The Monk and the Philosopher Critique - Book Report/Review Example

The Monk and the Philosopher The book, the Monk and the Philosopher, concerns a father and a son discussing the meaning of life. Jean-Francois is an atheist and a critical thinker. He asks several questions that portray him as a defender of Western Scientific culture. Matthieu, on the other hand, shares his experiences through exposing Buddhism as the only path dedicated to the ethical frameworks of altruism, love, and compassion (Revel & Ricard 9). The two intellectuals, the monk and the philosopher, share ideas on suffering, happiness, mind, freedom, and consciousness. The most salient revelation in the book, The Monk and the Philosopher, constitutes Matthieu’s defense of Buddhism particularly its relevance to the modern world. According to Matthieu, Buddhism is critical as it fills the gap left by the desertion of the Western Philosophy in the aspects of ethics and the art of living. The book is largely centered on the philosopher, who ends up drawing parallels between Buddhism and Western Philosophy; Revel finally learns that Buddhist is more activist that his previously thought. While doubting Buddhist Metaphysics, Revel ends up appreciating the role of Buddhism in filling the gap left by the defunct traditions of Western Moral philosophy. Buddhism is a very popular religion globally the unique religion was established in northeastern India .The religion was founded on the principles of Siddhartha Gautama or most commonly known as the Buddha. During the reign of the Brahman, the religion developed as a monastic movement but later grew in a distinctive direction. Buddha astonishingly rejected vital aspects of the Hindu values such discarding their sacrificial cult and under rating the powers of the priest. He also allowed the movement to allow individuals from all kinds of castes and disregarded the concept insinuating that birth determines an individual’s spiritual worth. Currently, Buddhism is sub divided into two groups together with its followers respectively. The first branch is known as the Mahayana or the great vehicle. The second group is known as the Theravada meaning the way of the elders. The followers of the Mahayana describe the Theravada using the derogatory word Hinayana meaning the lesser vehicle. Buddhism is very significant and widely respected in countries like Cambodia, Sri Lanka Thailand, India, Laos and Myanmar. Theravada in all these regions is the most dominant sub section of Buddhism. Mahayana on the other hand is dominant in countries such as Vietnam, Tibet, Japan, China, Mongolia, Korea and Taiwan. The average estimate of the overall Buddhists worldwide is estimated to be around 200 million. The main reason why an exact figure cannot be accounted for is because of the continuous influence of the distinctive religion in communist countries like china. Another reason is the because of the nonexclusive character of Asia’s religious believes affiliation. Lessons that the Western Thought can learn from Buddhism Buddhism has a rather unique approach that understands and is one focus, which reflects the scientific boldness of the mind. The western region can learn a lot from Buddhism especially since the religion advocates for self- purification, self-reliance, self- restraint and self-confidence for every individual in the community. Another significant feature of Buddhism that can be assimilated by western nations is the way it critically handles democratic ideals. The religion encourages unhindered discussions where equal contrary ideas are aired and the results are used in enriching and broadening the mind. The orders of the nuns and monks are constituted on these self-governing principles. The western should follow suite and emulate the unique democratic principles used by the Buddhists. The monks actually give their minds the freedom of thinking without any level of biasness and allow themselves to think independently. The Buddhists believe the supreme Buddha is a noble being especially due to fact he provided the moral codes or the five percepts that act as a guideline for all individuals. Another famous aspect of Buddhism that is very prominent is the Karma, which is a law that explains that there are consequences for every decision an individual makes. The law explains some of the phenomena’s in the world such as the reason why some people were born gifted and others handicapped, why some people only live for a short period of life and the reason why there is so much inequality worldwide. The western nations can learn a lot from the Karma law it would illuminate their way and show them the importance of being responsible in their present and past actions .The karma law can also evaluate the Karmic effect of every action taken. The answer is acquired by monitoring the aim behind the action, effect of the consequences of the deed on oneself and finally the consequences the deeds have on other people. Buddhism also teaches on wisdom where it offers two types of extremes where one can acquire knowledge without any form of emotion and on the other hand one can be goodhearted idiot. Wisdom requires an unbigoted, objective and an open mind. The Buddhist