BUDDHIST RATIONALISM
B. VIDYADHARA RAO
The life of man is inter-twined with one form
or other of religion from the beginnings of Civilisation which is coeval with
the discovery of Agriculture. The fertile crescent along the rivers Euphretes
and Tigris was believed to be the earliest centre of Agriculture, though it was
possible that it began at various other places independently which may not
belong to the same epoch in the chronology of human civilisation.
The religion during the pre-vedic period apparently
was not much different from primitive tribal religions in India. The Vedic
period left the strongest imprint on human religious ideology and ethics
spread well over a period of more than a thousand years; it culminated in the
emergence of Upanishads which tended to be the abstract essences of religious
thought.
Gautama, the Buddha, belonged to a period,
when the efficacy of Vedic rituals was being subjected to rationalistic
analysis by the philosophers of Sixth century B.C. The greatest difficulty that
confronted them was that their seemingly rational thought itself was not
strictly logical. Religion and logic were unrelated anywhere in the history of
humanity.
`In general, religious Masters claimed divine
authority for their theories all over the world. The authenticity of their
preachings was not to be questioned by an effort to correlate cause and effect
with ordinary common sense. The ways and modus operandi of the Omnipotent God
are beyond human comprehension.
Buddha was not very happy with such a state
of affairs. Rationalism, freely employed as an effective tool in learning arts
and crafts and any other skill is barred to enter the field of religion. If man is endowed with a thinking brain,
why should it be restrained to operate particularly in the field of religion?
Buddha developed a powerful logic and adduced
it to his line of thought. Who ever argued with Buddha, was easily defeated.
Man, is essentially a reasoning animal and the preachings of Buddha strikingly
appealed to an unprejudiced mind. Thus Buddha was the first person in the
world who associated logic with religion and Buddhists developed logic as a
subject which was initially esoteric among the people for several centuries.
The complicated
abstractions in some of the later Upanishads, were influenced by Buddhist
approach towards religion. But logic was not the strength of the Brahmins of
6th Century B.C. They believed what they believed with strong convictions and
faith; but they were not a match to counter the Buddhist line of thought which
was essentially rationalistic. The Buddha always exhorted even his disciples to
test his teachings with their conscience.
The Lord was
once-standing with a begging bowl before a house holder Drona, who was a
cultivator in northern Bihar. Drona ridiculed him with the comment that it is
unbecoming for an able - bodied man to beg for his living. He said
that Gautama failed to perform his duties as a prince and made himself a
beggar. He proudly claimed that as a cultivator he himself was working hard to
produce grain which feeds scores of people. Buddha with his perfect physique
should do hard work like-wise for the good of his fellow beings. Nevertheless
he offered grains with both his hands to Buddha.
Before receiving the
alms, the Master asked “Drona, if I now refuse to receive the grain offered by you, to whom does it belong?” Somewhat
taken aback Drona quickly answered with displeasure, “of course it belongs to
me”. “If such is the case, if I refuse to receive the harsh words spoken by you
to whom should they belong”, he asked with a compassionate smile.
Drona was totally
non-plussed to find words for a reply, but Buddha continued. “I cultivate the
mind to produce permanent happiness not only to myself or a score or two but
for the entire humanity. Yes! I am also a cultivator of a different product!”
It did not take long
for Drona to realise the greatness of the Lord. He fell over his feet to become
his disciple.
This minor incident in
the life of Buddha is narrated above to illustrate the power of logic developed
by the Master! Whoever came to attack, finally fell over his feet and became
his follower.
Buddha never claimed
that he was preaching a separate faith. It was not viewed as a separate
religion opposed to Hinduism. It was also a variety of Hinduism itself with a
sound rational basis, which appealed to every thinking person.
The efficacy of logic
to propagate religious thoughts was realised by others very soon in India. The
Upanishadic scholars learnt lessons in logic from Buddhist teachers to develop
their Tarka Sastra, to club it with their Vedanta. The early
Buddhist Masters did not need to have a separate logic as they believed that
their doctrine had rationalism as its foundation.
In addition, Kindness
towards fellow beings was a fundamental principle of Buddhism. In those days,
the premonarchical tribal societies, transforming into Monarchies resorted to
inhuman brutalities. Buddhism revolted against such thoughtless violence and
appealed to cultivate sentiments of compassion. Buddha was often referred to
as compassionate Buddha.
Under equally brutal
conditions in West Asia five and half centuries later, Christ sacrificed
himself to induce compassion among humanity.
It is altogether a separate
development that Buddhism had several ramifications, a few centuries later and
degenerated into all types of illogicalities that go in the name of religion.
Were he to come alive a thousand years later Buddha would have been surprised
to see what was passing off in his name of Buddhism in later Vajreyama cults.
It is necessary to realise that religion and mysticism are inter-twined, as
well in the long run. All of us believe what we like to believe and apply norms
of logic to others’ religions. For an ordinary Hindu there is no logic in
Christianity or Islam not realising that even his faith is illogical and if
others attack it with logic it also has to fall flat.
Buddha, realised that
the real character of man is couched in his irrational beliefs. Any subject
acquired through rationalism is common to all in the same subject. Individual
differences creep in through the irrational dispositions only and that is
character. Compassion was part of Buddhism for this basic reason. That is why
Hinduism believes that the essential nature of a person does not change by
learning.
Western religious
thoughts too, from the later medieval period onwards do not treat Christianity
as a basis for their theories. The more a person thinks, the less the faith that
remains with him. But he can not be totally rational. It is like the horizon
that appears to the naked eye, but evades your arrival there.
Buddhism therefore
tried to cover up the irrational aspect of the human thought with notions of
compassion. Though Buddha employed logic to propagate his teachings, he
realised its ultimate short-comings and resorted to compassion to fill up the
void left in the religious thinking ultimately.
Krishnaji (J .K) reads a small passage from ‘Gospel of Buddha’. Each morning in meditation. He is indeed a devotee and the very sound of the name of Lord Buddha seems almost to make him tremble with a feeling of utmost worship.....He said “Whenever I see a picture of lord Buddha, I say to myself ‘I am going to like it’ –
-From a diary kept by one of Krishna murthy’s associates at pergine, Italy (dated September 14, 1924).
(Extract from Pupul
Jayakar’s Biography of J.K)