何锡蓉《Buddhism and metaphysics》

Introduction

Whether there is metaphysics in Buddhism? Does Buddhism is a kind of philosophy or only a religion? It is still no united understanding apparently in both fields of Buddhism and philosophy. Such as a dialogue between Jean-Francois Revel, a French contemporary thinker and an academician, and his son, Matthieu Richard, who converted to Buddhism, they are representatives each of west thoughts and Buddhist thoughts. They published a book named the dialogue between a monk, Buddhism, and a philosopher, the western thought. It said that "People debate endlessly for that Buddhism is a religion or a philosophy but the problem has never been settled. In the west, philosophy is a simple branch of knowledge like mathematics or botanies. The philosopher is a ‘teacher', is usually a professor, he studies certain theory in his course, but once he return to his home, be completely like a notary or a dentist, the theory he taught has no affected slightly his behavior in his lives. But professors in the east, they are spiritual teachers whose living are according to the theory they taught. And there are a group of students around professors and would like in the wake of them. The east professor’s theory is not a pure intelligent curiosity but it must pass his own practice and then it can be valuable."^[i] Again as we know, in ancient history there is a process that Buddhism with Chinese philosophy and Chinese culture melted mutually. In the whole ancient times there were no doubts about whether Buddhism is a philosophy or not, in fact Buddhism has become an important part of constitutions in Chinese philosophy. However in the modern age, whether Buddhism is a philosophy or not has been a debatable focus in academic circles. Master Tai Xu, a famous rabbi in modern China, said “people usually didn’t think it was necessary to research whether Buddhism is a philosophy or a non- philosophy. But since there have been some persons who want to investigate occult something, and want to search for intelligent lights from secret and vague mind, and want to look for the riddle of the cosmos, the question of whether Buddhist doctrines is philosophy hence was put forward. Now the debates are going on in the academic circles, and each keeps its own theory to estimate Buddhism. Such as Ouyang Jingwu, a famous monk at home in modern China, took Buddhism as nonreligious and non-philosophy; Zhang Taiyan, a famous philosopher and a monk at home in modern China, then said Buddhism is a philosophy; Liang Shuming, a famous professor in Beijing University, also had a same idea with Zhang Taiyan. Who was ever right was a problem.”^[ii] As well as we ever visited India at the end of 1999, in the conference on Buddhism some Indian scholars also discussed whether Buddhism is philosophy. Some one denied, and some one affirmed; though some one admitted Buddhism is a kind of philosophy, but it’s no united standpoints for whether there are metaphysical factors in this philosophy. Some one who affirmed there are certain metaphysical factors in Buddhism have different views (including affirmative and negative view) to whether this metaphysics in Buddhism is like the western metaphysics.

The reason that the problem produced is because of the introduction of western culture. Being affected by the western philosophy, people took the ideas and frames of the western philosophy to contrast Indian philosophy in consciously or unconsciously. Just like in China, since the idea of “philosophy” was been introduced into China, with the Chinese understand western philosophy deeper, the question of whether Chinese philosophy is legality arose. It actually doubted whether there is a philosophy or metaphysics same to the western in China. For making this problem clear, we need to know what is metaphysics firstly since metaphysics is the core of philosophy, indeed whether there is metaphysics or no is the standard which measures the character of philosophy.

What Is Metaphysics？

1. The metaphysics is a core of philosophy. In the west, it was from a book written by Aristotle named metaphysics, meaning of After Physics. According to Aristotle, philosophy (including be called metaphysics by later generations and all natural sciences such as physics etc. and physics is to study the science which are entities appreciable. It is "the second philosophy"; Metaphysics then studies things beyond sensitivity such as material, form, potential, movement...etc. as well as supernatural things such as absolute being, the first pusher etc. Because the main object of metaphysics studied is the most basic thing so it is "the first philosophy". Thus Meditations on First Philosophy written by Descartes also named Meditations on Metaphysics. Aristotle once imaginatively divided mankind's knowledge into three parts, making the parable with a big tree: the first part which is the most basal part is the root, metaphysics. It is the foundation of all knowledge. The second part is a physics which is just like the tree trunk. And the third part is other natural sciences which are parable with the tree branch. So we can say that Metaphysics is the core of the western philosophy which had held a dominate status for more than two thousand years. Though it was “finished” at Hegel It has declined rapidly since then. But its profound influence is still in effect. In all 20th century the western philosophy fought with metaphysics, but it seems that this war have no evidence to end thoroughly because metaphysics is much more than only a history and is also an actuality, it deeply influences our mode of thinking and cultural factors even it exists the ways of human life.

