{"id":209847,"date":"2019-05-20T17:23:18","date_gmt":"2019-05-20T15:23:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/institut.dhagpo.org\/?p=209847"},"modified":"2019-05-23T12:25:26","modified_gmt":"2019-05-23T10:25:26","slug":"what-good-is-buddhist-philosophy-anyway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/institut.dhagpo.org\/en\/what-good-is-buddhist-philosophy-anyway\/","title":{"rendered":"What Good Is Buddhist Philosophy Anyway?"},"content":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ specialty=”on” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|” disabled_on=”off||” _builder_version=”3.20.2″ custom_padding=”54px|0px|0|0px|false|false” disabled=”off”][et_pb_column type=”3_4″ specialty_columns=”3″][et_pb_row_inner admin_label=”Ligne” _builder_version=”3.0.47″][et_pb_column_inner type=”4_4″ saved_specialty_column_type=”3_4″][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/institut.dhagpo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/03_Thiley_Rinpoch\u00e9_mai_2019.jpg” alt=”Trinlay Rinpoch\u00e9” title_text=”Trinlay Rinpoch\u00e9” show_in_lightbox=”on” _builder_version=”3.20.2″ \/][\/et_pb_column_inner][\/et_pb_row_inner][et_pb_row_inner custom_padding=”2px|0px|0|0px|false|false” _builder_version=”3.20.2″][et_pb_column_inner type=”4_4″ saved_specialty_column_type=”3_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Following six years ” _builder_version=”3.20.2″]<\/p>\n

Following six years of studying Nagarjuna\u2019s Fundamental Verses of the Middle Way<\/em> (c. 300 – 400 CE) with Trinlay Rinpoche, we are off on a new adventure: study of The Adornment of the Middle Way<\/em> by Shantarakshita (725 – 788). It is one of these foundational texts that is pretty short, very dense and that, like a compressed file, needs to be unzipped–in other words explained and commented to be understood.<\/p>\n

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Image : Shantarakshita (725 \u2013 788) \u00a9 Himalayanart.org<\/em><\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column_inner][et_pb_column_inner type=”1_2″ saved_specialty_column_type=”3_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”\u201cThe middle path ” _builder_version=”3.20.2″]<\/p>\n

\u201cThe middle path is not lukewarm between hot and cold and even less a \u2018neither right nor left\u2019 that makes a center. The Madhyamika means not falling into extremes. What is an extreme? A biased perception of things that is separate from reality–a side taken. The middle path is that which is not biased, which is free from confusion.\u201d<\/p>\n

During this first course, we went over the basics: what makes a Buddhist a Buddhist? What is the historical context of the text? What are the different schools of Buddhist philosophy?<\/p>\n

We considered the possible characteristics that could define someone as a Buddhist: meditation practice, non-violence, the pursuit of liberation, belief in reincarnation, adopting reason as the basis of practice, and, finally, non-theism.<\/p>\n

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It so happens that none of the criteria is exclusively Buddhist. What characterizes the Buddha\u2019s dharma is the view of the four seals, meditation as the means for liberation from suffering, and ethics founded on authentic non-violence. This leads to the goal that the Buddha himself defined: the cessation of unhappiness and its causes.<\/p>\n

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Over the course of the teaching and the exchanges, one question became clear: in this context, what good is philosophy anyway?<\/p>\n

To be able to respond to this question, we first need to agree on the meaning of the word itself. There are numerous ways to define the term philosophy. In the context of Buddha\u2019s teaching, it is \u201cthe fact of using reason, argumentation, and debate in a quest for truth.\u201d To say it another way, \u201cthe goal of philosophy is to examine what we perceive in order to determine whether we are in error or not–to clarify whether our knowledge of reality corresponds with reality. Buddhist philosophy addresses our ways of seeing. It examines reality and the perception that we have of it in order to understand them.<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/institut.dhagpo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/02_Thiley_Rinpoch\u00e9_mai_2019.jpg” _builder_version=”3.20.2″ alt=”What Good Is Buddhist Philosophy Anyway?” title_text=”What Good Is Buddhist Philosophy Anyway?” \/][et_pb_text admin_label=”It reveals our beliefs,” _builder_version=”3.20.2″]<\/p>\n

It reveals our beliefs, even if we think we do not have any. For example, saying \u2018I don\u2019t have any beliefs\u2019 confirms the belief in a self. The goal of Buddhist practice is to directly know reality through experience–to surpass all preconceptions without seeking to enter into speculation. As soon as we begin to speculate, we are mistaken about reality. Nonetheless, there are forms of speculation that allow us to let go of our preconceptions. Buddhist philosophy uses discursivity to go to the limits of discursivity. We use reason–examination–to exhaust discursivity and no longer fall victim to it.\u201d That is why philosophical discernment is not sufficient; it must be accompanied by ethics and meditation.<\/p>\n

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We could limit ourselves to meditation practice. \u201cBut meditation alone does not undo our confusion. Our confusion may remain intact, as we interpret our experiences with a vision marked by the extremes of nihilism or eternalism without realizing that we have stayed within our preconceptions. The cognitive error abides; the reification of experience continues. In order to free ourselves from this, we need to cultivate wisdom or discernment in one form or another.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mark of our conditioned existence is misunderstanding–the cognitive error that is the cause of unhappiness. The point of philosophy, associated with ethics and meditation, is to put an end to all confusion.<\/p>\n

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Success depends on the disposition of the individual. For this reason, the Buddha taught different approaches to reality according to the disciples he was addressing. From this wealth grew the different schools of Buddhist philosophy, known as the darshana<\/em>. These are presentations of reality. They appeared thanks to founders who relied on the texts written from the Buddha\u2019s teaching. Traditionally, we count four major darshana<\/em> in Buddhism. The one considered to be the most ultimate is the approach of the middle way. The text we have begun studying, The Adornment of the Middle Way<\/em>, is a synthesis of the different schools of Madhyamaka. Now that we have a good basis for understanding in place, all that\u2019s left to do is wait for the next course to get into the meat of the subject!<\/p>\n

Puntso, Head of Dhagpo\u2019s Program<\/em><\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column_inner][\/et_pb_row_inner][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Discover more photos on the Facebook album for this Chronicle” _builder_version=”3.20.2″ text_font_size=”13px” background_color=”#f7f7f4″ saved_tabs=”all”]<\/p>\n

Discover more photos on the Facebook album for this Chronicle<\/a><\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=” Chronicles of the Institute” _builder_version=”3.20.2″ background_color=”#f7f7f4″ custom_padding=”10px|4px|3px|7px” saved_tabs=”all”]<\/p>\n

Chronicles of the Institute<\/h2>\n