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Archetypes of Wisdom
Douglas J. Soccio
Chapter 2: The Asian Sages: Lao-tzu,
Confucius and Buddha
The Sage
A therapeutic figure who combines religious
inspiration with extraordinary insight into
the human condition, the sage is the oldest
of the philosophical archetypes.
Our survey begins with two of the most
influential sages of all time – Confucius and
Buddha.
The “Tao”
In ancient Asian cosmologies, all events were said
to be interconnected. And 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.), was the first great Asian sage.
who wrote the Tao te Ching.
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 express himself in often 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 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
The name given to any philosophy that
emphasizes human welfare and dignity is
humanism. 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 – with what we might now call the relation
between the individual and the State – became
most important in the teachings of Confucius.
The Golden Mean
So, 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 “the Buddha” in Sanskrit
is the Awakened or Enlightened One, and refers to
Siddhartha Gautama (c. 560-480 B.C.), the son of
a powerful prince in what is today Nepal.
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 selfdenial 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 him 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 our ordinary thinking).
“Here I shall remain until I am answered or dead,”
Siddhartha said. This he did, until 49 days later (without
eating), when what Buddhist tradition refers to as “the
greatest event in human history” occurred (in May of 524
B.C.): he was “awakened”. 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. But a rough idea
might be that saw himself 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
1.
2.
3.
4.
The Buddha’s Basic Teachings:
Suffering is the condition of all existence.
Suffering comes from being self-centered.
This egocentrism can be understood,
overcome, and rooted out.
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 “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”.