Oriental Philosophy and Interreligious Education: Inspired by Toshihiko Izutsu’s Reconstruction of “Oriental Philosophy”

Abstract

This chapter discusses how Oriental philosophy can contribute to the formation of interreligious education, focusing on what Toshihiko Izutsu, a Japanese scholar, had attempted in his reconstruction of Oriental philosophy. The discussion begins with recognizing such major tasks as helping a student explore different worldviews of wisdom traditions and also engage his or her own spiritual realization. This chapter describes how Izutsu’s approach to Oriental philosophy exemplifies a way of interreligious exploration. Izutsu applied his own methodology of analysis to diverse worldviews of Oriental philosophy to identify common factors among them, and as an essential core in Oriental perspectives, he referred to the idea of the multi-stratified structure of reality. This chapter describes his methodology and the multiple dimensions of reality, mainly drawing on perspectives of Taoism, Advaita Vedānta, and Mahayana Buddhism. Furthermore, it suggests that this multidimensional view illustrates a comprehensive way of spiritual realization.KeywordsOriental philosophyWorldviewMultidimensional realityArchetypal imageNon-beingSelf-realizationContemplationEnlightenmentTaoism, BuddhismAdvaita Vedānta