Historical phases of Buddhist philosophy
Philosophical orientation
Philosophy in India was aimed mainly at spiritual liberation and hadThe Buddha and early Buddhism
The Buddha
Scholarly opinion varies as to whether the Buddha himself was engaged in philosophical inquiry. TheThe Middle Way
The Buddha defined his teaching as " the middle way" (Basic teachings
Certain basic teachings appear in many places throughout these early texts, so older studies by various scholars conclude that the Buddha must at least have taught some of these key teachings: * TheThe noble truths and causation
The four noble truths or "truths of the noble one" are a central feature of the teachings and are put forth in the ''Anatta
The Buddha argued that compounded entities lacked essence, correspondingly the self is without essence. This means there is no part of a person which is unchanging and essential for continuity, and it means that there is no individual "part of the person that accounts for the identity of that person over time".Siderits, Mark. Buddhism as philosophy, 2007, p. 33 This is in opposition to the Upanishadic concept of an unchanging ultimate self (Atman) and any view of an eternal"What the Buddhist has in mind is that on one occasion one part of the person might perform the executive function, on another occasion another part might do so. This would make it possible for every part to be subject to control without there being any part that always fills the role of the controller (and so is the self). On some occasions, a given part might fall on the controller side, while on other occasions it might fall on the side of the controlled. This would explain how it's possible for us to seek to change any of the skandhas while there is nothing more to us than just those skandhas."As noted by K.R. Norman and Richard Gombrich, the Buddha extended his anatta critique to the Brahmanical belief expounded in the ''
"There are six wrong views: An unwise, untrained person may think of the body, 'This is mine, this is me, this is my self'; he may think that of feelings; of perceptions; of volitions; or of what has been seen, heard, thought, cognized, reached, sought or considered by the mind. The sixth is to identify the world and self, to believe: 'At death, I shall become permanent, eternal, unchanging, and so remain forever the same; and that is mine, that is me, that is my self.' A wise and well-trained person sees that all these positions are wrong, and so he is not worried about something that does not exist."Furthermore, the Buddha argues that the world can be observed to be a cause of suffering (Brahman was held to be ultimately blissful) and that since we cannot control the world as we wish, the world cannot be the Self. The idea that "this cosmos is the self" is one of the views rejected by the Buddha along with the related Monistic theory that held that "everything is a Oneness" (SN 12.48 ''Lokayatika Sutta''). The Buddha also held that understanding and seeing the truth of not-self led to un-attachment, and hence to the cessation of suffering, while ignorance about the true nature of personality led to further suffering.
Epistemology
All schools ofTranscendence
Another possible reason why the Buddha refused to engage inMeta-ethics
The Buddha's ethics are based on theBuddhist schools and Abhidharma
The main Indian Buddhist philosophical schools practiced a form of analysis termed ''Competing Abhidharma schools
An important Abhidhamma work from theIn the Pali tradition it is only for the sake of definition and description that each dhamma is postulated as if it were a separate entity; but in reality, it is by no means a solitary phenomenon having an existence of its own...If this Abhidhammic view of existence, as seen from its doctrine of dhammas, cannot be interpreted as a radical pluralism, neither can it be interpreted as an out-and-out monism. For what are called dhammas -- the component factors of the universe, both within us and outside us -- are not fractions of an absolute unity but a multiplicity of co-ordinate factors. They are not reducible to, nor do they emerge from, a single reality, the fundamental postulate of monistic metaphysics. If they are to be interpreted as phenomena, this should be done with the proviso that they are phenomena with no correspondingKarunadasa also describes the Theravada system as a realist, rather thannoumena In philosophy, a noumenon (, ; ; noumena) is a posited object or an event that exists independently of human sense and/or perception. The term ''noumenon'' is generally used in contrast with, or in relation to, the term '' phenomenon'', whi ..., no hidden underlying ground. For they are not manifestations of some mysterious metaphysical substratum, but processes taking place due to the interplay of a multitude of conditions.
