notes on Jainism

the soul mirrors Brahman's nature 

Jainism was founded in the 6th century BC by Vardhamana, known as Mahavira or “Great Hero” (the 24th of the Tirthankaras) Jainas or “Conquerors” (whence the name Jainism), in protest against the orthodox Vedic ritualistic cult of the period.

Jainism asserts that every soul is divine and capable of attaining perfection. The universe can be divided into Jiva (soul) and Ajiva (non-soul). The living and the non-living, by coming into contact with each other, forge certain energies which bring about birth, death and various experiences of life.

Yet, the process could be stopped, and the energies already forged destroyed, by a course of discipline leading to moksha. 

Jaina is based on the practice of (a) the right knowledge, (b) right faith and (c) right conduct. They must be cultivated at once. Right faith leads to calmness and tranquility, but right faith leads to perfection only when followed by right conduct. Knowledge without faith and conduct is futile. Right conduct is spontaneous, not a forced mechanical quality. Attainment of right conduct is a gradual process. 3- This process leads to ahimsa: (skt non-harming) the Jaina doctrine of non-violence.¹

The five basic principles


1- Non-violence (Ahimsa) - to cause no harm to living beings.
2- Truth (Satya) - to always speak the truth in a harmless manner.
3- Non-stealing (Asteya) - to not take anything that is not willingly given (CAVEAT: don't mess up with people's autonomy, that's THEFT).
4- Celibacy (Brahmacarya) - to not indulge in sensual pleasures (CAVEAT: here "indulge" means making pleasures the end, remember the reversibility principle [avoiding something only to let it thru the back door] the enjoyment is more appropriate, as "means"). 
5- Non-possession (Aparigraha) - to detach from people, places, and material things (for detachment nothing better than this.

Theological and philosophical Implications of Jainism

*Every living being has a soul: divine, with innate, though typically unrealized, potentially immense knowledge, perception, power, and bliss. 
*Therefore, regard every living being as yourself, harm no one, and manifest benevolence for all living beings.
*Every soul is born as a sort of celestial, human or sub-human or hellish being according to its own karmas. 
*Every soul is the architect of its own life, here or hereafter. (Yes, freedom exists!)
*When a soul is freed from karmas,² it becomes free and god-conscious, experiencing infinite knowledge, perception, power, and bliss.
*Right View, Right Knowledge and Right Conduct (triple gems of Jainism) provide the way to this realization. 
*There is no supreme divine creator, owner, preserver or destroyer: The universe is self-regulated and every soul has the potential to achieve the status of god-consciousness (siddha) through one's own efforts.
*Non-violence (Ahimsa) is the foundation of right View, the existence of right Knowledge and the kernel of right Conduct. Non-violence is compassion and forgiveness in thoughts, words and actions toward all living beings. It includes respecting views of others (Non-absolutism). Is Ahimsa not a better face-to-face?
*Limit possessions and lead a pure life that is useful to yourself and others. Owning an object by itself is not possessiveness; however attachment to an object is. Non-possessiveness is the balancing of needs and desires while staying detached from our possessions.
*Enjoy the company of the holy and better qualified, be merciful to those afflicted and tolerate the perversely inclined.
*Four things are difficult for a soul to attain: 1. human birth (the one you own), 2. true knowledge, 3. good faith, and 4. practicing the right path.
*It is important not to waste human life in evil ways. Rather, strive to rise on the ladder of spiritual evolution.
*The goal of Jainism is liberation of the soul from the negative effects of unenlightened thoughts, speech and action. This goal is achieved through clearance of karmic obstructions.
____________
¹ Non-violence of thought is more important than non-violence of action. It is also one of the five virtues in Raja-Yoga. ² New development: karma that binds our soul is due not only to the actions of our body, mind, and speech but more importantly, to the intentions behind them. Äsrava (Cause of the influx of karma). A person's ignorance or wrong belief, vowlessness, spiritual-laziness, and passions like anger, self-aggrandizement, deceit and greed, are the primary causes of the influx of karma. Collectively, these causes are called Äsrava.

your turn #2 (we moved to room 8202) update today

rené magritte, 1935

UPDATE: today, tuesday. big portion of the class addressing the upanishads. this thursday we keep at it.

very good points!

we're all learning. we're all students. we're right even if we are wrong.

just as this is the best of all possible worlds (though this world may suck sometimes).

my job in this class is to problematize the issues, to listen and learn. don't worry, we have to get used to a new philosophical jargon. break the resistance.

ideas being fluttered around in class:

damah: "self governance"
the "experience unexperienced"
bhakti: the importance of joy.
"am just the unaffected ground where all consuming is consumed" 
immanence
are we god? yes. remember: the hindu way is enstasis (going inside) as opposed to extasis (christian way). they're both valid.

if i forgot something you can address it.
______________________________________

the metaphysics in hinduism builds around dualities: atman/brahman, kharma/dharma, maya/reality, dukkha/bhakti,

many of your comments addressed undeniable tensions.

the problem of free will vs. kharma,

the problem of dukkha,

reincarnation as literal or metaphoric,

which brings me to maya (the veil of illusions) 

1- we're here to fulfill our kharma (our cosmic debt from previous lives). so, our being here is necessary and unavoidable, and yet, we remain unaware. we don't feel as if we deserve this. the idea of cause/effect goes unnoticed. this is a result of our avidya (or ignorance).