lane requires intelligence, flexibility, courage and patience virtues that the western society can adapt. Generally self- realization and self-effort are the only paths to salvation. Comparisons between Buddhism and the Western Science in terms of Consciousness and Rebirth The supreme Buddha taught that the consciousness still continuous even after the body dies a subject that has raised a heated debate recently. The teachings by Buddha on rebirth are the source of the huge disagreement since according to empirical western science the physical condition determines the consciousness. Consciousness ceases immediately the brain dies. Many people assume that consciousness can exist without any form of a physical basis or can survive even after death thus making rebirth possible. This is rather conflicting since no such statements were made by Buddha but he rather suggests that a consciousness acquires its name after the condition it is dependent upon. To clarify the issue further he claims that four elements make up the body and the mental biological make up they include attention, contact, feeling and perception. This approach of viewing the consciousness as used by Buddha is almost similar to the modern scientific definition of consciousness. The two believe the consciousness hugely depends on the mental brain. Recent scientific research has shown that meditation which is a conscious activity can result in the alteration of the neural networks in the human brain. Buddha therefore definitely taught rebirth but never mentioned that consciousness could actually exist without a physical base or simply the brain. He explained that consciousness relies heavily on conditions. Explaining rebirth however without indulging the continuity of consciousness is still an unsolved marvel. During the period of Buddha there was no distinction that could differentiate either the metaphorical or the literal teaching on the life after death incidence. Due to the lack of scientific knowledge, intelligence and knowledge was based on stories and symbols. It is reasonable to appreciate and comprehend Buddha’s teachings on rebirth as a metaphor or a story. For the western individuals it is however incongruous to view rebirth as a practice of story-telling instead of the principled agnosticism it possesses as literal truth. Reasons why Buddhism so popular in the West For the past fifty years Buddhism has been gaining a lot of popularity in the Western Nations .The progress is so identical that you can even conclude that Buddhism is almost completely mainstream. Buddhism like many other types of religions is used as a problem tackler for many difficulties encountered in the contemporary society. Individuals turn to Buddhism when they are unhappy with money and in the race to power or success. Traditionally, the western countries are known to have so much hope in power and money. So when an individual has all these in his possession he starts thinking why he or she is still not happy with all his wealth .They start following Buddhism since the religion ignores materialistic strength and focuses on what is crucial and vital in an individual’s life. Another reason why people from the west adopt Buddhism is due to the fact that the religion only asks you to believe only in what you are capable of seeing. Buddhism does not act like other forms of religion that insist on believing in a mystical supreme-being or God-type. Most of these people are fed up with the kind of religion that they were raised to follow or in simple terms having faith in God. Another reason why people in the west are turning into Buddhists is because of the empirical nature of the religion. Buddhism claims that one should only accept only what he or she can observe empirically or experience directly with the five senses. This concept has been the tradition in science for generations. It is almost similar to the science based world that the world is based on and that solves all the most mind – provoking questions especially on natural phenomena’s and how they occur. One of the reasons why the western communities are also largely converting into Buddhism is because of the problems associated with a materialistic lifestyle such as stress. The wealthy face stress in their private affairs and at work but Buddhist meditation has turned out to be their ultimate solution. The idea of vipassana or most commonly known as the buzzword mindfulness has proved to be the vital stress reliever. These explanations automatically indicate why the people from the west are converting in enormous figures. The religion astonishingly enough seems to solve and satisfy the demands and needs of the modern day westerner. The religion is not only proving to be a remedy to the modern day stresses but also an impeccable add-on to modern life. The adherents of the religion can actually decouple from the stress they are experiencing while still the cause of their stress remains intact. Buddhism seems to be the brand new opium of the masses. Consumptive powers continue without any form of hindrance along their path that is creatively destructive. Peacock and Bachelor might conclude that this move is not only a grave risk but also a serious