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The dissident philosophers in India and China

Those who disagree with the existing religious or political structure of a society are known as
dissident. Dissident ideology means the concept of very rational and perceptive people who
stood up against a specific society's malpractices, era of beliefs and traditions and acted tirelessly
to make a better life for the people of that particular period. Dissident philosophy never went
against any of the society’s positive beliefs or practices. When kings and priests pretended to be
men of god, they used to do things to their own gain and could not be held responsible for their
acts that were not fair to ordinary people. They exposed the world to many malpractices that had
been going on for many ages. The individuals or personalities, who protested against these
malpractices and traditions of society at different ages in favor of the common people, became
known as the dissident philosophers. The very moment when opposing philosophies have
emerged in various parts of the world is known as the axial age. It is a crucial moment in human
history when modern ways of thinking about life and the universe, such as how to live a better
life and how to make the earth a better place, have increasingly become apparent to people.
Many of these dissident philosophers appeared in India and China. Most significant of them were
Gautama Buddha, Vardamana Mahavira who were from India and Confucius, Laozi, Xunzi, and
Han Fei who were from China.

Indian Philosophers: The new ways of philosophical thinking took the form of new
religious beliefs such as Buddhism and Jainism that challenged the traditional beliefs and rituals
of the Vedic religion in India.

Gautama Buddha:
Background: Gautama Buddha's real name was Siddhartha Gautama, who created a group of
roaming ascetics who were one of the many groups that existed in India at that period. Later they
came to be known as Sangha. He was from the caste of Kshatriya and was born in the royal
Gautama family in Lumbini. His father was Suddhodana and his mother was Maya. Mother died
shortly after he was born, and he was raised by his father's second wife in Kapilavastu where he
was living a rich life. His renunciation was driven by the fact that his soul might be exposed to
multiple aspects of human suffering such as sickness, old age, and death like everyone else
which driven him into a moral awakening. He left his home and started living as a homeless
ascetic by the time he was 29. After leaving Kapilavastu, he studied meditation under the
guidance of two of the then leading masters named- Arada Kalama and Udraka Ramaputra. He
didn't get the results he wanted, so he left his masters and engaged in intense asceticism and five
disciples also followed him. Siddhartha attempted to accomplish his goal for a period of six years
but was unsuccessful. Since discovering that asceticism was not the path to obtain the success he
was looking for, he gave up this way of living and for that he was rejected by his disciples. One
day, he sat down under a peepal tree, also known as the 'Bodhi tree', for meditation where he
eventually achieved Nirvana and became recognized as the Buddha. Since he was very
enlightened and knowledgeable, people gave him some kind of recognition and applied to his
name the suffix 'Buddha' which means 'The Enlightened one'.

Features: Gautama Buddha stood against the upper class people who subjugated the ordinary.
Despite being from a Brahmin family he opposed the Brahmin caste system. Siddhartha’s ideas
were associated with the elimination of suffering for mankind. He opposed the solutions
suggested by the Vedic rituals, in particular the sacrifices, and found these rituals to be barbaric
because of their close association with the slaughter of living beings. He believed that wisdom
and meditation are the real means of redemption. He wanted to achieve a level of human nature,
and his method was strictly agnostic. He preached for men’s equality which is the biggest reason
people followed him. Nirvana is a state of satisfaction and contentment. If anyone has so much
wealth and properties, but is not content with all that, and cannot find any fulfillment in his mind,
then all these things would have no sense. The achievement of Nirvana, which is content with
what you have, makes human whole. According to Buddhism, the most efficient way of
achieving Nirvana is through the Eightfold path which is divided into three parts. They are-

1. Wisdom, which is right views and right intentions.

2. Ethical behavior, which is right action, right speech, right livelihood.

3. Mental discipline, which is right effort, right thought and right concentration.

Right views mean knowing the truth of everything and practice it, right intentions mean freeing
mind from evil thoughts, right speech means knowing what not to say that may hurt others, right
action means work for the good of others, right livelihood means living a respectful life and not
using dishonest way to achieve something, right effort means giving one’s best to resist evil,
right concentration means practicing meditation and right mindfulness means controlling one’s
thoughts. Nirvana can be achieved by mastering all these noble eightfold path.

