Chapter 2 Reality Ultimate Reality in the East

Chapter 2: Reality Ultimate Reality in the East: India, Persia, and China Introducing Philosophy, 10 th edition Robert C. Solomon, Kathleen Higgins, and Clancy Martin

Reality as Spirit: The Upanishads • The Upanishads discuss “seeking, ” which centers on Brahman • Brahman is seeking of a Unity underlying all individual selves and things • Pantheism identifies God with Nature • Atman is the “self” that is the key to all reality since it is the “self” of all reality; atman is not the personal “self”

Reality, Good, and Evil: Zarathustra • Sixth century B. C. E. • Persian reformer and prophet of the first monotheistic religion, Zoroastrianism • Preached monotheism against the early Indian polytheism • Claimed that his god, Ahura Mazda, was a creator, the one origin of all that exists

According to Zarathustra, Ahura Mazda created a pair of twin spirits: • Spenta Mainyush is good • Angra Mainyush is evil Because of these two spirits, the world is set against itself, in an eternal battle between good and evil. Everything that exists freely chooses its alliance with either good or evil

Confucius • Chinese sage and founder of the Confucian religion, sixth-fifth centuries B. C. E. • His doctrine sought “gentlemanly conduct” through adherence to ritual • Thinking is our fundamental nature • Confucian “thinking” is a form of attention, in which the Good Man fixes upon his “inner self” • “The doctrine of the mean” claims that humans should avoid extremity

Lao-Zi, or the Poets of the Dao De Jing • Dao De Jing poets, including Lao-Zi: fifth century B. C. E. • Ancient Chinese mystics whose doctrine was that the “Dao” or “Way” is the ineffable underpinning of existence

The poets of the Dao De Jing rejected Confucian faith and founded Daoism • The Dao, or “Way, ” cannot be taught through discourse or rules • It can be known only through direct acquaintance with it, and this can happen only through meditation • They were monists, believing that the nature of reality is one and that this One is conscious

Buddha • Sixth century B. C. E. • The “Awakened One”: a name for the founder of the Buddhist religion, the ancient Indian prince, Siddharta Gautama, after his enlightenment • Buddhist view of the underlying unity is sometimes called emptiness • Emptiness in this context is not the absence of things but rather a fullness

The Four Noble Truths 1. All is suffering 2. The root of suffering is desire, attachment, and personal clinging 3. There is a way to eliminate suffering 4. The way to do this is to follow the Eightfold Noble Path: right thought, right resolve, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration or meditation