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RELEVANCE OF BUDDHAS TEACHING IN THE PRESENT-DAY WORLD

Ganesh Prasad Das I

Buddhism is regarded as a philosophy as well as a religion. A reflective enterprise could be philosophy without being religion as, for example, Carvaka, Samkhya and Nyaya and a reflective enterprise could be religion without being philosophy as, for example, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Bahai. But then a philosophy could be decanted out of such a religion. What is distinctive of philosophy? And what is distinctive of religion? The distinctiveness of philosophy is carca and that of religion is carya. Let us see, in passing, the significance of the teaching the teaching cadre. We have Lecturer, Reader and Professor. A lecturer is one who lectures on a topic. That he does from limited resources to cater to a limited objective. A reader, what a lecturer is elevated to by virtue of wide reading, relating and correlating over a period of time, is a compendium of readings on so many topics. A professor, what a reader is elevated to after a due course of time, is one who professes what he preaches, lives by what he believes in, integrates carca and carya. Carya is also implied by carca. Those intellectual enterprises that are recognised as philosophy, not religion and those that are recognised as religion, not philosophy could be seen as implying the other. The carca of Carvaka gives rise to some carya and the carya of Christianity involves some carca. The point is that carca predominates in some intellectual enterprise and carya predominates in some others. Let us look at the state of philosophy and the state of religion to day. It would not be out of place to observe that philosophy today is derided as a dust-bin subject, a sun-set subject, a blacklisted subject. It is terrible that the subjects that are treated as soft subjects in model universities like Cambridge are esteemed as core subjects in our educational institutions. To be sure, philosophy never puts anything to dust-bin, does not allow the Sun (of knowledge) to set and never blacklists anything. Philosophy is thinking about the universe as a whole. Philosophy is things through. It might be something, anything or nothing. The state of what is popularly known as religion is deplorable. The life-style and activities of Heads of mathas, asramas, and such other religious organizations are highly irreligious. (After a month of this lecture, the mystery of the Emara Matha, Puri with tons of silver bricks sealed behind earth brick walls was divulged.) It is alleged that black money of unlawful and unethical money earners. Wars were being waged in the name of religion. Now, fundamentalism and terrorism have come to be in the name of religions - one religion vying against another with such attribution. Hence some thinkers decry all religions. The Rationalists belong to this group. It is dubitable and debatable whether they understand what exactly religion is. There might be found to be certain dogmatic rules, certain outdated directives, blind beliefs, discriminative ideas in a given religion in

changed contexts. But a religion is not just the totality of such rules, directives, beliefs and ideas. The ideas, which are, in technical idiom, called ontological and epistemological, might appear to be outdated and not acceptable any more. It is more than that and moreover a system of religious thinking is resilient enough so as to accommodate the changes that come to be and get adapted to the altered situations. A religious system contains a world view (WV) and certain values of life (VL). One could dispense with the WV and go well with the VL. II Let us appreciate Buddhism and its relevance in the present-day world. There have been contentions that Buddha was born in Kapileswar of Bhubaneswar, Odisha, not Kapilavastu in Nepal. (Now there is a contention that Padmasambhava, the second Buddha, was also born in Odisha.) We would not enter into such historical debates. I propose to confine my discussion to triratna, catvari arya satyani, pancasila, astangika marga, and dvadasa nidana cakra (this is, what I call, 5-3-8-4-12 of Buddhism). Buddha, Dhamma (or Dharma) and Samgha are held in profound reverence in Buddhist order and are known as tri-ratnas (three gems). (1) Buddha is he who is consummate with knowledge, known alternatively as Siddhartha (siddha+artha). Buddha has its connotative root in buddhi (intellect). It may be noted here that the Bhagavadgita contains a portion called Buddhiyoga and there are many commonalities in the Bhagavadgita and the Dhammapada which contain the utterances of Bhagavan Krsna and Bhagavan Buddha respectively. (2) Dhamma is seen here and now, although, in application, it is not confined to here and now. It is a body of timeless truths. They are not to be verified by individual temporal phenomena. They are verified by the totality of experience of a person. Such truths are to be realised in the totality of mans experience of the events of the world. (3) Samgha is the Comity of the Committed, not just an order. Accordingly, there are tri-saranas: proclaiming ones refuge three times to tri-ratnas in the following way: 1. Buddham saranam gachami. (I go to the Buddha for refuge.) 2. Dhammam saranam gachami. (I go to the Dhamma for refuge.) 3. Sangham saranam gachami. (I go to the Samgha for refuge.) Dvitiyamapi, 1, 2, and 3. Trtiyamapi 1, 2, and 3 above. (It appears to me that this has found place in Mahima dharma in the form sarana darsana.) Buddhism advocates four noble truths (catvari arya satyani). They are: (1) duhkha, (2) duhkha-samudaya, (3) duhkha nirodha, and (4) duhkha nirodha gamini pratipat. We can understand these truths well if we put them under three categories: (i) Phenomenological perception, (ii) Meditation, and (iii) Vision; (1) is under the first, (2) and (3) are under the second and (4) is under the third category. Duhkha, or sarvam duhkham duhkham is a phenomenological perception. It comes when Buddha tries to see the meaning of events around him. It is not that whenever one tries to see the meaning of events around one, one would have this phenomenological