Buddhism is such a belief that influenced millions of people across the world. Though it was
originated in the land of India in ancient period, it ultimately spread across the world.
Vardamana Mahavira:
Background: Vardhamana Mahavira also known as the Jina was an Indian ascetic scholar and
the founder of Jainism which is a massive religion of India. He was born into the royal family of
the Jnatrika clan in northern India, now known as Bihar. His mother's name was Trishala, and his
father's name was Siddhartha. At the age of 30 he abandoned his royal life and all earthly
possessions and left home to seek spiritual salvation where he became an ascetic. He rejected his
clothing and practiced deep meditation and extreme austerities for 12 years and achieved
‘Kevala’ Gyan, also known in Jainism as omniscience which means absolute knowledge. For 30
years he preached and attained ‘moksha’ which is obtaining spiritual freedom from all karmic
slavery through an inner self-discipline. He reached divine purification and enlightenment at the
age of 42, and became the Jina and gained many disciples known as Jains.

Features: The theory of Mahavira was that there is no god or that supernatural power. The
universe follows its own laws, and no deity or supernatural force can control it. According to
Jainism, the universe is made up of souls that everyone and everything in it has a soul, and the
supreme meaning of existence is to cleanse one's soul by asceticism, which is strict self-denial in
order to achieve liberation of the soul and eternal bliss. Mahavira taught five vows to earn this
eternal bliss-

1. Ahimsa that is non-violence,

2. Satya or the truth,

3. Asteya or not to steal,

4. Brahmacharya or get rid of sensual pleasure, and

5. Aparigraha or non-attachment.

Most important is non-violence, and according to Jainism, a living being has a soul, and
destroying a life form will lead to a bad rebirth, and eternal bliss cannot be attained. Jains used to
cover their mouths while talking so that no insect would accidentally enter them. Because they
believed that if an insect dies by someone, he'll be reincarnated as that insect in the next life.
Also, a vegetarian diet is regarded as a religiously inspired diet since destroying any form of life
is absolutely prohibited even for food.
Chinese Philosophers: After the collapse of the Zhou Dynasty, the emergence of this new
philosophic ideology was seen in various parts of China. At the time, the government was
attempting to include these philosophers with the state mechanism, and thus created a platform
of philosophers, called the Hundred School of Thoughts, also known as the Hundred Masters
From where, Confucius, Laozi, Xunzi, Han Fei and other great philosophers appeared.

Confucius:
Background: Confucius was a Chinese scholar, teacher, and politician, also known as Kong
Qui. He was born into a royal family of the Zhou Dynasty in present-day Qufu Province of
Shandong, China. His father was Kong He and his mother was Yan Zhengzai. His father died
when he was three. In his youth, Confucius was first taught by his mother and then established
himself as a valiant learner. Before he married Qiguan when he was 19, Confucius had worked in
minor government positions overseeing stables and holding books for granaries. He was
educated in commoners' schools, where he studied and mastered the Six Arts and his
acquaintance with classical practices, poetry and history allowed him to begin a brilliant teaching
career in his thirties. Confucius is regarded in China as the first teacher who tried to make
education widely accessible and who was influential in setting up the practice of teaching as a
profession. For Confucius, the primary purpose of education was to provide the proper teaching
of ideal individuals which is a task that required continuous self-improvement and constant
social contact. In the late 40s and early 50s, Confucius served first as magistrate, then as assistant
minister of public works, and finally as minister of justice in the state of Lu. He accompanied
King Lu as his chief minister on one of the diplomatic missions. Yet his allegiance to the King
isolated him from the power holders at the day, and his ethical righteousness did not sit well with
the inner circle of the King, who bewildered the King with sensuous excitement. At 56, when he
learned that his superiors had little interest in his actions, he went into exile in an effort to find
another feudal state under which he could contribute. Despite his political dissatisfaction, he was
followed by a growing group of students during this self-imposed exile of nearly 12 years. His
credibility as a man of hope and purpose had grown. A border guard once described him as the
"wooden tongue for a bell" of the age, ringing the mystical tone of Heaven to awaken people.

