The Concept of Mind in Buddhism and the Concept of Mind in Classical Confucianism - Essay Example

Topic: Compare the concept of Mind in Buddhism with the concept of mind/heart in ical Confucianism, such as Mencius’, or that of Neo-Confucianssuch as Lu Xiangsa or Wang Yangming. In Buddhism, the entity that remains undestroyed even after death is ‘The very subtle mind’. The shortened form of this is mind. Actually, the terms ‘soul’ and ‘mind’ are not same; both the concepts differ due to tiny doctrinal deviations. Philosophically they are different ontological types. In Buddha Dharma teachings, the concept of mind comes into focus indirectly through real life purpose. The teaching says: “the Blessed one has not come to teach death, but to teach life.”(GB: 53: 12). To gain life, man needs to get rid of ignorance for it defiles man and stands in his way to truth. When man is capable of discerning "eternal life ", he leads a truthful life: This is true deliverance; This is salvation; this is heaven And the bliss of life immortal (GB: 41: 14). One can get a cleansed heart from this ‘true deliverance’, ‘salvation’, and ‘bliss of life immortal’. In Buddhist scriptures, purification of heart and mind is essential to lead a life of continuity, in other words – immortality. Our physical body may perish but the truth of the mind cannot perish; it remains even after the non-existence of the physical body. The mind of a being, if engrossed in false ignorance, cannot achieve truth in the worldly environment because of “contamination aggregates” happening from the routine degradation of life, which is illusionary or unreal. According to Buddhist teachings: “All the world is vanity Fair, full of changes and transformations. All is ‘Samsara’ (GB: 2: 4). Thus, heart and mind need to be purified from the “defilement of flesh”, which is the purpose of all Buddhist practices. On a higher philosophical platform, in Buddhism, mind and heart of man can be great beyond imagination. The heights of mind and heart are beyond the heights of heaven. No one can measure the depth of earth but the mind and heart of man go beyond the depth of earth. The light of sun and moon can not be matched but the mind and heart of man goes beyond the light of sun and moon. In Buddhism, universe is so vast that no one can measure it but the mind and heart of man are bigger than the cosmos. The Great space is within the boundary of the mind and heart, which are abounding in primal energy. The existence of mind and heart is so powerful that all the four seasons take birth in it and innumerable things are created in it. Heaven and earth, which have myriad creations, are at the command of the mind and heart. In the Buddhist trinity, as writer Robert Aitkens: “Mind is completely empty yet charged with potential…another name is Buddha Nature… empty infinity--infinite emptiness—full of possibilities. It is…not born and also does not die.” Neo-Confucianism, on the other hand, is the revival or renaissance of Confucianism. Confucius was China’s first private teacher who laid foremost importance on character building and he related true learning to morality. When Buddhism was getting stronger in China due to the anarchy and division after the fall of Han, it rivaled with emerging religious Taoism for supremacy. The metaphysical and non-worldly tradition of Indian Buddhism was new to the people of China and they welcomed the concepts of Buddhism, particularly the refined minds of those times. Confucianism – a type of traditional social morality just added to the more serious philosophy and spirituality of Buddhism. The Confucian method of practicing and cultivating good habits was earthly and stock and was no match in comparison to the more refined and awakening meditation practices attained via inner punctuality in Buddhism. Confucian universe was commonplace when measured to the metaphysics of emptiness, as propounded in Buddhism, where mind was ‘all-in-one-one-in-all’. Similar was backed by different Buddhist schools in their contemplation practices. Neo-Confucianism was a creative explanation of old ideal Confucian thoughts and practices. It got intellectual and spiritual transformation when revival or renaissance of Confucianism happened. When it arrived on the Chinese horizon in new form, a “lost” non-worldly concept, related to the inculcation of the inner life of the mind and a spirituality that could mould it with a philosophical detail of saintly self-growth, and finally knowing the universe, came into reality. The neo-Confucian perception was in no way less than Buddhist scope and compass. It reciprocated Buddhist higher pedestal journey of the gross life with the elimination of the gross and mundane in ‘transcendental’ way. Neo-Confucianism linked human interpersonal contacts and concerns for society and government at large with a seriousness in saintly functions, as a means to