Perennial Problems, Projects & Philosophies - Part 2

A brief overview and comparison of ancient thought.

To restate my aim, it is to discover where different traditions and schools of thought converge and diverge, a sensemaking project of cultural breadth.

It is a survey and synthesis across time and culture to discover patterns among the world’s oldest traditions informed by modern perspectives. I am definitely inspired by Aldous Huxley’s The Perennial Philosophy, with the added benefit of updating the discussion since the time of that publication.

If that sounds interesting to you, read on.

The domains of spirituality and philosophy attempt to apprehend many of life’s ultimate questions, which is my motivation for starting there.

I reckon, though not entirely logical, that if any tradition has survived thousands of years, by virtue of their mere survivorship there is something compelling that necessitates its perpetuation across generations. There is value to tradition as there is to innovation. In my view, any system of thought that has endured centuries merits consideration, like a kind of heuristic. Again, though not logical by any means, another metric is its cultural relevance and influence in present times. It is perhaps a mistake from atheists to so smugly and casually write off about a third of the population who claim affiliation with Christianity and another quarter who identify as Muslim. Indeed, to be an atheist is to be in the minority if statistics are accurate enough.

One could make this argument on evolutionary grounds – what meme from Richard Dawkins’ The Selfish Gene originally signified. Instead of genetic material, it is the selection and proliferation of ideas, a kind of cultural analogue to biology. 

In part one of this series, I closed with these thoughts:

“An emerging theme from across the sources I have surveyed is the self-concept, how it's constructed and its intrinsic problems.”

The main thrust of this piece is a brief overview of comparative soteriology, an analysis examining the ideals and aims of different religious, spiritual and philosophical traditions. For the sake of scope, I will address modern developments next time.

End Of The Road

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Nirvana. Moksha. Salvation. Eudaimonia. Islam.

These are terms used to denote attainment of some kind, depending on the path.

Nirvana, literally meaning to be blown out, is often translated as enlightenment and is synonymous with moksha, or liberation. This begs the question, enlightened and liberated from what? In Buddhist and Hindu metaphysics, it is to break free from samsara, the cycle of involuntary rebirth, and dukkha, the dissatisfaction and suffering intrinsic to life – indeed, it is one of the three marks of existence.

Going somewhat deeper, it is the illusory self that is complicit in generating tanha, or craving, which in turn bears the fruits of suffering. In very brief and doubtlessly oversimplified terms, if there is no self, there is no desire. No desire, no suffering.

What of salvation in Christianity? To be saved, delivered or redeemed from the consequences of sin, or transgression against divine law. On the surface, it seems predominantly a moral or ethical orientation. I find it helpful to remember that to sin is to miss the mark, derived from a term in archery, though the figure of Christ, his life, death and resurrection is clearly central among all flavors.

For a Muslim, their ideal is very direct – included right there in the name of the religion Islam – submission to the will of Allah. I confess my lack of familiarity with Islamic thought, though I am somewhat aware of how crucial their historical and cultural contributions are to the development of Western thinking. 

Another tradition I’m drawn to explore is Taoism, with its ideals of wu wei, non-doing, attunement to the natural patterns of the Tao, and self-cultivation practices. Some of its ideals are to become a zhenren, a perfected sage, or a xian, an immortal.

Greek philosophy has something to contribute as well – with the example of Socrates and his pursuit of wisdom through dialectic and listening to his daimon like a kind of moral intuition. Aristotle and his treatment on ethics and the ideal of eudaimonia, or well-being, as accomplished through the cultivation of virtue is part of that lineage of Greek thought. Then there are the Stoics who carried on in that vein, with their ideals of virtue as the means to accomplishing eudaimonia and that the good life is a virtuous life, able to withstand any misfortune. 

Some interesting parallels emerge – sympatheia from Greek thought is not dissimilar from the interconnectedness proposed by the myth of Indra’s Net found in Hindu thought or the idea of dependent origination in Buddhist thought. Honoring divine will is shared among the Abrahamic monotheistic traditions, though perhaps an argument could be made that even the Taoist ideal of living in accord with nature is somewhat analogous, though it is non-theistic.

That there is an emphasis on moral and ethical conduct isn’t that surprising, though the virtues of each path differ. Not all paths lead to the same place.

One way I like to conceive of ethics is as a kind of internal compass that lends direction to one’s life – like a kind of moral vector.

I endeavor to touch on modern developments and syntheses in my next piece.

The project continues…