A Little essay about my Buddhism
continuing
Futher, one more strict question hides behind the discussion about the mind.
When the mind is defined as no-ego, the opposite will say that the identitites of humane beings is denied or not.
If a person doesn't have the ego, her[ his ] characteristic personality won't be accepted by family or friends If a person is no-ego, the defferenciation between Taro or Hanako will not found by perple. If a person is no-ego, the opite will say that experiences are denied.
But we, Buddhists say,
"We hold the individual in respect".
Buddha Sakyamini awakened the realities of life. Buddha was fair to everybody and everything.
The opposite out of Buddha had assumed hypothetical Atman ( アートマン） instead of ego.
Of course Nagarjna denied Atman as the subject of experiences.
The posterity of the Buddha used the unconsciousness, so it was said as no-ego.
I ended the article of my writing about " The Death of the mother of Sakyamuni Buddha" with commentary.
And then I would like to write about " The MIddle Way of Nagarjnya"
I'm thinking about the 11th chapter, " the previous and the later of transmigration (輪廻）.
But that difficult text is only chance of my essay in English.
I write our actual life of Japan with my Buddhist' s sense.
So I have a question to young Japanese women about the future society of women of Japan.
Sixty-seven years ago, Japan had lost the advantages against the World War Ⅱ. Finally our country was defeat with cruel Atomic bombs.
After that the occupation of US army had controlled Japanese government, education and culture.
It was meant that religious release from the identity of Buddists nation proceeded.
Now Japanese people stand the situation where we can choose any religion.
What religion do the girls of Japan choose ? Also boys ?
In these days of globalization, we can see us from the trend of world .
Imagine abroad.
Phillipinne send workers to foreign countries with their English skill and, ...maybe with their belief of Christianity.
There are countries of Christianity in Erope and America,and Phillipinnese are accepted as workers, maybe babysitters, house-keeping helpers, and so on,on case of women.
They maybe had graduated from universities.
But Japanese young women will decide their own way with Japanese culture.
I want to advise a little from my elderly experienses and some knowledges of Buddhism.
We are always learning something during our life. During the period of childhood, they go to school. They are given compulsory education. As they grow older, they learn professional technics of various branches of learnings.
If one studies literatures, she or he becomes a teacher of school. If one studies nursery of children, she or he becomes a teacher of a kindergarten.
Those learnings are useful to earn money, because everybody works to live by something of working.
Commonly young people don’t think that learning is a realization of true self. Learning includes somehow denial of natural personality. They want to live wild, innocently, and instinctively.
Study compel students set right away from bad character by nature, e.g. egoistic, or cowardly, …, negative character of girls and boys. To rectify means to correct. So a rector means a headmaster of colleges or universities.
Does the education mean that natural character is made denial?
Special knowledge to earn momey is a way like as the technic to live well in the life. Usually study does not mean the realization of true self. And people do not find hope in education systems nowadays. People do not want schools to enlighten and illuminate children of true self.
When a girl or a boy works hard in study about special subject, one will prepare to take examinations. When an employee studies, one will take exam in order to step up on high administrating post and to get more salary. So to learn does not mean the realization of true self also.
Some of young students are learning endlessly in universities, they are called “ over doctors” in Japan. They cannot find posts that general companies can accept, because of the high requests of high post and salary. Their special study won’t be made a good use of their talent. As she or he is clever and smart, such person may become a target of maltreat by jealous companions of colleagues. The maltreat is said ‘ ijime’( いじめ) in Japanese. I feel that children ( teasers) bear hard on the specific friend by her or his inadaptability to social totalitarian sense. From the Japanese mentality, we judge more right on assimilation with others rather than individuality.
In East Asia, there are some countries with the ideology that totalitarianism is the aim of the countries. They do not have dualistic method. A conductor of totalitarianism erases opponents, maybe. I believe that our country is conscious of the respect of humane fundamental rights.
To learn must be the realization of true self. What is the true self? During one’s youthful days, they learn, study and practise availing skills of livelihood. They can earn money, but they are narrow-minded person. If they become only mere rich person without cultivated mind, they will be ill spoken of miserly, stingy, mean men or unattractive women.
From Japanese hereditary topological and dynamic progress is under obligation to massive materials of translations of foreign culture. I think Japan is progressive country of translation.
Japanese development has not depended on only industrial technology but also literary abundant culture.
I sometimes read western philosophical materials by translations.
I read, e.g. Kant( Immanuel Kant ), Heidegger ( Martin Heidegger ), Shakespeare, … and so on. I’ve just read “ Aristotelis Metaphisia “ by translation.
