Buddhism
The term Buddha means, "enlightened one". The original Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, was the prince of a regional tribe just north of Benares, India and lived from approximately 563 to 483 BC. When he was 29 he left the luxuries of court life to discover the deeper meaning of existence. He started his spiritual journey as an ascetic practicing extreme self-abnegation.
After several years of meditation he discovered the "Middle Path", which lies between self-indulgence and self-denial as a means to achieve enlightenment. For the next 45 years he wandered India sharing his ideas about the way to spiritual liberation, the sum of which is now called Buddhism.
The subject of the Buddha's first sermon after enlightenment, and indeed the focus of his philosophy, is the Four Noble Truths. The Four Noble Truths are:
1. Dukkha (suffering)
2. Samudaya, the origin of dukkha (which is craving)
3. Nirodha, the cessation of dukkha (which is nirvana)
4. Magga, the way leading to the cessation of dukkha (the practices and modes of conduct which could bring one to nirvana).
Dukkha is often translated as "suffering", but can also mean conflict, dissatisfaction, insubstantiality or emptiness. The Buddha was not claiming that life was all misery and pain, devoid of happiness. But that sometimes we experience pain that seems overwhelming.
The Third Noble Truth, nirodha, states that if life has suffering which is caused by desire, we should eliminate desire. Here the Buddha was in agreement with the Hindu teachers of the day. Like them, he said that people are reborn after death due to their desire for continued existence. The cycle of death, rebirth and suffering continues endlessly until a person attains nirvana.
The Fourth Noble Truth is magga, the path to nirvana. In it the Buddha outlined the way in which people should live in order to attain nirvana.
The Eight Fold Path was developed to help achieve the Truths. These tenets are not meant to be practiced sequentially, but rather developmented simultaneously. They are right understanding, right thought, right speech, right action, right livlihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration
Karma is the sum of volitional action. Doing good deeds brings you good karma, doing bad deeds brings you bad karma. A judge does not dole out punishment and rewards; karma is a natural law. No one gives you karma, it just accumulates. The goal is to destroy the concept of self in order to stop accumulating karma and attain nirvana.
Throughout his life the Buddha stressed the equal importance of compassion and wisdom. To him, a hard-hearted sage was the same as a warm-hearted fool. Nevertheless, after his death, Buddhism split into two major factions, Theravada Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism. The Theravada sect is considered more orthodox. It's principles are that only a few people who make a complete commitment to the tenets of Buddhism can achieve enlightenment. This sect is more popular in the countries of Southeast Asia, such as Thailand, Burma and Sri Lanka. The Mahayama sect is more liberal and stresses compassion over wisdom. It offers salvation to everyone and introduced the concept of the Bodhisattva, a savior who though at the edge of enlightenment turns back to help others find their way. More popular as a proselytizing religion, the Mahayama has spread throughout China, Korea, Japan and Tibet.
Confucianism
If you have been in Korea for even only a short time, you have probably heard something about Confucius. If, so may have come to associate him with catchy sayings, as well as sexism, authoritarianism, and an outdated educational system. I have heard these things, too, and wondered how they could have formed the backbone of an ethical system that has strongly influenced East Asia for 2500 years.
Confucius was born in the Chinese province of Lu in 551 or 552 BC. The philosopher has been known by several names, Confucius being the romanization of the Chinese original. In Chinese, he is K'ung Fu Tzu, in Hang guk mal, Gong Ja. He was born into a noble family that had lost power, and lived his youth in poverty.
Most of what we know about Confucius comes from one work, the Lun Yu, which is known in English as the Analects. Although credited to Confucius, his students more than likely composed the work after his death, as the work consists of his sayings or his students' comments on them. However, the original has been destroyed and has only been recreated using texts that were copied several hundred years after Confucius died.
To understand the ideas he advocated, it is helpful to know that Confucius lived during a very chaotic period of Chinese history. The Chou Dynasty was disintegrating and the ensuing power vacuum was creating turmoil in public life. Thus much of Confucian philosophy is aimed at defining the social structure and maintaining its stability.
Confucius identified five relationships which he felt are integral to public stability: husband and wife, father and son, elder and younger, king and subject, and that between friends. The relationship between friends was intended to be one of reciprocity and mutual respect between equals. The first four relationships described linear power relations with the first member of each pair being the dominate half. Confucius, though, did not intend this system to be one of despotism, but, rather, one which addressed a mutual need. The first member was required to protect and nurture the second, while the second respected and served the first.
The keystone of the Confucian philosophy is the concept of the gentleman. The gentleman has five important qualities: benevolence, wisdom, courage, reliability in word, and reverence. Benevolence was considered the key attribute. Confucius described it as the observance of ceremonial rites, and the effort to overcome the self. Particularly noteworthy is that true Confucianists believe power is never wielded in self-interest, but only for the sake of society. Courage does not describe bravery in battle, so much as taking the right course of action even in the face of adversity and pressure to do wrong. Reliability in word includes honesty about the past, present, and future, as well as modesty. Reverence means acknowledging the immensity of the task of doing everything one can to better the lives of those for whom one is responsible.
One other important concept related to the gentleman is the "Decree of Heaven." Many leaders throughout history have used this concept to justify their power. However, Confucius widened the implications of Heaven's Decree to mean that everyone, regardless of his position, is ethically responsible for doing everything he can to help society. Once a person no longer lives up to the Decree of Heaven, but begins to serve himself, he loses the right to his position.