perception. Buddha comes to have this perception that all the events of the world are sorrowful. Some events might appear to be otherwise, that is, pleasurable, but then their resultants are painful. Smt. Sarojini Naidu has it in her Village Songs: The bridal songs and cradle songs Have cadences of sorrow, The laughter of the Sun today Is the wind of death tomorrow. There could be three possible phenomenological perceptions. This is one which Buddha has. The second one could be that everything is happy: sarvam sukham sukham. The resultant of anything appearing to be painful is happiness one has to undergo hardship to get Krsna kasta na kale Krsna mile na. (Is it the hardship of killing ones ego? Vide the Bhagavata, Uddhava mane rakhithibu/ mun male mate tu paibu//) Shellys assertion, Our sweetest songs are those which tell of saddest thoughts could be construed in this sense. According to the Upanisads, the man hails from ananda, flourishes in ananda and ends up in ananda. Acharya Samkara shares his realisation thus: kaupinavantam khalu bhagyavantam. If happiness is not available here and now during this life, then it is assured to be available in the life after, or to have merger in God after this life. The third perception could be that some events are sorrowful and some others are pleasurable: kimcit duhkham, kimcit sukham. It has been said by King Vikrama, sukham apatitam sevyam duhkham apatitam tatha/ cakravat parivartante duhkhani ca sukhani ca// (174) Further, it is contended that pleasure becomes meaningless without sorrow. So duhkha and sukha are compresent. The assertion, Everything is sorrowful, might give rise to a question: Is duhkha in the world of events or is it in the mind of the person experiencing the events? It is neither in the world, nor in the mind and it is not that it is not in the world, nor not in the mind. As we have said it is the seeker and seers exploration of the meaning of events of the world. Then there is meditation of this phenomenological perception. duhkha samudaya and duhkha nirodha are the outcome of meditation. In the state of meditation, the principle of causality, which is applied to understand the states of things, is extended to understand the perception of the states of things. The principle undergoes modification in its extended application. Pratityasamutpada is the principle which is applied to understand the phenomenon of duhkha. Ordinarily, the cause and effect relationship is understood like this: CE

That is, if there is C, then there is E. The possibilities of there being E without C and there being C without there being E are not ruled out. In the phenomenological domain as conceived by Buddha, the principle of causation is understood like this: CE That is, If there is C, there must be E and if there is E, there must be C. Conversely, if there is no C, there is no E and if there is no E, there is no C. If this comes to be, then that comes to be, and if this ceases to be, that ceases to be. (asmin sati idam bhavati, asmin na sati idam na bhavati) Duhkha is there, and the cause of duhkha is there. The cause of duhkha being there, it is possible to eliminate the cause and thus possible to eliminate duhkha, the effect thereof. According to C.D. Sharma, the Buddhist doctrine of pratityasamutpada is implied by duhkha-samudaya and duhkha nirodha. Pratityasamutpada, in its turn, implies ksanabhangavada, that is, Everything is momentary. (This doctrine of Buddha is compared with the doctrine of the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus, according to whom one cannot step into the same stream twice.) There is a whole series of Cs and Es being born, growing old dying and being born again. It is known as the cycle of birth and death (jara-marana cakra, or bhava cakra, or samsara cakra, or dharma cakra, or pratityasamutpada cakra). It consists of twelve links, whose initial link is avijja or avidya (lack of right knowledge). The twelve links are as follows: avidya (lack of right knowledge) samskara (impression of the forces of karma) vijnana (consciousness of the embryo) nama-rupa (psycho-physical organism) sadayatana (six sense organs including mind) sparsa (sense-object contact) vedana (sense experience) trsna (thirst for sense enjoyment) upadana (clinging to this enjoyment) bhava (will to be born) jati (birth and rebirth) jara marana (old age and death) The cycle is spread over three times, past, present and future. It goes on and on unless and until the initial link, i.e., avidya (lack of right knowledge) is snapped. Meditation on the phenomenological perception evolves into a vision with regard to the technology of putting off duhkha. This is duhkhanirodhagamini pratipat. This is an eight-fold path consisting of (i) samyak (right) drsti (faith), (ii)samyak samkalpa (resolve), (iii) samyak vak (speech), (iv) samyak karmanta (action), (v) samyak ajiva (living), (vi) samyak vyayama (effort), (vii) samyak smrti (thought), and (viii) samyak samadhi (contemplation). This eight-fold path is contained in the four noble truths, to use the language of C.D. Sharma. This leads to the destination of nirvana. Attainment of nirvana ensues attainment of prajna. These are two sides of the same coin. Attainment of prajna is the discernible aspect and the attainment of nirvana is the transcendental (not transcendent) facet of one and the same thing. In this discernible facet we have sila (character/ behavior/ practice) and samadhi (contemplation/ meditation/precept). We can say as well that sila and samadhi bring forth prajna and prajna brings forth nirvana.