Japanese predecessors of modern period have translated whatever foreign novels, poets, philosophical classics are. Those great literary efforts have made us prosperious
culture actually, I think.
May I express my opinion?
When I read Kant’s book, a friend say with winking.
“ Do you give up a Buddhist? “
When those translators had changed into Japanese words from western texts, they had used plenty of logical terms.
Japanese language, namely Yamato-kotoba( words ) do not have logical terms originally, so when it is needed to use logical words, the ancestors had used Buddhistic technical terms. Same as like that, translators of western philosophy had used Buddhistic logical terms also.
Words are only signs, symbols.
Words are not actuality.
Thereupon, philosophical works like as Kant, they are not same as religious belief, namely theology.
The illiterate others misunderstand my attitude selfishly that I vanish my religious faith.
Nowadays logical words are widely used in Japan on the occasion of industrial handling books of various machines like as computers, videos, cameras,…and so on.
We do not use words with concentrating about philosophical themes of beings or existence,…and so on, and words do not have spirituality. Words are only indication of “ how to use “ by handy books.
But I have lost some of friends.
Some of them have gone apart from me because that they had misunderstood my philosophical tastes about western style. They had approached to western religious friends.
Some of them had fell into mental disease seriously. I think of the cause that they cannot escape from incomplete theology of Buddhism.
But they often come to visit spouse’s ancestors’ graves at temples by Japanese style.
So we must appreciate for the couples that they would go on well getting over a little difficulty. When partners and family stand face to face each other, they enlighten. I believe they can do.
Western styled god is different from Buddha, of course.
Compared to the western god, childish Buddhists try to worship the Buddha like as a god. They dare believe the Buddha absolutely exists like god. Buddha is not related to the myths of stories of the beginning and ending of this world. Childish Buddhists make Buddha modeling to the god, and they want to believe the Buddha, and they fail the faith of Buddhism, I feel. Childish Buddhists think that the Buddha created this world, Buddha is absolutely justice against human beings,…and so on. It is wrong for Buddhism.
People of outside of Buddhism misunderstand Buddhism as idolatry( 偶像崇拝).
Actually there are many Buddhas’ statues, but Buddhists not worship one decided object of Buddha. Buddha does not have god’s character.
Nowadays Buddhists worship plural Buddhas of founders of schools(sects) of Buddhism, those Buddha are called Bosatsu(meaning apostles and disciples). They are almost Buddhistic historical heroes. There are not Buddhistic heroines with vexation. I want to create such heroines of Buddhism.
By the way, once in near modern period in Japan, a great teacher of philosophical field said “ Absolute nothingness compared to the god”.
I follow to him, he was right, because there was not western god without any myths. Religious god has myths.
Japanese people throw theology and philosophy into pell-mell.
Of course, I am not a philosopher, I am a little essayist about Buddhism, I do not study. This is my free expression of ideas, ….maybe.
Buddhism has hurdles about love because it is seemed that Buddhism denies love actually. Buddha Shakyamuni had forbidden love. But nowadays holy orders of men and women of Buddhism almost have gotten married in Japan.
And followers of Buddhism, especially young people had better go over hurdles of dogma of love of Buddhism, I hope. Love of Buddhism maybe formless, I think. Young people will realize forms of love of Buddhism. I expect.
I am wandering from the main subject, I digress into byroads, I come back to Nagarjna’s Middle Way. ( Do you laugh? I am laughing, too)
Page 10
Mental activity has perception, thinking, intention, and intuition(直観). Daily conscious process goes with memory, imagination, and feeling. Those function are distinguished but interact each other in our mind.
The mind has such function. Is there something that unifies all on the top of the mind accordingly?
From the standpoint of knowledge, the most fundamental thing is judgment. Firstly the basis of judgment embraces the particular on the ground of generality.
About interaction, namely relation, it is thought as dual opposite sites, but it must be needed higher affirmative,…viewpoint. Where are the contradiction observed? Red color is not n red color spot. Red color is seen by different color, like as green. About perception.
By the way, do you know some formal logics, I do not find suitable words of English. I looked for “ Encyclopedia of Religion of Mircea Eliade”, one of my collection of books, but it is unnoticed. I looked into “ Encyclopedia of Western Philosophy” in Japanese. I have them also. There was description, but I do not find now.
I feel that logics may lead the understanding of Buddhism. I do not find smart expression, sorry.
The one is the law of identity(同一律).
It is described “ A is B”, or “ A is non―A(非A). A is same as B.
The second is the law of contradiction (矛盾律).
It is described, “ A is not B”, or “A is different from non―A(非A).
The third is the law of exclusion (排中律). It is described, “ it is impossible that A is non―A(非A).
