Lectured notes on Buddhism
AB- Philosophy
Asian Philosophy
Sacred Heart Seminary, Philippines
BUDDHISM
Metaphysics
I. Three Marks of Existence
A. Anicca, “impermanence”: all things are transitory, nothing lasts.
B. Anatta, “No-self or No-soul”: human beings, and all of existence, is
without soul or self. There is no eternal, unchanging parts of us, like
Hindu idea of Atman; There is no eternal, unchanging aspect of the
universe, like the Hindu idea of Brahman. The entire idea of self is seen as
an illusion, one which causes immeasurable suffering; this false idea gives
rise to the consequent tendency to try to protect the self or ego and to
preserve its interests, which futile since nothing is permanent anyway.
C. Dukkha, “suffering”: all of existence, not just human existence but
even the highest states of meditation, are forms of suffering, ultimately
inadequate and unsatisfactory.
II. Dependent Origination Theory
This theory says that all things are cause and are cause by other
things; all of existence is conditioned, nothing exists
independently, and there is no FIRST CAUSE. There was no
beginning to the chain of causality; it is useless to speculate how
phenomenal existence started. However, it can be ended, and that is
the ultimate Goal of Buddhism.
“The ultimate liberation of all creatures from the pain of
existence.” This is the ultimate goal of Buddhism.
If the chain of the causality can be broken, existence is ended and
liberation attained. One of these factors is attachment or craving,
“tanha”, and another is ignorance; these two are emphasized as
being the weak links in the chain, the place to make a break.
To overcome selfish craving, one cultivates the heart through
compassion; to eliminate ignorance, one cultivates the mind
through wisdom.
III. Person in Buddhism
Buddhism views a person as a changing configuration of five
factors, or “skandras”.
1. The World of Physical Form. The body and all material
objects, including the sense organ.
2. The Factor of Sensation or Feeling. Here are found the five
senses as well as the mind, which in Buddhism is considered as the
first organ. The mind senses thoughts and ideas much the same as
the eye senses light or the ear senses air pressure.
3. The Factor of Perception. Here is the faculty which
recognizes physical and mental objects.
4. The Factor variously called impulses or mental
formulations. Here is volition and attention, the faculty of the will,
the force of habits.
, 5. The Faculty of Consciousness or Awareness. In Buddhism,
consciousness is not something apart from the other factors, but
rather interacting with them and dependent on them for its
existence; there is no arising of consciousness without conditions.
IV. Reincarnation
Buddhism assumes reincarnation.
Even though there is no soul to continue after death, the five
skandhas are seen continuing on, powered by the past karma, and
resulting in rebirth.
Death doesn’t mean extinction.
What is needed is liberation.
EPISTEMOLOGY
I. Purpose of Knowing
For Buddhist thinkers, PHILOSOPHY should aid one in
eliminating suffering and obtaining happiness. They maintain that
to achieve those ends, one must eliminate ignorance (avidya).
To eliminate ignorance one must eradicate belief, and to do
Buddhist philosophers stress the importance of seeing things as
they are, a corrective cognitive state through which one knows that
persons necessarily lack essence.
II. Model of Knowing
Buddhist epistemologist examine knowledge in terms of a
knowledge-event or act of knowing (pramatii). Their account rests
on the claim that the mind consists of a series of causally related,
instantaneous mental moments, each of which is ontologically
irreducible.
Thus, as a mental event the act of knowing is ontologically
identical to a mental moment. The act of knowing occurs when the
mind comes into a direct or indirect causal relation with an object
such that, with other conditions in place, the next mental moment
contains an image (ākāra ) of the object. Due to the ontological
unity of a mental moment, the notion that the mental moment
contains an image of the object is metaphorical; in fact, the image
is ontologically identical to that mental moment itself.
Nevertheless, from a phenomenal standpoint the act of knowing
presents itself with two images, the aforementioned object-image
(grāhyākāra ) and a subject-image (grāhakākāra ).
On the Buddhist theory of mind all cognitions must have an object,
which is to say that all cognitions have an object-image. Not every
cognition, however, is an act of knowing. Instead, only two types
of cognitions—perception (pratyakṣa ) and inference (anumāna )
—can be acts of knowing because only they can satisfy two
criteria: they are reliable (avisaṃvāda ) and they are motivators of
action (pravartaka ). Reliability concerns the justification of
knowledge. The fact of being a motivator of action is a
psychological feature that reflects teleological and ontological
concerns.