2. The metaphysics is to pursue universal knowledge. Aristotle considered that philosophy should be “the superlative degree universal knowledge”. He said "erudite characteristic must belong to the persons who have the tallest universal knowledge; if there is a thing can not be knew, it is not universal. And that the most universal is the most difficult to know by people since these knowledge are the farthest from human being’s senses.”^[iii] Metaphysics is as the result of pursuing the universal knowledge.

3. The metaphysics is to transcend in empirical. Related with above, since metaphysics is to pursue the universal knowledge then this knowledge is surely not empirical. Kant said, "First, as concerns the sources of metaphysical knowledge, its very concept implies that they cannot be empirical. Its principles (including not only its maxims but its basic notions) must never be derived from experience. It must not be physical but metaphysical knowledge, namely, knowledge lying beyond experience. It can therefore have for its basis neither external experience, which is the source of physics proper, nor internal, which is the basis of empirical psychology. It is therefore a priori knowledge, coming from pure understanding and pure reason.”^[iv]

Namely, the knowledge of metaphysics is not research changeful things like physics or natural philosophies, but with that kind of immovable and super feeling of, and beyond empirical things.

4. Are there other types of metaphysics? It described the western traditional metaphysics above, but one will ask that is there only this type of metaphysics? If so, with this metaphysics check others, that any not same to it is thought no metaphysics. Since metaphysics is the core of philosophy then no philosophy obviously. With regard to metaphysics being the core of philosophy, we should say that there is surely philosophy in China because it is a fact. Then it surely has its metaphysics as the core of philosophy though it is different from the western philosophy and metaphysics. Talk about metaphysics, we Chinese will think of Dao (Tao) immediately since we translated metaphysics from the appended remarks of the Book of Changes, it was in more than two thousand ago, which is "what exists before physical form is called Dao, what exists after physical form is called a Qi (a concrete thing).”^[v] The meaning is that, Dao is same to metaphysics which has no forms and impalpable; Qi (concrete thing) has its form and appreciable.

Namely, the Dao is metaphysics. The doctrine of Dao is rich and deep, which is prominent no matter what in the aspect of loving wisdom or in the aspect of inclusion. As for the treatise of Dao is the quintessence of Chinese learning, as well as main basis for Chinese philosophy as a philosophy.

So, pursuing the state of beyond form was the emphases of Chinese traditional philosophy. It emphasized the transformation of methods that human being contact with outside things. It’s an uplifted route from contacting with Qi (a concrete) to Dao, so it was called “exists after physical form”. It (exists after physical form) described human being’s transcend activities and pursuits. The significance of this transcend pursuit is that people expect to get the experience of gaining Dao on this uplifted route. The history of Chinese philosophy was expanding which pursued to Dao. So, Chinese philosophy is not only a theory but or even more practice. Theory is to describe, to introspect, and to guide practice. But the aim of philosophy does not rest on only to know what natural exhibitory process of the world, but take oneself into it, and to awake that oneself is exhibited from the nature. It should be the reason that people want to gain Dao. In Chinese ancient philosophy, there were the discussions about human nature and response between nature and man, which concerned the reason that person should gained Dao and the basis that human achieve wisdom; and there were the original experience about the nature and man united as one, and some exchanges about one’s cultivation, which is that people adjusts his state of existence so as to achieve wisdom. The core of Confucian doctrine was “benevolence”, it stress on pursuing Dao in the social life.

Seeing from various descriptions, that so-called achieve Dao is to reach a self-conscious existent state, sages are the model that entered to the state of reached Dao from each different living realm.

