Lately I sought after to discover an interesting passage of the Daoist founder Zhuangzi, the place the textual content recommends “sitting in oblivion” or “sitting and forgetting” (zuòwàng 坐忘). That passage bears placing similarities to mystical practices and stories from all over the world.
To lend a hand determine it out, I became to Sitting in Oblivion by means of the Daoism pupil Livia Kohn, which displays how “sitting and forgetting” used to be advanced as a tradition and brought up at nice period by means of later Daoist thinkers. One passage of Kohn’s in particular struck me:
An important facets of the somewhat intensive Buddhist imports into Daoism for sitting in oblivion come with the organizational atmosphere of meditation follow in monastic establishments, the formalized moral requirement within the taking of precepts and safe haven within the 3 Treasures, the doctrines of karma and retribution, the 5 paths of rebirth, and the more than a few layers of hell, in addition to the imaginative and prescient of the body-mind relating to a couple of facets, defilements, stumbling blocks, and purification. (107)
“Somewhat intensive” certainly! I knew that East Asian Buddhists had drawn a super deal from Daoism – I’ve now and again uncharitably described Chan/Zen as “Daoists cosplaying as Buddhists” – however I hadn’t discovered how a lot the affect went within the different route. Karma, rebirth, meditation, monastic establishments, taking precepts, taking safe haven? At that time you positive sound so much like Buddhists with out the title!
The purpose were given me figuring out simply how extremely intensive Buddhist idea got here to be all over Asia – a minimum of the portions of the arena we now generally consult with as “Asia”, which now and again exclude the westernmost parts of the bodily continent. Obviously Buddhism right kind had a vastly intensive affect around the pondering of the continent, from Mongolia within the north to Borobudur within the south, from Japan within the east the entire strategy to Kalmykia – up to now west that it’s in most cases thought to be part of Europe. That a lot wasn’t information to me. However what Kohn were given me desirous about is how a lot Buddhism set the philosophical time table even for Asians who weren’t Buddhist.
Borobudur, the good southern Buddhist monument in Java, Indonesia. Symbol by means of Heri nugroho, CC BY-SA 4.0.
As it wasn’t simply the Daoists. Whilst Neo-Confucians like Zhu Xi criticized Buddhism at period, there used to be nonetheless an extensive Buddhist influence on their idea as smartly. In that appreciate, China reflected India: whilst Buddhism ultimately died out in lots of the Indian subcontinent, Buddhist concepts have been taken up intimately by means of the Indian faculties that nominally adverse it. Most likely essentially the most influential non-Buddhist philosopher in India used to be Śaṅkara, who faithful a substantial amount of power to attacking Buddhism – but his philosophy wound up being so on the subject of Buddhism anyway that different warring parties referred to as him a “secret Buddhist” (pracchanna bauddha).
Which all brings me to lately’s identify. One of the most extra well-known makes an attempt to summarize the Western philosophical custom is that this quote from Alfred North Whitehead:
The most secure normal characterization of the Ecu philosophical custom is that it is composed of a chain of footnotes to Plato. I don’t imply the systematic scheme of idea which students have doubtfully extracted from his writings. I allude to the wealth of normal concepts scattered via them. His private endowments, his extensive alternatives for enjoy at a super duration of civilization, his inheritance of an highbrow custom now not but stiffened by means of over the top systematization, have made his writing an inexhaustible mine of advice. (Process and Reality 53)
If Western philosophical custom (which isn’t best Ecu) might be thought to be a “collection of footnotes to Plato”, then may just we now not in a similar fashion imagine Asian philosophical custom as a chain of footnotes to the Buddha? This sort of declare can be much less daring than a declare I’ve heard attributed to Charles Hallisey, specifically that what defines Asia itself is Buddhism. It will additionally name into query a declare I made a few years in the past, that South and East Asian philosophy are so other from every different that talking of “Asian philosophy” is simply a question of political comfort.
However is that declare in truth proper? Is Asian philosophy only a collection of footnotes to the Buddha? The declare does appear suspect given what number of primary Asian philosophies and philosophers – Confucius, the early Upaniṣads, and Zhuangzi himself, to call simply one of the crucial maximum outstanding – predate the Buddha, or a minimum of any conceivable touch with him and his idea.
The object is, that very same complaint may also be implemented to Whitehead’s unique quote concerning the West. No person critically considers Plato to be the primary Western thinker. (Nicholas Tampio as soon as made this sort of declare however didn’t attempt to justify it and used to be roundly criticized for it, so I don’t imagine that declare severe.) Plato said his personal debt to Socrates, and either one of them thought to be themselves a part of a lineage of philosophers going again to Thales. And sooner than Thales, Moses and the early Hebrew prophets have been independently wondering the arena round them in some way that may moderately be referred to as philosophical, identical to Confucius and the sages of the Upaniṣads.
So the declare that Western philosophy is footnotes to Plato is itself now not wholly true. This can be a large and shrewd generalization concerning the later scope and building of Western philosophy, the best way Western philosophy after Plato has in most cases been achieved in his shadow, even if it rejects him. However in that sense – to the restricted extent that we will say Western philosophy is footnotes to Plato – I believe that we will certainly make the similar generalization about Asian philosophy, that it’s footnotes to the Buddha. In each South Asia and East Asia, as soon as philosophy encountered the ideas attributed to the Buddha, none of it will be the similar once more.
