Indian and Western philosophy

WHO AM I? 

Who am I? This is the most difficult question in the world. And philosophy is the way to find out the answer to this question. And this question has arisen because we think but the thing to note is that thinking is not done by our body but by our mind.

The unexamined life is not worth living” – Socrates.

BRIEF INTRODUCTION: 

Who am I? This is the most difficult question in the world. And philosophy is the way to find out the answer to this question. And this question has arisen because we think but the thing to note is that thinking is not done by our body but by our mind. And to this principle, the French philosopher René Descartes gave the principle of the Latin cogito, ergo sum, usually "I think, therefore I am." Descartes arrived there inspired by his search for a method that would allow man to distinguish truth from falsehood, not only for speculative purposes, but also with a view to practical application in life. Philosophy is the mother of all sciences.

Some people say that philosophy is the hobby of the rich. So today, from this essay, we will try to understand what the true meaning of philosophy is. Western philosophy; Thales appeared as the first philosopher of the Western world in the sixth century BC, or approximately 2800 years ago. In Western culture, the word "philosophy" is made up of two words. Philos means love, and the other word is Sophia, which means wisdom. It refers to the moment when you fall in love with wisdom. Only wisdom gives you discretion. And discretion makes you humble. And only then can you differentiate between right and wrong. 

Once people told the great philosopher Socrates that you are very knowledgeable, and Socrates replied that "many people know that they know many things," and I am one of them. And the whole knowledge of life is that I know nothing. So when you get the urge to know about the whole world, then you have stepped into the world of philosophy. With the help of ethnography, you can determine the path of the world of philosophy. 

John D.B. was a great philosopher in America in the 20th century. He had said a very deep thing: "Education is not the preparation of life; education is life in itself." To be engaged in the process of becoming a better and wiser person is the true meaning of life, and this is called philosophy. The most beautiful branch of philosophy is called metaphysics. That which is beyond physics is called metaphysics. And to answer all the questions of metaphysics, humans have created a religion for themselves. This type of metaphysics is called theology. The names of the remaining two types are cosmology and psychology. 

Indian Philosophy;

There was a poet in modern Hindi literature whose name was Sarveshwar Dayal Saxena. Through one of his poems, we can understand the definition of philosophy. After being shot, "Ram" came out of one's mouth, "Mao" from the other's mouth, and 'potato' from the third's mouth. It was said in the post-mortem report that both of them had full stomachs earlier. If you can understand this verse, then you are ready to understand philosophy. The meaning of this poem is that whether you support Ram (religion) or Mao (leftist religion), the first requirement for being a supporter or opponent of any ideology, philosophy, or ideology is that your stomach be full. Philosophy can neither be read nor understood on an empty stomach. An empty stomach is only for food. 

“You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul’’ – Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902)

Philosophy of India is considered very ancient. About 4000 years ago, the philosophy of the Vedas and Upanishads was invented in India. Philosophy and science walked together in the journey of about 10,000 years of philosophy. In the beginning, India and Greece proved to be the most successful in the development of philosophy and science in the world. In Greece at the time, there were great philosophers and scientists. Such as Parmenides, Heraclitus, Pythagoras, Aristotle, Herodotus, etc. The city of Athens introduced the world to the greatest people. Similarly, in India too, the development of philosophy was at its peak during the same period. The meaning of philosophy is to find a single answer to all the questions of life. And no matter how long you have to wait for that one moment, Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, did penance for 6 years, Mahaveer Swami, the founder of Jainism, did penance for 12 years, Guru Nanak Dev ji lived in the forest for about 3 months, then he got knowledge. This knowledge is not common sense; this knowledge is the moment when you get the answer to all the questions of life. Philosophy is the discipline that gives you a different perspective. It means to say that the eyes are there, but you are able to see something else. There is a saying in English literature about "reading between the lines." Deep people read between two lines; deep people understand the difference between words. 