(maya plays a part here).

while it's true that we're here to fulfill our kharma, it's no less true that simultaneously we are here to change our future's kharma.

what's the vehicle? our dharma. the reality and the duties thereof that we have to live with. "duty" is our embeddedness, what we come with here. we have to work with what we have. for example: if i have a brother with a disability i have no choice but deal with that. if i've a klineferter DNA predisposition there's nothing i can do about it, etc.

2- samsara is the wheel that keeps this universe going. we're inside it. yet, are we not all brahman? is not my atman yours and yours mine and both ours HIS? since the only thing we have in this phenomenal realm are our actions, it's through actions that we find a path to realization or more suffering. the path is moksha.

what's on your mind? you can address any topic from our last two classes. tuesday we'll read from the Upanishads.

upanishads, selected fragments

About this (atman) only one can say “not… not” (neti, neti). He is ungraspable, he is undecaying, he has nothing sticking to him, he is not bound."

AITAREYA UPANISHAD

"Without me here, to know experience, how could this experience be? And how do I continue on? If it’s by speech that words are said, if odours are perceived by smell … if sights are seen by sense of vision, sounds are heard by sense of hearing, feelings felt by sense of touch, and thoughts conceived by changing mind … if thoughts and sense-perceptions are absorbed within by understanding, and appearances are formed by mind’s expressive thoughts and acts… then who, or what, am I?"

TAITTIRIYA UPANISHAD 

"Brahman is OM, the whole world is OM. When one says OM, it indicates compliance."

"With respect to the bodily sphere (atman), one should venerate: ‘Brahman is the mind."

"The Self is a source of abiding joy. Our hearts are filled with joy in seeing him. Enshrined in the depths of consciousness. If he were not there, who would breathe? He fills every heart with joy." (Bhakti)

"I’m here: in every passing season, in the cycling of the seasons risen from their background source, continuing through space and time. I am the seed of consciousness that’s always here in all experience: lighting every passing moment, common to all different moments, changeless through all changing time. I am each being’s real self, the truth of all reality. This truth is immanent in all that is perceived: as that which is, unmixed with mere appearances attributed by sense and mind. This truth also transcends whatever is perceived: as that which knows, as unconditioned consciousness, the common, knowing principle from which all sense and mind arise. Thus seen ‘out there’ and found ‘in here’, truth is complete reality: from known everywhere, in everything"

"I am the sustenance consumed by all the world of changing things. Yet into me all changing things and all the world become consumed. From me, each of them issues forth, with all their ordered functioning. I am their deathless origin: their common, underlying source. Whoever freely gives of me, is only thus accepting me. I, who thus seem to be consumed, am just the unaffected ground where all consuming is consumed. Transcending all the changing world, I’m unconditioned, knowing light."

CHANDOGYA UPANISHAD (The universe is found on two principles, rita (order) and yajna (sacrifice)

"The Universe comes from Brahman, exists in Brahman, and will return to Brahman. Verily, all is Brahman."

"The Self, who can be realized by the pure in heart, who is life, light, truth, space, who gives rise to all works, all desires ... this is the Self dwelling in my heart."

"Our bodies, senses and our minds keep changing in a changing world. And so, whatever they perceive is by its nature changeable. But, as this change keeps going on, how is it known that things have changed? How can something be compared with what it was before it changed? Where variation is perceived, what is it that knows the change of passing states which come and go? It must be there before the change, to know the state that was before. And it must still be there when change has taken place, to know what has become of what was there before. Wherever there is variation, that which knows must carry on through changing states that come and go. Each state gives way to other states, but that which knows the change remains. This knowing principle remains unchanged, unvarying: through all the change and all the variations body, sense and mind perceive. Whatever is perceived must vary; that which knows is never changed."

"Reality is nothing else but consciousness, the real self that each of us calls “I”."

"All misery and want arise from incomplete experience, where self seems somehow incomplete from for want of something it desires. Ego claiming to be body lives in bondage to the world. Ego claiming to be mind lives in bondage to desire. All that mind and body do gets undone in course of time. When an object is desired, ego feels that self is lacking something to be found outside. Consciousness thus seems divided; mind appears, dissatisfied. But where reality and self are realized as only one; there incompleteness can’t arise, nor misery, nor want, nor death."

"With respect to the bodily sphere (atman), one should venerate: ‘Brahman is the mind’, and with respect to the divine sphere: ‘Brahman is the space’.

"You who know this Self here, the one common to all men..."

"Self is the continuity that lives unchanged through change; it is the bridge that joins all differences. And yet, it also is the basis of discrimination, by which different things are told apart."

