Chapter 6 - Ethics of Hinduism and Buddhism

(Delivered in Brooklyn Institute on November 13, 1907)

Hinduism and Buddhism are the two great religious systems of India. They are related to each other in the same manner as Judaism and Christianity are related to each other. As Christianity is an offspring of Judaism, so Buddhism is a child of Hinduism, which is not only older in age, but contains the fundamental principles and ethical ideals of Hinduism. In fact, the ethics of Hinduism became crystalized gems which adorn the huge structure of Buddhism.

Buddhism is a system of pure ethics. It is a religion of humanity and for humanity. In Buddhism, there is.no worship of a personal God, and has no fear of eternal punishment. Consequently, there is no need of a belief in the ethical commandments of an extra-cosmic personal Deity who creates something out of nothing and commands His creatures to do this or that, or not to do this or that, as there we find in Judaism and Christianity. Buddha is the founder of Buddhism, who lived in the sixth century B.C. and preached his religion of ethics, but never asked his followers to worship or believe in a personal God. For this reason many people among the Christians say that Buddhism is not a revealed religion. But, according to the Buddhists, the religion of Buddhism and its ethical code are just as much revealed as are in Judaism or Christianity, and they go so far as to say that the ethics of Buddhism are more than revelations, because they stand upon the eternal laws of the moral and spiritual nature, and not upon heresy or traditional dogma. Buddha did not take anything upon faith, but he sought for the rational foundation of ethics and religion, and when he discovered the truth and eternal law, he boldly preached for the good of humanity.

Nearly twenty-five centuries ago Buddha said to his disciples: “Do not believe in what ye have heard. Do not believe in traditions, because they have been handed down for many generations; do not believe in anything, because it is rumoured and spoken of by many; do not believe merely in anything, because the written statement of some old prophets is produced; do not believe in conjectures; do not believe in that as truth, to which you have become attached by habit; do not believe merely on the authority of your teachers and elders, but after observation and analysis, when it agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it”.

Thus by following the rationalistic path of knowledge, Buddha rejected the authority of the priests, ancient Hindu sages and of the Vedas, the revealed scriptures of the Hindu people. But he did not reject the Hindu ethics which formed the corner-stone of the Hindu religion or the Sanatana Dharma, known as the eternal moral law. Born and brought up as a Hindu Prince, Buddha naturally studied the Vedas, followed their ethical code, and afterwards emphasized it in his noble teachings. The ethical code of the Hindus was perfected in the vedic period many centuries before the advent of Buddha, nay, centuries before the time of Moses. How deep is the foundation of the ethics of the Vedas we shall be able to know, if we study carefully the duties of every man, as enjoined in those hoary scriptures. According to the Vedas, each man is bound from the time of his birth by four kinds of duties which he ought to fulfil, before he could attain to the highest state of spirituality and perfection. These four kinds of duties were considered as so many debts which each individual must pay.

The first is the debt to all humanity which can be paid off by becoming a good citizen and an useful member of the community, by being charitable to all fellow beings and by doing good works for the good of all. The second debt is to all the Rishis or seers of truth or great sages who have discovered the moral and spiritual laws which govern our lives. It must be paid off by learning those truths, by following the instructions of the sages, and by living up to the highest ideal of spirituality which they had practised.

The third is the debt to the forefathers which must be repaid by being a good and a dutiful son, by leading a married life, and by bringing up children in the, path of morality, religion, and spirituality. The fourth and the last one is the debt to the devas or perfected spirits, which must be repaid by worshipping and by devotion and self-sacrifice. In order to fulfil these duties, the individual life of each high caste Hindu was divided into four stages, through which each must pass.

The first is the life of brahmacharya or of a student. This is the stage for moral training, secular education, and discipline, which last from childhood to the age of manhood. During these years the young man lives with his Guru or preceptor, studies all the scriptures, sciences, and philosophies, and lives a strict moral and unselfish life, implicitely obeying the teachings of the master. Thus after receiving the highest ideals of life, he will return home at the age between twenty-five and forty-five, get married, and had a householder’s life. Then after performing the duties of a good husband and a true father, he would retire and take up the forest life, or he might go to a solitary place, where he could spend his days in contemplating upon his high ideals, and live a strictly moral life of a celibate. This should be done after attaining to the age of fifty.

Then he would gradually enter into the fourth stage of sannyasa, or the life of complete renunciation. In this stage, he should live a pure, chaste and holy life, and be unattached to the pleasure of the changing world. This was the general rule. But there were exceptions in such persons, in whom there was no desire to lead a married life and to enter into the second stage i.e. into the householder’s life. Such persons could remain brahmachari or student as long as they wanted, and then they go to the fourth stage of sannyasa, without following the regular course, if they were fit for that life.

The strict life of a student or brahmachari is absolutely necessary, because it is preparatory to spiritual life. In this stage, one should learn the ethical teachings and spiritual instructions first and then how to practise them. In this stage, he should learn to subdue his passions, and master his lower nature by the higher, through strict moral discipline. The vedic injunctions for a student are: “say what is true! Do thy duty! Do not neglect the study of the Vedas! After having brought to thy teacher the proper reward, do not cut off the lives of children! Do not swerve from the truth! Do not swerve from duty! Do not neglect what is useful! Do not neglect greatness! Do not neglect to teach the Vedas! Do not neglect the works due to the gods and fathers! Let thy mother be to thee like unto a god! Let thy father be to thee like unto a god! Whatever actions are blameless, those should be regarded not others. Whatever good works have been performed by us, those should be observed by thee”.

