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Buddhist
Metaphysics
(the nature of reality)
Unlike
Hinduism but like Jainism,
Buddhism does not believe in nor worship the gods. As a non-theistic religion,
there is no god in Buddhism. Buddhism also rejects caste
and the Vedas as sacred,
authoritative texts.
Buddhism...
| like Hinduism accepts... |
unlike Hinduism rejects... |
|
rebirth (reincarnation)
Karma
Samsara
Moksha
(all present in Upanishadic
metaphysics)
|
Vedas as authoritative
Caste
System (Vedic in
origin)
worship of gods and goddesses (Vedic
in origin)
even rejects Brahman
as the Ultimate Reality
and the notion of the Atman
or eternal self |
Unlike
Jainism, Buddhism rejects...
-
asceticism,
in favor of an intentional meditative process of self-enlightenment
-
the
notion of the soul which is so important in Jain thought
Buddhism
has its own, unique understanding of what this world is (Anicca), what we
are (Anatta), how reincarnation takes place (Dependent Origination)
and the nature of Moksha (Nirvana)
-
Buddha
usually avoided too much metaphysical speculation about things we cannot
know about for sure. He did not say much about the nature of Nirvana or what
happens when we die. When asked where the soul goes after we die, a Buddhist
might ask in return: "where does the flame go when you blow out a
candle?" It doesn’t "go" anywhere, it just vanishes (or
perhaps the lesson here is: we cannot know)
-
Buddha’s
teaching about beginnings (creation) was even more negligible. Buddha
preferred to avoid wasting mental energy speculating about such things.
Better to spend our efforts dealing with our current unsatisfactory
existence and eliminate suffering. What we need to know about is our current
state of being and how to deal with things that impact us here and now.
Anicca
(impermanance): First thing to understand is that everything is impermanent (Anicca).
-
Everything
is in transition, nothing is eternal.
-
This
is why when we are attached to unlasting things we find we are disturbed (we
suffer - Dukkha) when these
things inevitably fade away.
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Some
Buddhist theories go so far as to suggest that, because there is no eternal
substance to the cosmos nothing is real (eternal=real). Everything is a
product of mental construction, of consciousness (and is thus illusion, maya).
This is thus called the "Consciousness Only" school of Buddhism.
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