There are a total of nine philosophies established in India. And eight out of nine philosophers believe that this world is full of sorrows and that getting rid of them is the basic purpose of philosophy. And the answer to all eight philosophies for removing sorrows is the same: "Moksha means Liberation." Indian philosophy began with the Vedas, progressed to Osho Rajneesh, and is still evolving. The first era of Indian philosophy was the Vedic era. The Vedas are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts are the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism. According to Indian beliefs, the knowledge of the Vedas was compiled by the sage Muni Vaid Vyas. There are four types of Vedas. Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda, and Atharvaveda Each Veda has four subsections: the Samhitas (chants and blessings), the Aranyakas (texts on rituals, ceremonies, sacrifices, and symbolic sacrifices), the Brahmanas (comments on rituals, ceremonies, and sacrifices), and the Upanishads (texts discussing meditation, philosophy, and spiritual knowledge). Since the 2nd millennium BCE, the Vedas have been transmitted orally with the help of elaborate mnemonic techniques. Mantras, the oldest part of the Vedas, are recited in the modern age for their phonetics rather than their semantics, and are considered "the primordial rhythms of which precede the forms they refer to. By reciting them, the universe is revived, "by enlivening and nourishing the forms of creation at their base." Different Indian philosophies and Hindu sects have taken different positions on the Vedas; schools of Indian philosophy that accept the fundamental authority of the Vedas are classified as "orthodox" (astika). Other ascetic traditions, such as Charvaka, Ajivika, Buddhism, and Jainism, which did not regard the Vedas as authorities, are known as "heterodox" or "non-orthodox" (nastika) schools. In the second phase of Indian philosophy, out of the total of 9 Indian philosophies, 6 are kept in theist and 3 in atheist letters. The philosophy that accepts the Vedas as authentic is called "Astika," and the philosophy that has a non-authentic preference for the Vedas is called "Atheism. Theistic philosophies are six, and they are called Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Samkhya, Yoga, Mimansa, and Vedanta. On the contrary, Chavarka, Buddhist, and Jain philosophies are kept in the category of 'atheistic philosophy'. There is a tremendous mutual difference between these philosophies. Despite their mutual differences, these philosophies have the essence of allegiance. Each philosophy recognizes the authenticity of certain principles. The reason for this equality is that each philosophy developed in the same land—India, it can be said. These philosophies have been left with an indelible imprint of Indian talent, loyalty, and culture due to the outlook in the same country. In this way, the commonalities seen in different philosophies of India are called "General Characteristics of Indian Philosophy." These characteristics are able to fully illuminate the form of Indian ideology. 

The main feature of Indian philosophy is that the Indian philosophers here have considered the world to be sad. The development of philosophy has happened due to spiritual dissatisfaction in India. As a result of sorrows like disease, death, old age, debt, etc., the human mind always remains restless. The world is described as sorrowful in Buddha's first noble truth. He has called the experiences of disease, death, old age, meeting, separation, etc. sad. In every aspect of life, man only sees sorrow. His remark that the number of tears shed by the bereaved is greater than the volume of sea water reflects his attitude toward the world. Samkhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Shankara, Ramanuja, Jainism, etc.—all philosophies agree with Buddha's first Arya-Truth. Sankhya has called the world an ocean of sorrow. There are three types of sorrow in the world: spiritual, semi-material, and semi-divine. Spiritual sorrow is another name for physical and mental sorrow. Semi-material sorrows are received from the beings of the external world, such as animals and humans. Examples of this type of sorrow are misdeeds like theft, dacoity, murder, etc. Adhivedic sorrows are those that result from unnatural forces. The sorrows received from ghosts, floods, famine, earthquakes, etc. are examples of this. 

Indian philosophies have also called the pleasant experience of the world sad. Philosophical literature such as the Upanishads and the Gita points to the impermanence of the universe. Thus, every philosopher here has presented a distressing picture of the world. It is short-sighted to consider the pleasures of the world as real pleasures. Second feature of Indian philosophy: Except Charvaka, every philosopher here believes in the existence of soul. From the Upanishads to the Vedanta, the search for the soul has been emphasized. The basic mantra of the rishis here is Atmanam Viddhi (Know thyself). Indian philosophy represents spiritualism as a result of believing in the soul. The philosophers here have generally considered the soul to be immortal. 

