The Centrality of Ethics in Buddhism Exploratory Essays (An Old and Rare Book)

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Item Code: IDJ952
Publisher: MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. LTD.
Author: Hari Shankar Prasad
Edition: 2007
ISBN: 9788120832398
Pages: 602
Cover: Hardcover
Other Details 8.6" X 5.5"
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Book Description
About the Book

This book, through extensive textual study, explores the Buddha's and Buddhism's uncompromising and unflinching emphasis on the centrality of ethics as against any pernicious dogmas and metaphysical beliefs, and their attempts to causally relate moral perfection to soteriological or eschatological goal. What is most admirable about Buddhism is that it integrates the vertical development of human consciousness, for which the other is the necessary condition, with the gradual development of morality. It was this emphasis which separated Siddhartha, before he attained the Awakened Wisdom (bodhi), from his teachers - Alara Kalama and Uddaka Ramaputta- and it is for this reason that the Buddha calls himself and his Dhamma patisotagami, i.e. going against the currents of the prevailing dogmas and pernicious beliefs. In brief, Buddhism is about overcoming of suffering, the greatest evil, through ethicization of human consciousness and conduct, which also takes care of the ethicization of the society and the universe. Besides, some of the essays of this book explore many other themes like Buddhist epistemology, nature of self, time, and interculturality.

About the Author

Hari Shankar Prasad (b.1953) is currently working as Research Scientist in Professor's category, awarded by the University Grants Commission, and teaches philosophy at Delhi University since 1983. He did PhD from the Autstralian National University under Professor J.W. de Jong in 1982 on the topic "The Concept of Time in Buddhism." He has published in Philosophy East and West (Hawaii), East and West (Rome), Journal of Indian Philosophy (Dordrecht), Journal of Indian Council of Philosophical research (Delhi), Indian Philosophical Quarterly (Pune), and various anthologies. His edited books are: Amala Prajna: Aspects of Buddhist Studies (with N.H. Samtani), Essays on Time in Buddhism, Time in Indian Philosophy, The Uttaratantra of Maitreya, Philosophy, Grammar and Indology and Santaraksita: His Life and Work.

Preface

The central theme of this volume is to explore the central focus of the Buddha, as narrated by him for example through the parable of arrow, and of Buddhism texts (both in Pali and Sanskrit) compels us to subscribe to the view that Buddhism can appropriately be called an "ethicized religion" or "religion of ethics and soteriology." Further, on investigation into the contexts, contents, and the intended meaning of the Buddha's teachings (as preserved in the Nikayas) and their further elaborations by various Buddhist thinkers, it is not difficult to develop an insight that each of the Buddha's discourses -directly or indirectly -has an ethical message which has been continuously and more forcefully emphasized by his interpreters.

In a wider perspective, the Buddha's Dharma (Pali. Dhamma) actually stands for the cosmic principle of ethics as well as his teachings about it, which address the human issues and problems. Its primary focus is on the psychological transformation of human mind and the ways to achieve moral perfection, which together not only make this worldly life peaceful, happy, and harmonious but also serve the soteriological purpose of the aspirants without the mediation of any external agency like a priest or God. Note that it is all through human effort. In he process of ethicization, Buddhism restructures the entire humanity and the universe on the ethical line. Some of the chapters of the present volume-especially chapters one, four, five, six and seven- sufficiently show the primacy and centrality of ethics in Buddhism.

Since no ethics or morality can function without interpersonal relationship, it is bound to be social, i.e. this worldly, and Buddhism is grounded in this very empirical world, which is the realm of action, peace, and happiness and of course their opposites. In this regard, the Buddha and entire Buddhism make attempts to equate nirvana with the overcoming of such worldly evils as raga, dvesa, moha, asravas, trsna, and speculative thinking (kalpana) on the one hand and the practice of Noble Eightfold path and the brahmaviharas on the other so that the gap between this world (samsara) and the other world (nirvana) is bridged in the present life itself. The bodhisattva ideal with skilful means, especially in Mahayana, brings the ultimate goal within the reach of the layman who is incapable of acquiring rigorous training in the Buddhist discipline.

The criterion of selecting the textual passages, both Buddhist and non-Buddhist, for the essays of this volume is to see and compare whether there is an uninterrupted effort by the Buddha and his followers to give a better alternative view of civilization to be founded on the complete ethicization of human consciousness and conduct. This is in direct opposition to the prevailing superstitious beliefs, pernicious dogmas, and the unethical practices, as found in the Brahmanic literature and society, which are the causes of suffering and also detrimental to the religious goal of liberation.

Further, just as the social organizing value for Hindus is svadharma, love or agape for Christians, universal brotherhood for Muslims, jen (humaneness) and yi (righteousness) for Confucians, and ahimsa for Jainas, for the Buddhists they are pancasila (in early Buddhism) and karuna (in later Buddhism). Encouraged by the overriding ethical orientation of Buddhism I have formulated the title of the present book as The Centrality of Ethics in Buddhism. Thus ethics is not just one of the many areas Buddhism is embarking on, rather it is a common spirit running throughout its investigation, be it psychological, metaphysical, epistemological, semantic, cosmological, political, or sociological.

