Non-orthodox systems

The non-orthodox systems emerged as a protest against both political and spiritual domination of Brahmins in all spheres of the Ancient India’s life. In this protest the inner-ethnic collisions inside the Ancient India’s society had been reflected. As a result it was emergence of the above-mentioned non-orthodox systems of the Indian thought. The Charvaka (Locayata) system is the system of the ancient Indian materialism (Charvaka is translated ‘materialist’, Locayata – ‘laic, mundane system’). According to it the only reality is the sensually perceptible world and nothing else. All subjects of the external world (the only one that is really perceptible and therefore real) consist of four elements: earth, fire, air and water. Human is also the only body, its consciousness is the only body’s function, i.e. eventually a material product too. No post mortal existence and accordingly post mortal redemption or retaliation and reward are. Therefore a human is quite free to do what he wants and can fear nothing. The aim and sense of human life is enjoyment with as much as possible quantity of various pleasures and avoiding of sufferings.

The Jainist philosophy being formed in the frame of Jainist religion is an integral part of it and can be reduced to the following three items: 1) atheism; 2) realism and 3) pluralism.

The first concerns the base religious doctrine of Jainism that is similar to the one of Buddhism and Yoga. The liberation implies realizing by the soul of its true nature [that includes as well realizing of the Universe’s true nature that doesn’t suppose the existence of the God in the usual understanding]. The realism concerns mainly the proof of the soul’s existence. About the latter we conclude through the perception of its properties (they are various feelings, passions, emotions etc.). As such as seeing a smoke we conclude about the fire, in the same way through these manifestations we conclude that the soul really exists.

In a body the soul is bound by material disabling the perfect happiness, omniscience, bliss and so on to it. Releasing the material bonds the soul gets back its primarily proper qualities as well as the limitless faith, limitless knowledge, limitless might and limitless bliss. The limitless knowledge concerns at first the fact that the Universe is limitless too as in quantative so in qualitative concern. Every concrete knowledge is limited and therefore conditioned. Very often people having cognized some part of the unlimited Universe think they have cognized absolutely all, that all other is quite similar to the already cognized. But they are mistaken. It’s illustrated by the well-known tale how it had been decided to explain four blind men what elephant is. An elephant was brought and given them to touch to. One of the blinds touched its leg and said the elephant is something like a tree, the second touched its ear and said the elephant’s like a big fan, the third having pulled at the elephant’s tail said the elephant’s like a cord and the fourth having held at its trunk said it’s like a snake. Everyone having got in touch with some part took it for the whole elephant. The same has place at the cognition of any reality. Therefore, make Jains the conclusion, the different viewpoints are admissible because they do not exclude but supplement and complete each other. In short the epistemological pluralism is a necessary rule for any true cognition.

The third non-orthodox system is the system of the Buddhist philosophy. It’s based on the common grounds of Buddhism in general and on the teaching of the Four Noble Truths in particular. The Four Noble Truths are:

1) all in this world is suffering (or to be exact – dissatisfaction; the double translation of the according Sanskrit and Pali words);

2) there exists a cause of it;

3) there is a cessation of it;

4) there exists a Way leading to the cessation of the suffering.

All is the suffering and dissatisfaction because having desired something we suffer of its absence, having obtained it we suffer of satiation (satiety). The final cause of sufferings turns out to be the cravings, the cessation therefore means the break of craving and the Way leading to it is the Noble Eightfold Path. Further the detailed system concerning all sides of life follows.

There are two main trends in Buddhism: Hinayana (the Lesser Vehicle or the classical Buddhism) and Mahayana (the Greater Vehicle). The latter reinterpreted basic foundations of Buddhism including the Four Noble Truths in its own way. So the cause of sufferings is interpreted as human illusions. The matter is that the perceptible reality we see around doesn’t exist for real. It’s only a flux of dharmas (units of perception), whose true nature consists in the Void. There is nothing but emptiness beyond the consciousness boundary (the famous doctrine of the Only Consciousness). But humans usually appreciate the state of affairs in another way and crave outward objects which do not exist in real. So the affection, the attachment to non-existing things engenders sufferings. The cessation of sufferings will consist in the break with these affection and attachment. For it however it’s necessary to destroy the chief illusion which is the source of all other ones, the illusion of one’s own Ego as something existing on its own. Because it’s namely the Ego that having severed itself from all other world and craving possession upon other things outside itself begets the illusions and consequently the sufferings. Thus the cessation of the sufferings consists in realizing the True (Void) Nature of all being things. For it the concentration (meditation) on one’s true (inner) nature is necessary. The people seeking liberation somewhere outside are similar to those who suffer thirst standing up the throat in river, said a master of Zen. The start of such meditation consists in the concentration on some outer (no importance what namely) objects.

The details of concrete ways suggested in the Mahayana Buddhism vary from school to school [1, p. 107 – 119].

Date: 2014-12-21; view: 1507