In today’s lifestyle, as mentioned in the October issue, we have to live under some rules imposed by the health sector to prevent some viral infections in the world. Dr. Tedros Adhanom has asked what will happen to us if we do not abide by Corona rules. “An event canceled is better than a life canceled.” Therefore, most human beings have adapted to a new virtue following the protection of their lives. For that, they formed a new habit and way to protect their lives. They have become familiar with a simple life form, but this simple lifestyle was inherent to the Orientals many centuries ago. Today we are going to review the oriental lifestyle.When discussing the Eastern lifestyle, it is essential to review an era similar to the western one. According to some archaeological facts and the history of the east, it began in the sixth century. That’s mainly on Indian soil. Unlike in the west, there have been many different types of philosophers with different visions.
They were called Pa ̄ li, Bra ̄ hmana, Ache ̄ laka, A ̄ rjeevaka, Digambara, and Nighantha. Today, their philosophy is categorized as schools, like Sankhaya ̄ , Yoga ̄, Vaisheshika ̄, Nyaya, and Purva Mimansa. Two sections were seeking worldly truth as teachers or philosophers. Among them were the famous ‘Six Teachers’ named ‘Shat Sha ̄ shthru’, comprising materialistic and spiritualists. Some of them were: Pu ̄ rana Kassapa, Makkhali Gho ̄ sa ̄ la, Ajitha, and Niganttha Na ̄ thputta. There were funny teachers, such as Purana Kassapa, who would give the opposite answer to a question. As a result, he was materialistic, similar to Charva ̄ ka, who claimed there was no difference between materials and beings. Therefore, he didn’t believe even killing was a sin or a crime.
Another teacher also never believed in virtue, sin, or merit; therefore, his philosophy was determinism. He said everything happens to human beings hopelessly and effortlessly. He was none other than Makkhali Gho ̄ sa ̄ la.
Ajitha was also like Charva ̄ ka, who noted that everything, including human beings, has been formed with four elements: earth, liquid, fire, and air only. Nothing else. Therefore, human beings do not go anywhere after death.
Another amusing person was Nighanta Na ̄tha Putta. He was a very innocent and sinless teacher. Before COVID, we had never used a face mask, but after COVID, we are using them today, but this person had used a face mask before, not for viruses but to prevent insects from entering the nose. He always used a strainer to strain water before drinking it. Despite his innocence, he never wore even a small piece of cloth. According to his teachings, he enunciated that everything belongs to him. Not only that, but there were also thousands of followers at that time in India, but we can see very few of them today, called ‘Nighanta’. Unlike them, Charva ̄ ka was a very remarkable person in his teachings. As a tough materialist, his main teaching was, “Do eat ghee as much as possible, though you are indebted. Live happy until you die.”
“Ya ̄wath jive ̄ sukhan jiveth, srunan kruthwa ̄ gritham pibeth, bhashmi ̄ bhuthasya dehashya, punra ̄gamanam kfuthah.” Balance of this Sanskrit stanza explains his view: “after burning the dead body, how will it return?” As a result, one might believe he was the world’s first Marxist. But other sages in the same era have answered him very well. One of them was Gauthama, the Lord Buddha, who gave human rights to the world for the first time with the nonviolence doctrine.
