CHAPTER v ical Traditions | { Learning Outcomes should be able to: | d of this chapter, you At the en e basis for ethical behavior for Buddhists, he oneness of all things in for moral behavior; and Asian Eth 1. articulate th ow the concept of t as a basis nfucianism founds ideal human | and Li. | 2. analyze h the Brahma serves 3. examine how Co behavior on the ideas of Ren Introduction This book has focused mainly on Western thinkers. It has articulated the quest of thinkers from European traditions to articulate the good and live in a way that realizes the good. The text follows the debate of Western humanity regarding the grounds and norms of ethical self-realization. It follows the rootedness of these norms on the natural law to their grounding in reason and the eventual employment of discourse theory to arrive at a shared conception of the good in a multiverse of society. In most ethics courses, including this one, there is heavy emphasis on the traditions of the West to train students to think about the ethical way of existence. However, there is another tradition of thinking about the good that is worth ideri fuller understanding of how people ori 7 considering for a fu d. This tradition comes from the reat et us tole Pi ; a Particularly from India and Cee civilizations of the Scanned with CamScannerHarter V° ASIAN ETHICAL TRADITIONS nts of this course may not realize it but The een Philippines are deeply influenced by or Bak -omnmonalities in their ethical way of thinking with ree raditions- For instance, people believe that if they do d things: they could be victims of misfortune because of bat ja, Others believe that one ought to live in a way that ee r ancestors. Most people believe that the world is dered bY Heaven and that if one wishes to have a good life. on : . z e must understand that order and live one’s life according o These are all beliefs that echo or are derived from Indian and Chinese traditions. It would be profitable to study these traditions because they are closer to Asian moral sensibilities and have shaped them. ‘These Asian traditions share some general characteristics. Manuel B. Dy identifies six common themes which can be drawn from the great Asian spiritual and intellectual traditions. Firstly, one can immediately notice that religious thought is intertwined with philosophical and ethical thinking. There is no real separation of beliefs about the transcendent and the cosmos, including the traditional mythical beliefs. Beliefs about Dharma and Karma, the Dao and the gods, frame the critical understanding of the great Asian Philosophical traditions regarding the good and the 800d life. At heart, there is a quest to define what it means to live a good human life and their reflections could not be extricated from their greater belief about how the gods or the steater order of Heaven govern the universe and keep order, foe intuition that there is a transcendent order that met tienes flourishing but is not and cannot be aeined kia i thine Also, at the heart of this union of faith anc tt that about the good is a quest for emancipetion. 7 ae ae the heart of all Asian philosophical thougl a for emancipation: “be it from moral degradation people * honors thei to it. Scanned with CamScannerICAL TRADITIONS ET part I: THE ACADEMIC from misery a5 it is in Taoism an cna! the case of Hinduism,» the case of Confu' , : A from finitude as 19 : : mt tl oc that a second theme which. ake these ' Dy tl o ditions is “Jove and compassion. ince every as 7” realize human emancipation and fullness, ee ‘ft ‘ that is rooted in the transcendence of Se edo, sorder, strife, and maybe even death, it ing, finitude, di : cine aiporeant that people live with love and compassion, Compassion and love, they intuit, are paths to tranquility, peace, and being whole. Connected with this is the third theme which is the connectedness of personal cultivation and social responsibility. Realizing one’s goodness is sometimes tied to fulfilling one’s duty to one’s family, one’s clan, and one’s government.'