This volume contains sixteen essays, most of which were written in the last twenty years on various occasions. They are all result of my research and teaching at Delhi University since 1983. The purpose of publishing them in one volume is to make them accessible to interested readers. They cover such areas as Buddhist ethics (which is dominating the contents), karma theory, interculturality, self, epistemology, and time. Chapter one (Introduction) which retains the title of the book and chapter six are exclusively written to highlight the central focus of Buddhism. Chapters two and three present a detailed view of the Vedic-Upanisadic-Dharmasastric way of ethical thinking, which is criticized by Buddhism. They are taken as a background in contrast to the Buddhist way of thinking. Chapters eight and nine show the Buddhist attempt to enter into an intercultural dialogue for creative peace peace through mutual adjustment and enrichment. Although chapter the, eleven, and twelve are dealing with the Buddhist conceptions of knowledge, reality, and self respectively, they have been included here because the analysis of these themes has a transforming effect on our attitude and moral conduct. Further, there is a good reason to include here chapters thirteen to sixteen. The whole section delves into the intercultural study of time, which falls under the sub-area of ethics. This kind of study helps us understand, appreciate, and benefit from the alien ways of understanding. Whereas chapter fifteen discusses the controversy between Samuel Clarke (the representative of Newton) and Leibniz on time, which could not be elaborated in chapter fourteen, chapter sixteen presents a non-Buddhist Indian contrast to be Buddhist position on time as found in chapter fourteen. Most of the essays of the present volume have been revised and have reformulated titles.

In writing these essays I have tremendously benefited from many great scholars directly or indirectly. Those who have directly influenced and shaped my philosophical ideas through their work and personal discussion in the last three decades are: Professors T.R.V. Murti, N.H. Samtani, N.K. Devraj, R.K. Tripathi, A.K. Chattrjee, N.S.S. Raman, R.C. Pandeya, J.W. de jong (my Ph.D. supervisor), A.L.Basham, J.J.C.Smart, John Passmore, B.K. Matilal, Ninian Smart, Hajime Nakamura, Massaki Hattori, Lambert Schmithausen, Heinrich Beck (and his colleagues Dr. Erwin Shadel and Dr. Uwe Voigt). Hans Poser, and R.A. Mall. The last three introduced me to the intercultural (e.g. Buddhism vs. Leibniz) and interdisciplinary (e.g. Biology, Physics and Philosophy) study of time. These professors were kind enough to be my host at their institutes in the last ten years. Needless to say, I am deeply indebted to all of them.

The one individual who has patiently suffered the brunt of my academic pursuits is my wife, Meena. She genuinely deserves not only my deep gratitude but also dedication of this book. I thank my two lovely children, Archana and Alok, now independent and settled aborad, who have greatly contributed to making our home a happy abode of living.

Lastly, I am thankful to Mr. N.P. Jain and Mr. Rajeev Prakash Jain of Motilal Banarsidass for accepting the manuscript and expediting its publication, to Mr. Om Anand for supervising the work, and to Mr. Rajesh Kumar for carefully composing the material. Finally, I sincerely acknowledge my gratefulness to all those publishers and editors who published the earlier versions of majority of these essays for their permission, wherever necessary, to reprint them here. At the end of each one of them I have given their full references.

