Buddhism as a Philosophy

How food is important to our daily essential, synonymously Buddhist philosophy is vital to our mind & the spirit.

Humorously, it’s believed that one is a “thinker” when he is in a bad marriage. He becomes a “philosopher” when his marriage is a failure. But, however, the maxim of this humor is not extendable to a very much grim discourse regarding Buddhism; the study of awakening. Any human is fit to walk the path of Buddha; the wisdom. Siddhartha Gautama, the prince who figured out his way to Nibbana (liberation) aftermath an ‘existential crisis’, 2550 years ago, taught us that it is possible to attain salvation (emptiness from greed, ignorance, anger, fear and other suffering) through a disciplined path called ‘eightfold path’, which came from the realization of ‘four noble truth’. You may assume that this could be a theistic context but it’s unintellectual to contextualize the surface. ‘Buddhism as a philosophy’ tells us the cognitive-cum-philosophical underpinning of the teachings of Buddha and other elements associated with the non-speculative sphere of Buddhism, in general.

The above prolusion qualifies to reconstruct the meaning of philosophy and Buddhistic affiliation. Primarily, the goal of philosophy is to explain the reality and the systems of knowledge. Various important questions, discourses, refutation and constructive addition adds to the development of philosophy. How food is important to our daily essential, synonymously philosophy is vital to our mind and the spirit. A human, without any philosophical leaning, is a liability to mankind. Philosophy is an exercise that individuals subscribe to construct and decode their own perception, views and connection towards certain axioms of life or realities or even about themselves in the world they live. It is a subject that transcends to transform ‘universe’ into ‘youniverse’.

Whereas, on the other hand, Dhamma (Buddhism) is a science of mindfulness that guides the art of breathing, seeing, feeling, touching, sensing, living and releasing. It is established as: (1) a path to inquire, (2) emptying the conventional wisdom, (3) a channel to build insight, and (4) a road to undo serfdom, etc. Buddhism as a philosophy is a dimension grounded in the roots of philosophy, spirituality and irreligiosity. The philosophical investigations and various system(s) of inquisitiveness that came into being with the teachings of Buddha and other Arahats and Boddhisattvas, followed by the ‘Mahaparinibbana’, and later proliferating throughout Asia is deemed to consider the title of this assignment. Thence, the Buddhist path; the way of Dhamma, intertwines both philosophical reasoning and meditation (such as Anapana, Vipassana, Mettabhavana, etc.)

Buddhism, philosophically, does not ratiocinate as a divine law. Instead, it signals as a practical guideline to follow for one’s own ‘Nibbana’ (emancipation, salvation, freedom – from mindlessness; craving, attachment, expectations, ignorance, anxiety, or other mental formations). It also came from Buddha’s inquisitive attitude, during his wandering years, wherein he was not gratified with the learnings of Vedas (refer: ‘Tevijja Sutta’) and other conventional ways to seek ‘Truth’. Although Buddha’s obeisance stays grateful to his mentors Alara Kalama and Udaku Ramaputta, he discovered the philosophical path of enlightenment on his own without any external agency. This exploration is one of the most significant units in the philosophy of Buddhism. The reason being that dependency on the external agencies could pauperize a ‘thinking’ mind and would not qualify for the philosophical development.

For any human to apply philosophical consciousness, diligence and discipline are very eminent tools. Contextually, as recorded in ‘Mahaparinibbana Sutta’, Buddha’s last words were “Work hard for your own salvation. Do not be dependent on anyone” syncs well with the splendid criteria of philosophy. How would one know what he knows, or Why would one try to know the unknown? – are the rudimentary facets that a philosophical mind would inaugurate for. The ‘Khaggavisana Sutta’ also philosophically guides how one can find his own way, using few analogical illustrations like thorns that we carry in this journey. To add beauty to this process, ‘Kalama Sutta’ records another philosophical prescription recommended by Buddha, that in my scholarship has concluded Buddhism very distinctively, and i.e., “Do not follow it just because I said it, but go by your own common-sense and perception.”

Having encountered various philosophers and their so-called stoicness, Buddhism’s ‘Cula-malunkyovada Sutta’ designs a great deal convincing any philosophers’ mind to not dawdle with the speculative questions but instead to momentarily focus on what is knowable and achievable. This is truly needed when the world, today, like never before, is arrogantly inured with finding a black cat in a black room which is not even there. Knowing this chapter, it is not a hindsight to understand that the philosophical foundations of Dhamma are non-sectarian and thus wisdom is not anybody’s monopoly. With this, taking a bow to ‘Sigalovada Sutta’, Buddhist philosophy helps one to supersede beyond the rat race of happiness and sadness. This lesson is scorable, if one is consecrated to reconstruct the world or other realities!

“If you meet Buddha on the road, kill him!” – Linji Yixuan, a Ch’an Buddhist monk, popular for instructing his students with shouts and blows. His statement may sound very polemic but it is verily a ‘koan’, one of those bits of dialogue or brief anecdotes unique to Zen philosophy of Buddhism. This ‘koan’ teaches us that one should seek the inner Buddha nature that resides within, not an external Buddha, for ‘Nibbana’. Philosophically, the thought of killing the Buddha dislodges a person from the illusionary perspective that ‘enlightenment lies outside of a being’. Majorly used as a blow to stun any so-called philosopher into dropping meandering, sequential thought and to bring the human being into the pure clarity of the ‘present’ moment. This, when contemplated, exhausts discriminatory thoughts, and a deeper, more insight arises. In short, it makes a constructive point that to turn the Buddha merely into a religious fetish/idol/statue is to greatly miss the essence of what he taught! 

[Note: This ‘blog’ was submitted in the form of ‘assignment’ at K J Somaiya Institute of Dharma Studies, Mumbai]