Impermanence and Death in Sino-Japanese Philosophical Context :: Philosophy Buddhism Papers

Impermanence and Death in Sino- Nipp starse Philosophical ContextThis account discusses the notions of impermanence and death as treated in the Chinese and Japanese philosophic traditions, particularly in connection with the Buddhist concept of vacancy and void and the original Daoist answers to the problem. Methodological problems atomic number 18 mentioned and dickens ways of come up the theme are proposed the logically discursive and the meditative mystical one, with the two symbols of each, Uroboros and the open circle. The switch of consciousness is suggested as an essential condition for pink slip of the Ego and its illusions. Rational logic as well as the forward-looking meditative ways of selflessness and detachment are suggested when treating the Chinese and Japanese philosophical notions, and examples of the discussed topics from the texts given. The instructive seventh chapter of the classical Daoist work, Lie Zi, is analyzed in detail and put into contrast with th e answers given to that problem in the Greco-Judeo-Christian tradition. When reflecting on immortality, longevity, death and suicide, or taking into consideration some of the central concepts of the Sino-Japanese philosophical tradition, such as impermanence (Chinese wuchang, Japanese mujo), we see that the philosophical methods real in the Graeco-Judaeo-Christian tradition might not be very suitable. On the other hand, it is instructive to put them into contrast with the similar themes developed in the Graeco-Judeo-Christian tradition, since these problems present a challenge for a redefinition of philosophy which has traditionally take careed itself as a European (and in an even less acceptable random variable as a Western) phenomenon and t herefore today the very borders of philosophical discourse known in European history as philosophia are reexamined (affected).By rethinking the history of philosophy as a single narrative, one might come closer to the movements related to th e levels of consciousness that were activated in philosophical undertakings in various Asian philosophical schools. In this regard Japanese and Chinese philosophical traditions might be instructive, since from the beginning by the various stages of their development they have attempted to put into words the inexpressible. The knowingness of the insufficiency of words brought many original solutions. In the Song dynasty, for causa China produced a variety of diagrams (tu), by which the philosophers and practitioners represented their theories, which often arose on the basis of meditation techniques and could not be fully transmitted by means of language alone. The illustration of the nine step process (known in Japan as kuso) is one such representation and it is taken here as a starting point for approaching the concept of impermanence and death in the Japanese philosophical