* Enlightenment is the fourth theme. Each of the great Asian traditions, more or less, outlines a path to enlightenment. This means an awakening to the true order of the universe which leads to an awakening to the order to which human beings align their existence.'4 Thus, these traditions give human beings a path to awareness of the true order of all things, unclouded by human desire and folly, in order to become what they ought to be. Fa e ioe characteristic is that these great teachings offer cara ‘armony with oneself, with others, with nature, becoming pee Because the fullness of human teachings aiid g to all these traditions, they all have especially the treme or) armouY of self with all beings transcendent nder ee For these traditions, the existing Human suffering and dismree of all forms of existenc®- are rooted in the person § Philosophical I Traditi : bished manuscript AS EMONCIpation: A Response To Profess™ Scanned with CamScannery: ASIAN ETHICAL TRADITIONS cHapTER __ or inadequate participation in the order of things. jnabilitY a0 Indian schools of thought speak of the need for hus: vat ings to be enlightened in the ways of the one order ima ere and align one’s way of being to that order. the u sas. of : amples of some of these great traditions are discussed Ex! give readers sense of how their metaphysical, and mythical conceptions of the universe can be the f an ethics. here tO religious, foundation of The Vedas and Upanishads Indian philosophy is not discussed extensively in this section. Buddhism is the focus of this discussion but only because it is the aspect of Indian thought most relevant and most useful to the local students. However, the discussion begins with some aspects of ancient Indian philosophy that give the reader the foundational thought of this tradition. The Vedas are some of the oldest philosophical writings in the world. These series of hymns to the most ancient gods are a poetic articulation of the structure and meaning of the universe. Here, there is a family of gods for whom the hymns are composed. The hymns themselves are considered direct revelations that speak of the most sacred knowledge about the world, its creation, and the principles of reality. And the most basic insight of these writings is that Rita is the foundational principle of all things. Rita is the right order of the universe. Human beings experience this order through the Presence of the gods to whom they dedicate the performance of the hymns embodied in rituals. Each god is a manifestation of a force or principle of the universe and the singing of their hymns leads to the realization of a good life aligned to the order of the cosmos and the forces that keep it like the Rita."* More popularly, this means the performance of rituals ae "Louis Renou, ed, “Introduction,” Hinduism, (New York: George Brazile, 1962), 22 91 Scanned with CamScanner5 ee FLA? ee | THE ACADE part I: TH jon. And unfort; i fine perfection. = jestS me to be @ handbook of Prescribe! nal rituals to realize He exter’ re g of the revelations of the is on stuals. The focus is 0 mee A which leads to @ oe Vedas collected in the Upanis! . f the Upanishads seek to understang 7: The writers of pevoming bY realizing the deepest insight fullness of human ¢ the universe. They seek to articul, about the true nat Jd come to fullness thi why and how human beings cou! : sae Tough enlightenment about the transcendent, unchanging reality of being. The expression of the path to enlightenment is through poetic deliberations on the nature of being and the human realization of self in this universe. the authors of the Upanishads share a path of spiritual enlightenment. The first idea is Samsara or reincarnation. All human beings are born repeatedly in different forms of life. It is not just a process of repetition but one of purification. In each incarnation, a person has a chance to live a more enlightened life. In the teaching of Karma or actions and their consequences, the actions of persons have just consequences. The way persons live their lives redounds on what happens to them, and more importantly, it determines their reincarnation. Reincarnation is not a mer repetitive process, where one is arbitrarily reborn without reason. The process is one of enlightenment and liberation. One seeks to go beyond the Karmic cycle of rebirth and, in a sense, entrapment in the life of the finite body- The ee fae brs by living a life of meditation - that will allow es es : aoe of spiritual enlighten the good. If one li ive in genuine accord with the ae i vie ives well, Karma will lead one to @ P° » ‘Aus, one must live well according to one’s Dorm which is the duty that one has b: e 1g statio® of itation in life: There wi Gate ee cack on ato in the social ord "7 duties given one’s cast OF ies, rder, and if one fulfills all one’s give? dutl Scanned with CamScanner Beyond rituals,CHAPTER V: ASIAN ETHICAL TRADITIONS can escape the Karmic cycle which is the state of Moksha one or liberation. Jo achieve Moksha, one must come to the insight that 1] things are one in the Brahman. All things that exist are a athe Brahman, and ultimately all things return to the erabmam That simple realization leads to Moksha or the state of enlightenment that liberates persons from the cycle srpirth and rebirth to a state of stillness and a rootedness in the eternal. This is because the direct insight into this truth allows one to lose one’s egotism and sense of the importance of the individual self. The fullness of human existence is to find one’s oneness which is one’s eternity with the Brahman. The realization that “all is Brahman” correlates to the greater insight that “Brahman is Atman” and “Atman is Brahman.” Atman is the self that underlies all being. It is the eternal self which is all our selves. And so all things are one being in Brahman and they are all one self in Atman.” To achieve Moksha is to come to the deepest awareness of this truth and to realize it in one’s way of being."