"Being-in-the-World": The Bodhisattva Ideal and the Millennium

Abstract

In my comments, I wish to examine the way in which a specific strand of Buddhist doctrine-one particular form of Mahayana-would explain the relation between the sacred and the profane or, better, between the sphere of religious ideal and the sphere of secular facticity. Traditionally, Western critics of Buddhism tended to overlook the complexity and variety of positions adopted by Buddhists with regard to this issue. Some tried to characterize Buddhism as escapism, or as narcissistic self-cultivation (navel watching), or solipsism. The Buddhist critique of substantiality has been seen by some as making it impossible to establish on a firm foundation a program of ethical responsibility. Others have seen in Buddhism a tendency to divorce itself from the reality of history-namely, from a presumed ethical obligation to affect the course of social and political events-or even from an awareness of historical change. I believe that these criticisms are not altogether unjustified. First, they reflect legitimate concerns that every religious or moral philosophy should address. Second, the particular formulation of these issues that we know is by necessity culture bound and therefore cannot easily find an echo in the language of traditional Buddhism. Third, the rhetoric of Buddhism is in fact antagonistic to many of the so-called solutions proposed for these problems in the West. I would argue, in fact, that this characteristic in Buddhist doctrine can and should be interpreted as a critique of some of the presuppositions of the worldview from which these problems have been confronted in the West. I do not agree with those who feel that these criticisms of Buddhism are irrelevant, but neither do I agree with those who feel that the criticisms constitute a fair assessment of Buddhism or that they reflect accurately the Buddhist position and its shortcomings. I disagree both with those who feel that their own doctrinal formulations (Buddhist or Christian) already contain all the problems