the nature of reality in advaita and early buddhism

8/8/2019 The Nature of Reality in Advaita and Early Buddhism

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Ti-lakkhana & Satcitananda

The nature of Reality in Advaita Vedanta and Theravada BuddhismWhat I propose is that the nature of reality in Theravada Buddhism and Advaita

Vedanta are mutually exclusive on the nature of existence,

The Katha Upanishad and shows the differences between them the Upanishad

postulates Atman as the ultimate underlying and unchanging Reality, which has the

characteristics of Sat (existence) Cit (consciousness) and Ananda (bliss), whereas for the Buddhathe hallmarks of existence are, Anicca (impermanence), Anatta (no Self) and Dukkha (suffering).

All conditioned reality, in Buddhism, is marked by three characteristics.

Annica

It is said that the Buddhas last teaching to his disciples including the following

exhortation: Disciples, this I declare to you: All conditioned things are subject to disintegration

strive on untiringly for your liberation. (Mahparinibbna Sutta 16.6.8). The principle mark

of existence gleaned from this teaching is that ofanicca, which is a Pali word composed of two

parts: nicca, which implies permanency, and the particle a, which negates the word

following it. Thus, anicca can be translated as non-permanence, impermanence, or absence

of continuity.

The Buddhist notion of existence rejects any metaphysical claims that uphold a

permanent nature to existence. This even includes a permanent state of bliss or consciousness, as

the Buddha himself understood the transitory wanderings of our minds, recognizing no real

beingbut an ever-changing, never-ending becoming (Tilbe 24). No state of bliss is permanent,

though neither is any state of suffering, loss, pain, happiness, etc. All states and conditions are

limited to a certain duration and will eventually disappear into some new or altered form.

Deeper than conscious states, anicca refers to all modes of existence, including the formed and

unformed world. The Buddha held that the inanimate universe, like sentient being, [is]

continually changing in its passage through an unending cycle of existences (Tilbe 24).


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Upon the physical death of the Buddha, the chief god Sakkha introduces this idea of

conditioned compound objects: Transient are all compounded things, Subject to arise and

vanish; Having come into existence they pass away; Good is the peace when they forever cease

(Mahparinibbna Sutta 16.6.14). This is the Buddhist notion of Dependent Origination, which

states that all phenomena are causally conditioned. All that arises, then, is ephemeral and

transitory:

Change or impermanence is the essential characteristic of all phenomenal existence. We

cannot say of anything, animate or inanimate, organic or inorganic, "this is lasting"; for

even while we are saying this, it would be undergoing change. All is fleeting (The

Three Basic).

Conditioned phenomena populate our entire existence as the world around us, and the only way

to escape the conditioned existence is to reject and renounce everything but the highest, which

is the Unconditioned alone. If and when we manage to do so habitually and completely, our

individual self becomes extinct, and Nirvana automatically takes it place (Conze 90).

Hinduisms response to anicca

Anatta

Not-self, none-self, absence of an inherent self.

But not a strict materialism that denies the existence of mental phenomena separate from

material phenomena that would continue to exist after the death of a person (Sources of Indian

93-94).

No permanent or ideal identity.


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The flower has a scent, though we are unsure where it comes from: the stem, the petals,

the pollen (Collins 95).

No determinism: Therefore, we should avoid the extremes of a pure determinism, on

one hand, and also shun, on the other, the entire opposite view, which is a kind of absolutism, of

perfection of behaviour. In this latter, there would be someone who decides, controls and

chooses.

Phenomena are not independent from causes and conditions and do not exist as isolated

things as we perceive them to be. The lack of a permanent, unchanging, substantial Self in beings

and things does not mean that they do not experience growth and decay on the relative level. But

on the ultimate level of analysis, one cannot distinguish an object from its causes and conditions

or even distinguish between object and subject (an idea appearing relatively recently in Western

science).

There is no permanent conscious substance experiencing thoughts; they simply come into

existence, change, and then leave with no eternal "thinker" experiencing the process (Rahula p.

26).


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Works Cited

Collins, Stephen. Selfless Persons: Imagery and Thought in Theravada Buddhism. Cambridge,UK: Cambridge University Press, 1990. Print.

Conze, Edward.Buddhism: Its Essence and Development. Birmingham, UK: WindhorsePublications, 2001. Print.

"Maha-parinibbana Sutta: Last Days of the Buddha" (DN 16), translated from the Pali by SisterVajira & Francis Story. Buddhist Publication Society, 1998. Web.

Rahula, Walpola. What the Buddha Taught. NY: Grove, 1962. Print.

Sources of Indian Tradition, vol. 1, ed. Theodore de Bary. NY: Columbia UP, 1958. Print.

The Three Basic Facts of Existence: I. Impermanence (Anicca)." Buddhist Publication Society,1984. Web.

Tilbe, Henry H.Pali Buddhism. Rangoon: American Baptist Mission Press, 1900. Print.

the nature of reality in advaita and early buddhism

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