* This insight can be achieved if one purifies oneself of material needs and desires and meditates on the truths revealed through the Vedas and Upanishads. One needs direct access to this truth through insight, thus the need for purification and meditation. All this exercise aims to experience “the absolute within oneself.”"” And with that, one finds the eternal and still center of existence that is finite and comes to an end. Here we can see how the religious/metaphysical/mythical/ mystical principles of Indian philosophy can be the foundation for an ethics. If we ask the question “How does a good person live her life?”, then the answer is to live in a way that leads _—— Patrick Olvele, trans, The Upanishads, Oxford World's Classics (Oxford: Oxford University rg PISS, 2008), la, 1 Renou, 42 Rogue Feros, The “Psychic Eny”in Aurabondo’ The Life Divine, (Quezon iy Ateneo ‘de Marila University Press, 1966), 2. 93 Scanned with CamScannerTHICAL TRADITIONS ADEMIC E part I: THE AC things are Brahman, and Brg tn his means a good human Jif, i Qn, ina way that does not detg® ct to the insight that all and Atman are one. ay i i ust act i of purification. One m ee from insight and enlightenment. Also, © carefy i , z egative Karma which “ ‘5 actions so it does not incur neg i at Kee ones oe the cycle of rebirth. Indian Philosophie: S one imprisoned in » In late how to live in such a Way that and religions seek to articu one fulfills these basic insights. Buddhism is one development of this worldview, Ee] Buddhism Buddhism was born from the enlightenment of Gautama Buddha who lived between the 6th and 4th BCE. A sheltered prince, Buddha sought the meaning of existence when he realized that human life is suffering. The Buddha’s lifelong search led him to extreme asceticism. However, he discovered that enlightenment and salvation could be achieved in the ordinary human life if | Gautama Buddha people are enlightened about the nature of suffering. People who seek to arrive at a higher level of enlightenment, where one can see “beyond birth and death,”?° need to realize four truths called Chatvari-arya-satyani. The first truth is that cycle of death, life, and rel The second truth is that life is suffering or dukkha. In the birth, there is constant suffering” action or karma is the cause of this — 7° Donald S. Lopez,“ 2, “Introduction: Buddhism, Relig : ” Damage Seon University Press, 2000) ons of Asan Practice: An Artholo . Four Not e . 178, Noble-Truths, accessed 20 Ane Jortonnica hetps/vew nto Scanned with CamScannerCHAPTER V: ASIAN ETHICAL TRADITIONS suffering particularly “nonvirtuous action, and the negative ental states that motivate such actions.”® These are niflictions of the mind such as desire, hatred, and ignorance Mpich are rooted in the wrong valuation of self or atman. The *éreme valuing of the self, the desire to preserve the J'is the tause of suffering. People only need to awaken to the truth that there is no self to preserve. And as long as people keep pelieving that it is the human being’s task to cultivate the calf, people will be trapped in egotism and selfishness. ‘The third truth is that there is an end to suffering and the path beyond suffering is to transcend this illusion and enter the state of nirvana. Nirvana is the dissolution of suffering which is the fruit of the surrender of the ego. In this way, they surrender hatred and desire because hatred and desire are the fruits of the fact that there is no individual self. The path to this awakening is articulated by Donald Lopez thus: One useful way to approach the topic is through the traditional triad of ethics, meditation, and wisdom. Ethics refers to the conscious restrain of nonvirtuous deeds of body and speech, usually through observing some form of vows. Meditation (Dhyana), in this context, refers to developing a sufficient level of concentration (through a variety of techniques) to make the mind a suitable tool for breaking through the illusion of self to the vision of nirvana. Wisdom is insight, at a deep level of concentration, into the fact that there is no self. Such wisdom is said not only to prevent the accumulation of future karma but eventually to destroy all past karma so that upon death, one is not reborn but passes into nirvana. 