The main difference between the soul and the body is that the soul is indestructible whereas the body is perishable. Various views have been presented by Indian philosophers regarding the soul. Charvaka has considered soul and body to be synonymous with each other. The Chaitanya-specific body is called the soul by the Charvakas. The soul is not separate from the body. Like the body, the soul is also perishable, because the soul is actually the body. This opinion of Charvak is called 'Dehatmavad'. Sadananda in 'Vedanta-Sar' has mentioned four different views regarding the soul certified by the Charvakas. Some Charvakas have called the soul a body. Some Charvakas have considered the soul as the sense organs. Some Charvakas have called the sense organs as the soul. Some Charvakas have called Manas the soul. By denying the immortality of the soul, the Charvakas have denied the idea of the soul represented in the Indian ideology. Charvaka's soul-related thought is called materialistic. Sankya has considered the soul as consciousness. Consciousness is the essential property of the soul. In the absence of consciousness, the concept of soul is also impossible. The soul is a constant knower. It cannot be an object of knowledge. Sankhya has called the soul as akarta. The soul is joyless, because joy is the result of guna and the soul is transcendental. Shankar has also considered consciousness as the basic characteristic of the soul. He has called the soul 'Sachchidanand' (Sat+Chit+Anand). The soul is neither the knower nor the subject of knowledge. As far as the number of souls is concerned, except Shankara all the philosophers have considered the soul as many. Shankar considers only one soul to be true. Nyaya-Vaisheshika believes in two types of souls—(1) Jivatma, (2) Paramatma. There are many souls, but the Supreme Soul is one. Jain philosophy is the oldest Indian philosophy that completely separates the body (matter) from the soul (consciousness). Jainism was revived and re-established after Mahavira, the last and 24th Tirthankara, who synthesized and revived the philosophy and preaching of the ancient Shramanic traditions laid down millions of years ago by the first Jain Tirthankara, Rishabhanatha. According to Dundas, outside the Jain tradition, historians place Mahavira as contemporary with the Buddha in the 5th century BCE, and accordingly, based on the historical Parshvanatha, A gap of 250 years is placed in the 8th or 7th century BCE. Jainism is a Shramanic religion that rejects the authority of the Vedas. However, like all Indian religions, it shares core concepts such as karma, moral life, rebirth, samsara, and moksha. As a means of spiritual liberation, Jainism emphasizes asceticism, nonviolence, and anekantavada, ideas that have influenced other Indian traditions. Jainism strongly believes in the individualistic nature of the soul and personal responsibility for one's decisions, as well as that self-reliance and personal effort are sufficient for salvation. According to Jain philosophy, the world (Samsara) is full of violence (Himsa). One must, therefore, direct all his efforts towards the attainment of the Ratnatraya, which is Samyak Darshan (right perception), Samyak Gyan (right knowledge), and Samyak Charitra (right conduct), which are necessary to attain liberation. 

Appreciating the complexity of Indian philosophy, the greatest English poet of the modern era, T.S. Eliot, wrote that the great philosophers of India "make most of the great European philosophers look like schoolboys." The German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer used Indian philosophy to reform Kantian thought. In the preface to his book The World as Will and Representation, Schopenhauer writes that he who has "received and assimilated even the sacred primitive Indian wisdom" is "best prepared to listen to what I have to say to him." Transcendentalism, a 19th-century American philosophical movement, was influenced by the Indian. The basic feeling and the basic teaching of 'live and let live' is that if we have kindness and compassion towards someone, he will automatically be attracted to us. Our rishis, sages, and teachers have also demonstrated this. Lion-goat, cat-rat, peacock-snake, and other diametrically opposed creatures used to roam around in the hermitages of sages. What is all this, after all? All this becomes possible by living life by following the concept of 'live and let live'. Even the most violent creature would become nonviolent and peaceful in the presence of Lord Mahavir. All these things are sufficient to show that by following this advice of Lord Mahavir, peace can be established in the whole world and all problems can be solved at the global level.

 Some of the greatest philosophers of all the time; 

 Aristotle - “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” 

 Immanuel Kant – “In law a man is guilty when he violates the rights of others’’

 Zeno of Citium – ‘’We have two ears and one mouth, so we should listen more than we say.”

 Plato - “Those who tell the stories rule society’’

 Confucius - “The object of the superior man is truth.” 

 David Hume- “Liberty of any kind is never lost all at once.” 

 Socrates- The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.

 William of Ockham - “Entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily” 

Some of the most famous Indian philosopher; 

 Gautama Buddha - Give, even if you only have a little." 

 Mahaveer swami - “Kill not, cause no pain. Nonviolence is the greatest religion” 

 Nagarjuna- “All philosophies are mental fabrications” 

 Adi Sankara- “Reality can be experienced only with the eye of understanding, not just by a scholar”

  Rajneesh Osho- “If you love a flower, don't pick it up.

 Rabindranath Tagore- You can't cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water”

 Chanakya - A person should not be too honest 

 Ramanuja- An equation for me has no meaning, unless it expresses a thought of God

Thanking You,