One of the main characteristics of the western metaphysics is transcendence which transcends in empirical. Though there is no the word of “transcendence” in Chinese philosophical text but we can say when people pursue Dao he (she) needs to change his (her) own living state, which is truly a process for transcendence. What Chinese traditional philosophy paid attention to was the activities of transcendence. However the objects of transcendence were thought much of by the western philosophy. It seems that these two kinds of transcendence irrelevant each other, but in fact they are in the outside and the inside mutually. This exploration showed common origination of the Chinese and the western philosophy. The western traditional metaphysics was the theory that transcends the time and space as well as experience. It mainly means that being a kind of theories, it transcends the sensitive realm and it was held by conceptual thoughts. Chinese “metaphysics” (exists before physical form) was also transcendence, but this transcendence means human being’s own state, namely human being experience a process that adjusts oneself from the state of contacting with Qi (a concrete ) to Dao (ideal state). In a word, what the metaphysics of western metaphysics meant the properties of theories and learning; The " metaphysics" (exists before physical form) in Chinese philosophy was human being to transform oneself existent way to correspond with Dao, which was not been held by thought but needed to experience by practice personally. We can not deny that the type of Chinese “metaphysics” is not metaphysics or not philosophy. Paying attention to practice and experience also is a characteristic of Buddhist metaphysics and philosophy.

There is no metaphysics as the western way in Buddhism

1. Buddhism denied that so called "the first cause of creation"The original doctrines of Buddhism pointed out that all things in the world are produced by predestined relationship (karma), it will not be existence if the karma and the conditions left. Therefore, Buddha took the theory of arising from conditional causation to explain how cosmos and mankind’s birth and death are continuous recurrently. He didn’t believe that there is a creator who creates the world and be sovereign. Buddha had told his disciples that didn’t debate on various issues of metaphysics, and he claimed that "people should not say any word in the things that could not be known." "The idea of the creator also is a supposition which can't be proved by logic, so we should pay no attention to it."^[vi] Buddha was the first person who advanced the ideas of the four dogmas (suffering, aggregation, extinction, way) and the twelve nidanas (ignorance, action, consciousness, name and form, the six sense organs, feeling, desire, grasping, have, birth, old and death). Then he found out the reason of people suffering consists that people don’t know that all things are impermanent, and no individual independent existence. This is the truth that lays claim to the life and should look for in the life only, but shouldn't in time of look for in the thing out of the life realm. Only understanding the nature of human being can he (she) be released. It means that one want to search the truth of life merely in the life, but should not search it outside.

In addtion to search for the truth in life, Buddhism still claim to search from one’s inner mind. Yoga is an example. The method of Yoga links together with some special practices, it mainly is to sit upright as the statue of Buddha and look at the navel and nose. Actually, the philosophy of Yoga is without end at these methods. It is according to the mental idea and clams that train intellect properly in order to reach higher conscious level. "The whole preachments of the Buddha did not take any authority of religion, also having no concerning God or the words of another world. He required people to search for the truth from oneself’s mind."^[vii]

 2, The philosophy of Buddhism is not transcendent in empirical. Even the theory of "sunya" is not empty or nothingness, in fact it is on the contrary for nothingness. It is "widespread possibility" including cosmos, the whole existence, movement and conciousness. If the ultimate foundation is not sunya all explicit manifestations can not be produced. So it said in sutra that since get sunya, everything can exist then. Namely, Sunya itself has all possibities and these may be interdependent. It is to say that sunya transcendent material world on the one hand, because it trascends all concepts about existence and nonexistence, appearance and termination, movement and immobility, single and numerous etc., and in another hand, the realized of sunya is not through analysis of thought, but by people’s practice since sunya exists in all things. "Metaphysics developped in the philosophy of Buddhism, however the method it took was on psychological comprehension as a basis."^[viii] "It (Buddhism) emphasizes that ethics relationg has its affirmative values in our limited world. Theresore we should stand by ethical and good life in our living world and in relationship of our mankind. We can and should apply our rational, knowledge and experience to this living, for this phenomenal world. As for infinity or in despite of what name called in future, it is transcendent outside of the land of the living, and any rational, knowledge and experience can not be applied."^[ix]

3, Buddhism identifies concrete problems and solve the problems with concrete methods. Theoretically speaking, pure philosophical metaphysics was lain on by Buddhism. Buddha taught his discipes in accordance of their aptitute and conditons. He was a teacher who drived for actually efficiency, he was full for mercy and wisdom. He answared questions not for playing the peacock, but for helping askers to go to the the wise and conscious road.

Based on Buddha’s remark, there were four kinds of method to take on questions: there are, 1) when questions are more direct, obvious, and avoided metaphysics, these questions must be replied simply and directly, such as what is the cause of suffering. 2) Some questions must be solved in analytical way, for example, whether Buddhiam is mentalism or materialism. 3) There are other questions must be replied by the way of rhethorical-question. 4) There are some questions must be kept silent not reply, for example, when someone asks Buddha about the questions of metaphysics Buddha often kept silence.

