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Re: ARTICLE : Buddhism and advaita
Sankar Jayanarayanan (kartik@Eng.Auburn.EDU) wrote:
:
: Giri wrote:
:
: > Sankar Jayanarayanan <kartik@Eng.Auburn.EDU> writes:
: >
:
: [..]
:
: > >So the part about "life should be fully enjoyed" can be disputed. Of course,
: > >religious texts like the mahabharata are full of stories of enjoyment as well
: > >as asceticism. The Mahabharata concentrates on the Kuru clan, and Yudhishthira,
: > >a householder, is eulogised. The Ramayana is about Rama, who is a prince,
: > >not an ascetic.
: >
: > Define enjoyment. Enjoyment need not be external, but internal.
: > A poor saint can be as happy (or happier) than the richest person in his
: > (or her) town.
:
: The Mahabharata doesn't talk of "internal enjoyment" alone. There are
: descriptions of the activities of Bheema and Ghatotkacha's mother (what's her
: name?) on their honeymoon. There are also some passages which talk about
: enticing the husband, etc. Uloopi being attracted to Arjuna and Parasara being
: attracted to Satyavati....I can give you more incidents where the description
: is very vivid.
:
: That was my point: Mahabharata is *not* only about asceticism. Though it
: recommends asceticism, it never (so far as I know) puts down the man who does
: his karma well and enjoys (sense pleasures, I mean) its fruits. Of course,
: adharma is not tolerated.
:
I think the message of Mahabharatha is Dharma, Artha and Kama
should be balanced and importance should be given to Dharma while
attending to the other two. In the entire Mahabharatha, we see
only this, Dharma. Budhism also is preaching the same thing.
There is however some differences between traditional
hinduism and budhism, budhism stood against
the brahminical order of indian society which was widely
accepted as Hinduism in the Indian society those days, and
to the belief which they held that only brahmins and their
descendents have the right to moksha(salvation).
Budhism held the view that every person has the right to
his/her salvation irrespective of his caste/creed/religion.
Though Hinduism preached unity in everything(Advaita), the
practical Hinduism was far from Advaita and it is in fact
Budhism that made Advaita a way of life. In other words,
I would say Budhism is practical Advaita.
Regards,
Santhosh