"As a tethered bird grows tired of flying about in vain to find a place to rest and settles at last on its own perch, so the mind, tired of wandering about hither and tither, settles down at last in the self, dear one, to which is bound."  

KENA UPANISHAD (kena means "by whom", a sort of endless investigation)

"The Self is the ear of the ear, the eye of the eye, the mind of the mind, rising above the senses and the mind... renouncing separate existence, the wise realize the deathless Self."

"What motivates mind’s changing show of seeming objects, thoughts, desires? What makes the mind go out to things that seem to be outside itself? What sends the mind, in soaring flight, to search for freedom, happiness? From what does mind come down again, to earth: where joy seems always bound to pettiness and suffering? What joins together various acts – of body, sense and mind – to make each person’s individual life? From what does meaning come: into the things we do, the words we speak, the gestures that our bodies make? Those who are brave break free from world’s appearances, and realize that self is unmixed consciousness: beyond all seeming change and death."

"There is only one way to know the Self, and that is to realize it yourself."

"That which is the hearing behind the hearing, the thinking behind the thinking, the speech behind the speech, the sight behind the sight, the breathing behind the breathing. Freed completely from these, the wise become immortal, then they depart from this world. Sight does not reach there, neither does thinking or speech."

KATHA UPANISHAD (an encounter of Nachiketa i.e, "that which is unperceived," with death)*

"What one cannot express by speech, by which speech itself is expressed –learn that alone is Brahman."

"The whole created universe is made of living energy that moves and oscillates and shines. This boundless store of restless cosmic energy has terrible destructive power. It’s like an upraised thunderbolt: to petty ego’s fragile life, identified with little body, sense and mind."

"What’s true in here is true out there. What’s there, in truth, is also here. Truth is the same, both here and there. Wherever differences are seen, perceiving ego suffers change and thus goes on from death to death. But when mind turns back to its source, it knows itself as consciousness, unmixed with any other thing. And then it is quite evident that, though appearances differ, reality remains the same. from No difference is really there."

"For knowledge that agrees, I am. For knowing contrary, I am. I am the knowing principle that’s common to all different views and carries on through changing time: as differing perceptions join in unity of single truth; as differences are told apart, from thus knowing truth from falsity."

"When mind and senses cease to act, no seeming object can appear. Then, consciousness shines out alone, unmixed with those appearances that make it seem what it is not. This state of unmixed consciousness is said to be the highest state; and meditation is the art of holding mind and senses back to reach this state by act of will. Thus, turning will towards a state where all distractions are dissolved, attention turns to consciousness: which shines in all appearances, and shines alone when they dissolve. But when this state has passed away, appearances return again; and consciousness then seems obscured just as it seemed to be before. How can pure consciousness be known for what it is, unmoved, unchanged: no matter what distractions rise; no matter what is seen or heard, smelled, tasted, touched or thought or felt; no matter what seems to appear from to changing body, mind and sense?"

"Finer than the finest, larger than the largest is the self (atman) that lies hidden in the heart of the living being. Without desires and sorrows a man perceives by the creator’s grace the grandeur of the self."

"Higher than the sense is the mind. Higher than the mind is the essence. Higher than the essence is the immense self. Higher than the immense self is the unmanifest."

ISHA UPANISHAD

"The Self is ONE, ever still, the Self is swifter that thought..."

"The Self is everywhere. Bright is the Self. Indivisible, untouched by sin, wise, immanent and transcendent. He holds the cosmos together."

"The real self, in each of us, is stainless, undecaying, free from hunger, free from thirst, untroubled in the midst of grief. It has no thought nor wish, but truth. This is the self we cannot help but seek, the truth we seek to understand. Whoever sees and knows this self gains all the world, and finds the goal of all desires." "Where body’s world dissolves in dream and mind is free, the self shines there. It is the deathless, fearless absolute."

"Although not moving, the ONE is swifter than the mind, the gods cannot catch it, as it speeds on in front. Standing, it outpaces others who run. It moves, yet it does not move. It’s far away –yet it’s near at hand! It is within this whole world –yet, it’s also without the whole world."

SVETASVARA UPANISHAD (the Svetasvara is a paean of ecstasy to the self, the reality behind the gunas). What's the entanglement here? maya, i.e, appearance, the universe as neither real nor unreal.

"You are a woman, you are a man, you are a boy; also a girl. As an old man you totter along with a walking stick. As you’re born you turn your face in every direction. You are the dark blue bird, the green one with red eyes, the rain-cloud, the seasons, and the oceans. You live as one without a beginning because of your pervasiveness, you, whom all beings have been born."

 "The mind is harnessed to the senses like a chariot pulled along by untamed horses running wild. And it can only be controlled, held steady on an even course, by one who stands as consciousness: unexcited, undisturbed."