Features: Confucius himself did not write any systematic philosophical word. His followers
assembled all of his lessons into a compilation known as the Analects. His key purpose was to
establish a dynamic structure of cultural, social, political and religious ideology, which is why he
is considered as the father of moral philosophy. His moral concept was to establish an
enlightened society in which everything will be based on knowledge. He suggested three ways in
which it could be done-

1. Right execution of the ritual, which is the reformation of the existing rituals that have been
going on in society for hundreds of years.

2. Responsibility and devotion to the family, which reinforces the ties between family members
and makes the relationship more stable.

3. Perfection of moral character in order to become a superior man. The one who is wealthier is
not superior; indeed, the one who is more morally educated and knowledgeable is superior.

He also said that human beings have to value 5 vital relationships that are relationships
between –

1. Husband and wife,

2. Parent and child,

3. Elder and younger,

4. Ruler and subject, and

5. Friend and Friend.

Thus, in his moral hierarchies, moral roles are assigned to one person based on how he is related
to the other. His political aspect of government was that no force or punishment is required in the
enlightened society of superior men, since they are morally wise enough to solve all sorts of
problems in the community through their knowledge. A very significant tradition of the Chinese
people was that they had a dynastic political structure where the king or emperor was to be
determined by birth right. Only royal blood was seen as fit to rule the country or empire. But,
according to Confucius, education makes a man capable of governing rather than birth right.
Education, thus, should be the first priority for ruling, not the succession of the throne. He
wanted a society that would guarantee peace and justice which, according to him, would be an
ideal society. Being loyal and faithful has a significant role in the teaching of Confucius. He is
said to teach four things- culture, behavior, loyalty and faithfulness.

Laozi:
Background: Laozi, also referred to as Lao Tzu, was an Chinese scholar and author, and also a
renowned writer of Tao Te Ching. He is the founder of Daoism, also known as Taoism, meaning
'The Way.' He was born in Quren, Chu province. He worked as a scholar and served as an
archivist for the Royal Court of the Zhou Dynasty. As he learned that the Zhou dynasty was in
crisis, he left and went to the Xiangu Pass, where the famous guardian asked him to write a book
for him. So he wrote the book known as the Daodejing in two parts, in which he lay down his
theories on the Dao which means ‘path’ and the De which is ‘virtue’.

Features: His theory was that the best way to live was to follow the natural order of things. The
universe has its own spontaneity, where we must not intervene. We need to manage our society
and the environment as it is, rather than attempt to control it. If we want to manipulate nature, it
would take a toll on us which will cost us greatly. Accepting the universe as it is allows a way to
live a peaceful and healthy life in harmony with nature. He said to follow the least governance
process, which holds that non-intervention is the proper duty of the government. He wants to
give each person as much independence as possible rather than bounding them with rules which
is the best governance according to him. Since nature has its own rules and regulations, society
should not enforce any rules or laws on people or the environment. He also said that life and
death are separate periods of existence in which one cannot occur without the other.

For any society religion had become a very significant aspect. The dissident philosophers never
claimed to be a prophet or a man of god but at some point people treated their ideas as a type of
religion. They opposed a particular society's ongoing practices, behaviors, and cultures that have
been there for hundreds of thousands of years which made them dissident philosophers. They
stood up for the common people and introduced the world with new and developed ideologies.
Their ideas made the civilization building process in different parts of the world more advanced.
They left a deep impact on the face of earth where their teachings are still followed by many
people all around the world.

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