A. Perception – is an act of knowledge. The Buddhist model
AB- Philosophy
Asian Philosophy
Sacred Heart Seminary, Philippines
BUDDHISM
Metaphysics
I. Three Marks of Existence
A. Anicca, “impermanence”: all things are transitory, nothing lasts.
B. Anatta, “No-self or No-soul”: human beings, and all of existence, is
without soul or self. There is no eternal, unchanging parts of us, like
Hindu idea of Atman; There is no eternal, unchanging aspect of the
universe, like the Hindu idea of Brahman. The entire idea of self is seen as
an illusion, one which causes immeasurable suffering; this false idea gives
rise to the consequent tendency to try to protect the self or ego and to
preserve its interests, which futile since nothing is permanent anyway.
C. Dukkha, “suffering”: all of existence, not just human existence but
even the highest states of meditation, are forms of suffering, ultimately
inadequate and unsatisfactory.
II. Dependent Origination Theory
This theory says that all things are cause and are cause by other
things; all of existence is conditioned, nothing exists
independently, and there is no FIRST CAUSE. There was no
beginning to the chain of causality; it is useless to speculate how
phenomenal existence started. However, it can be ended, and that is
the ultimate Goal of Buddhism.
“The ultimate liberation of all creatures from the pain of
existence.” This is the ultimate goal of Buddhism.
If the chain of the causality can be broken, existence is ended and
liberation attained. One of these factors is attachment or craving,
“tanha”, and another is ignorance; these two are emphasized as
being the weak links in the chain, the place to make a break.
To overcome selfish craving, one cultivates the heart through
compassion; to eliminate ignorance, one cultivates the mind
through wisdom.
III. Person in Buddhism
Buddhism views a person as a changing configuration of five
factors, or “skandras”.
1. The World of Physical Form. The body and all material
objects, including the sense organ.
2. The Factor of Sensation or Feeling. Here are found the five
senses as well as the mind, which in Buddhism is considered as the
first organ. The mind senses thoughts and ideas much the same as
the eye senses light or the ear senses air pressure.
3. The Factor of Perception. Here is the faculty which
recognizes physical and mental objects.
4. The Factor variously called impulses or mental
formulations. Here is volition and attention, the faculty of the will,
the force of habits.
, 5. The Faculty of Consciousness or Awareness. In Buddhism,
consciousness is not something apart from the other factors, but
rather interacting with them and dependent on them for its
existence; there is no arising of consciousness without conditions.
IV. Reincarnation
Buddhism assumes reincarnation.
Even though there is no soul to continue after death, the five
skandhas are seen continuing on, powered by the past karma, and
resulting in rebirth.
Death doesn’t mean extinction.
What is needed is liberation.
EPISTEMOLOGY
I. Purpose of Knowing
For Buddhist thinkers, PHILOSOPHY should aid one in
eliminating suffering and obtaining happiness. They maintain that
to achieve those ends, one must eliminate ignorance (avidya).
To eliminate ignorance one must eradicate belief, and to do
Buddhist philosophers stress the importance of seeing things as
they are, a corrective cognitive state through which one knows that
persons necessarily lack essence.
II. Model of Knowing
Buddhist epistemologist examine knowledge in terms of a
knowledge-event or act of knowing (pramatii). Their account rests
on the claim that the mind consists of a series of causally related,
instantaneous mental moments, each of which is ontologically
irreducible.
Thus, as a mental event the act of knowing is ontologically
identical to a mental moment. The act of knowing occurs when the
mind comes into a direct or indirect causal relation with an object
such that, with other conditions in place, the next mental moment
contains an image (ākāra ) of the object. Due to the ontological
unity of a mental moment, the notion that the mental moment
contains an image of the object is metaphorical; in fact, the image
is ontologically identical to that mental moment itself.
Nevertheless, from a phenomenal standpoint the act of knowing
presents itself with two images, the aforementioned object-image
(grāhyākāra ) and a subject-image (grāhakākāra ).
On the Buddhist theory of mind all cognitions must have an object,
which is to say that all cognitions have an object-image. Not every
cognition, however, is an act of knowing. Instead, only two types
of cognitions—perception (pratyakṣa ) and inference (anumāna )
—can be acts of knowing because only they can satisfy two
criteria: they are reliable (avisaṃvāda ) and they are motivators of
action (pravartaka ). Reliability concerns the justification of
knowledge. The fact of being a motivator of action is a
psychological feature that reflects teleological and ontological
concerns.
A. Perception – is an act of knowledge. The Buddhist model
