Bharatiya Chintan ki Parampara me Navin Sambhavanae Part 1

Author(s): Radheshyamdhar Dvivedi
Publisher: Sampurnanand Sanskrut Vishvavidyalaya Varanasi

Page 230

Individual and Society: The Buddhist Viewpoint
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comparative significance in the face of the activities of persons which fall short of the ideals of human life which have been held as all important by the Buddha himself and also the Buddhist thinkers, down through the ages. It remains that Buddhist philosophers have developed the various aspects of the teaching of the Buddha, often losing sight of the totality and coherence of human life and its predicaments, only to give a very limited and often negative perspective of the being of man in relation to his own kind, the society and history.
Dharma Chakra Pravartana Sutra, lays down the basic aspects of the teaching of the Buddha. This early sermon deals with the basic facts of life faced by all men in a most direct way. The predominance of suffering in human life is recognised by the Buddha and a way is outlined to come out of the grip of gloom and vicissitudes of life. The nature of Dharma is outlined by the Buddha and the path of righteousness is defined to those who aim at conquering the suffering. The Buddha has laid down the elements of a robust and practical ethics. It is very important to recognise the pragmatic ethics of Buddhism. Such ethical precepts are not meant only for the monks, but also for the people coming from all walks of life. The argument that the Buddhist philosophy is primarily other-worldly and meant for mendicants does not hold ground due to the reason that Buddhism had never been a religion, meant for persons who wanted to detach themselves from the criss-cross relations which bind individuals in manifold relations. This is exemplified by the standpoint of the Buddha that nothing can be gained by aligning with beliefs life eternalism and self-mortification. Acceptance of eternalism makes one unaware of the relevance of the surrounding world and confounds the role which the individual is duty-bound to play within it. Self-mortification and stress on asceticism is avoided, for that would hinder the growth of human personality in a meaningful way within the life situations.
The acceptance of the idea of impermanence does not mean that the Buddha did not establish the value and significance of the personality of man. The world may be in constant change, but the individual by treading the path of wisdom and morality can rise above the phenomenal world and be a beacon of truth, for others to follow. The transitoriness of the constituents of the personality of man ..the Rūpa, Vedana, Samjnana, Samskāra and Vijñāna are recognised. yet the awakened individual rises above the transitoriness and remains the unchanging symbol of the noble
परिसंवाद - २