The Significance of Suffering and its Reflection: A Philosophical Research Based on Agama Sutras and the Zhuangzi
Date Issued
2010
Date
2010
Author(s)
Hong, Chia-Lynne
Abstract
This dissertation inquires into the significance of the concept of suffering. It takes Āgama sutra and the Zhuangzi, two important scriptures in Indian Buddhist and Chinese Daoist traditions, as primary source material. Both works shed light on the concept of suffering, and are hence relevant to my philosophical concerns.
The first chapter introduces the research scope, the materials, methodology, and main goal. This chapter also clarifies the framework of my research, i.e. a basic distinction between two kinds of suffering that takes account of the variety of living beings. On the one hand, the spiritual suffering (聖道苦/ shengdao ku), or the suffering conceived by those who pursue sainthood; on the other, the ordinary suffering (俗行苦/ suxing ku), or the suffering recognized by those who do not have a spiritual goal in mind. For ordinary living beings, ‘suffering’ mainly denotes difficulties or hardship in life. For the sainthood pursuers, however, ‘suffering’ amounts to a dissatisfaction regarding their spiritual destination(s). More elaborate discussion concerning these two types of suffering is found in chapters three and four.
In chapter two, I propose a methodology--which I call contrastive reading methodology--to read and select materials within these two scriptures. After a detailed analysis based on this methodology, I point out the gist of the concept of suffering in Āgama sutra and the Zhuangzi: it denotes saṃsāra—the circle of life and death, in the former, while it connects to notions of ‘being constrained’ in the latter. In addition, analysis also reveals multiple dimensions of the concept of suffering: suffering situations, suffering feelings, suffering as dissatisfaction regarding sainthood, and a distinction between sainthood pursuers and ordinary living beings.
The third chapter consists of two major domains of suffering situations in an ordinary sense: existential suffering and value-related suffering. The former deals with birth, aging, sickness, and death, while the latter can be divided into two kinds: separating from what one favors, and joining with what one dislikes.
Through detailed discussion and analysis, I argue that situations as such are neutral in terms of suffering, and that it is the feeling of suffering experienced by a living being that turns something into a ‘suffering’ situation. Moreover, even when a living being experiences difficulty, one’s feeling may move through different stages, such as sadness changing into a more positive view of the same situation. Such unfixed relation between situations and feelings, therefore, leaves room for philosophical counseling.
Chapter four deals with spiritual suffering. In discussing Āgama sutra, I challenge a common interpretation of ‘dukkha sacca’ and statements such as ‘whatever is impermanent is suffering’ and ‘everything is suffering’ among Buddhist scholars. First of all, I suggest reading ‘dukkha sacca’ as ‘the statement(s) of dukkha is/are true assertion(s) (sacca).’ Secondly, instead of classifying such dukkha as a metaphysical issue or an eventual result of everything in this world, as generally suggested by Buddhist scholars, I propose the concept of ‘disposition’ to interpret dukkha in such statements. In this sense, ‘whatever is impermanent is suffering’ may be reinterpreted as ‘whatever is impermanent has the disposition to lead to feelings of suffering in living beings.’
As for the Zhuangzi, what the sainthood pursuers regard as suffering can be understood as a kind of dissatisfaction of ‘being constrained’. There are three kinds of constraint in the Zhuangzi: being constrained by sense organs, being constrained by given notions, and being unaware of one’s own constraint. In contrast to Agama sutra, spiritual suffering in the Zhuangzi centers on the present state of living beings rather than on the disposition of suffering feelings.
Chapter five, which concludes this dissertation, summarizes the previous chapters and offers an overall picture of the main ideas.
Subjects
?gama Sutra
Zhuangzi
dukkha
suffering
sainthood
constraint
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