charge. Their actions definitely indicate that they are precisely against the influential conversion. Reasons Why Buddhism may not Spread in the West Sometimes Buddhism is perceived to be intellectual, aloof and being cold. This is most probably due to contrast that is evident between Jesus and Buddha and the customary visual representations surrounding the two. While Jesus is viewed as a person who interacted with people Buddha on the other hand is portrayed as detached and serene. Another factor that may hinder the spread of Buddhism in the west is the fact that though Buddhist philosophy is studied in the western universities it is treated like a culture. Departments in Western universities dealing with philosophy often treat Buddhism with an anthropological or historical interest only. Buddhism has also faced a lot of misrepresentation and misunderstanding from other religions some being out of ignorance and others deliberate .The most common accusation being that of practicing Idolatry. Relationship Between Buddhism and Religion Many people assume that Buddhism is not a religion due to the different names it has accumulated over the years they include: a practice, belief system and most commonly a philosophy. Recent controversy arising between religion and science had a research carried out and the results indicated that atheists were actually able to eliminate it from the three famous fountainhead religions. The skeptics recognized that the Buddhism was rather out of place and the philosophical core attached with the religion was vaguely respected. Smith Huston defines Buddhism as Therapeutic, egalitarian, empirical, pragmatic, scientific or psychological and directed to people. These attributes are presumed to attract the modern western brain. This also explains the popularity of Buddhism in the west. Philosophers presume the controversy surrounding Buddhism on whether it is actually a religion or not centers on the concept of God (Revel & Ricard 59). Buddha was silent on the existence of a supreme or Supernatural being. It is clearly evident that according to the Buddhist faith a personal God does not exist. Buddhism also seems to slipway from the religious territory due to the fact that Buddha himself did not believe in life after death or a soul that survived death. The issue turns out be a little bit more complex than anticipated especially due to the theological approaches in Buddhist faith namely Nirvana and Karma. Buddhism is a redeeming faith where if an individual lives accordingly then they can definitely acquire some freedom from the agonies in life. Nirvana is the Buddhist doctrine that is non-provable, unseen and the absolute attainable goal for living. Karma is another outright moral order that is unseen in Buddhism. Buddhism however after critical analyses by theorists was found to be a religion just like any other religion. What made it different from other types of religions were the statements it made on invisible moral order to the transcendent potential and the universe. It is also less factual and more theoretical when compared with the Judaic faiths. How Buddhism Compares to Western Religions in General The notion of hell in Buddhism is very different when compared with other religions. Other religions view the place as the region for external damnation. In Buddhism, however, it is just the most awful undesirable realms out of the three realms in Samsara. Also while most regions believe there is only just one hell Buddhist cosmology astonishingly, has an infinite number if hells due to the huge figure of Buddha worlds. In comparison with other religions the Buddhist cosmology is distinctly different as it recognizes only earth as the only planet with human beings and the center of the universe. A Buddha world according to the Buddhist viewpoint consists of a billion solar systems. The perpetual or everlasting cycles of life or commonly referred to as the Samsara is another aspect that seems to distinguish Buddhism from other religions. While most all other religions preach of only a single heaven and one hell the Buddhist samsara states that heaven is just the first realm out of the six that are in existence. Many people believe Buddhism is more than a religion and is more of a way of life or a philosophy. This is because philosophy means loving wisdom and the Buddhist life and path can be defined as the aim of developing understanding and wisdom. Buddhism generally explains the purpose of life by explaining the awful inequalities and injustices witnessed globally and offer a code of practices that are presumed to lead to real happiness. Recently Buddhism has become very popular in the western nations especially due to the fact that the religion can tackle problems encountered in a modern materialistic society. It offers a deeper understanding of the natural therapies and the human mind. The natural therapies have recently sparked a lot of excitement among prominent psychologists worldwide who are now marveled by the effectiveness of the therapies. Work Cited Revel, Jean F, and Matthieu Ricard. The Monk and the Philosopher: A Father and Son Discuss the Meaning of Life. New York: Schocken Books, 2013. Print. Read More