Contents
Prefacexiii
I
INTRODUCTION

1.The Centrality of Ethics in Buddhism1
hThe Significance of Buddhism
hA Naturalistic View of Man in Buddhism
? Hinduism and Christianity: Two Types of Divinity based Morality
?Buddhism on the Purification of Mind
? Nagarjuna on Interpretation, Confrontation and Resolution
oBuddhism on Scriptural Truth-claims
hA Buddhism Response
?The Buddhist Cosmology, Time and the Teleology of Karma
? Background to the Buddhist Cosmology
?The Vedic Nature of Man
?Six Destinies of Sentient Beings
?The Three World Scheme
II
BACKGROUND TO BUDDHISM
2.The Vedic-Upanisadic-Hindu System of Values55
?The Vedic Notion of Value
?The Upanisadic Notion of Value
?Post-Vedic and Post-Upanisadic Value systems
?The Hindu Concept of Man and Humanity
?The Value of the Organization of Personal Life (Asrama)
?The Social Organization of Humanity in the Smrtis
?The Varna Theories
?The Hierarchical Types of Values (Purusartha)
?The Source of Dharma
3.Classical Indian Ethics: An Appraisal107
?The Vedic and Upanisadic Concepts of Ethics
?The Non-Vedic Ethical Ideas
?Six Non-Vedic Teachers and their Ethical Doctriness
?Eclecticism of the Vedic Tradition
?Evaluation of the Indian Ethical Concepts by RP
?Svadharma is not Categorical Imperative
?RP on the Nature of Dharma
?RP on the Bhagavadgita
?Eclecticism of the Bhagavadgita
?RP's Analysis of Niskama-karma and Bhakti
?Concluding Remarks
III
BUDDHISM ON ETHICS AND KARMA
4.Buddhist Ethics: Integrating Vertical and Horizontal Developments165
?General Framework
?A Comprehensive Ethical Programme of Buddhism
?The Highest Human Good
?Moral Rules and Moral Ideals
?Advantages and Disadvantages of Moral Rules
?Caste Morality vs. Virtue-Morality
?Models of Buddhist Ethics
5.?The Buddhist Foundation of Morality209
?The Vedic and Upanisadic Notions of Morality
?The Buddhist Notion of Morality and its Critique of the Vedic and Upanisadic Ethics
?Concluding Remarks
6.The Buddhist Ethicization of Karma, Samsara, and Rebirth237
?General Framework
?Issues involved in the Karma Theory
?The Vedic and the Brahmanic Notions of Karma
?Inadequate Ethical Progress in the Upanisads
?The Buddhist Doctrine of Karma
?Cetana as the Determining Factor of Moral Action
?The Twelve-link Formula: Relating Suffering and Rebirth to Karma
?Nature of the Karmic Consequences
?Mechanism of the Law of Karma
?Denyling Anomalies in the Karmic Retribution
7.Ethical Holism of Emptiness in the Madhyamika Philosophy279
?What is Holism?
?Justification for Ethical Holism
? Holism of the Madhyamika
?Madhyamika Disbelief in Reason and Language
?Buddha's Silence nd the Madhyamika Philosophy
?Philosophical These of the Madhyamika
?The Madhyamika Priority of Higher Values
IV
BUDDHISM AND INTERCULTURALITY
8.A Buddhist Model of Interculturality: Cultural Encounters of Buddhsim with Hinduism, Confucianism, and Taoism303
?The Framework of Interculturality
?The Cultural Background to Buddhism: Vedic and Non-Vedic
Reason for the Emergence of the Buddha
?Fruitful cultural econounters of the Buddha
? Reasons for the Decline of Buddhism in India
?China Before Buddhism: A Survey
?The Characteristics of Confucianism:A Survey
?The characteristics of Taoism: A survey
?Buddhism: Its Doctrines, Problems, and Methods in china.

?Growth, modification and Sinicization of Buddhism in China
?Chinese Buddhism: A product of cultural Encounters
?Tien-tai school
?Hua-yen School
?Ch'anSchool
Ching-t'u School
?Buddhism and the Chinese Ruless; favour, Disfavour, and presecution
?A variable Framework of Interculturality for Future
9.Looking for the post Modern Ideas in the Buddha and Nagarjuna359
Preamble
What is Postmodernity?
The Postmodern Spirit of the Buddha
Self-Critical Attitude of the Buddha
Denial of Eternalism and Fundamental Ontology
Against Creator God and Teleology
The Buddha's Method of Dialogue
Emergence of Madhyamika Nagarjuna
Nagarjuna's Method
Concluding Remarks
V
BUDDHISM ON KNOWLEDGE, REALITY, AND SELF
10.Understanding Buddhist Epistemology397
?Development of Buddhist Epistemology
?Theory of Knowledge in Dinnaga school
?The Defining Characteristic of Knowledge
?Ascertainment of the Truth of Knowledge
?The Theory of Twofold Appearances
?Self Cognition and the Truth of Knowledge
?Knowledge is 'Justified True Belief'
?Is Knowledge an Activity or a Product?
11.A Buddhist Face of Constructive Realism431
?What is Constructive Realism?
?Mind's Creative Role in Cognition
?Analysis of various Cognitive situations
?The Buddhist Theses of Constructive Realism
?Concluding Remarks
12.Dreamless Sleep in Vedanta: A Buddhist Critique451
The Vedantic Way of Thinking
Analysis of the Susupti-related Statements
Analysis of the Advaita Theses
The Unanswered Questions
Buddhist Critique of the Soul Theory
Concluding Remarks
VI
BUDDHISM AND PERSPECTIVES ON TIME
13.A Critique of the Samskrtalaksanas a sthe Principle of Change and Temporality479
The Samskrtalaksanas as the Principle of Change
The Sautrantika Criticism of the Samskrtalaksanas
The Madhyamika Criticism of the Samskrtalaksanas
14.Buddhism and Leibniz on Time: An Intercultural Study489
Introduction
The Buddhist Presuppositions and Theses
The Buddhist Statements and Arguments regarding Time and Temporality
Leibniz's Metaphysical Presuppositions and Theses
Statements and Arguments regarding Time in Leibniz
Concluding Remarks
15.Newton and Leibniz on Time: A Controversy between Absolutism and Relationism511
Newton's Theory of Absolute Time
Space and Time as Affections of Existing Things
Leibniz's Theory of Ideal Space and Time
Acquition of the Ideal of Space and Time
The Fundamental Difference between Space and Time
The Two Great Principles of Leibniz
Concluding Remarks
16.The Problem of Time in Indian Philosophy535
Myths and Images of Time
Unreality of Time in Post-Vedic Period
Subjectivity of Time, Change, and Causality
Time and Duration
Duration of Specious Present
Bibliography555
Index575
**Contents and Sample Pages**














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