Jain philosophy is the Buddhist rejection of a permanent, self-existent soul (atman) in favour of anicca or impermanence. However, Jain thinkers rejected this view by opining that, if no continuing soul could be accepted, then even the effort to attain any worldly objective would be useless as the individual acting and the one receiving the consequences would be different. Therefore, the conviction in individuals that the doer is also the reaper of consequences establishes the existence of a continuing soul.

The entire philosophy is summarized in opening verses of Dhammapada^[11] given below which explain us how an altered view can bring tranquil perception in place of the polluted perception in line with noble eight-fold path:

All experience is preceded by mind,
Led by mind, Made by mind.
Speak or act with a corrupted mind,
And suffering follows
As the wagon wheel follows the hoof of the ox.
All experience is preceded by mind,
Led by mind, Made by mind.
Speak or act with a peaceful mind,
And happiness follows
Like a never-departing shadow

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

S. Radhakrishnan, Indian Philosophy, Vol.I, Oxford Uni.Press, Delhi, 1989, p.585.

[2]:

Ibid., p.589

[3]:

Ibid., p.603-604

[4]:

Ibid., p.642-643

[5]:

H.Zimmer, Philosophies of India, Motilal Banarsidass Pvt., Ltd, Delhi, 1990, p. 547

[6]:

"Buddhism"(2009) In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved November 26, 2009, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online Library Edition

[7]:

M.N.Kundu, Buddha’s Way of Transforming Awareness, The Speaking Tree, The Times of India, Mumbai, dt.23.05.2013, p.7

[8]:

C.Sharma, A Critical Survey of Indian Philosophy, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 2003, pp. 71-72

[9]:

Ibid., p. 411

[10]:

M.N.Kundu, Buddha’s Way of Transforming Awareness, The Speaking Tree, The Times of India, dt.23.05.2013, Mumbai, p.7

[11]:

G.Fronsdal, The Dhammapada: A New Translation of the Buddhist Classic with Annotations, Shambhala Publications, 2006, p.15