　 The Relation on Metaphysics

Between Buddhist Philosophy and Chinese Philosophy

Because Buddhism and Chinese philosophy both belong to orient learning, they have some communications, so when Buddhism was introduced into China and it can be accept by Chinese, can melt with Chinese philosophy mutually. Liang Qichao, a famous Chinese thinker in modern China, said that Buddhism is different from the western Christianity that there are two sides including religion and philosophy in Buddhism. Knowing Dao (Buddha) is by consciousness, and the method of entering Dao is by wisdom, the way of cultivating oneself according to oneself. The philosophy of Buddhism was the most suitable to assist with Chinese original philosophy. He said that Chinese philosophy research more human life and matters of country, but rare research the principles of everything on heaven and earth.^[x] There was not too much consciousness of religious in Chinese. Therefore, Chinese accepted Buddhism mainly in its theories, namely its philosophy and metaphysics.  

The "metaphysics" (exists before physical form）in Chinese philosophy is the path that people achieve wisdom, and is a process that people transcend for visible things. Only transcending for visible things, can people understand the process of things changed and united oneself with the things as one. Here Chinese philosophy is more attention to the situation of oneself.

It’s interesting that not only Chinese Confucianism and Daoism received the Dao as the highest aim, but Buddhism, as a foreign culture, after it entered into China it also took the concept of Dao. Such as translating “Nirvana” as “Dao”, “Bodhimanda” as “Dao Chang” (the place of becoming Buddha), “Buddhist” as “Dao shi” (the person of Dao), etc.  

Some themes in Buddhism communicate with Chinese philosophy, but its argumentations were stricter and more exquisite, it could be melt with Chinese philosophy.

1, Buddhist theory about arising from conditional causation was mutually with Chinese traditional theory about relationship. Buddhism claimed that “All things are living from conditional causation”. “All things” herein pointed material phenomenon and spirit phenomenon in the experimental world. It is we called thought and existence, widely to say, it means the whole opposite and relative categories. “Conditional causation” pointed the conditions or factors outside and inside of two categories. The existences of both of them depend on the opposite side. Otherwise, it disappears with another.^[xi] Sakyamuni realized the objective laws of all things lived and died, and knew the inevitable process of all things from producing to perishing. Among the things, they are mutual connection, mutual as conditions, mutual dependence, mutual as cause and effect. This theory was similar to Chinese traditional theory about relative network which stressed on "the substance and usage are from one source, and apparent and dim are without interval"; "There is a Yang in a Yin, and there is a Yin in a Yang". (Yin and Yang, in Chinese philosophy, medicine, etc., yin, the feminine or negative principle in nature; yang, the masculine or positive principle in nature.) It meant that in this experimental world, every thing, no matter what it’s physical or spiritual, are all natively limited in a relative network that relates to survive or perish of itself; its production, existence, change, and death can not get over this relative network. 

2. The object of Buddhist devotion is not outside God but various bodhisattva of mankind's oneself, which blended with the attitude of self-reflection within one’s mind in Chinese traditional ideas. Buddhism stresses on a mind independent of externals, pure thought, capable of enlightenment from within. Sakyamuni said “all Buddhist lord of world come out all from the world not from heaven”. (Ekottara-agama) It means that Buddha is the wisdom or omniscience in the world but not in the heaven. There are deities, God, Brahma, all Souls’Day and their emissaries in the heaven. Buddha is a man not a God. Therefore, the law of Buddha is educated by the wisdom or omniscience (Buddha) in the world.

By this token, Buddhist transcendence was similar to Chinese traditional philosophy. Someone said that Buddhist doctrine was anti- life. But in fact, Buddhist doctrine about releasing from the bonds of birth-and-deaths (nirvana) is not self-murder, not perishing people’s life, but washes and transforms drastically his (her) contaminated life (with desire, or sexual passion), and be a life with correct knowledge and no defective. Chinese traditional view, especially Confucianism, paid attention to oneself, and the wholeness process from oneself and back to oneself. Looking at the world, Chinese were not with purely objective insight and didn't think that the world exists out from oneself or opposite to oneself. On the contrary, he (she) stood an attitude that merge things with oneself. Daoism also took this attitude. So it said that universe and I exist together, and all things and I are one. Therefore, Chinese philosophy claimed to self-examination and inner-transcendence, to become sage and a worthy person. So that Buddhist theory of becoming Buddha and Chinese theory of becoming sage were happen to have the same view.

