Comparative Religious Studies: Eastern Philosphy
Hindu, Buddhism, Taoism, Zen, Shinto, Confucianism et. al. are all religions, but they are also rooted in a particular philosophy. All of the eastern religions flow from the same central source; the Hindus Valley. All Eastern religions flow from the same basic principle; the tao, or “the way” to enlightenment can only be achieved from within.
It is generally accepted that the very earliest civilization in Asia, and some say one of the earliest civilizations anywhere, lies in the Hindu Valley, or the Indus Valley which was primarily centered along the Indus river, beginning in Iran, then flowing through Afghanistan, into Pakistan and continuing on into India. It was this migration path which began the population of the Far-east. From this valley, people spread apart into modern-say Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Cambodia, etc.), China, Japan, and from China into Kamchatcka and eventually North America. Also from here the sea-faring people spread out to Australia, New Zealand, and then on into the Pacific islands. It’s unclear as to whether or not migration from northern Russia (Kamchatcka) across the Bearing Straight and down the coastal regions, or migration from across the Pacific Ocean brought people to South/Central America.
What is clear is that the religions of the Indus Valley inspired the progression of religion throughout all Asia, and to some extent, the religions of the island peoples of the Pacific. “Though Modern Hinduism recognizes millions of gods, yet the Indian sacred books show that originally it had been far otherwise. Major Moor, speaking of Brahm, the supreme God of the Hindoos, says : ‘Of Him whose Glory is so great there is no image’ (Veda). He ‘illuminates all, delights all, whence all proceeded; that by which they live when born, and that to which all must return’ (Veda)1 In the Institutes of Menu he is characterized as ‘He whom the mind alone can perceive; whose essence eludes the external organs, who has no visible parts, who exists from eternity …. the soul of all beings, whom no being can comprehend.’2 In these passages there is a trace of the existence of Pantheism; but the very language employed bears testimony to the existence among the Hindoos at one period of a far purer faith.”
The concept of multiple gods comes from the history brought from Babylon. The origins of a man-god in the form of Gilgamesh (Nimrod) who’s wife (Semiramis) was also a goddess (Indrani), who in turn gave birth to the god-child, the same who would “crush the serpent’s head” (Crishna) which is corrupted and melded with the concept of a triune God, three persons in one god, created the idea of multiple gods who are all essence of the same power, being, or deity. Thus, we have Pantheism.
There is one master “silent” god from who’s womb all other gods are born, except for the Brahman class, who were instead “spoken,” or “breathed” into existence by this God. Each of the subsequent gods are all part of the same essence of this other god, but are yet separate from this other god.
As time progressed the Hindu religion diversified and spread across all of Asia, adding with it’s diversification many thousands of different gods. Who was to know which god was the god? In fact, according to Hinduism, there is no “the” god, all gods are equally the same, as all gods are part of the essence of of the same power. Essentially it is up to the individual to find which path is best for their movement towards enlightenment.
From this thought process comes the Buddha, Gautama. The Buddha was born somewhere around 570 to 470 BC in northern India. According to legend, Gautama was a nobleman who was unhappy with his life and could find no peace, so he abandoned his wife and children, left all of his worldly goods behind and went and sat under a tree. After a while he had a vision of the path of true enlightenment.
Much of what we know about the Buddha is legendary in nature. According to some, he was virgin born, according to others he was the product of a supernatural white elephant. Some would have us think that Buddhism sprang up independently of Hinduism by placing Buddha in some mythical region not influenced by the Brahminical theories. Others place him squarely in the center of the Brahminical caste system. The mythical nature of most of the accounts of the Buddha come from the fact that there are no original accounts of the Buddha, and there are no original texts written by the Buddha from which to construct an historical account.
What Buddha brought to Hinduism and eastern philosophy was the “Middle Way”, which is a path to enlightenment which encourages a balance in life between self-indulgence and self-mortification. In order to achieve this path the individual is encouraged to follow a certain regimen of deeds and practices. The ultimate achievement of the Buddhist is to find ultimate enlightenment, and once having achieved this enlightenment, the person can then translate to a final Parinirvana, or final deathless state, abandoning the earthly body and transcending into a higher “god-like” state.
Since the advent of Buddhism things changed to a different tack. The idea of the need of gods began to pass away, because now each person could become god-like through enlightenment. Once again, many different versions and sects of Buddhism broke off from the main branch because, like Hinduism, there really was no central scripture, historical account, or primary document from which the religion could claim a foundation. Subsequently several texts and documents have been constructed to help solve this problem.
Zen comes to us much later on, somewhere in the 7th century AD. Zen emphasizes experiential wisdom and meditation on the experiences and realities of life. Zen is a much more humanist, naturalist version of Buddhism as it de-emphasizes theoretical knowledge and the study of religious texts and observances.
Taoism is a different evolution of Buddhism that combines several traditions, including philosophy, calligraphy, martial arts, meditation, medicine and other such traditional Chinese practices and combines them into a sense of order which are governed by three basic principles; compassion, moderation, and humility. Tao or “path” strives to meld the environment with the actions and the thoughts with the perceived order of the universe, while maintaining a personal balance of thought within that order. Taoism brings us reverence for ancestor spirits and believes that these spirits were once human, but now have achieved the deathless state and have returned as entities to the primary force of all things.
Shinto, the last of the eastern religions, comes brings us pure polytheism and animism where animals represent certain forces of nature and the many gods represent the powers and forces of nature. Shinto is the final devolution of religion, before pure spiritism and animism which are found in the Pacific Islands and the North American continent.
All Eastern religions and philosophies promote the concepts that: truth is obtained by knowledge (gnosis), truth is found within, therefore all truth is relative, enlightenment is the ultimate state of mankind.
Whereas reality teaches us that; knowledge can be distorted by perception, truth exists whether we understand believe or recognize it’s existence, truth itself is absolute by the very nature the word itself, you can’t bring enlightenment back from the grave.
1 Moor’s Pantheon p.4
2 Col. Vans Kennedy’s Hindoo p. 270
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