Philosophy paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Philosophy paper - Essay Example On a comparative approach a major theme that can be retrieved from these books is the aspect of Buddhism as a religion as well as the incorporation of what Kitaro Nishida term as â€Å"Pure Existence†. Introduction This paper will seek to make a comparative study approach to compare and contrast in detail the following physiological texts. These include; â€Å"What the Buddha Taught† by Walpola Rahula and â€Å"An Inquiry Into The Good† by Kitaro Nishida and translated by Masao Abe and Christopher Ives. The notion behind the book, â€Å"What the Buddha Taught† was first to introduce the concept of Buddhism as a religion. Walpola Rahula sought to bring the understanding of the teachings of Buddha and Buddhism as a religion among people. He sought to bring out Buddha as a person who was very simplistic in his nature. Walpola Rahula also introduced the Buddhist attitude on mind that states, â€Å"Man is supreme-one is one’s refuge-responsibility-Doubt -Freedom of Thought-Tolerance†. This indicated that man was a supreme being and he was responsibility, doubt, freedom and tolerance. In other words, man was the only being that was known to exist beyond the super natural. In this light, Walpola Rahula sought to bring about the Four Noble Truths relates to Buddhism. ... Walpola Rahula sought to explain that if the root causes of problems were eliminated from our world, then we would ensure that freedom was existent and he termed this freedom as Nirvana. However he also added that Nirvana was impossible to attain as the root could not be solely eliminated. The fourth noble truth was â€Å"Magga† that is â€Å"The Path†. This was termed as the path that was to lead to Nirvana. As stated Nirvana was freedom that was hard to accomplish because the root causes could also not be completely eliminated. Moreover, the noble path consisted of the following; Right Understanding, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and finally Right Concentration. The Middle Path was a planned path that led to development and progress and an individual who ought to follow the noble path would be guided and protected by the existing law that was referred to as Dhamma. It also added that this path led to a fut ure that was free from misery and unhappiness (â€Å"The Noble Eight-Fold Path†). The Noble Eight-Fold Path was grouped into four categories that include: Wisdom, Morality and Mental Development. According to De Silva (1990) wisdom incorporated Right Understanding and Right Thoughts. Right Understanding was related to having knowledge about the four noble truth and what they are. This also included understanding what karma was and being knowledgeable how it comes around and ways to avoid Karma by making the right decisions. As a result of Right Understanding came Right Thoughts that could lead to thinking in a positive and morally upright manner. Morality incorporated Right Speech, Right Action and Right Livelihood. Right Speech involved saying what is true and