Gec1 Lesson5
Gec1 Lesson5
Gec1 Lesson5
EASTERN THOUGHTS
• EASTERN- ALSO CALLED ORIENTAL;
REPRESENTS ASIA
• King to subject
• Father to son
• Husband to wife
• Friend to friend
Confucianism
• The self in Confucianism is a subdued self. It is
conditioned to respond to perceptions, not of its own
needs and aspirations, but of social requirements and
obligations.
Taoism
• Taoism is a religious or philosophical tradition of Chinese
origin which emphasizes living in harmony with the Tao or
the Way.
• Tao denotes the principle that is the source, patterns and
substance of everything that exists.
• Taoism disavows a hierarchical view of the self, society,
or cosmos.
Taoism
• The self is but one of the countless manifestations of the
Tao. It is an extension of the cosmos.
• The perfect man has no self; the spiritual man has no
achievement; the true sage has no name. The ideal is
thus selflessness.
• The selfless person leads a balanced life, in harmony
with both nature and society. When selflessness is
attained, the distinction between “I” and “other”
disappears. One may then act with complete
spontaneity.
Buddhism
• The buddha taught that an individual is a combination of
five aggregates of existence, also called the Five Skandhas
or the five heaps.
Five Skandhas
• Form- our physical form
• Sensation- made up of our feelings – both emotional and
physical – and our senses – seeing, hearing, tasting,
touching, smelling.
• Perception- means thinking – conceptualization, cognition,
reasoning.
• Mental Formations- includes habits, prejudices, and
predispositions, and volition or willfulness.
• Consciousness- aware of or sensitivity to an object, but
without conceptualization.
Buddhism
• The doctrine of anatman (Sanskrit; anatta in Pali) is the
core teaching of Buddhism. According to this doctrine,
there is no “self” in the sense of a permanent, integral,
autonomous being within an individual existence. What
we think of as our self, the “me” that inhabits our body, is
just an ephemeral experience.
• The ultimate goal is Nirvana (enlightenment). The English
word enlightenment sometimes refers to heightened
intellect and reason.
• The original Buddhists used the word bodhi, which means
“awakened”. The word buddha is derived from bodhi and
means “the awakened one”.
Comparison of western and eastern concepts of self
Western Eastern
Duality-you are distinct from other Other persons are part of your self.
persons.
Talk about their personal attributes. Talk about their social roles.
--PROVERBS 3:5-6