The philosophical premises of eastern religion have been attacking Western culture for centuries now. The western culture which fostered the industrial revolution, the technical advances, the thoughts about liberty and prosperity, the scientific revolution? Yes, that Western culture. All these came from the Jewish and Christian views of God in the universe. The view of the Buddhist and Hindus, for example, are totally different. As I read through the work of Will Durant he continually will make reference to how different philosophers drew their inspiration from the religions of the east. Those philosophers have been working overtime to destroy the mind set that Christianity had brought in. I am only half way through the first volume and I have already come across connections to David Hume, Friedrich Nietzsche and Arthur Schopenhauer. I am sure there were more but those I remember.
I have tended to have this idea that the ancient world was made up of isolated communities developing in their own ways but in modern times we have all this sharing. The idea that the ancient philosophers of Greece could be aware of the Hindu gods or Buddha seemed impossible. I know that I got irritated when people tried to say that the Jews borrowed their ideas from other cultures. When you think about it though, traders and wandering philosophers have a long history of travel. I came across this reading about India,
“The foreign trade of India is as old as her history; objects found in Samaria and Egypt indicate the traffic between these countries and India, as far back as 3000 B.C. Commerce between India and Babylon by the Persian Gulf flourished from 700 to 480 B.C.; and perhaps the ‘ivory, apes, and peacocks’ of Solomon, came by the same route from the same source.” p. 479Then when you add the historical proximity of different thinkers. In the sixth century B.C. you had the return of the Jews from exile and the rebuilding of the temple. The writing of the Old Testament was drawing to a close. This was also the time of Buddha and possibly Confucius.
Were ideas passed back and forth between the different civilizations? Was the Pope once a Catholic? Of course. The cross fertilization of ideas is one reason why certain parts of the world are so advanced. We need to be aware of these influences when they are disseminated. Such cultural staples as Lion King and Star Wars have pushed eastern religions. Yoga, Montessori and TM are foundational to eastern religions. The class system of Europe finds soul brothers in China and India. Ideas have consequences, just like elections.
Pay attention and decide what your foundation is going to be.
Durant, Will. The Story of Civilization: Part 1, Our Oriental Heritage. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1954.
homo unius libri
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