Philosophies of the East - Essay Example

Hinduism as a philosophic creed has had no known founder, and there are no standard set of doctrines other than those in the Vedas and the Upanishads, universally accepted by all followers, and this may seem a disadvantage when compared to Confucianism and Buddhism. But when seen closely, it appears that Hinduism grapples with concepts of a different philosophical significance than Confucianism, because Hinduism deals with the nature of creation itself, whereas the other deals with the Way, a Way of worldly human life on the material plane alone.

Buddhism, of course had a founding father in Gautam Buddha, many of whose given precepts are strikingly similar to that of Hinduism. Hinduism accepts that absolute reality is One, the Brahman, the various gods, demi-gods and the entire creation is Its expression. The human soul Atman is a part of It but is separated from It by a veil of ego and ignorance in the samsara, the world. The more the ego and ignorance, the more the reincarnations, in each of which the soul goes through various kinds of physical and mental suffering due to his or her Karma, or action and desires.

Good karma brings the soul closer to Nirvana, or salvation from the cycle of rebirths, and bad karma and material desires drag it back down into the cycle.It is good human action and lack of material desires that can achieve salvation. On the other hand, human suffering can be understood in terms of bad past Karma, or human actions in a previous life. The Atman works out its Karma in an atmosphere of Lila or Maya, the history of the world and humans, which is in fact an illusion.Human life, then, is the journey of the Atman wherein humans try to control both the mind and the senses and become Brahman-oriented in the hope of experiencing total fulfillment in oneness with God or Brahman.

Hindu philosophy allows for various ways to achieve Nirvana and over the ages various philosophers from Nagarjuna, Ramanuja, Sankara and the modern day Aurobindo Ghosh have offered their own interpretations.Buddhism is quite similar in its approach. Buddha's concern with the cause of human suffering led him to determine the Eightfold Path of human thought, speech, action, contemplation and mindfulness which is the way human beings can be free of all desires and suffering and attain Nirvana. Moreover, upadana or "clinging to existence" should be relinquished because existence in this world is illusory, and it is important to achieve a silence of body, mind and word.

But unlike Hinduism, Buddhism does not believe in a divine creator or in divine salvation; the problem of suffering is one that humans must cope with themselves. Confucianism, on the other hand, is not concerned with the other world or rebirths at all. Direct human action is the only way human beings can better themselves according to Confucius. Human beings can gain wisdom through experience and study, following a set of principles which dictate positive action, helping others, and gaining their respect in a non-coercive fashion.

Confucius held that it is possible to become a superior man through constant practice of the principles he set out, and his philosophy had much to do with political codes and family life as well. Confucius did not feel that human life and existence is governed by a fixed and eternal transcendental principle that stands outside and above events and determines them: human