3. The view of impermanence in Buddhism was similar to Chinese view of change. Impermanence means that all things are impermanent, their birth, existence, change, and death never resting for a moment. Namely, all things are restricted by the conditions of space and time but fluctuation and un-residence. Birth and death, beginning and end are continuous. Chinese philosophy stressed on the significance of change, it regards that change is a precondition of cosmos inborn. Since the Book of Changes brought forward “the great characteristic of Heaven and Earth is to produce”, “birth and rebirth is what is meant by change”,^[xii] Chinese philosophy had taken the views to explain universal becoming and daily renew. “Birth and rebirth” means “change” to produce, “change” is comparative with permanence. It is just like Chinese idiom that “gets rid of the stale and brings forth the fresh”. So Buddhist view of impermanence has some inner relation to Chinese traditional philosophy though their argumentative method and aim are different.

    4. Buddhist view of the Meditation on the Mean (Madhyamapratipad) was similar to Chinese view of the doctrine of mean. The purpose of meditation on the mean was for understanding universal reality, which needs to explode all views of crankiness. Nagarjuna advanced a philosophy on immateriality (empty; sunya), but this immateriality is not empty, void, or non-existent, not nihilistic. In fact, Nagarjuna was not only to reject the view of permanence but also to reject the view of nihilistic. He therefore put forward a new perspective that got away from debate on affirmation and negation, being and non-being etc., and then he called it as meditation on the mean. The dialectical factors of this theory were available to Chinese thoughts. Although Chinese people never heard the contents that were explained by Buddhism before, but they quite identified with this way of explication that abandoned the way of extreme. In traditional Chinese philosophy, whether Lao Tze's dialectics or Confucian the way of mean all stressed on unbiased and non-extreme. What Chinese absorbed and chosen Buddhism were more in philosophic theoretical search than religious believes. Therefore in China, there was no dispute for the orthodox status between Hinayana and Mahayana, they came together and were chosen by Chinese.

Hinayana and Mahayana were introduced into China at almost same time. Chinese were more appreciate Mahayana Buddhism, because it stressed on person’s consciousness on the one hand, and advocated to deliver or save all beings. This Buddha spirit that release oneself to connect with saving humankind has some similar to the factors that paid attention to the meaning of life and advocated the living attitude of social experience in Chinese philosophy.

5. Moreover, a Buddhist view concerning negative meaning was got an echo from the philosophy of Lao Zi and Zhuang Zi in China. The meaning of negativity was realized in ancient India. Upanishad emphasized that Brahman and Atman (ego), as an obvious with invisible, and as a knower with unknowable, united as one. But Brahman and Atman here were understood as permanent, unchangeable, and real thing. As a religion produced from Hinduism, Buddhism inherited some of Indian ancient wisdoms in the philosophy of Upanishad and Vedas, but Buddhism didn’t accept the view concerning Atman as a reality, on the contrary, it claimed Anatman (no ego). Namely, no permanent individuality, all things are impermanent, which is one of Buddhist fundamentals. These Buddhist views contained to negate being, existence and reality. It is Nagarjuna who realized clearly the meaning of these views passed from early Buddhism, and then established the theory of sunya (empty).

The ancient China there was the theory about Dao (Tao), Lao Zi said in Dao-de ching “the Dao that can be told of is not the eternal Dao; the name that can be named is not the eternal name. The nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth; the name is the mother of all things.”^[xiii] He also said, “All things in the word come from being, all being comes from non-being.”^[xiv] Obviously, in Lao Zi's view that Dao, as the fundamental, can not be named, and can not be known and non-reality, but it includes everything, again in everything simultaneously. Furthermore, Zhuang Zi developed Lao Zi’s theory to extremeness. He said, “There was a beginning. There was a time before that beginning. And there was a time before the time which was before that beginning. There was being. There was non-being. There was a time before that non-being. And there was a time before the time that was before that non-being. Suddenly there is being and there is non-being, but I don’t know which of being and non-being is really being or really non-being. I have just said something. But I don’t know if what I have said really says something or says nothing.”^[xv] Here, Zhuang Zi expressed a view which it demands to negate thoroughly in order to attain the ultimate end and true realization. And this ultimate end transcended completely with beginning and end, existence and non-existence, being and non-being, etc. In Zhuang Zi's view, both being and non-being are from Dao and they are two aspects of Dao which can not be named. He put forward “free and unfettered” as an ideal life on he basis of Dao. Just because Lao Zi and Zhuang Zi’s philosophy of “non-being” has formally similar to Buddhist philosophy of sunya (empty), so Buddhist philosophy found a bosom friend in Taoist theory at the beginning and opened a convenient door for Buddhism entering into China.

