History of Philosophy: Indian Philosophy
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Indian philosophy is the oldest known philosophy as it was written in the Vedas around 900 BCE, 'religious texts that form the foundation of much of Indian philosophy', especially the Upanishads, which 'discuss profound philosophical topics' and also includes non-Vedic movements such as Buddhism and Jainism. Within the Upanishads, Upaniṣad, concepts such as Atman, Ātman, and Brahman are introduced, with Atman meaning the 'eternal soul that constitutes the essence of every conscious being' and Brahman meaning 'the ultimate reality and highest principle governing the universe', and exploring the relationship between the two and a 'key idea being that understanding their connection is a crucial step on the spiritual path toward liberation'.
Some of the Upanishads say that an ascetic lifestyle, or 'abstinence from worldly pleasures through self-discipline, self-imposed poverty and simple living', while others 'emphasize active engagement with the world, rooted in the belief that individuals have social duties to their families and communities' as a way to reach the understanding of how Atman and Brahman are related. The duties a person has in live are 'prescribed by the concept of dharma, which varies according to one's social class and stage of life', with dharma being a complex and multilayered concept that relates to 'order and custom which makes life and the universe possible and thus to the behaviours appropriate to the maintenance of that order'. Reincarnation, or the rebirth of individual souls, emerged during this time, indicating that a 'person's actions in previous lives determine their circumstances in future lives, a principle known as the law of karma'.
Around the 6th century BCE, Buddhism and Jainism emerged, which were in conversation with the Vedic tradition. Gautama Siddhartha, who lived from 563-483 BCE and later became known as Buddha, 'challenged the Vedic concept of Atman by arguing that there is no permanent, stable self' and that the 'belief in a permanent self leads to suffering and that liberation and can be attained by realizing the absence of a permanent self'. That liberation is known as nirvāṇa while the source of human suffering is known as duḥkha and the process of learning the wisdom, 'to withdraw the mind from the automatic responses to sense-impressions and "burn up" the defilements' is known as dhyāna and involves 'training of the mind' bhāvanā, often thought of as meditation. He advocated for a 'Middle Way', majjhimāpaṭipadā, between asceticism and hedonism, or bodily sensual indulgence, because 'a malnourished body did not allow the mind to be trained and developed'.
Mahavira, who lived from 599-527 BCE, was the founder of Jainism, focused on 'respect for all forms of life, a principle expressed in its commitment to non-violence' also known as ahimsa, which 'prohibits harming or killing any living being, whether in action or thought'. The second pillar of Jainism is anekāntavāda, or non-absolutism, which holds that 'no single, specific statement can describe the nature of existence and the absolute truth…statements about absolute truth are incomplete, and at best a partial truth…[and] must be qualified in many ways, including being affirmed and denied'. The third pillar is asceticism, or non-possession aparigraha, which includes 'detaching oneself from worldly possessions and desires to avoid emotional entanglement with them'. This non-possession allows 'all consumption is more appropriate if it is essential to one's survival, and inappropriate if it is a form of hoarding, showing off, or for ego'.
After about 200 BCE, several schools of philosophy began to develop in India known as darśanas, developing in conversation with those philosophies that went before them. The oldest of these is Samkhya, which 'asserts that reality is composed of two fundamental principles: Purusha, or pure consciousness, and Prakriti, or matter…[which] is characterized by three qualities known as gunas'. The guṇas are sattva, which is 'goodness, calmness, harmoniousness', rajas, which is 'passion, activity, movement', and tamas, which is 'ignorance, inertia, laziness', and all are a part of everyone and everything in different proportions and the 'interplay of these guṇas defines the character of someone or something, of nature and determines the progress of life'.