Sila is five pronged. Hence it is called pancasila. Pancasila is a concept, which is very important and extremely relevant in socio-politico-cultural affairs. The Buddhist pancasila is enumerated in the following five undertakings/ pledges: 1. panatipata veramani sikkha-padam samadiyami. (I undertake the precept to refrain from destroying living creatures.) 2. adinnadana veramani sikkha-padam samadiyami. (I undertake the precept to refrain from taking what is not given.) 3. kamesu michacara veramani sikkha-padam samadiyami. (I undertake the precept to refrain from sexual misconduct.) 4. musabada veramani sikkha-padam samadiyami. (I undertake the precept to refrain from incorrect speech.) 5. suramerayamajja pamadaththana veramani sikkha-padam samadiyami. (I undertake the precept to refrain from intoxicating drinks and drugs that lead to carelessness.) We know from history that in the context of Sino-Indian relationship, a pancasila came to be, both the countries signing an agreement in 1954 to act upon five principles of peaceful co-existence. They are: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Mutual respect for each others territorial integrity and sovereignty, Mutual non-aggression against any one, Mutual non-interference in each others internal affairs, Equality and mutual benefit, and Peaceful co-existence.

Pancasila, in a different formulation, is the State Philosophy of Indonesia. They are: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Belief in the one and only God, Just and civilised humanity, The unity of Indonesia, Democracy guided by inner wisdom, and Social justice for all people of Indonesia. III Thus Buddhism conflates the precept and practice. The former is maha prajna and the latter is maha karuna. The precepts have a tremendous healing power for man feeling the pangs of duhkha of his space and time. Thanissaro Bhikkhu says that Buddha is like a doctor, treating the spiritual ills of the human race. His path of practice is like a course of therapy for suffering hearts and minds. Lily de Silva considers that the five precepts of Buddha (enumerated above) serve as a radical therapy for the ills of the modern world, which is plagued by various kinds of conflicts:

ethnic, racial, religious and ideological. The modern man is compared to a person who has one leg tied to a jet plane while the other leg is tied to a bullock cart. This means his development is lopsided as he is mentally imbalanced. Man thinks violent thoughts. Therefore, there is violence in the society. The mind needs to be trained for wholesome thoughts, healthy attitudes need to be inculcated and the physical and the verbal activities need to be disciplined. This precisely is what the precepts of Buddha seek to do. It needs to be noted here that the pratityasamutpada cakra is also known as dvadasa nidana cakra and in the medical context nidana means pathology or investigation into causes of diseases. Hence their relevance at any time can hardly be overestimated. Traditionally these five precepts were being regarded as parameters of private morality. But they have a momentous relevance to modern society. As such, they are parameters of public morality. If we pause to reflect on each of the precepts, we would find how relevant it is in the present context of the techno-tronic global society. We may hesitate to accept or reject or even refuse to think over the logical, epistemological and the metaphysical (whatever metaphysics is there) segments of Buddhas teaching, we can never do away with or do without the moral segments of his teaching. It may be remarked, in passing, that nirvana is possible for a bhiksu, not for a house-holder. So a house-holder need not be worried about that. He needs only to follow the moral precepts in order to become a successful house-holder and contribute to the making of a healthy society. Buddhism does not uphold asceticism. But it withholds worldliness. It endorses a middle path (madhyama pratipat) between the two extremes. Buddhas moral teachings constitute the solid foundation for a global morality. Moral precepts are like traffic rules. They impose certain restraints with a dual purpose. One is to grant maximum satisfaction to the individual in the long run. The other is to prevent him from hindering other individuals from getting their satisfaction. Before closing the discussion, I wish to clarify two ideas, which have appealed to the common man as being great contributions of Buddha. They are the idea of The Laughing Buddha and the idea of Vipasana Dhyana. The idol of the laughing Buddha sold briskly in the market and placed in drawing rooms of persons wishing to get over their duhkha in the form of tension and stress bites is really the Japanese Hotei, whose Chinese name is Pu-tai. It literally means linen sack. He is the 10th century jolly, roly-poly monk, who travels from village to village, plays with children and distributes them trinkets and sweet-meats stored in his sack. He uses this sack for sleeping. He is like Santa Claus. He is sometimes regarded as identical with the Buddha of the future, Maitreyi, who is expected to get rid of tears and bring back smiles. His laughter is both an expression of, and, an inspiration for, enlightenment. Vipasana, which is so much popularised at present as a plank of Buddhism, is not a method to eliminate suffering. It is a way to set aside the identity illusion, the auto-immune identity that generates confusion, debilitating acquisitiveness and aversion.
<><><><><> Formerly, Professor of Philosophy, Utkal University, and Formerly, I.C.P.R. Senior Research Fellow, RUTAYANI, 396, Paika Nagar, Bhubaneswar-751 003.