CONFUCIANISM, BUDDHISM, HINDUISM. ETHICAL RELATIONS BETWEEN CITIZENS, THE STATE, AND THE LAW.

CONFUCIANISM, BUDDHISM, HINDUISM. ETHICAL RELATIONS BETWEEN CITIZENS, THE STATE, AND THE LAW.

CONFUCIANISM • Confucius (551 B.C.- 479 B.C.) -- greatest and most influential thinker in Chinese history. • Founder of philosophical school known as Ru or Ju which means moralists or scholars. • The Analects ( Lun Yu ) , a collection of notes and quotations compiled by his disciples, is the most important source of original Confucian ideology.

Philosophic ideas held together firmly by one key concept called ren (jen) which is “a strictly natural and humanistic love, based upon spontaneous feelings cultivated through education. Accordingly, ren may be defined as the cultivated feeling which marks the distinction between a human being and other forms of biological beings.”

Confucius believed that jen stood as the sum total of all human integrity, including steadfastness, simplicity and courteous reserve, and was the supreme virtue. • Jen required love of one’s fellow beings and he maintained the principle of doing to others what you would have them do to you.

A character disciplined by ren is the ideal in morality and the goal of education. The transformation process leading to the realization of ren is the practice of li. • An individual exists only in relation to others . Li prescribes the norms of human relations.

Since there is no one li for all relations and occasions, there must be a higher principle governing the adoption of li. This higher principle is called yi, which has been translated as “righteousness” or “proper character.” • He observed, “ A superior person’s attitude toward the society is neither one of a conformist nor one of a rebel but one in accordance with yi.”

Confucian ethics and government The politics of ren occupies the centre of Confucius theory of government. The right method of governing is not by legislation and law enforcement, but by supervising the moral education of the people.

“If you lead the people with political force and restrict them with law and punishment, they can just avoid law violation, but will have no sense of honour and shame. If you lead them with morality and guide them with li, they will develop a sense of honour and shame, and will do good on their own accord.” • - the Analects

Five Ethical Relationships : • ruler and subject • husband and wife • father and son • the old and the young • friend and friend • These binding relationships can exist harmoniously with the cultivation of ren and the practice of li.

The cultivation of ren is also expressed in these basic Confucian concepts. • Xiao (hsiao) (filial piety) which means the cultivated feeling toward one’s parents. • Di (ti) (brotherly love or respect) which means the cultivated feeling toward one’s contemporaries. • Zhong (chung) (loyalty) which means the cultivated feeling toward one’s superiors, lords, emperors, employers, or one’s own country.

HINDUISM • Hindu means “Indian”. The diverse religious practices included under this name make up the dominant religious tradition in India. • Hinduism is unique in that there’s no founder; its origin cannot be traced to an individual, an institution or a historical event.

It has its roots in the Indus Valley about 1,000 years before the birth of Jesus. Aryan invaders brought with them their own forms of worship and the union of different religious practices formed the first of many adaptations associated with Hinduism.

Not the product of any strict ideology or doctrine, Hinduism is a pragmatic and inspired synthesis, stressing convergence rather than suppression in its encounter with other faiths.

The sacred vedas or ancient texts provide the basis for most Indian philosophy and religious beliefs. There are the Rig Veda (hymns), Samaveda, the Yajurveda and the Atharaveda which make up the basic texts. Later additions include the Brahmanas, the Aranyakas and the Upanishads.

The Upanishads which are direct accounts of advice from spiritually advanced mystics proved to be one of the most influential in the development of Hinduism.

Central to Hinduism is the idea of dharma and karma. • Dharma are the duties we must fulfill to the gods, our families, our neighbours, and ourselves. • Karma refers to the actions that determine what will happen to you in the future.

By faithfully following your dharma, you can get released from the cycle of karma. By faithfully abiding by our karma, we can hope to achieve moksa (bliss, peace or release from suffering) in this life and be released from the cycle of reincarnation back into this world of suffering.

A person’s duties or obligations (dharma) depend upon a person’s stage of life, one’s toil (ashrama). The Upanishads delineate four stages of strife where selfishness is slowly rooted out. • First, as a student the duty is to have reverence and obedience and obedience for the teacher and thus overcome pride. • Next, as householder, mothers and fathers overcome self-centredness as they give themselves to each other and to their children.

Third, as old age approaches, a person relinquishes family duties and retires into the forest to meditate and pray. • Finally, at the last stage before death, an ascetic person having experienced all this finite world can offer renounces it completely and seeks to perfect the virtues of chastity, poverty, truthfulness, and compassion.

The ideal of Upanishadic ethics is self-realization, accomplished only when selfish individuality is overcome. To crave for finite things cannot satisfy the longings for the infinite. Thus the root of cravings must be overcome. Upanishadic ethics places the focus on the inward motive, for the seed of the deed is the motive. Together with acts of self-denial, the enlightened act with kindness, nonviolence, and compassion.

BUDDHISM • Siddhartha Gautama (563 B.C. - 483 B.C.) • Born a prince and lived life of luxury. • On rare visit outside palace, he saw an old man, a sick man and a corpse. • He realized the infirmities of old age and the pain of sickness and death highlight the inevitable sufferings of human life.

He began wondering if there was a way of life that could conquer suffering and lead to tranquility of mind. • He renounced his kingdom and his family and became a wondering ascetic. • One night, under the Bodhi tree, he acquired enlightenment (Bodhi) and became the Buddha (the Enlightened one.)

Buddha calls his path the Middle Way, rejecting ascetism and hedonism as extremes. • Bedrock of the Buddhist faith: The Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path.

Four Noble Truths: • Life is full of suffering • Selfish desire is the cause of suffering • It is possible for suffering to be brought to an end • The path to liberation is the Eightfold Path

Noble Eightfold Path: • Right views • Right intention • Right speech • Right action • Right livelihood • Right effort • Right mindedness • Right concentration

CONFUCIANISM, BUDDHISM, HINDUISM. ETHICAL RELATIONS BETWEEN CITIZENS, THE STATE, AND THE LAW.