"Just as the energy of fire is latent in a piece of fuel; so too the subtle energies of life and mind are latent in gross forms of body, seen by sense as pieces of an outside world. And just as fuel may be set alight, by focused friction or by concentrated sparks or flame; so too the subtle powers of life and mind may be made manifest by meditative practices: which concentrate intensity within, thus setting flame to latent energies that are not noticed in the ordinary course of outward life in seeming world. These latent powers are called ‘divine’ when they are used to take the mind, beyond its usual limitations, to that principle of light where every limit disappears and all the powers of mind dissolve, in unconditioned consciousness."

MUNDAKA UPANISHAD

"Behind all actions in the world are the perceptions they express. Behind perceptions of the world is the attention of the mind, which turns from one thing to the next. Behind the changing mind is this one living principle of truth: one unconditioned consciousness, which stays the same while mind is changed from one appearance to the next. This changeless principle of truth is always here, in each of us. It is the centre of all life, from which all seeming faculties of body, sense and mind arise. It has no needs, makes no demands; it never suffers want or lack; it does not ask for anything. And yet, spontaneously, unasked, all that is done is done for it."

"What cannot be seen, what cannot be grasped, without color, without sight or hearing, without hands or feet. What is eternal and all-pervading, extremely minute, presently everywhere. This is the immutable, which the wise fully perceive."

"Nor by sense, not by sight, nor by any other sense, nor by austerity or rite, is he grasped. Rather the partless one is seen by a man as he meditates when his being has become pure through the lucidity of knowledge."

__________
*The sound Om! is the syllable of the supreme Brahman The Self, whose symbol is Om is the same as the omnipresent Brahman. Smaller than the smallest and larger than the largest, the Self is formless and all-pervading. The goal of the wise is to know this Self. The Self is like a rider; the horses are the senses, which he guides through the maze of desires. After death, it is the Self that remains; the Self is immortal. Mere reading of the scriptures or intellectual learning cannot realize Self. One must discriminate the self from the body, which is the seat of desire. Inability to realize Brahman results in one being enmeshed in the cycle of rebirths. Understanding the Self leads to moksha.

your turn #1 (updated with today's class)

art by kajahl benes

welcome to my class.

this is going to be your first post for comment.

here are some of what we've talked in class:

1- master/slave dialectic in the case of the syncretism in hinduism. i made the point that hinduism is a pottage of tendencies and practices.

2- getting our metaphors right when talking about big things. we need to know what we're talking about, there are real things, and there are metaphors to recontextualize these things. for example, "soul" for me is not real, but metaphoric. it doesn't matter, i still talk about it and make use of it, but you know what i mean. 

3- so far these categories in hinduism:

kharma, universal cause effect. you reap what you sow.
samsara, a cosmic principle. not easy to grasp. it means the same and the different at once.
dukkha, i made the point in class that suffering is essential for hinduism. without suffering there is no spiritual growth. this is the redemptive aspect of hinduism to the idea of suffering.
atman/brahman, a difficult concept. we'll be grappling with it throughout the semester.  is it one? is it two? it's both.
yajna, sacrifice. you give of yourself in exchange for something or someone, that's the first idea of yajna, then comes the second more powerful idea: sacrifice for its own sake. we're not there yet, we need to read from the bhagavad gita.

i've linked these to wikipedia articles (which i think are quite good). in your 150-word comment you can take any tangent you want, while keeping focused on one of these themes. try to make your comment informed, and interesting. you can take a look at these previous comment boxes made by my last phi 2070 class, here and here.

update: today we added maya, bhakti and ineffability.

go ahead!

to make a comment 

click at the bottom of this post where it says "post a comment." you will get a box, after you are done with your comment sign it at the bottom of your comment (even if you have a google alias). click "anonymous" (unless you have a google account with your alias). i advise you to write your comment first on word and copy and paste it to the comment box in case it gets lost (this has happened to students whom lost the whole comment). click i'm not a robot and click "publish your comment." by the way, you can preview your comment before you publish it.

if you have any questions, let me know via email (atriff@mdc.edu) or call me. good luck.

four upanishadian themes

Samsara: the idea that after we die our soul will be reborn again in another body. Perhaps in an animal, perhaps as a human, perhaps as a god, but always in a regular cycle of deaths and resurrections.

Karma: means “action”, the idea that all actions have consequences, good or bad. Karma determines the conditions of the next life, just like our life is conditioned by our previous karma. There is no judgement or forgiveness, simply an impersonal, natural and eternal law operating in the universe. Those who do good will be reborn in better conditions while those who are evil will be reborn in worse conditions.

 Dharma: means “right behaviour” or “duty”, the idea that we all have a social obligation. Each member of a specific caste has a particular set of responsibilities, a dharma. For example, among the Kshatriyas (the warrior caste), it was considered a sin to die in bed; dying in the battlefield was the highest honour they could aim for. In other words, dharma encouraged people of different social groups to perform their duties the best they could.

 Moksha: means “liberation” or release. The eternal cycle of deaths and resurrection can be seen as a pointless repetition with no ultimate goal attached to it. Seeking permanent peace or freedom from suffering seems impossible, for sooner or later we will be reborn in worse circumstances. Moksha is the liberation from this never ending cycle of reincarnation, a way to escape this repetition. But what would it mean to escape from this cycle? What is it that awaits the soul that manages to be released from samsara? To answer this question we need to look into the concept of atman and Brahman.

