Transcript Archetypes of Wisdom

Archetypes of Wisdom
Douglas J. Soccio
Chapter 2
The Asian Sages: Lao-tzu, Confucius and
Buddha
Learning Objectives
On completion of this chapter, you should be able to
answer the following questions:
What are the qualities of the sage?
What is Tao?
What are Yin and Yang?
What is the Golden Mean?
What is Humanism?
What is Li?
What is Jen?
What are the Four Nobel Truths?
What is Bodhisattva?
What is Nirvana?
Greek Mythology
Before the first Western philosophers, the most important
view of life was the mythical one expressed in the Iliad
and the Odyssey, two epic poems attributed to the Greek
poet Homer (c. Eighth century B.C.E.).
Mythology is not sheer fantasy, but the product of a desire
to understand. Mythology offers primitive explanations of
natural phenomena, human history, and the gods.
Science and philosophy grew out of the failure of
mythology to provide rational justification for the
workings of natural phenomena and human history.
One function of mythology – shared by philosophy – is to
help in the Search for Happiness, to convey ideas about
living well and being a good person.
Overview of Classical Themes
Although the ancient Greeks’ mythological accounting of
events ultimately failed, it implied two principles produced
by the desire to find explanations.
These principles marked a major advance beyond the
mythological characterization of nature and society.
1) There is a difference between the way things appear
and the way they really are.
2) There are unseen causes of events.
The Sage
The sage, a therapeutic figure who combines religious
inspiration with extraordinary insight into the human
condition, is the oldest of the philosophical archetypes.
The English word sage is derived from the Latin sapiens,
meaning “wise.” The term has been used to refer to
masters associated with religious traditions and to the wise
elders of a group or tribe. Sages understand and teach the
requirements of a good life.
Sages tend to be humanists who believe that human
intelligence and effort are capable of improving conditions
in the here and now.
Our survey begins with three of the most influential sages
of all time – Lao-tzu, Confucius, and Buddha.
The Tao
In ancient Asian cosmologies, all events were said to be
interconnected.
The harmonious interaction of all things was referred to as
the Tao.
While the word literally means “way” or “path,” the Tao
cannot be precisely defined or “named.”
It is variously translated as the source of all existence,
principle of all things, the path of the universe, or the
moral law.
Yin and Yang
In this cosmology, Heaven and Earth form a single reality,
in which nature consists of two opposing but inseparable
forces, comprising a sort of Heaven-Earth.
These are the forces of yin and yang.
Yin (the passive element of Earth) is weak, negative, dark,
and destructive.
Yang (the active element of Heaven) is strong, positive,
light, and constructive.
Together they form a perpetual balance whose interplay
constitutes the natural order of things.
Lao-tzu
Lao-tzu (c.575 B.C.E.), the first great Asian sage,
wrote the Tao te Ching (or The Classic of the Way and the
Power).
Its opening lines tell us that absolute dogmas and theories
pale beside living itself, beside the ever-flowing Tao.
The Way cannot be adequately captured in words thus Laotzu must often express himself in paradoxical fashion.
The Way is not a concept to be grasped cognitively or
logically.
Lao-tzu advises that we prefer yin to yang.
Lao-tzu’s ideas are best captured in the Doctrine of wu wei.
Confucius – The Social Sage
Confucius (551-479 B.C.) is the Latinized name of K’ung
Fu-tzu, a legendary teacher who vainly sought political
office so that he could initiate a series of governmental
reforms.
A collection of his conversations, known as The Analects,
is the single most influential book of Asian Philosophy.
The Tao of Confucius
If there is no fixed division between yin and yang, Heaven
and Earth, the natural and the supernatural, then the way of
the universe - the Tao - cannot be understood analytically
(i.e., in terms of individual parts or objects).
Instead, Confucius felt that the Tao could best be realized
through training and the learning of social customs.
In the Analects, Confucius confines his teachings to the
proper course of human conduct.
The Period of Warring States
Civil Wars, lasting more than 500 years, led Confucius to
focus on practical, rather than theoretical, questions.
Instead of, “What is the truth?”, his concern became,
“Where is the Tao?” or “Which is the proper Way?”
Therefore, in his Doctrine of the Mean, Confucius
addresses the need for a balance between human conduct
and the Tao.
This was a radical departure from traditional Chinese
emphasis on spirits and gods. The emphasis here is on
humans.
Humanism
Humanism is the name given to any philosophy that
emphasizes human welfare and dignity.
In general, humanism is based on the belief that human
intelligence and effort are capable of improving present
conditions.
Confucian humanism stressed the learning and preserving
of social customs. For that reason, concern with personal
growth and governmental order – what we might now call
the relation between the individual and the State – became
most important in the teachings of Confucius.
The Golden Mean
For Confucius, learning the Tao means learning how to
moderate human affairs, how to keep them in balance by
finding the Golden Mean, or point of equilibrium.
We can get a fuller sense of his teachings about the Mean,
by learning a few Chinese terms used by Confucius:
Li – a sense of propriety, how things ought to go.