2 Lopez in 23 Lepexintroduction 17: tb, ta 179 95 Scanned with CamScannerweee MLZ TRADITIO! ACADEMIC ETHICAL a Part |: THE ffers a foundation for livi to the good. It Tequires 8 realize human fy)j, to Nirvana 0 hb Clearly, the pat ng according d life and acti bes ahead ife in order to Megg, disciplined form Of Oye fourth truth—how human beige This is explaines life free from suffering by following - ought to live @ Astangika-marga- Again, Donald Lopez Eightfold Path or Astang rg. Ae provides ‘a concise description of this pat In brief, the eight elements of the a ne (1) correct view, an accurate understanding of the nature of things, specifically the Four Noble Truths; (2) Correct intention, avoiding thoughts of attachment, hatred, and harmful intent; (3) correct speech, tefraining from verbal misdeeds such as lying, divisive speech, harsh speech, and senseless speech; (4) correct action, refraining from physical misdeeds such as killing stealing, and sexual misconduct; (5) correct livelihood, avoiding trades that directly or indirectly harm others, such as selling slaves, weapons, animals for slaughter, intoxicants, or poisons; (6) correct effort, abandoning negative states of mind that have already arisen, preventing negative states that have yet to arise, and sustaining positive states that have already arisen; (7) correct mindfulness, awareness of body, feelings, thought, and phenomena (the constituents of the existing world); and (8) correct concentration, single- mindedness, ne seeks to act mindfully, these signposts yemcetn if one’s actions are creative and others. In fact, they provide a framework — Py Donald S. Lopes,“ 'ghtfold Path « comopicElghtfoa-Poth rot Ei Britannica, URL: https://wwwibritannice June 20,2017, 96 Scanned with CamScannerCHAPTER V: ASIAN ETHICAL TRADITIONS gin a way that avoids the destructive or evil ways of peings- | with these examples of Indian thought, we can see that b neit ethical tradition is not only a quest to articulate good ut a way tO realize genuinely human existence leading tion | oie fullness of transcendence. to chinese Philosophy and Confucian Ethics This section explores the fundamental ideas of Confucian thought as a representative of Chinese ethical thought. Confucian ethics is not the only or primary form of Chinese ethics. There are Daoist and Legalist Chinese schools of thought that: contribute equally to the development of the traditional Chinese people’s conception of the good. However, in the interest of brevity, this book focuses on the most popular and foundational theory to which all subsequent philosophies respond. Confucianism is a system of thought attributed to the teacher Kongqui known in the West as Confucius. He was an aspiring civil servant who lived his life as a teacher of governance, ethics, and ritual, and was able to gather a following around him, His main preoccupation was the possibility of building a harmonious, ordered society. He took his inspiration for building a just kingdom from the ancient i rulers, King Wen and King Wu and virtuous regent, the Duke of Zhou.** Confucius ——_ s Ship J wanhoe and Bryan W, van Norden, Readings © cles Chinese Posh introductions, New York: Seven Bridges Press, 2001), 1 97 Fa renner ernenctoensnernnenenenenanennmmmenet Scanned with CamScanneron ParT |: THE ACADEMIC ETHICAL TRADITIONS He believed that if people were able to internalize OF take as their own the ways of these virtuous people, then the state would be ordered because it would reflect the order 7 Heaven. This is what he taught people: the way to bea, the order of heaven in one’s conduct. At some point, his followers compiled a boo, conversations known in the West as the Analects, the main source of Confucian teaching. They are a Series of conversations, anecdotes, and responses of the teacher to his students’ queries that are not arranged in any particula, order. Later disciples worked on his thought and systematized and deepened it. If one desires to understand the foundations of this thought, there are three other books that stand as , source for this: the Book of Mencius, the Doctrine of the Mean, and The Great Learning. There is one basic aspiration for any Confucian, that is, to be a person who has the virtue of ren, to be a person who has internalized the way of Heaven. Heaven here does not indicate the abode of God. It is the source of order and balance, the way of life and nature, the way of justice and proper relationships. It is the order that must govern one’s way of being for people to find their peace. A