A THIRD WAY OF SPIRITUALITY BEYOND FAITH AND REASON IN BUDDHISM
Keywords:
Spirituality, Faith, Reason, BuddhismAbstract
A popular book on the philosophy of religion contains the following epistemological observation: "Philosophy recognizes two ways in which human beings may come to know whatever there is to be known. One way (stressed by empiricism) is through experience, and the other (stressed by rationalism) is through reasoning.'" Three points need to be made before proceeding any further. The first is that the word experience here must be taken as confined to normal sensory experience and excludes both extra-sensory perception and mystical experience. The second is that experience and reason can be combined
as a way of knowing which one might call rationalism, as reason operates within the realm of sensory experience. The third point is that although philosophy of religion discusses the nature of faith3 it does not, unlike theology, accept it as a way of knowing.
References
John Hick, Philosophy of Religion (Third Edition) Englewood Cliffs, New Jersev: Prentice-Hall lnc.), p. 57.
K.L. Seshagiri Rao. The Concept of Sraddhii (Patiala: Roy Publishers. 1971). p. 188.
K.N. Jayatilleke, Early Buddhist Theory of Kno wledge (London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1963), p. 169.
Nalinaksha Dutt, Mahayana Buddhism (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1977), p. 100-101.
R. Balasubramaniam, Advaita Vedanta (University of Madras, 1976), pp. 6-7.
K. Satchidananda Murty, Revelation and Reason in Advaita Vedanta (New York: Columbia University Press, 1959).
S. Radhakrishnan, The Brahma Sutra: The Philosophy of Spiritual Life (London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1960), p. 104.
George Thibaut, tr., The Vediinta Sutras of Badarayana with the Commentary of sankara Part I (New York: Dover Publications, lnc., 1962), p. 17-18.
M. Hiriyanna. The Essentials of Indian Philosophy (London: George Allen & Unwin. 1949). p. 106.
William Barrett. ed.• Zen Buddhism (New York: Doubleday & Company Ind., 1956). p. xvi-xvii.
Rune E.A. Johansson. The Psychology of Nirvana (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1969), p, 70.