I heard those logics long ago in my youth, I feel interested, and I have continued the study of Buddhism by myself till now. I want to make clear Buddhism. I do not have creativity, but I want to transmit the heart of Buddhism.
I think that the law of contradiction is useful to understand Buddhism.
When we can distinguish A from B( non-A), there is common general idea on the ground that reconcile with A and B, namely restating, that idea let both A and B being contradictorily.
Red is beautiful against the contrast of green, because there is the common idea of colors.
We say,
“ I admit of your idea.”
But of course, almost of our experiences, situation, the standpoint of views, especially how to know objective world, maybe different each other.
The encounter face to face with the other( 他者) shakes up our emotion directly and intuitively on the depth of mind.
A person before the person’s eyes, she( he ) is “you”, it is defined “the other.” The other who isn’t a stranger out of family may be possible the member of family philosophically.
We are getting along as family, but sometimes discord cannot allow and accept the partners of family even if blood relation.
Everybody is placed in contradictory situation. We cannot find the reconciliation with the other without words even if family.
Only self-awakening can combine as family and partners to reach the process of understanding with emotion.
It is narrow on knowledge, but it is broad and deep from reflected space of mind of emotion and consciousness.
There are changes, geneses, extinctions between things with contradiction.
They are called phenomena.
When they are analyzed on objectively, it is called science.
Also humane science theory is regarded as one field of scholarship, because it holds good intellectual self-consciousness of the unity both the form thinking and the contents of experiences.
The basic concept of humane science is the idea of individual personality.
By the way, at the background of the unity of contradiction and the cause of contradiction, there is something, such that compel all idea extinguish. Something is not being. It maybe nothingness, but it is function, and it lets all things exist like the mother’s womb.
That concept is leaded from the concept of “ place “ or “ space”.
It is said that Platon had described “ place” similarly in Timaeus.
( But Buddhism does not say there is the soul as idea)
About connotation, it involves the confrontation between A(I) and B(the other), and it is effective on conscious phenomena in our mind.
One can affirm or deny oneself, because the judgment(intuition) can transcend the self. She(he) can overcome egoism, I believe. The judgment maybe a will.
Besides, how do we know the reality of our experiences, objects, and the world?
In order to know things, we must consider about the category of time. True self does not exist in time. Time is the form of self, when she(he) wants to know oneself.
The true self is united with oneself in present time, and transcends over oneself.
That present self throws shadow of the beginningless past and endless future.
The contents of thinking that fitted into the form of time can get the intercourse of perception.
In this way, we know that the substances of the world are constituted.
(4/22,2013)
From Nagarjna’s poem---
There is the person by her(his ) behaviors.
Behaviors are made by a person.
Karma( 業) is thus and thus.( 11th poem of 8th chapter, “Behavior”)
An affair is co-arisen by chances of causes and conditions, they are called an assumed as “existence”.
So it is caused by combination, namely there is not solid substance( self-nature, 自性、じしょう). Because there is not self-nature(自性)、and it is called emptiness(sunya,空).
Nagarjnya described the thought of Buddhism by the simile of “burning firewood” in the text of “the Middle Way”.
Is a piece of wood prior?
Or is fire prior?
On the moment we look at that, we know burning firewood at soon previous analysis.
We are living presently in here, now, with true-self. It is real.
The moment one awakens to the realization that “ If there is no ego, then all is self”, and that emptiness means the non-duality of self and others, at that same moment one realizes that the dependent co-arising of all things represents the fundamental reality of human existence and human relationships, that all human beings are intimately related, and that one’s own self and the selves of all others are bound inseparably to one another.
We can get a glimpse of the incisive insight of the Buddha into reality of human existence, the inseparability of the self and others.
Nagarjna’s poem---
If one thinks,
“I am an Atman(我有り、アートマン),
All things have each substance”.
We(Mahayanists ) know,
Such person never takes the taste of Buddha’s dharma.( 16th poem of 10th chapter, “Firewood”)
All things are essentially non-birth(無生), and lonely-annihilate form(寂滅) of ego.
A person who intends to think about existences by ego won’t be able to take the statement of peaceful and affective mind of Nirvana.
(4/25)
(memo, continued but wait, please. I am interested in the theory of Mr.Shiro Matsumoto’s theme on Dhatu-vada or Lotus-Sutra. I decide to write about “ Srimala-Sutra” the while Mr. Jikido Takasaki’s life. I write in Japanese on anywhere in inter-net. And I am usually enjoying English songs like as “You raise me up”, etc. with friends at karaoke houses. Thank you for your patience to read this essay, see you again)
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