person of ren knows how to act properly or with propriety in all situations giving all situations and things their due, but it is also about being human and the relationships between persons. Manuel B. Dy explains that “Ren is made up of two characters, re meaning human being, and erh, meaning two, indicatiné thus that ren is the virtue that governs interperso* oe Ren is translated as ‘benevolence,’ ‘kindnes uman-heartedness,’ ‘humanity,’ and when Confucius ¥% asked for its meaning, he said, ‘Ren is to love human beiné* (Analects, 12:22),26 ——— 28 Manuel B. Dy, Jr,“ - unpublished reer Note on Integrating Confucion Ethics in Business Eis Scanned with CamScannerCHAPTER V: ASIAN ETHICAL TRADITIONS in order to realize the ethical nobility or human a mplarity which makes one @ person who bears the virtue of rem jt is necessary to live according to the way of Heaven. ‘And the path for the master was that of ritual or Li. Confucius held the ancient ways sacred because for him, these pore the wisdom of ancestors who still understood the ways of heaven. These ancestors governed the state and acted in their personal life in ways attuned to the order of Heaven or the Dao. The way to attunement is to focus on traditional ways because “filial piety, a respect for and dedication to the performance of traditional ritual forms of conduct, and the ability to judge what is the right thing to do in the given situation””” were codified in rituals and customs. For Kongqui, the person aspiring to nobility must master and follow these codes of conduct because as they are mastered, one’s nature becomes one with the Dao. Li or custom and ritual are not only empty actions that are handed down from the ancestors but the embodiment of the Dao realized in daily life so that a person who follows Li can become one with the Dao. A person must be able to live according to the way which is the very order of the universe which, among other things, is the measure of what is appropriate, of what is just, and the balance which is the basis of harmony. A person must cultivate himself/herself so that he/she is upright and lives according to the true order of all things. For instance, much store is placed by the Confucians on filial piety. This means being able to support one’s parents and take care of them. Keep close to them and support them. Do not despoil their name and make sure that one’s actions do not bring shame to their reputation. This also means that i it one should make sure that when they die, one must ial he roper i hat honor them in the prescrib . Meng thos ivi tant to Kongqut because Many of these rituals were impor! ‘ ight 27 htpsiplato stanford edufentrieslethce-cinese#POOSOP"S 99 Scanned with CamScannerPART I: THE ACADEMIC ETHICAL TRADITIONS they preserved harmony, order, right relations, and Were manifestations of respect. More than that, they Teflecteg the wisdom of the noble rulers regarding the relationship with one’s parents in a way that accords with the Dao. The perfection of the realization of the Li fully attunes oneself to the Dao to the point that one no longer needs to think about it. One should aim at realizing the rituals with what the master calls “harmonious ease” (1.12). In the Analects, he says: } 2.4 The Master said, “At age fifteen I set my heart upon learning; at thirty I took my stand; at forty I became free of doubts; at fifty I understood the Heavenly Mandate; at sixty my ear was attuned; and at seventy I could follow my heart’s desire without overstepping the bound of propriety.”* In this quote, one can see the whole objective of Confucian emphasis on Li. To seek the harmonious realization of custom and ritual leads one to live attuned to the ways of Heaven. As one becomes attuned to the ways revealed by heaven to virtuous men, one becomes attuned to the workings of the Dao. As one becomes more attuned to the workings of the Dao, one no longer needs to think about the Dao or make an effort at living the Dao because attunement means that one’s self is open to and responsive to the ways of Heaven. Thus, Kongqui speaks of his own development in the way. His quest for truth is his deepening knowledge and practice of Li ‘Then it becomes a stand, then it becomes intimate knowledge, which eventually leads to perfect attunement such that his very heart, his will, becomes one with Heaven. His heart will never desire to act in a way that oversteps Heaven's ordet because it is completely one with it, 28 Dy, AShort Note, 5. Scanned with CamScannerTo cultivate a greater realization of Ren, a state needs good education and moral leadership. Good education for Kongqui meant an education of the heart and virtues. This one could clearly receive from an