Eastern Religions Comparing Three Eastern

Eastern Religions Comparing three Eastern religions: Buddhism "1) There is suffering; (2) suffering has specific and identifiable causes; (3) suffering can be ended; (4) the way to end suffering is through enlightened living, as expressed in the Eightfold Path" (500). It is with these simply stated Four Noble Truths that Buddhism exerts its persuasive power upon its acolytes all over the world, with an outreach that extends far beyond its birthplace in India.

Far from a depressing religion, despite its philosophy 'there is suffering' Buddhism stresses acceptance, joyful acceptance and living in the 'present moment.' Its acceptance of suffering comes as a relief as it does not deny so much of what people see in the world around them.

In fact, Buddhism's focus on mindfulness and awareness of the world has given spiritual refreshment to those who are depressed, freeing them from anxiety and transient preoccupations, and even helped athletes and warriors focus in on the moment of their activity, just as it encourages practitioners to engage in mindful meditation It asks its adherents to let go of their egos, to neither focus on being 'better than other people' and satisfying their immediate desires through hedonism, nor to become obsessed with spiritual perfection and asceticism (which is just as egotistic in its own way).

Instead, wise in the memory of his own past as a son of a wealthy king and how his own previous spiritual mortification had not brought him to the Truth, the Buddha advocated a Middle Path -- break down the divides between yourself and others, yourself and the world. Treat others and all sentient beings in the same respectful way. Buddhism at its barest essence seems to express the most profound truths and ways of living.

Taoism also adds to these ideas by offering an even more radical program of submission: "Now the Tao, for Lao Tzu, is one, natural, and eternal (see the box "The Tao, Logos, and God"). It gives rise to the expansive forces (yang) in the universe, and it gives rise to the contractive forces (yin). The Tao is like an empty bowl that holds and yields the vital energy (ch'i ) in all things" (502). Taoism offers an ideal of nonaggression that does not strive to improve upon the existing order.

However, unlike Buddhism, which can advocate action of present mindfulness to relieve suffering (such as the protests of Tibetan monks striving to create a free society) Taoism seems more passive, and less apt to critique existing society, in contrast to Buddhism. Taoism's main critique of Confucianism, for example, was not that Confucianism promoted an inequitable and hierarchical society of age and social class but that it tried to change things in the existing world, which was already perfect. Taoism is a philosophy that is proudly one of submission, not resistance.

Even a good ruler, in the Taoist view "sidesteps" the need for direct action -- unlike Buddhism, which provided a path for warriors, so long as they upheld a virtuous ethic, and remained 'in the moment,' responding only with as much force as was necessary, like the samurai, the Taoist leader was passive (506). What happens, one cannot help but ask, if one's enemy is not passive, and anticipates your 'sidestep' and strikes a blow? Buddhism seems like an ideal Middle Path.