What emerges from this Abhidhammic doctrine of dhammas is a critical realism, one which (unlike idealism) recognises the distinctness of the world from the experiencing subject yet also distinguishes between those types of entities that truly exist independently of the cognitive act and those that owe their being to the act of cognition itself. What emerges from the dhamma theory is best described as dhamma realism, for, as we have seen, it recognizes only the ultimate reality of the dhammas. ...the dhammas are ultimate existents with no possibility of further reduction. Although the dhamma theory is an Abhidhammic innovation, the antecedent trends that led to its formulation and its basic ingredients can be traced to the early Buddhist scriptures which seek to analyse empiric individuality and its relation to the external world.An important theory held by some Sarvāstivādins, Theravādins and Sautrāntikas was the theory of "momentariness" (Skt., kṣāṇavāda, Pali, khāṇavāda). This theory held that dhammas only last for a minute moment (''ksana'') after they arise. The Sarvāstivādins saw these 'moments' in an atomistic way, as the smallest length of time possible (they also developed a material atomism). Reconciling this theory with their eternalism regarding time was a major philosophical project of the
Indian Mahāyāna philosophy
From about the 1st century BCE, a new textual tradition began to arise in Indian Buddhist thought calledPrajñāpāramitā and Madhyamaka
The earliest Prajñāpāramitā-sutras ("perfection of insight" sutras) (circa 1st century BCE) emphasize the shunyata (emptiness) of"Oh, Sariputra, form does not differ from shunyata,The Prajñāpāramitā teachings are associated with the work of the Buddhist philosopher
and shunyata does not differ from form.
Form is shunyata and shunyata is form;
the same is true for feelings,
perceptions, volitions and consciousness".
Yogācāra
The Yogācāra school (''Yoga practice'') was a Buddhist philosophical tradition which arose in between the 2nd century CE and the 4th century CE and is associated with the philosophers"I. This orldis nothing but impressions, since it manifests itself as an unreal object, Just like the case of those with cataracts seeing unreal hairs in the moon and the like."Siderits, Mark; Buddhism as philosophy, p. 149According to
"There is a grasper if there is something to be grasped, but not in the absence of what is to be grasped. Where there is nothing to be grasped, the absence of a grasper also follows, there is not just the absence of the thing to be grasped. Thus there arises the extra-mundane non-conceptual cognition that is alike without object and without cognizer."Vasubandhu also attacked the realist theories of Buddhist atomism and the Abhidharma theory of svabhava. He argued that atoms, as conceived by the atomists (un-divisible entities), would not be able to come together to form larger aggregate entities, and hence that they were illogical concepts. Later Yogacara thinkers include
Yogācāra-Mādhyamika synthesis
Tathāgatagarbha literature
The '' tathāgathagarbha sutras'', in a departure from mainstream Buddhist language, insist that the potential for awakening is inherent to every sentient being. They marked a shift from a largely apophatic (negative) philosophical trend within Buddhism to a decidedly more cataphatic (positive) modus. The main topic of this genre of literature is the ''tathāgata-garbha,'' which can mean the womb or embryo of aThe Dignāga-Dharmakīrti tradition
Dignāga (–540) andVajrayāna Buddhism
Those things by which evil men are bound, others turn into means and gain thereby release from the bonds of existence. By passion the world is bound, by passion too it is released, but by heretical Buddhists, this practice of reversals is not known.Another hermeneutic of Buddhist Tantric commentaries such as the ''
Tibetan Buddhist philosophy
Tibetan Buddhist philosophy is mainly a continuation and refinement of the Indian traditions of Madhyamaka, Yogacara and the Dignaga-Dharmakīrti school of epistemology or "reliable cognition" (Sanskrit: '' pramana'', Tib. ''tshad ma''). The initial efforts ofShengtong and Buddha nature
The 14th century saw increasing interest in the Buddha nature texts and doctrines. This can be seen in the work of the third Kagyu KarmapaGelug
Sakya
Nyingma and Rimé
The Nyingma school is strongly influenced by the view ofThere is a tradition of making a distinction between two different perspectives on the nature of emptiness: one is when emptiness is presented within a philosophical analysis of the ultimate reality of things, in which case it ought to be understood in terms of a non-affirming negative phenomena. On the other hand, when it is discussed from the point of view of experience, it should be understood more in terms of an affirming negation – 14th Dalai Lama
