Eastern Alternatives: Daoism and Buddhism

Eastern AlternativesWhite and Callicott both propose that Eastern religions and cultures

offer a sounder ecological philosophy than the Western tradition.

e.g. HinduismJainismBuddhismTaoismConfucianism

Do all these different religions have something in common?

Are they indeed more ecological in spirit?

We are going to concentrate on Buddhism and Taoism.

Buddhism(Buddhism has many schools with different beliefs and practices. This is just a

very simplistic introduction.)

Four Noble Truths:

• Life is suffering.

• Suffering is caused by desire.

• Can only end suffering by ending desire.

• The Noble Eight-fold Path is the way to end suffering.

The eight-fold path entails living ethically (e.g. not causing harm to other sentient beings), practicing mental discipline (e.g. meditation), and achieving an understanding of the true nature of reality.

The goal is to achieve Nirvana and escape from the cycle of birth and death. Escape from life.

Unless you achieve Nirvana, you suffer reincarnation.

Depending on the degree of enlightenment you have achieved in this life, you may return as a lower animal, a higher animal or a human.

The world as we see it is an illusion and a distraction. See through the illusion to obtain enlightenment, hence Buddhahood, hence Nirvana.

The Paradox of Desire: to achieve Nirvana, you must give up all desires, including the desire to give up all desires.

Dependent origination

All things arise together in a mutually dependent web of cause and effect through the past, the present and the future.

All life is connected.

All sentient beings are trapped in suffering, and compassion is extended to all life. Harm to any sentient being must be avoided (hence vegetarianism).

The ultimate goal is for all beings to achieve nirvana and be released from this life of suffering.

Ecological implicationsAll life is respected. Harm to any sentient being is bad. Even trees and lowly animals

have Buddha-nature and thus have value.

Harm to animals is proscribed. Vegetarian is normally imperative.

Focus is other-worldly. Hence worldly pleasures are devalued. Greed and over-consumption of resources is implicitly avoided, thus ecological damage is minimized.

However:

Deeply dualist: matter is illusion, spirit is real.

Life itself is not valuable, but rather is just a source of suffering.

Negative focus: escape suffering, escape life.

Taoism (Daoism)Both a religion (daojiao 道教 ) and a philosophy (daojia 道家 )

Taoism as religion

• Folk religion origin• Polytheistic: nature and ancestor spirits and pantheon of gods• Influence of Buddhism: nuns, temples (also influenced Buddhism –

especially Zen Buddhism)• Traditional emphasis on living a long life/obtaining immortality (in

this world)

Taoism as philosophy

• Emphasis on teachings of Laozi ( 老子 ) and Zhuangzi ( 莊子 )

The Dao (Tao)The Dao: the way, a guide, a path

The Great Dao/Constant Dao

• Laws of the universe• Constant change• Nothing can go against the Great Dao• 道可道，非常道 Dao ke dao, fei chang dao:

-- the dao that can dao (or be daoed) is not the constant dao-- the dao that can be spoken is not the constant dao-- the dao that can guide is not the great dao

Little daos (human dao/natural dao)ways, pathseverything has its daofollowing your dao is following your nature

The paradox of Taoism

Two ways to look at the paradox:

1) Nothing can go against the Great DaoThe dao that can guide is not the Great DaoSo, it is unnecessary to strive to be natural: you can’t go against nature.

2) To tell people to follow the dao (i.e. little daos) is to instruct people to be natural – but being natural is obeying your instincts, not following instructions. (The dao that can be spoken/taught is not the constant dao)

Ethical principlesNatural is good.

Harmony with nature, finding and following your natural dao, is the way to live a long and happy life

Wu-wei• non-action, or action without striving• be like water or a supple tree (flowing and flexible)

or like a clod of earth or an uncarved block (simple and unsophisticated)

Peaceful and non-violent

Individualistic and anti-government

Reading for next weekRequired:

“Nonmoral nature”, Stephen Jay Gould (1982), in Hen’s Teeth and Horse’s Toes, p. 32-44, available at:

www.stephenjaygould.org/library/gould_nonmoral.html

“The Evolution of Life on Earth”, Stephen Jay Gould (1994), in Scientific American, available at:

brembs.net/gould.html