Again, in the most ancient vedic writings on the Hindu ethics we read, when a disciple went to his preceptor, and asked what he should do to become moral and righteous, and the sage replied in three Sanskrit words, damayata, datta, dayaddha [dayaddham]. Each word begins with the letter ‘d’. The first is damayata which means, subdue yourself, control the passions, conquer the senses, pride, egotism, and selfishness. The second word is datta which means, give freely, and be generous to the poor and charitable to the needy. The last is dayaddha [dayaddham], which means be kind to all, have pity and compassion for all who deserve, and love them as you love yourself.

The grandest of the ethical law what is taught by the Vedas is the law of universal love: “love all living creatures as thyself”; not merely neighbours, not only fellow members of the society, but also all human beings, without encouraging race prejudice and colour distinction, nay, all the lower animals, if possible. This love should proceed from the bottom of the soul. As we love our own dear selves, so we should love others; because each soul, whether human or animal, being a child of immortal bliss, is our brother, and we should treat each soul as our beloved brother or sister, feel for everybody, help them in their distress, and try to relieve them from pain, suffering and misfortune. Jesus the Christ said: “Love thy neighbour as thyself.” But he did not give the reason why should we love our neighbour and not to hate them. The answer we find in the Vedas in the celebrated formula, tattvamasi i.e. “thou art that”. Because thou art thy neighbour in spirit; and thou art one with thy neighbour in spirit. So we should love our neighbour not merely for their good qualifications, not for their kindness, and not for their beauty, but because they are one in spirit. This is the grandest of all ethical teachings. Following this idea, Buddha taught his noble truths. He said: “Do not hate those who hate you, but love them, because the eternal ethical law is the law of mercy for all. Never is wrath stilled by wrath, but by reconciliation, never is hatred conquered by hatred, but by love, and this is an everlasting law. Forsake all evil like envy, jealousy, malice and hatred. Bring forth good, master thy own thought, and restrain thy tongue; such is the path to perfection.” Buddha further taught: “Overcome evil by good, the avaricious by generosity, and the false by truth. Let boundless goodwill prevail among mankind.”

Such are the ethical teachings of Hinduism and Buddhism. Overcome evil with good is greater than the Golden Rule. Although, in India, from ancient times, the Golden Rule existed in the form of “atmaupanyena sarvatra dayam kurvanti sadhavah”, i.e. the wise men should treat others as they wish others would treat them. Still to overcome evil with good has been considered higher. It reminds me of the teaching of the Chinese sage Lootze: “Recompense evil with good; requite injury with kindness. Do not good, I would be good in order to make them good”. Hearing this Confucius, who was teaching the Golden Rule, said: “if you return good for evil, what would you return for good?” Buddha, however, taught like Lootze saying: “Overcome evil with good, and hatred with love.

When Buddha was asked: “What is evil?” He answered: “Killing, my friends, is evil; stealing is evil; yielding to sexual passion is evil; lying is evil; slandering is evil; abuse is evil; gossip is evil; envy is evil; hatred is evil; to cling to false doctrine is evil, and, all these things, my friends, are evil.”

So Buddha gave five commandments to all:

1. Do not kill any living being;
2. Do not take what is not given to you;
3. Do not speak falsehood;
4. Do not drink intoxicating drinks;
5. Do not commit adultery.

Buddha taught his lay disciples to obey and honour his parents, and to follow an honourable trade or profession. The duties and relation of children and parents, husbands and wives, friends and companions, masters and servants, pupils and teachers, laymen and devotees, which were laid down by Buddha, were in perfect harmony with the injunctions of the ancient ethical teachings of the Vedas. Thus we can understand the ethics of Buddhism.

General people of the West have an idea that Buddha was the only ethical teacher that arose in India. But those who are familiar with Hindu scriptures, will remember that there were many other spiritual teachers among the Hindus who lived both before and after the time of Buddha. Those who have read the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, know that Rama, the hero of the Ramayana, was the ideal son, ideal father, ideal king, and ideal husband. He was like an embodiment of truthfulness. And his wife Sita was the ideal wife and ideal mother. Even today she is held as the ideal of womanhood among the Hindus. Again, the hero of the Mahabharata, Krishna was another great saviour among the Hindus. He lived about 800 years before Buddha. His ethical teachings are embodied in the Bhagavad Gita or Song Celestial, as Sir Edwin Arnold calls it. Here we find the highest ideal of Christian ethics as described from the rationalistic standpoint. It has been said in the Bhagavad Gita: “Purity of heart and soul should be practised. Anything that makes one unselfish, any action which makes one forget one’s lower self and reminds one of the supreme Spirit and the absolute Reality of the universe, is purifying”. Purity in thought, word and deed is one of the ideals of the ethics of Hinduism. Christ taught: "Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God”.

Next to purity is chastity. Absolute chastity in thought, word, and deed is next to divinity, nay, it leads to divinity. Therefore it should be the ideal. Charity is another virtue. Charity purifies the heart of a man, and embroadens the mind of a man. Charity transforms an individual soul to the cosmic soul. In every religion, we will find this practice of charity, because it is one of the ennobling steps towards the attainment of God-consciousness. Charity prepares the ground of selfdenial, and, therefore, makes to forget the attachment to one’s petty self, and by that means it helps man to advance in the spiritual world.

In fact, ethics prepares the ground for the advancement in the spiritual world. It prepares the true basis of morality in man, and makes a man virtuous and loving. So Hinduism and Buddhism are the liberal and universal systems of religion or religious faiths which have adopted the elements of ethics for observing the strict moral values and spiritual ideals in human life. Because men are morally and virtually the children of Bliss, they have only made themselves entangled with the mess of maya for the non-knowledge of their undying glory. So when this chain of maya or delusion is replaced by the Brahman-knowledge by the practice of ethics, or by observing the ethical principles and values, they are escaped in this life from the delusive world forever and ever.