Notes on Hinduism

 

Hinduism is a potage of philosophies. It's simultaneously a religion, a developed cultural tradition and a social structure. So, it grows in all directions. 

Hinduism has an amazing capacity for holding together a variety of spiritual cultural and social traditions. The best way to study Hinduism as a process, i.e., a tradition in constant development. 

There are three important changes 

1- the arrival of the Aryan peoples (around 2000 B.C.), 

2- the rise of the sectarian religions of Vaishnavism and Shaivism 

3- the development of Hinduism during the 19th Century, when Western influences poured into India. 

The early period results from the interaction of the Aryan and non-Aryan tradition (Jainism), which are the two basic components of Hinduism. The non-Aryans represent the primordial traditions of India. In fact one can see Hinduism as the Indianization of these traditions (i.e. non-Aryans gradually modified the Aryan elements. One can see a similarity in the interpenetration of Hellenistic and Christian traditions in the West).

Non-Aryan component

In Hinduism there is a world-negative aspect that seems opposed to the influence of the Aryan conqueror. One perceives this attitude opposing delight in life, which is found in the Vedic Hymns that can be very difficult to understand if one doesn't see the phenomenon from a historic perspective. 

This devaluation of the world as non-being, as confinement, as meaningless, as a source of confusion or duhkha (suffering) is the most significant aspect of the entire spiritual development of India. These are also felt in Buddhism, but more so in Jainism which is really non-Aryan. So, in a sense one can say that the Hindu achievement consists in interpreting and transforming their historic situation into an existential compass of the human condition.

Nowhere in the civilization of the Eurasian world was the objective world seen as more oppressive and alienating. We are affected not only by the afflictions of the external world, but even more by the inner limitations of our own being (this worldview was ultimately accepted by the Aryans).

(Read more here)

right use of metaphors

metaphor is an important tool of worldmaking. a metaphor is an analogy. the Greek (μεταφορά) metaphorá means "transfer," to "carry over." a metaphor is more forceful (active) than an analogy, because metaphor asserts two things are alike, whereas analogy implies a difference.

metaphor has powerful cognitive binding.

miracles? myths? all metaphors. if we see it that way, it helps see the world as a construction.

for instance, imagine thoughts as autonomous agents, with posture and dignity (i.e, they understand their place and time). they are produced by our brains, but they have a sort of independent existence.

was zero discovered or invented?

by our constant reevaluations, given newer contexts, metaphorization helps enhancing our world.

why is this helpful? imagine a new violin. the sound of a new violin is pretty dull. it needs playing. the playing "cures" the wood. after years of playing, the inside (resonance box) becomes aware!

back to eastern philosophy: in the taittiriya upanishad the body is presented as the first of many layers that surround the human personality, each less physical than the one before. like an onion. as one peels layers upon layers, one gets more subtle, more independent and more dependent. more particular and yet, more general.

the core is the atman. the ONE.

w'll be looking at this metaphor for some time.

environing nature with a little help from poetry

brahman is nature,

nature is everything there is

man is nature and brahman.

but man destroys nature

so, man  destroys himself

did man learned from brahman?

for IT being nature destroys nature and man

thus, brahman destroys itself

what's the riddle?

we cannot lie to ourselves pretending that we live in this safety tiny isle outside the relationship of the oneness of nature.

nature is everything there is. everything.

a more honest relationship between human & nature means recognizing that we are also nature.

what nature? do we even know how to look around? do we really see nature or do we see ourselves outside?

i propose environing as learning to weave one-with-another. let's begin with understanding what's difficult.

the so called unpleasant & unsightly in nature. the different, the awkward, unattractive, the queer. people are definitely afraid of the ugly duck.

or the frightful (the putrid smell of the marshes, abandoned animal carcasses in the countryside, sulfide vapors coming up from the earth's bowels. and death?

lord byron (who is not afraid of death) has this to say:

The world was void,

The populous and the powerful was a lump,

Seasonless, herbless, treeless, manless, lifeless,

A lump of death, a chaos of hard clay.

The rivers, lakes, and ocean stood still,

And nothing stirred within their silent depths;

Ships sailorless lay rotting on the sea,

And their masts fell down piecemeal; as they dropp'd

They slept on the abyss without a surge

The waves were dead; the tides were in their grave,

The moon their mistress had expired before;

The winds were withered in the stagnant air,

And the clouds perish'd; Darkness had no need

Of aid from them. She was the universe.

or baudelaire, in fleurs du mal:

Je veux dormir! dormir plutôt que vivre!
Dans un sommeil aussi doux que la mort,
J'étalerai mes baisers sans remords
Sur ton beau corps poli comme le cuivre.