East Asian Buddhism
Tiantai
The schools of Buddhism that had existed in China prior to the emergence of the Tiantai are generally believed to represent direct transplantations from India, with little modification to their basic doctrines and methods. The Tiantai school, founded by Zhiyi (538–597),JeeLoo Liu, Tian-tai Metaphysics vs. Hua-yan Metaphysics A Comparative Study. was the first truly unique Chinese Buddhist philosophical school. The doctrine of Tiantai was based on the ekayana or "one vehicle" doctrine taught in the Lotus Sutra and sought to bring together all Buddhist teachings and texts into a comprehensively inclusive hierarchical system, which placed the Lotus Sutra at the top of this hierarchy. Tiantai's metaphysics is an immanent holism, which sees every phenomenon, moment or event as conditioned and manifested by the whole of reality. Every instant of experience is a reflection of every other, and hence, suffering and nirvana, good and bad, Buddhahood and evildoing, are all "inherently entailed" within each other. Each moment of consciousness is simply the Absolute (philosophy), Absolute itself, infinitely immanent and self-reflecting. This metaphysics is entailed in the Tiantai teaching of the "three truths", which is an extension of the MādhyamakaHuayan
The Huayan developed the doctrine of "interpenetration" or "coalescence" (Wylie: ''zung-'jug''; Sanskrit: ''yuganaddha''), based on the ''Avatamsaka Sutra, Avataṃsaka Sūtra'' (Flower Garland Sutra), a Mahāyāna scripture. Huayan holds that all phenomena (Sanskrit: ''dharmas'') are deeply interconnected, mutually arising and that every phenomenon contains all other phenomena. Various metaphors and images are used to illustrate this idea. The first is known as Indra's net. The net is set with jewels which have the extraordinary property that they reflect all of the other jewels, while the reflections also contain every other reflection, ad infinitum. The second image is that of the world text. This image portrays the world as consisting of an enormous text which is as large as the universe itself. The words of the text are composed of the phenomena that make up the world. However, every atom of the world contains the whole text within it. It is the work of a Buddha to let out the text so that beings can be liberated from suffering. Fazang (Fa-tsang, 643–712), one of the most important Huayan thinkers, wrote 'Essay on the Golden Lion' and 'Treatise on the Five Teachings', which contain other metaphors for the interpenetration of reality. He also used the metaphor of a house of mirrors. Fazang introduced the distinction of "the Realm of Principle" and "the Realm of Things". This theory was further developed by Chengguan (monk), Cheng-guan (738–839) into the major Huayan thesis of "the fourfold Dharmadhatu" (dharma realm): the Realm of Principle, the Realm of Things, the Realm of the Noninterference between Principle and Things, and the Realm of the Noninterference of All Things. The first two are the universal and the particular, the third is the interpenetration of universal and particular, and the fourth is the interpenetration of all particulars. The third truth was explained by the metaphor of a golden lion: the gold is the universal and the particular is the shape and features of the lion.Taigen Dan Leighton, Huayan Buddhism and the Phenomenal Universe of the Flower Ornament Sutra, "Buddhadharma" magazine (2006) While both Tiantai and Huayan hold to the interpenetration and interconnection of all things, their metaphysics have some differences. Huayan metaphysics is influenced by Yogacara thought and is closer to idealism. The Avatamsaka sutra compares the phenomenal world to a dream, an illusion, and a magician's conjuring. The sutra states nothing has true reality, location, beginning and end, or substantial nature. The Avatamsaka also states that "The triple world is illusory – it is only made by one mind", and Fazang echoes this by writing, "outside of mind there is not a single thing that can be apprehended." Furthermore, according to Huayan thought, each mind creates its own world "according to their mental patterns", and "these worlds are infinite in kind" and constantly arising and passing away. However, in Huayan, the mind is not real either, but also empty. The true reality in Huayan, the noumenon, or "Principle", is likened to a mirror, while phenomena are compared to reflections in the mirror. It is also compared to the ocean, and phenomena to waves. In Korea, this school was known as Hwaeom and is represented in the work of Wonhyo (617–686), who also wrote about the idea of Essence-Function, essence-function, a central theme in Korean Buddhist thought. In Japan, Huayan is known as Kegon and one of its major proponents was Myōe, who also introduced Tantric practices.Chan and Japanese Buddhism