education in the ancient rituals and customs that leads to attunement with the Dao. Moral leadership in a society is particularly important ‘pecause people need exemplars to live a life according to the way. The sage realizes that in a corrupt society where the Dao is not practiced, there will be disorder or people will only comply with the orders of the rulers because of fear. However, if the rulers practice virtue and are people who have Ren, then the people would be drawn to live according to the Dao because their social order is founded on it. Also, exemplars show the people how to live according to the Dao, which in turn inspires them to be virtuous. ‘As mentioned, there are other philosophies that respond to Confucianism, like Daoism. Daoism puts more emphasis on the opening to the Dao that makes itself present in the natural order rather than in the ways of the state, the family, and rulers. It is a mystical philosophy that is too deep and profound to explain in this short space. However, it is worth noting that although it has a different path, its main concern is for the human being to reach human fullness by living in attunement with the Dao. Their path is one of meditation that leads one to full attunement with the Dao such that one could act in a way that is Wu Wei. Wu Wei is to act without effort, or in a way that is so attuned to the Dao that one acts Perfectly with its flow, No human action becomes contrary to the way of Heaven once one is 80 attuned to the very order of the nameless and unknowable Dao. But first, one must accept that the Dao transcends all knowing and articulation, and With that realization somehow finds a way to gain insight into that ground of all things. 101 Scanned with CamScannerHICAL TRADITIONS Apemic ET PART |: THE AC. of these ancient ohloate thicg . They all seek perfect attunement to the Dao in i oe genuine humanity. ee ll om i. S¥stem rituals and customs so that there aa — can lide people to that profound attunement . ppnen er a more complex path of mysticism that is oF j : ing in depth because of its poetry and profundity. ut 7 understand theip insight requires a lifetime of meditation am to understan the insights of Kongqui requires some immersion into Li, aa Conclusion This section only seeks to give the student a sense of what the main trends of Asian ethical thought are. Buddhism and Confucianism are only two of the major traditions from this continent and its long history of philosophizing. These two are the most relevant to the student given their influence among the Filipino people. Here we see the heart They are also worth exploring in this chapter because they give a general insight into the ethos of the great Asian traditions. And this is what is most notable. When Asian thinkers philosophize about doing the good, they do not think about rules or guidelines for deciding what is a good action or what makes a norm universal. They are not so keen about articulating rules and norms for autonomous persons to decide what is an acceptable act for a rational, free, and autonomous person. Their main concern is how to live a good life and bea good person by gaining an insight into the transcendent and eternal order of the universe, and from that insight how to attune one’s life to that order. Whether it is the Dao or the Brahma and Atman, one needs a deep intuition of the good and from that intuition live in attunement. Scanned with CamScannerCHAPTER V: ASIAN ETHICAL TRADITI ONs Asian ethical systems are less about autonomous, rational legislator of one’s own laws. Rath are & quest to articulate human connectedness isd er, they to the deepest order of reality. Thus, much of the ness of behavior are concerned more with the process of pa 7 to attunement with the source of order and harmony. pee the good person, therefore, is a person in communion with his/her fellow humans, with fellow beings, and with the ground of reality itself. Once the communion is attained, one begins to act as a good person, a person whose self-realization is immediately harmonious and non-destructive. It is worthwhile for the student to explore some books that deepen his/her understanding of Asian philosophy. These books are accessible to most readers because they are written in non-technical or specialist language. And so, anyone without training can understand what they are saying. However, because they are poetic and symbolic, it takes years of reflection and re-reading to begin to harvest their richness. becoming an Study Questions 1. Discuss the similarities t ina philosophies discussed in the ih Asian, do you agree that thes our your thinking? Do they shape ¥ e = ev:.an worldviews shop reormines the way Scanned with CamScanner