I wish to sleep! to sleep rather than live!
In a slumber doubtful as death,
I shall remorselessly cover with my kisses
Your copper-like polished body.

how about insects (our misunderstood enemies?). let's begin with ants, perhaps one of the smartest and most sociable insect. roaches? we each have our own critter-phobias.

why this insistence of looking at the ugly?  if we want to comprehend nature we must learn how really to look at the whole of it. 

suggested homework for all of us: on our way home let's embrace and kiss a tree! 

feel its trunk, passive ebullient energy. now think of sending a good karma throughout the universe. not to your friend, sister, pet, remembrance. go fly high.  

to the universe!      

PHI 2070 Eastern Philosophy Syllabus (in process)

illustration by RLon

Alfredo Triff, Ph.D.
Room 3604-37
Tel. 305.237.7554
E-mail: atriff@mdc.edu
Office Hours: Posted
Text: My own handouts + Upanishads, Baghavadgita, Dhamapada, Analects, Lao-Tzu, I Ching, etc.

Introduction

Phi 2070, or Eastern Philosophy consists of a survey of the different philosophical systems from India & China, plus the development of Zen Buddhism in the Far East.

In the East, philosophy is a way of life. This does not mean that our Western ideas of truth, reason and logic are not pursued in the East. Perhaps the most important characteristic of eastern philosophy is the awareness of the unity and mutual interrelation of all things and events, the experience of all phenomena in the universe as manifestations of a basic oneness.

Goals

To become familiar with historical and contemporary trends in the philosophies of the East. We take a look at the cosmogony, epistemology, metaphysics and ethics of these systems. The perennial question: Can we become better by absorbing these teachings?

Evaluation

1. Grades: A, B and C stand for outstanding, good and average respectively. D is below average. F means not enough work to justify credit for the course.
2. Testing: There are 3 tests, which count for about 70% of the final grade. I will let you know the material to be tested a week in advance. Tests are simple: fill-in the blanks kind of questions.
3. Posting: weekly 150-word-comments to different weekly posts on this blog (for a 20% of the final grade). These comments are important. They allow us to ponder the issues more specifically and expanding beyond the class time. Your comments are discussed in the following class and so on.
4. Participation: The remaining 10% is for class participation (this breakdown reflects a qualitative approximation).
5. Attendance: Two unexcused absences are permitted. Each unexcused absence thereafter will lower the participation grade by half a letter. Missing quizzes must be justified by a doctor's note or the equivalent. Please, send me an email if you have a problem, suggestion, etc.

Policies

1. We expect a minimum of class demeanor. Courtesy and respect are important. 2. In Philosophy discussions are essential. Be ready to share your point of view without any fear. As long as you are respectful and empathetic you can say what you want. After you talk, listen.

CALENDAR

GREAT PHILOSOPHIES OF INDIA

Weeks 1-3: Hinduism 

Weeks 4-5: Jainism 

Weeks 6-7: Yoga

Weeks 8-9: Buddhism 

Mid-term on philosophies of India.

GREAT PHILOSOPHIES OF CHINA & JAPAN

Weeks 10-11: Confucianism 

Weeks 12-13:Taoism 

Week 13: The Yin-yang School

Weeks 14-16: Zen 

Final Exam

Final Exam Topics

Buddhism:

The Four Noble Truths: 1- The truth of misery, 2- the truth that misery originates from the craving for pleasure, 3- the truth that this craving for pleasure can be eliminated (controlled), 4- the truth that this elimination is the result of a method that must be followed:

Eightfold Path: 1- The right views, 2- right aspirations, 3- right speech, 4- right conduct, 5- right livelihood, 6- right effort, 7- right mindfulness, and 8- right meditational attainment.

Dharma: cosmic law, duty, also the teaching of Buddha.  

Karma: The principle of causality,

Nirvana: same as moksha: liberation.

Confucianism

1- T’ien (or heaven) is purposive, the master of all things. T'ien is immanent: “Heaven sees through the eyes of the people, Heavens listens through the ears of the people.” Not necessarily anthropomorphic but anthropogenic, T'ien is embodied in the people and exemplified by the people. Heaven is a principle and that relates to human as that of part/whole relationship. 

2- Jen (also pronounced as “ren” means indistinctly, altruism, humanity and fairness and appears more than 100 times in the Analects. Jen requires compassion. 

Zhong-Yong: the Doctrine of the Mean = centrality = not to be “one-sided.” It doesn't mean just being in the middle regardless of context. The idea is to stay between two vices, not between excellence and vice. “Excess is as bad as deficiency.” (A, 20:1). Confucius defines it as: “Do not impose to others what you don't want,” the negative form of the Golden Rule. “If you want to establish yourself, establish others. If you want to promote yourself, promote others.” To be able to apply the golden rule one has to follow Shu. 

4- Shu, means to be empathetic, i.e., to be able to understand the circumstances. Shu needs... 

5- Xue or learning. It means a stronger sense of affecting oneself by improving one’s sensitivity, understanding or ability. With xue one appropriates what’s learned, a process of becoming transforming.

6- Si, means reflecting. “Learning without Si, one will be perplexed, thinking (Si) without learning, one will be in peril.” (A, 2:15). 