The philosophy of Chinese Chan Buddhism and Japanese Zen is based on various sources; these include Chinese Madhyamaka ('' Sānlùn''), Yogacara (''East Asian Yogācāra, Wéishí''), the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra, and the Buddha-nature, Buddha nature texts. An important issue in Chan is that of subitism or "sudden awakening", the idea that insight happens all at once in a flash of insight. This view was promoted by Shenhui and is a central issue discussed in the Platform Sutra, a key Zen scriptures, Chan scripture composed in China. Huayan philosophy also had an influence on Chan. The theory of the Fourfold Dharmadhatu influenced the Five Ranks of Dongshan Liangjie (806-869), the founder of the Caodong Chan lineage. Guifeng Zongmi, who was also a patriarch of Huayan Buddhism, wrote extensively on the philosophy of Chan and on the Avatamsaka sutra. Buddhism in Japan, Japanese Buddhism during the 6th and 7th centuries saw an increase in the proliferation of new schools and forms of thought, a period known as the six schools of Nara (''Nanto Rokushū''). The Kamakura period, Kamakura Period (1185–1333) also saw another flurry of intellectual activity. During this period, the influential figure of Nichiren (1222–1282) made the practice and universal message of the Lotus Sutra more readily available to the population. He is of particular importance in the history of thought and religion, as his teachings constitute a separate sect of Buddhism, one of the only major sects to have originated in Japan Also during the Kamakura period, the founder of Soto Zen, Dogen (1200–1253), wrote many works on the philosophy of Zen, and the ''Shobogenzo'' is his magnum opus. In Korea, Chinul was an important exponent of Korean Seon, Seon Buddhism at around the same time.Esoteric Buddhism
Tantric Buddhism arrived in China in the 7th century, during the Tang Dynasty. In China, this form of Buddhism is known as Mìzōng (密宗), or "Esoteric School", and ''Zhenyan'' (true word, Sanskrit: Mantrayana). Kūkai (AD774–835) is a major Japanese Buddhist philosopher and the founder of the Tantric Shingon (true word) school in Japan. He wrote on a wide variety of topics such as public policy, language, the arts, literature, music and religion. After studying in China under Huiguo, Kūkai brought together various elements into a cohesive philosophical system of Shingon. Kūkai's philosophy is based on the Mahavairocana Tantra and the Vajrasekhara Sutra (both from the seventh century). His ''Benkenmitsu nikkyôron'' (Treatise on the Differences Between Esoteric and Exoteric Teachings) outlines the difference between exoteric, mainstream Mahayana Buddhism (kengyô) and esoteric Tantric Buddhism (mikkyô).Krummel, John, "Kûkai", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2014 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL=Modern philosophy
InComparison with other philosophies
Scholars such as Thomas McEvilley, Christopher I. Beckwith, and Adrian Kuzminski have identified cross influences between ancient Buddhism and the ancient Greek philosophy of Pyrrhonism. The Greek philosopher Pyrrho spent 18 months in India as part of Alexander the Great's court on Alexander's conquest of western India, where ancient biographers say his contact with the gymnosophists caused him to create his philosophy. Because of the high degree of similarity between Nāgārjuna's philosophy and Pyrrhonism, particularly the surviving works of Sextus Empiricus, Thomas McEvilley suspects that Nāgārjuna was influenced by Greek Pyrrhonist texts imported into India. Baruch Spinoza, though he argued for the existence of a permanent reality, asserts that all phenomenal existence is transitory. In his opinion sorrow is conquered "by finding an object of knowledge which is not transient, not ephemeral, but is immutable, permanent, everlasting." The Buddha taught that the only thing which is eternal isSee also
* Buddhism and science * Buddhist ethics * Buddhist logic * Critical Buddhism * God in Buddhism * List of Buddhist terms and concepts * List of Buddhist topics * List of sutras *Notes
References
Sources
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