Te – the power to affect others without using physical force.
Chun-tzu – the morally superior person who has both “li” and
“te.”
Hsiao-jen – the base or vulgar person who thinks only of
himself, and lacks both “li” and “te.”
The Buddha
The original meaning of Buddha in Sanskrit is the
“awakened” or “enlightened one,” and refers to Siddhartha
Gautama (c. 560-480 B.C.E.).
Living in his father’s palace, in what is today Nepal,
Siddhartha was protected from the outside world.
He had no sense of poverty or suffering, until he learned
from his servant, Channa, that “there is no escape – old
age, sickness, death – such is the lot of all men.”
This “opened Siddhartha’s eyes” and set him on a journey
in search of answers to life’s most troubling questions (to
which he found no satisfying answers).
Asceticism
Tiring of gurus and ordinary sages, Siddhartha settled in a
grove of trees on the outskirts of an Indian village, forming
a small community with a few other seekers.
Attempting to gain control over his own mind, he became
an ascetic – that is, a person who turns away from pleasure
and severely limits their desires in order to achieve
salvation or peace of mind.
For six years he meditated and fasted, concentrating on his
original questions. But still he found no answers.
A Middle Path
In his efforts to subdue his body, Siddhartha nearly
destroyed it.
Realizing that ascetic self-denial is not an adequate way of
life, he began to honor his spirit by honoring the body
housing it.
When the others were disgusted that he had begun to eat
again, he learned that one must not worry about what
others think if wisdom is to be found.
But having realized that his body was an important
instrument in his search, he realized that the Way cannot be
found by either indulgence or denial.
We must walk a Middle Path.
The Awakening
While sitting under a fig tree one day, a young woman
gave Siddhartha a golden bowl of rice milk, saying he
reminded her of a figure she had seen in a vision.
When he finished the milk he threw the bowl into the river,
where it miraculously floated upstream (symbolizing that
his teachings go against the currents of ordinary thinking).
“Here I shall remain until I am answered or dead,”
Siddhartha said. This he did, sitting and fasting, until 49
days later, in May of 524 B.C.E., he was “awakened.”
Buddhist tradition refers to this as “the greatest event in
human history.”
From that point on, the tree became known as the Bodhi
Tree – the Tree of Wisdom.
Nirvana
According to Buddhist teachings, it is impossible to
“explain” the awakening.
A rough idea might be that the individual sees him or
herself and all of life as part of an unending process of
change, that the universe is a system of interconnected
inseparable parts, composed of all varieties of life forever
moving from one form to another.
Siddhartha had reached a state of bliss and utter
detachment called nirvana.
This is a state of emptiness or “no-thing-ness,” where the
individual ego is annihilated, and so, released from
suffering.
The Bodhisattva
Siddhartha now faced an important decision – remain in
the state of nirvana or share his vision with others.
At last, the “Great Heart of Infinite Compassion”
prevailed, and the Buddha chose to remain among the
people.
One who does this to help others is known as a
bodhisattva among some branches of Buddhism.
A bodhisattva is not a “savior,” or one who intercedes for
others, but an enlightened being who voluntarily postpones
his own nirvana to help other conscious life-forms find
“supreme release.”
Karma and Dharma
It is easy to confuse terms that sound alike.
Karma refers to “the law of moral causation, to acts of the
will expressed in thought, word, or deed.” Good or bad
karma thus results from our own actions, and should not be
confused with fate or predestination.
Dharma, on the other hand, refers to “the cosmic order of
the universe.” Our task is to see that our lives – and those
of all creatures - reflect that order.
The Four Noble Truths
The Buddha’s basic teachings:
1. Suffering is the condition of all existence.
2. Suffering comes from being self-centered.
3. This egocentrism can be understood, overcome, and
rooted out.
4. This can be done by following a simple Eightfold
Path of behavior, which brings a change in outlook.
The Eightfold Path
Right Understanding
Right Livelihood
Right Purpose
Right Effort
Right Speech
Right Mindfulness
Right Conduct
Right Meditation
The Buddha’s Legacy
Ultimately, Buddha calls on us to adopt a way of life,
rather than “having a philosophy” as we understand in the
West.
One of the most difficult things for us to accept is that we
must find a way of living a meaningful life in the absence
of absolute answers.
In contrast to Western notions of “one, true God,” who is
distinct from his creatures, for Buddha – and Asian sages
generally – “all is one.”
Discussion Questions
Based what you’ve read so far, can you think of any
contemporary examples of sages?
If you can, what specific qualities or teachings impress you
as sage like?
If you can’t, why do you suppose you can’t?
Chapter Review:
Key Concepts and Thinkers
Sage
Tao (or Dao)
Yin/Yang
wu wei
chung-yung
te
li
chung-tzu
hsiao-jen
jen
Nirvana
Lao-Tzu
Confucius
Siddhartha Gautama
Ascetics
Bodhisattva
Karma
Four Noble Truths
Eightfold Path
Humanism