7- Li which is the idea of ritual. Li can be seen as the embodiment of refinement that rules one’s life. If jen is the internal quality that makes a person an authentic person, then li is the body of external behavior that allows jen to be manifested and applied publicly. When li is properly performed, it becomes "yi,” a word that can be translated as righteousness. Li provides the fabric of social order. It’s the proper social behavior of a person embedded in a community of equals. Li is also a vital constituent of education: Humans are like raw materials, they need to be carved, chiseled, grounded and polished to become authentic individuals. By doing li one learns and instills oneself in the practice of li. 

Taoism

1- Tao (the Way) is the ONE. Natural, eternal, spontaneous, nameless and indescribable. 

Lao Tzu assumes the YING YANG principle. Yang is the cosmic energy of Heaven, male, aggression, firmness and brightness. Ying is the cosmic energy of earth, a female element that is receptive, yielding and dark. Harmony in nature is achieved through these two cosmic energies. They are both equally important. 

2- Being/Non-being, meaning the dialectic aspect of the universe. It's duck-rabbit. The second part of the dichotomy is referred to as Wuji (limitless, infinite). It's the ultimate nothingness. 

Know whiteness, Maintain blackness, and be a model for all under heaven. By being a model for all under heaven, Eternal integrity will not err. If eternal integrity does not err, You will return to infinity. 

3- Cycles: Tao moves in cycles. But the life cycle is an unchanging truth. While everything in nature and all sentient beings follow their respective cycles, so do worldly events. The main lesson here is that there is no rule by which one can foresee the future. Beware of Black Swans!

4- If a person shows Tao, he/she has applied Te (virtue). The ideal life for the individual and the ideal order for society and government are based on and guided by it. Te = harmony with your milieu, thus the universe.   

One who understand the the dominating character of the male yet keeps to the passive nature of the female, behaves properly. 

Te "produces but does not possess, cares but does not control; it leads but does not subjugate." 

5- Tao has a 5-point method: 

a- Simplicity: "less is more"
"less" here is not deficient, or lacking, or reduced. It's the best possible less: the just less that makes it happen.   

b- Spontaneity or tzu-yan: "blaze the trail not often followed" 
Even at the verge of erring, err honestly.  

c- Tranquility: "moon illumines the crystal blue water" 
The quiet horizon amidst the noise. Levelheadedness in crisis.  

d- Flexibility: "be a blade of grass" 
Dare let the weather lead.  

e- Non-action or wu-wei: Because of its importance, I intend to explain wu-wei in more detail in my next post.

Zen

1- Talking silence (Dogen):

"Avoid unnecessary words.
Speak with your mind.
Read people’s minds."

2- Being a fool (Master Ikkyu):

"How to reach out?"
Listen… ask.
"How can I obtain wisdom?"
Be a fool.
....

"What is Zen?
Nothing special."

A monk asked Ummon: "What is Buddha?" Ummon answered him: "Dried shit."
....
3- Gentle Face (Shin-Hiu)

"Gentle face means a happy spirit,
Let people know it.
Let people see it.
What if they resent it?
Since they need it, they will come to love it."

4- Compelling mind (Ryokan)

"The compelling mind is peaceful."
....

"How can I feel my mind?
Look at the mountain…"
.....

"Read minds and look at the mountains.".....

"Beathe with your mind and think with your heart!"

5- Cultivate Poetry (the koan as a device for enlightenment)*

Language is evoked by the present occasion itself; it is not merely a mapping of the present in terms of learned structures. thus, language has more of a poetic than a discursive dimension. poetry proper is never merely a higher mode of everyday language. it's rather the reverse: everyday language is a forgotten and therefore used-up poem, from which there hardly resounds a call any longer.

6- Doing Nothing

"Before enlightenment; chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment; chop wood, carry water."

"When you seek it, you cannot find it."

"After enlightenment, the laundry."

Bodhidharma and the great hall of mirrors

Illustration by Clay Hickson, via Juxtapoz

MANY roads lead to the Path, but basically there are only two: reason and practice.

To enter by reason means to realize the essence through instruction and to believe that all living things share the same true nature, which isn’t apparent because it’s shrouded by sensation and delusion. Those who turn from delusion back to reality, who meditate on walls,’ the absence of self and other, the oneness of mortal and sage, and who remain unmoved even by scriptures are in complete and unspoken agreement with reason.

Without moving, without effort, they (we all) enter, we say, by reason.

To enter by practice refers to four practices:

Suffering injustice,

adapting to conditions,

seeking nothing, and

practicing the Dharma.

First, suffering injustice. When those who search for the Path encounter adversity, they should think to themselves: "In Countless ages gone by, I’ve turned from the essential to the trivial and wandered through all manner of existence, often angry without cause and guilty of numberless transgressions.

Second, adapting to conditions. I say, be a blade of grass.

Third, seeking nothing. People of this world are deluded. They’re always longing for something-always, in a word, seeking. The wise wake up. They choose reason over custom. They fix their minds on the sublime and let their bodies change with the seasons. All phenomena are empty. They contain nothing worth desiring. Calamity forever alternates with Prosperity!