final personal achievement. The neo-Confucians had ‘retreats’, not ‘monasteries’. Wang Yangming (1472–1529) was a Ming Chinese idealist Neo-Confucian philosopher. In his views, the presence of objects is not totally free from mind. They cannot be separated as they are given a form by the mind. It is the mind that gives cause to the world, not the world that forms the mind. That’s why, it is only the mind that is the cause of everything. He associated this mind to the light within, expressed as natural moral goodness and knowledge of what is good. Wang Yangming’s views and thoughts are identical to what Socrates, the Greek philosopher said about knowledge that it is virtue. To save one from the worldly desires, which come in the way of knowing goodness, Wang, the neo-Confucian, practiced “tranquil repose” or “sitting still”, which resembles the type of (Zen) meditation practiced in Buddhism. There has been a significant Buddhist critic of Confucianism, by the name of Tsung-mi (780-841), a proper thinker of Ch’anb and Hua-yen’s Buddhism. He was critical of the Chinese old concept of the absolute from two angles, its universal concept of Tao and associated moralistic conception of Heaven or the ‘Mandate of Heaven’. Sung-mi had total belief in the Book of Change for the universal absolute of Confucianism. The neo-Confucianism bettered its position in comparison to classical Confucianism from the point of view of a new cosmology and new methods for cultivation. The neo-Confucianism came into existence due to the pointed and straight criticism of classical Confucianism because of its concept of the absolute. The Tsung-mi’s criticism centered on the drawback of cause motive and no role of stereological ways in cultivation, which took away the religious base from Confucianism. Such an attacking criticism of classical Confucianism compelled neo-Confucians to do a fresh research on old resources and explain them in a new way. For Chinese religion and philosophy, this phase of criticism and reciprocation was an important period. In fact, the Confucian concepts of feelings – particularly the concept of feelings or emotions, offered the reason to view Confucian and neo-Confucian concepts of feeling, which comes out of heart or mind, as an aspect of human being’s genuine nature. To Westerners, the socio-cultural concept of the spiritual world of the Confucian philosophy offers a new thought on the human nature. One can discuss the theories of some of the Chinese and other thinkers to know the concept of mind and heart from where feelings come out. In this regard, let’s view and discuss the works of Mencius, one of the greatest Confucian philosophers of the classical period in China. The term “feeling” came from the Book of Mencius, one of the early Confucian texts (2A: 6). According to the Book of Mencius, all people have a mind, which cannot see the worries of others. The feeling of pity is central to man, the primary and starting principle of benevolence. Similarly, there are other feelings – the feeling of shame and disapproval is the principle of righteousness, the feeling of modesty and complaisance is the basis of propriety, the feeling of agreeing and disagreeing becomes the basis of knowledge. According to Mencius, people have four main feelings, arousing from human heart or mind as described above – the feeling of commiseration, the feeling of shame and disapproval, the feeling of modesty, and the feeling of agreeing and disagreeing. These four ethical principles are the very-very important qualities that should be self-cultivated. Chu Hsi (1130-1200), a spokesperson of neo-Confucian thinkers of Cheng-Chu school stressed on the Learning of Principle or Learning of Human Nature and Reason in the Chinese Sung period (960-1279), on the basis of Mencius views on metaphysics and ontology. Chu-Hsi asserted that humanity is the nature and commiseration is feeling. He argued that mind or heart welcomes feelings but it differentiates human nature from feelings. He argues that benevolence, righteousness, propriety and wisdom come in the sphere of human nature while commiseration, shame and dislike, courtesy and modesty, and right and wrong are categories of feelings. In the words of Chu Hsi , “Although the spheres of human nature and feelings are different, their mutual penetration is like the bloodstream in which each part has its own relationship.” Here, comes the importance of mind because all the virtuous feelings -- humanity, righteousness, decorum, and wisdom – emanate from human mind, as it is the mind or heart that together blends and orders human nature and feelings. Similarly, Cheng Yi (1033-1107), one of the interpreter of neo-Confucian thinkers of the Cheng-Chu school at the times of Chinese Sung period (960-1279), also affirmed that there are only four starters in human nature that are God-gifted. These four beginnings are moral