Buddhism, Hinduism, Legalism, Confucianism, and Daoism

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The Philosophies of China

• Buddhism, Hinduism, Legalism, Confucianism, and
  Daoism

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What is philosophy?

• System by which people live their lives
• Looking to be a good person
• Many Asian religions mix philosophy and religion
• What is YOUR personal life philosophy?

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Buddhism

• The middle way of wisdom and compassion
• A 2500 year old tradition that began in India and
  spread and diversified throughout the Far East
• A philosophy, religion, and spiritual practice
  followed by more than 300 million people
• Based on the teachings of the Buddha

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The Three Jewels of Buddhism
Buddha the teacher
Dharma the teachings
Sangha the community
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What did the Buddha teach?

• The Four Noble Truths
• To live is to suffer
• The cause of suffering is self-centered desire
  attachments
• The solution is to eliminate desire and
  attachment, thus achieving Nirvana (extinction)
• The way to Nirvana is through the Eight-Fold
  Path

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What is the Eight-Fold Path?

• Wisdom
• Right understanding
• Right motivation

• Moral discipline
• Right speech
• Right action
• Right livelihood

• Mental discipline
• Right effort
• Right mindfulness
• Right meditation

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What do Buddhist believe?

• Rebirth (reincarnation) results from attachments
  (karma)
• Nirvana is a peaceful, detached state of mind
• Achieving Nirvana means escape from the cycle of
  rebirth
• Suffering is a state of mind achieve a
  balanced, peaceful, detached state of mind and
  suffering can be extinguished (Nirvana)

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What is Hinduism?

• The oldest religions of humanityest. 5000 years
  ago
• The religion of the Indian people
• Gave birth to Buddhism
• Many deities but a single, impersonal Ultimate
  Reality (meaning they appear to be polytheistic,
  but are not!)
• No particular founder

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Who do Hindus worship? the major gods of the
Hindu Pantheon
Brahma, the creator god
Vishnu, the preserver god
Shiva, god of constructive destruction
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All these deities are but Manifest forms
(attributes and functions) of the impersonal
Brahman
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What do Hindus believe?

• Reincarnation people are continually born into
  this world lifetime after lifetime
• Karma spiritual impurity due to actions keeps
  us bound to this world (good and bad) aka what
  goes around comes around!
• Practice yoga to achieve greatest mediation state
• Hold all parts of life scared and therefore are
  vegetarians
• Do not eat COWS because they are considered
  scared
• Four stations of life (Caste) - priests
  teachers, nobles warriors, merchant class,
  servant class

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Life of Confucius

• Born during the Zhou dynasty in 551 BCE
• During his lifetime, there was a lot of fighting
  among the nobles in the feudal system
• There was little peace and a lot of corruption in
  the government

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Teachings of Confucius

• To reform corrupt governments
• Believed anyone could learn, not just the nobles
• Respect your elders
• Practice moral responsibility through rigid rules
  of behavior

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• The superior man blames himself. It is the
  inferior man who blames others
• When a ruler behaves himself correctly, the
  people will also.

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Impact of Confucianism

• His teachings opened the minds of ancient Chinese
  
• No longer were only nobles allowed to hold
  government positions
• Because of Confucius teachings, anyone who could
  pass an examination could carry out CIVIL SERVICE

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Major Legalist Principles
1. Human nature is naturally selfish. 2.
Intellectualism and literacy is discouraged.
3. Law is the supreme authority and replaces
morality. 4. The ruler must rule with a
strong, punishing hand. 5. War is the means
of strengthening a rulers power.
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Legalism

• Established and enforced by Emperor Shi Huang Di
  (Emperor Qin)
• Only ruled for 11 years but was able to build the
  largest part of the GREAT WALL and the Terra
  Cotta Soldier Army

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Daoism
To escape the social, political, cultural
traps of life, one must escape by
1. Rejecting formal knowledge and learning.
2. Relying on the senses and instincts. 3.
Discovering the nature and rhythm of the
universe. 4. Ignoring political and social laws.
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The Universe of Opposites Find the Balance!
Yin
Masculine Active Light Warmth Strong
Heaven Sun
Feminine Passive Darkness Cold Weak Earth
Moon
Yang
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The Uniqueness of Daoism
How is a man to live in a world dominated by
chaos, suffering, and absurdity??
Confucianism --gt Moral order in society.
Legalism --gt Rule by harsh law order.
Daoism --gt Freedom for individuals and
less govt. to avoid
uniformity and conformity.
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What's Your Philosophy of Life?