Introduction to Buddhism Learning from Kukai

• Explanation of a story that systematically explains Buddhism from the perspective of Kukai []

  • It seems very interesting (blu3mo)(blu3mo)

• The cause of suffering lies in the way we perceive things.

  • I feel like this discussion relates to the Phenomenological Attitude / Subjective Perception of Reality (blu3mo)(blu3mo)(blu3mo)
    • Very interesting.
  • However, it doesn’t feel like falling into the swamp of relativism.
    • Is it showing that this direction is better than conventional ones, assuming relativism as a premise?
      • Is this what they call Positive Nihilism?#nihilism

• Based on the idea of Happiness as a Collection of Multiple Weighted Evaluation Axes, it seems like they want to modify the evaluation axes here to make them more conducive to happiness.

  • The process of this modification is called Practice, right?

• Ten Stages of Mind

  • Steps of learning
  • An explanation by Kukai
  • 1-3 talks about morality
    • It’s probably about specific values that contribute to the smooth functioning of society.
    • It provides “life hacks” for people who tend to objectify things, saying “if you do this, it will be better for now.”
      • Although it would be better to abandon objectification in reality.
  • 4-7 talks about how to perceive things
    • Abandoning objectification
    • It becomes more like epistemology.
  • 8-9 talks to those who have already experienced emptiness through meditation
  • 10 talks about conveying without words
    • It’s something that cannot be expressed in words.
    • Since language itself is related to objectification, it suggests that communication beyond language is necessary to transmit it from the teacher.
      • Is communication necessary? (blu3mo)
      • Well, if you have the ability of a Buddha, can’t you find it on your own? lol

• Stages 1-3 of the Mind

  • Well, it’s more about morality.
    • It denies behaving according to desires.
      • It argues that pursuing desires will never lead to satisfaction, so a different approach is needed.
    • It considers this as “good.”
  • Wrong views (bad thoughts)
    • Wrong view (Nihilism), right view (Realism) p61
  • Cultivation of habits
    • It’s about cultivating habits of both following and not following desires.
      • If you cultivate the habit, you can naturally live a good life without following desires and act altruistically.
      • i.e. The evaluation axis of happiness can be manipulated to some extent through habit cultivation.
      • This is similar to Confucianism (blu3mo)
      • Kukai also says the same thing.
    • If you take a macro perspective, it’s like saying, “If how we live is arbitrary/habit-dependent, then it’s better for everyone to become altruistic for overall utility.”
  • Buddhism says that there are teachings and ways of teaching that are suitable for each individual.
    • Does this give rise to various denominations?
    • Is it based on the premise that there is no absolute teaching?
  • The concept of “expedient means”
  • I didn’t quite understand the part about the third stage.

• Discussion of non-believers p80

  • Why can’t non-believers attain enlightenment?

    • Because they are bound by the dualism of existence/non-existence and pursue absolute truth and correct perspectives, they fall into nihilism (blu3mo)
      • It sounds like something Nietzsche would say.
      • Introduction to Nietzsche (Chikuma Shinsho) said exactly the same thing.

  • The emptiness philosophy of Buddhism follows the middle way of that dualism.

    • Details are in the seventh stage.
    • I want to read and understand this part again later (blu3mo)

  • Calming the mind through meditation is also common in other religions.

    • However, if you can truly experience emptiness through meditation, you will not objectify things even after meditation.

  • Is Kukai referring to monotheistic religions like Christianity?

    • I wonder if that much information was conveyed.

• Fourth Stage of Mind

  • It talks about Eternalism and Presentism (blu3mo) p91

• Liberation from the cycle of rebirth- Why is it said that being liberated from the concept of physical existence leads to liberation from the cycle of rebirth? (blu3mo)

  • Believing in the worldview of the cycle of rebirth gives rise to motivation to be liberated from the concept of physical existence.
  • If one is liberated from the concept of physical existence, then the importance of the cycle of rebirth becomes irrelevant, as there is no longer a sense of self.
    • It is a position similar to eternal recurrence, serving as a litmus test for cognition.
    • This is my own questionable interpretation. (blu3mo)

• Koten Radio

  • Based on the concept of Yogacara, if one can control the unconscious mind, they can control anything. This is what Vajrayana Buddhism strives for.
  • That being said, the theory of emptiness and the discussion of causality suggest that there is no self based on origin.