The Buddha of pluralism

 

Jeffery D Long is a supporter of the Ramakrishna Mission with a special interest in religious pluralism, often through the lens of Alfred North Whitehead´s process philosophy. In this article, he reflects on the Buddha and the historical origins of Buddhism. He criticizes the idea of Buddha as an anti-Hindu social revolutionary or a Hindu reformer, viewing both as anachronistic (the first could even be seen as “colonialist” and Protestant). Buddha´s real role was personal transformation, not revolution or political reform.

However, a critic could easily see Long´s alternative perspective as equally anachronistic, being informed by his own (modern) pluralism. Buddha lived during the dawn of the Axial Age, when human consciousness was shifting globally towards new spiritual paradigms (like today, perhaps?). He combined emergent Vedanta, nascent Samkhya/Yoga and reform Jainism into a distinct “middle path” and therefore became “a very modern figure, to whom contemporary seekers can certainly relate” who existed in a “pluralistic world, and looks for insights wherever he can find it”.

Maybe. Or maybe he is best seen as a person whose ideas, while not intended as “revolutionary” or “political” in and of themselves, nevertheless had such implications – surely, the idea that you become a Brahmin by spiritual accomplishment rather than birth has at the very least reformist implications in a caste-ridden Vedic society? (Long even says this at one point.) The problem may be that we really don´t know that much about the Buddha´s time, making it easy to project whatever we want on this strangely elusive character.

Speaking of the Axial Age, one intriguing reflection in Long´s article is that the legend of Buddha´s birth may point to an “animist” stratum within Buddhism. Not only was Buddha born from a mother named Maya (illusion or appearance), both his birth and enlightenment are associated with trees. And in ancient India, trees were often seen as holy and associated with goddesses known as yakshis. Perhaps some pre-Axial Age group tried to assimilate the Buddha to its own tradition? Maya´s full name was Maya Devi, devi meaning goddess, and a Maya Devi temple stands at the supposed site of Buddha´s birth at Lumbini in Nepal.

Perhaps this is the ultimate pluralism: the Enlightened One straddles two distinct ages in the evolution of consciousness, bringing together both… 

Reflections on the Buddha (part 1)