To dwell in the three realms is to dwell in a burning house. To have a body is to suffer. Does anyone with a body has peace? The more reason to have it! Those who understand this detach themselves from all they have and stop imagining or seeking. The sutras say, To seek is to suffer.

The Way:

The Way is wordless. Words are illusions. They’re no different from things that appear in your dreams at night, be they palaces or carriages, forested parks or lakeside ‘lions. Don’t conceive any delight for such things. Don’t cling to appearances, and you’ll break through all barriers.

Your real body is pure and impervious. But you’re unaware of it. And because of this you suffer karma in vain. Wherever you find delight, you find bondage. Feel it. But once you awaken to your original body and mind," you’re no longer bound by attachments.

Using the mind to look for reality is delusion. Not using the mind to took for reality is awareness.

Freeing oneself from words is liberation. No appearance of the mind is the other shore.

Aware:

When you’re deluded, this shore exists. When you wake tip, it doesn’t exist. Mortals stay on this shore. But those who discover the greatest of all vehicles stay on neither this shore nor the other shore. They’re able to leave both shores.

Delusion means mortality. Awareness means Buddhahood. They’re not the same. And they’re not different.

When we’re deluded there’s a world to escape. When we’re aware, there’s nothing to escape.

Limit of paradox:

If you use your mind to study reality, you won’t understand either your mind or reality.

If you study reality without using your mind, you’ll understand both.

Those who don’t understand don’t understand understanding. And those who understand, understand not understanding.

People capable of true vision know that the mind is empty. They transcend both understanding and not understanding. The absence of both understanding and not understanding is true understanding

When you don’t understand, your wrong. When you understand, you re not wrong. This is because the nature of wrong is empty. When you don’t understand right seems wrong. When you understand, wrong isn’t wrong, because wrong doesn’t exist.

The sutras say, Nothing has a nature of its own.

Act. 

Don’t question. When you question, you’re wrong. Wrong is the result of questioning.

zen action = zen person: questioning = response

How does one think about not-thinking? The Master replied, "Without thinking."

without-thinking?

what this means is that context determines character. part of that context is the questioner's state of mind.

the master replies to the student's question rather than the student's question.

if a student reveals a nihilistic attitude, the master might say there is an essence to the person. if the student is bound to categories, the master might say there is no essence to the person. in this way, the master can more powerfully enter into the self-constituting of the student's own experiential flow (we always carry our baggage). by seeing the student's perspective (empathy), the master can modify that perspective as needed. thus, zen strives to return to the point at which experience, including thought, initially occurs. this emphasis on without-thinking is what is distinctive in the zen understanding of the person. 

zen follows the nay of thought.

heidegger helps here:  Das Fragen ist die Frömmigkeit des Denkens.

the zen context of a person is mu or "nothingness." 

through mu the student achieves personal-meaning. at the most basic, it means (hishiryô) without-thinking. at first, it may seem odd to regard hishiryô as a relationship.

in zen situations, however, personhood is grounded in without-thinking rather than thinking. so there is necessarily a gap between the zen buddhist's own without-thinking experience of relationships and an outside observer's objectified, thinking characterization of them. this is the essence of anatman.

in a sense the zen buddhist does not have a different meaning in each situation. it's like mr. X with different roles during the day: father, driver, student, cook, etc. 

a person doesn't have meaning or relationships; rather, a person achieves meaning through relationships. 

in the words of taoist zhuangtzi:

If you talk in a worthy manner, you can talk all day long and it will pertain to the Way. But if you talk in an unworthy manner, you can talk all day long and it will pertain to mere things. Tao and things—neither words nor silence are worthy of expressing it. Not to talk & not to be silent—this is the highest form of debate.

let's go tao with tao

kusta saksi, via juxtapoz

sorry, kids, this is a little bit late, but still in time for comments by next tuesday??

from our last discussion, there were different points brought up by pedro's intense but honest exploration of truth. i tried to respond to some of his points straight from the tao te ching. 

wu-wei: to yield is to come back again. 

this is deep: what lao-tzu suggests is that if "acting" means a voluntaristic approach to life, we'll be up for a stringent surprise. simply put: not all our plans bring fruit, the more reasons to yield. perplexity reigns! the process doesn't disappear: it comes back again and again multifariously! 

wu-wei also implies the ability not to "give up," but to "give forth," a mental flexibility. it means as cristopher once said "to be in tune" with tao. 

what is tao? nature doesn't have to insist.

i know, too poetic. too abstract. but nature IS poetic. the tao te ching communicates this through and through. 

being in tune with tao yields te:

te: with things, plans, projects? be a parent not a possessor, attendant, not master.

cycles: How can a man's life keeps its course if he will not let it flow?

as per pedro's suggestion: do you want to address our discussion of Bushido? 

go ahead!

sun tzu's the art of war

one of the most important treatises on war happens to be influenced by taoist principles. how come?