BRYAN PIEL AB-PHILO IV BRO.

DARYLL LOUIS CAMARGO

MODERN ASIAN THOUGHTS
HETERODOX ALTERNATIVES : REACTION PAPER 2

Harmony of the Differences

Man has an inner longing that needs to be satisfied. This something or someone
that he longs will be the anchor of his existence. With this longing, others satisfy it
through their belief of God.
Before studying philosophy, I believed that Christianity is the only religion that
studies about truth; but now, I learn that there are a lot of religions who investigates and
studies about truth. Philosophy lets me expose the different belief of the different
religions. I come to know the beliefs of Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism and
many other religions in the East. Because of this exposition, I come up to this few
questions: (1) Why do we differ in our belief? Why not the same? Whose belief is true?
Whom shall we believe? Despite the same longing, we have different belief because we
are different in our environment, culture and experience and circumstances. We cannot
condemn the belief others and brag our own belief. Swami Vivekananda once said, “By
the study of different religions, we find that in essence they are one.”
In the realm of Indian philosophy, there are also apparent differences and
contradictions in their philosophy and belief. There are also refutations in their
established philosophy and spirituality. The first time I read Indian philosophy, I thought
that they share the same philosophy and spirituality; but when I move forward in my
reading, I know heterodox alternatives. Accordingly, heterodox alternatives arose to
challenge both the ritualism of the early Vedas and the mysticism of the later ones.
They have this three first genuine philosophical system: Charvaka, Jainism, and
Buddhism. Charvaka believes that only the material world exists and that there is no
reality beyond or within it. It added that the ordinary perception is the only valid source
of knowledge. Second is Jainism. It believes that the greatest good is liberation of the
spiritual soul from material embodiment and the greatest evil is perpetuation of
embodiment for the soul. Moreover, in final liberation, it believes that the soul distances
itself from the material realm altogether. Last and the popular is Buddhism. Buddhism
is preoccupied with the questions about the causes of and solutions to suffering. When
we look at the these three philosophical systems, they have different beliefs and
preoccupations. Charvaka is concern on materialism, Jainism is on liberation of the
spiritual soul, and Buddhism on suffering. Why do they differ? A relevant quotation from
Princess Elizabeth of Bohemia can be qouted in answering this question. She said,
“The movement of something depends on the kind of impulse it gets from what sets it in
motion, or again, on the nature and shape of this latter thing’s surface.” This statement
is true. The three philosophical systems differ in perspective and views because they
differ in impulse that sets them in motion. They differ in their shapes of their
philosophical thinking.
With this different and innumerable beliefs and philosophical views, how can we
determine which is true? What system holds the certitude and truth that are needed in
anchoring our existence? The answer is we do not know. And because we do not know,
we have the task to know it and we cannot do it alone. We need to help each other in
searching the certitude and truth. There must a peaceful philosophical and spiritual
dialogue between the different views and beliefs. There is no need to argue, rather, a
dialogue is needed. Through this peaceful dialogue, we will become fruitful in our
search for the truth. I will end this paper by borrowing the quotation of Mahatma Gandhi
which says, “For me, the different religions are beautiful flowers from the same garden,
or they are branches of the same majestic tree. Therefore, they are equally true though
being received and interpreted through human instruments equally imperfect.”