According to the definition of Kant, metaphysics is the field that transcends the experience. And it is the philosophical universal principle that expresses with logic concept in abstract speculation.^[xvi] But Buddhism even in the deepest state, namely in Nirvana, it was said that one can experience pure ego and experience non-being in this fired, is also experimental. However it’s not everyone in daily life can easy experience it. Only by cultivating oneself strictly can have a possibility to attain it.

The cultivation is a transcendent process from daily state to nirvana state. But it does not transcend out of the experience, the result of transcendence is still experience. And only oneself can experience personally but can't communicate. So we can say that from this meaning the highest state that Buddhist attained is still experience. And then we saw two kinds of transcendence in different ways: one is the western metaphysics which transcends outside direction, even out of experience; and another is Buddhist type which directs to inside, to catch the pure ego that is as a basis of all knowledge. If we are according to Kant’s definition for metaphysics, then Buddhism is not becoming to metaphysics and also not a philosophy. However, if we admit that transcendence in Buddhism is also metaphysics and it accords with people’s transcendent spiritual requirements, well then Kant’s definition for metaphysics should be revised. Namely, metaphysics is revised as a people’s transcendent activities, and admit that the direction and type can be different. It is because of these differences that cause different types of metaphysics.

We claim the later viewpoint, and consider that there is a philosophy moreover a profound philosophy in Buddhism. It has a very important metaphysics though it has some religious practice. But Buddhism is not a religion with blindness and reverence, and it doesn’t require anyone to exclude and to condemn other doctrines. Buddhist philosophy is a kind of wisdom, a philosophy with tolerance as the symbol.

The problem is the standard for metaphysics. Whether we are according to the standard by the western thinking mode to definite orient philosophy or be according to orient characteristics to definite it. Just because there are different modes of metaphysics, the western type is a kind of philosophical form that transcend out of experience. Corresponding with it, the western metaphysics adopted the category system gotten by method of logical inference to show its highest philosophical principle, so it was called universal and absolute truth. Comparing to the western mode, the metaphysics in Buddhism which stresses on empirical experience and stresses on causally-produced, obviously, it is not the western ontological type of metaphysics.

Equally, Chinese “Dao” is a typical philosophical concept, and it is a philosophic highest category. But Dao is not a field independently from experience. The thinking mode for “Dao and Qi are not apart each other”, “Li (reason) is in Qi (matter)”, “Got Meaning but forget the images”, etc. all showed the way of Chinese philosophical metaphysics that experience transcendence in actual society. Since there were some consistency on the way of transcendence in Indian Buddhist philosophy and Chinese philosophy, they found out some fit points of combination when Buddhism entered into ancient China.

The western philosophy has deeply influenced the western people’s existent manners and influenced the development of social life. As sameness, orient philosophy has influenced orient people’s manners of living deeply.

The western traditional philosophy treated philosophy as a knowledge, its aim was to lead people from the phenomenon world toward the principle world, what western philosophy constructed is an abstract essential world. In contemporary west, many scholars have rebelled against the western philosophical tradition such as Heidegger helplessly said that the philosophy is metaphysics. He gave up philosophy and transformed it to “thinking”. What Heidegger advocated “thinking” gave voice to a new view of philosophy, which is that should release persons from abstract essential world and draw them back to an actual living world. Buddhism and traditional Chinese philosophy displayed as a kind of life style and led people to transcend the limitations of knowledge and return to a perfectly world. So we know that the western philosophers has found some disadvantages in western metaphysics and philosophy, surely we should not comply with it anymore but should according to our own tradition and to develop our philosophy in the contemporary era.

载：Journal of Philosophy and Religion Vol.9. 2008,6  Assumption University of Thailand