It is stated in the ‘Sa ̄manna Phala Sutra’, as the ‘Ordination results’ of a monk. That is reviewed by the cruel patricide King Aja ̄ sath, who finally went to see the Buddha after failing to get relief from the above-mentioned Shat Sa ̄ stru ̄ . At this point, the Buddha, using dialectical theory, began the conversation with the King to calm his mind. So, what was the result of this? “The King asked the Bhagava ̄ to accept his admission of guilt for killing his father to gain sovereign power so that he would restrain himself in the future. The Bhagava ̄ replied, “Now, as you have realized your guilt and admitted to making amends, we accept your admission…” – Sa ̄manna Phala Sutra, PTS, Myanmar. According to this Su ̄ tra, the Buddha converted the patricide king into a nonviolent Buddhist disciple. It states: “He pleaded with the Bhagava ̄ to take him as a lay disciple from that instant to the end of his life.” Besides this, there’s another vital saying about human rights in the Dhammapada, which is very important for the whole world, not only to the east: “Sabbe thasanti dan.dassa, sabbe bha ̄ yanthi maccuno…” The Dhammapada, 102, P—Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, Oxford University Press, 1954. It means, “All men tremble at punishment; all men fear death.” Liking others to oneself, one should neither slay nor cause to slay.” (Here, “men” means all human beings, which is the first precept of the five precepts.) Isn’t this universal truth happening all the time in the world? So, the Eastern lifestyle shows the way to social well-being. Accordingly, these five precepts, followed by Westerners, would be very helpful in developing society. It is believed that whoever ignores and mocks this way of life will be ruined because failing to uphold ancient values will lead to the deterioration of society.
The Eastern lifestyle shows the way to social well-being.
In other words: cheating, stealing, gambling, drugs, and alcohol ruin the person and the country in every way. Therefore, rulers and adults should first appreciate the values of discipline to make a better country. That’s mentioned in antiquity as ‘‘Dasara ̄ja Dharma”— ten discipline methods for rulers.
On the other hand, when we search for western psychology, we can find practical psychology methods for the best lifestyle. The ‘Verywell Mind Organization’ has shown seven tips as’ Major Perspectives in Modern Psychology. These are psychodynamic, behavioral, cognitive, biological, cross- cultural, evolutionary, and humanistic. In a nutshell, they intend that these perspectives are beneficial to making a better society with mental and physical well-being. So, they have schematically described it as: The Psychodynamic Perspective: This view emphasizes the behavior of the unconscious mind and early childhood experiences. The Behavioral Perspective: This focuses on the behavior of human beings. Though it’s truth happening all the time in the world? So, the Eastern lifestyle shows the way to social well-being. Accordingly, these five precepts, followed by Westerners, would be very helpful in developing society. It is believed that whoever ignores and mocks this way of life will be ruined because failing to uphold ancient values will lead to the deterioration of society.
In other words: cheating, stealing, gambling, drugs, and alcohol ruin the person and the country in every way. Therefore, rulers and adults should first appreciate the values of discipline to make a better country. That’s mentioned in antiquity as ‘‘Dasara ̄ja Dharma”— ten discipline methods for rulers.
On the other hand, when we search for western psychology, we can find practical psychology methods for the best lifestyle. The ‘Verywell Mind Organization’ has shown seven tips as’ Major Perspectives in Modern Psychology. These are psychodynamic, behavioral, cognitive, biological, cross- cultural, evolutionary, and humanistic. In a nutshell, they intend that these perspectives are beneficial to making a better society with mental and physical well-being. So, they have schematically described it as: The Psychodynamic Perspective: This view emphasizes the behavior of the unconscious mind and early childhood experiences. The Behavioral Perspective: This focuses on the behavior of human beings. Though it’s applied to mental health, it focuses mainly on the observable behavior of humans and animals. The Cognitive Perspective: This focuses on mental processes like memory, thinking, problem solving, language, and decision-making. The Biological Perspective: With this, we can emphasize behavior’s physical and biological basis. It helps to explore and understand the human brain and nervous system. The Cross-Cultural Perspective: Researchers and psychologists examine human behavior across different cultures. By looking at these differences, we can learn more about how culture influences our thinking and behavior. The Humanistic Perspective: The perspective emphasizes the role of motivation in thought and behavior. This focuses on what drives humans to grow, change, and develop their potential.” —Kendra Cherry. So, it is how precious it is, that we merge Western psychology and Eastern philosophy for the well-being of society.
Ven Diyapattugama Revatha Thero (B.A., M.A., M.Phil.)
Expert Psychological Counselor and Meditation Instructor Siriwardhanarama Buddha Dhamma College
Mano ̄daya Meditation Center Mano ̄daya Asapuwa (Facebook) Siriwardhanaramaya, Temple Lane, Kollupitiya
sirirevathad@gmail.com dhammavedi.com