feelings present in human nature or the principle of moral self cultivation. There was no unanimity on the views of Xun Zi that human nature is naturally evil. According to Cheng Chu School, people could realize their shortcomings through a planned way by knowing the principle of heaven besides fostering their inner nature and feelings. Xun Zi was of the view also that liking and disliking, pleasure and anger, and sadness and joy are referred to as the “feelings”, where as to classical Confucian philosophers, the “feelings” meant outer and inner states that might be known as basic human emotions, besides human nature. According to the neo-Confucian, Chu-Hsi’s theory, li and chi, the four beginnings are aroused from li (principle of reason) but the seven emotions come from chi – the first deals with moral feelings and the latter is related to selfish desires. Mencius agrees to it and as per his epistemology, the four beginners are moral feelings of the inbuilt goodness of human nature and are creations of li, and the seven emotions are temporal feelings and are created by chi. There have been other non-Chinese scholars and neo-Confucian philosophers – the Koreans -- Yi Toegye (1501-1570) and Yi Yulgok (1536-1584) who have safeguarded the practices of the Chinese Cheng-Chu School in the 16th century in the Korean Choson rulers, by offering the Four Principles [Beginnings] and the Seven Feelings [Emotions] theses, grounding them on the traditional Cheng-Chu School, as ethico-metaphysical ways in the context of feelings and desires. The basis of neo-Confucian philosopher, Yi Toegye’s Four-Seven theses was ontological division between the principle force (li) and material force (chi). He believed in the double role played by the systems of philosophical and moral ontology related to mind, nature and feelings. Yi Toegye relates Principle (li) to inherent human nature, moral mind, Heaven’s principles, and four principles [beginnings], and material-force (chi) to physical human nature, human mind, physical [selfish] desires, and seven feelings. On the contrary, views of Yi Yulgok, on the thesis of Four-Seven are centered on the unity of li and chi, blending of principle and material force. He has stressed on the proportionate relationship between inherent human nature and outer human nature, moral mind and human mind, Heaven’s principles and temporal desires and the four principles and seven feelings. This synthesis of li and chi is in the aspects of metaphysically moral ideas, which are realistically moral. Although the neo-Confucian scholars have different views on mind, human nature and feelings blending harmoniously as well as asymmetrically yet they follow the traditional concept that both li and chi are qualities of moral mind and human mind. Principles and feelings are closely related to the human mind, nature, and principles. Here, the mind, as a principle, is the owner of the feelings that inspire people to do good deeds. It seems that the neo-Confucian thinkers were more concerned with practical meaning of Wang Yang-ming school and thinkers who came after Toegyne and Yukgok dedicated their time to the thesis of Cheng-Chu school, interested only in particular issues of human mind and feelings. But one thing is true, and that is the new-Confucians have covered the road of different aspects related to mind and heart to the maximum from where the traditional Confucians left. Explanations of mind in Buddha Dharma teachings were related to just purification of mind and heart to get salvation, the concept of mind, as it comes to focus, in a zigzag way. Stress is laid on a purified heart that cannot be destroyed by death even. It is the same; the temporal and physical body dies, and mind remains as it is. The neo-Confucians have thoroughly branched out all aspects of mind and heart and their implications in real life. From a concept of character building, as taught by Confucius, the first independent teacher, to his students to raise their moral standard in public life, the neo-Confucianism has grown in all aspects of mind and heart, filling the vacuum, created by the limited appeal of Confucius concepts in front of more universal concept of mind, as propounded in Buddhism. Works cited list Eschatology - Mind, Soul and the Afterlife in Christianity and Buddhism. 1 November 2007 . Jan, Yun-hua. “Tsung-mis Questions regarding the Confucian Absolute.” Philosophy: East and West (1980): 30/4. 1 November 2007 . Lee, Jeong-Kyu. “Impact of Confucian Concepts of Feelings on Organizational Culture in Korean Higher Education.” Radical Pedagogy (2001). 1 November 2007 . Neo-Confucianism. 1 November 2007 . Plott, John C. (1989). “Global History of Philosophy” 1 November 2007 . “The Concept of Continuation of Life in Buddhism”. The Egyptian Society for Spiritual and Cultural Research. 1 November 2007 . Wang Yangming. Wikipedia. 1 November 2007 . Read More