Abstract
The evolving field of neuroscience provides a fresh perspective for understanding and clarifying the nondualistic epistemology of Buddhist philosophy. Its egalitarian adherence to “wisdom embracing all species” required an epistemological shift beyond both egocentric and anthropocentric assumptions, outlined in such texts as the Lotus Sūtra and the Diamond Sūtra. Parallels can be drawn to the Triple Loop learning process, “an ‘epistemo-existential strategy’ for profound change on various levels.” Inherently hierarchical tendencies in Daoist and Confucian philosophies posed a challenge to the egalitarian stance of Buddhist nondualism. Passages from Daoist (Laozi, Zhuangzi), Confucian (Confucius, Mengzi, Xunzi), and Neo-Confucian (Zhu Xi, Wang Yang-ming) texts demonstrate the limits of Chinese nondualism. The hybrid brain cultivated through Buddhist practice was able to maintain the benefits of the task-driven dorsal attentional network (promoting Wisdom), while being grounded in the stimulus-driven ventral attentional network (opening Compassion). The Five Ranks (wu-wei五位) of Chan meticulously trace the process of recognizing the nondualism of deluded mind (the bent) and awakened mind (the straight). The final rank, “Unity Attained,” restores the role of allocentric attention, which has been described as “the basic simplicity of the undyed fabric,” as the default. Thus, inspired by the pedagogy of cognitive dissonance woven into Sanskrit texts, Chinese practitioners deployed their own “circuit-breakers” of ventral attention to disrupt the dogmatic “perseveration” of dorsal attention. The resulting epistemological reorientation reveals the nondualism of reality.
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Notes
- 1.
Li compares viewing early Chinese Buddhist art to “reading a tragic poem or a tale of suffering.” Unfortunately he assumes Buddhist philosophy to be escapist. The Buddhist “gods” depicted are judged to be devoid of emotional engagement, possessed of “an air of contempt for the world of reality, expressed in sagacious smile as if it had seen through everything. Thus the figures displayed composure, aloofness, grace, and wisdom amid the miserable world of terror, bloodshed, and chilling brutality portrayed in the surrounding murals” (Li 1988: 148, 150).
- 2.
Without the cultural equivalent of an ātman, the an-ātman doctrine was subject to modifications in China. “Instead of the Hinayanist no-self or no-soul (anatman), Mahayana finally revealed the ‘self’ or ‘great soul’ that is the Buddha-nature. Ultimate reality was not just empty (sunya) of self-nature but, in a more important sense, also not-empty (asunya) of the infinitely positive attributes of Buddha” (Lai 2003: 8).
- 3.
Wang reports that, due to the perfection of “pictorial illusionism,” there was a widespread belief in the Tang Dynasty that one could literally enter into a well-crafted mural. This painting style imported from India can be seen in the famous Buddhist caves at Dunhuang.
- 4.
Confucius seems to apply a similar pedagogical approach when he presents one corner and expects his student to find the other three on their own initiative (Lun Yu 7:8).
- 5.
See Red Pine 2006: 111. While fully acknowledging the scholarly skepticism concerning the life of Huineng and the legitimacy of his title as Sixth Patriarch, it is nonetheless the case that the teachings ascribed to him exerted a sweeping influence on the evolution of the Chan school. Hu Shi attributes the entire phenomenon to an “internal revolution” sparked by Huineng’s enterprising disciple: “Shen-hui himself was a product of a revolutionary age in which great minds in the Buddhist and Ch’an schools were, in one way or another, thinking dangerous thoughts and preaching dangerous doctrines” (Hu 1953: 13).
- 6.
The term xiang, Sanskrit lakṣaṇa, is often translated as “form.” Other translations, such as “perception” or “conception,” highlight the cognitive processing involved in the mind’s experience of form or phenomenon. Red Pine renders xiang as “memory,” aligning thought, memory, and attachment with future, past, and present respectively, as well as the Three Poisons of greed, anger, and delusion (Red Pine 2006: 175).
- 7.
Wang Yangming’s concern extends beyond humans to include, birds, animals, plants, tiles, and stones; he declares “even the mind of the small man necessarily has the humanity that forms one body with all”(Chan 1963: 660).
- 8.
Ventral attention is also prone to its own malfunction, “distractibility.” When the link to dorsal attention is broken, “an inability of the ventral system to distinguish between relevant and irrelevant stimuli” occurs (Fox et al. 2006: 10050). Buddhist practice prevents this by providing a focused grounding in Wisdom that ensures the highest possible allocentric emotions—benevolence metta/maitrī, compassion karuṇā, joy muditā, equanimity upekṣā. In the Kalama Sutta Buddha assures his audience that these Four Exalted Dwellings (brahma-vihāras) result from being “devoid of coveting, devoid of ill will, undeluded, clearly comprehending and mindful.” (Thera 1981)
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Wawrytko, S.A. (2018). The Epistemology and Process of Buddhist Nondualism: The Philosophical Challenge of Egalitarianism in Chinese Buddhism. In: Wang, Y., Wawrytko, S. (eds) Dao Companion to Chinese Buddhist Philosophy. Dao Companions to Chinese Philosophy, vol 9. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2939-3_6
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