Buddhist Exegesis on Whitehead’s Process Philosophy (2/3)
Wong Weng Hon
Sufi Ibn ‘Arabī defines that God is the Unity of Existence (Waḥdat al Wujūd). Sufism is actually process philosophy. This supports Whitehead’s advocate that every determinate actual entity is the unity of Existence of God. From Nāgārjuna’s perception, the unity of cause and conditions constituting any conditioned phenomenon is the Truth of Emptiness (‘Sūnyatā). Hence, ontologically, ‘Sūnyatā equals God. To be more precise, Emptiness is the very attribute of God in terms of Unity of Existence. Ultimately, everything or every phenomenon does not autonomously. Dependence and relatedness characterize all things. This is the ultimate Reality.
Whitehead is insightfully penetrative as he is adept at relating secular life with the concept of God in terms of Process Thought of Emptiness. God and Emptiness are compatible as both are defined ontologically as the Unity of Existence. The Supreme Masters declare that everything secular in this world is the Unity of Existence without exception. It is a Process Thought of multiplicity in the Unity and Unity in the multiplicity. In fact, God or Emptiness encompasses everything in the world. Emptiness is everything (form); Everything (Form) is Emptiness. Monotheistically defined , God is also everything; everything is God. Therefore, God equals Emptiness from the ultimate perspective of the unity of Existence. Succinctly put, God or Emptiness is Process Philosophy or the Philosophy of Organism.
A Buddhist desiring to comprehend Heart sūtra insightfully should build a firm foundation of the knowledge process philosophy expounded by Whitehead whose exegesis on Process Theism is comprehensive and unveiling. Likewise, a Buddhist desiring to apprehend the Abhidhamma pertaining to the Dhamma Theory (Dhammavāda) of Analysis and Synthesis should acquire a fundamental knowledge of process philosophy from Whitehead’s exegesis on Process and Reality. Buddhist Abhidhammic process philosophy is too academic, scholastic and too abstruse to the ordinary learners. Whitehead’s Process Thought is lucid and pragmatic. Whitehead’s work on ‘Process and Reality’ is , in truth, a grand commentary on the Process Reality of dynamic process becoming (Santāna dhamma). A serious Buddhist learner of Abhidhamma should utilize whitehead’s exposition on Process and Reality to discover the communal Truth of Wisdom.
Two-fold Way
Knowledge of God or Emptiness makes life meaningful in two-fold way. Firstly, the knowledge of God or Emptiness unravels the infinite innate human potentialities and possibilities to create human accomplishments through Unity of Existence. These infinite possibilities can be transformed into infinite actualities manifested in terms of human accomplishments. Religion explains human accomplishments are actualized ontologically and philosophically. Secondly, if deficient or defective contigent conditions are imposed and determined by Man, the law of moral accountability or God will punish the immoral individuals with non-accomplishments manifested in the forms of defeats , failures crises, disasters and even catastrophe through the punitive force of dependently co-arisen Unity of Existence. Depending upon the contigent conditions, the law of Dependent Co-arising (Buddhistly put) or the creative power of God (Monotheistically put) operates either positively or negatively. However, the moral law of cause and effect operates universally for all human beings irrespective of any religious denomination. Good action breeds good result; evil action breeds evil result.
Buddhistly put,, Dependent co-arisen Unity is the law of causality in process reality. Monotheistically put , the law of causality operates through God’s reward and retribution. God rewards or punishes according to unity or disunity of existence caused by human behavior. In the case of a failure or defeat, the unity mould of God or Emptiness has been shattered asunder. An event of defeat or failure is the collapse of unity or mould of God or Emptiness. The collapse of unity or mould of God or Emptiness is metaphorically expressed as the anger of God or obliteration of Emptiness. An event of accomplishment or success is metaphorically expressed as the satisfaction of God or the preservation of consummate Emptiness. Buddhistly put, disunity is the violation of the principle of Emptiness which is the dependently co-arisen Unity or Non-duality.
Thus , it evidences or corroborates that success and failure originate from the both Man and God as co-creators of human destines. Buddhistly put, co-creation is the interpeneration between phenomena and Principle expounded in Hua-yen Buddhism. Hence, it is exerted generally by the Monotheists that God helps only those who help themselves. Man must first play his role before God plays His role. Man actions must precede God’s actions. If man is indolent or immoral, God does not help or the Principle of Emptiness is violated.
The classical belief that God fatalistically predetermines a human destiny and Man must surrender everything to the strict determinism of God is a glaring misinterpretation and mispresentation of God concept in the teaching of classical Theism. The world is now more comfortable with Process Theism rather than with the fatalistic classical Theism. Process or perennial wisdom rectifies this wrong fatalistic concept of strict predeterminism of God. Buddhism and Process Monotheism reject strict predeterminism in which Man has no freewill and can exercise no human effort to determine or shape his own destiny.
Process Theism advocates that Man must strive and struggle with his will, choice and determination before God helps Man fulfills his goal. Generally, the classical theists are more backward than the Process Theists. The former depends solely on the al-mighty power to determine his or her density. The latter depends on both human power and God’s power to construct his or her own density.
From the bipolar Reality of process philosophy, both powers are intimately involved as co-creators. Human power is phenomenon whilst God’s power or Emptiness is the eternal Principle. Buddhistly put, the interpenetration between the phenomenon and the Principle is the Middle Path of the two-fold truth of conventional truth and ultimate Truth. Monotheistcally put, the Middle Path is the bi-polar reality of the world and God relationship or the conventional reality and ultimate Reality relationship.
Process Theism pinpoints that God only helps Man if Man helps himself. In the case of Buddhism, the natural law of Dependent Co-arising plays the unifying role of God. But Man must play the role of imposing the necessary contigent conditions. In reality, from the perspective of Process Theism, God and the power of Dependent Co-arising are ontologically synonymous. Ancient and modern spiritual leaders of comparative religious study have discovered and concurred that process or perennial philosophy is universally applicable for all major world’s religions since time immemorial hitherto. There can be only one absolute or eternal Truth for all, that is cosmic Unity. Vedānta categorically asserts that there are many paths and all paths shepherd us towards the inner Heart – the original home of self-redemption or salvation.
Know Yourself
If God is perceived to be an external al-Mighty power helping Man from outside him, it is idolatrous. Idolatry is wrong worship and belief in God. It impedes salvation or liberation. This is the greatest perversion of modern God worshippers who unconsciously reify God externally. God should be sought from within the inner Heart of Man. The Ḥ̣adīth says : Whoever knows himself knows the Lord.
Prophet Muhammad says, “ God is closer to you than your jugular vein.” The Chinese Ancient asserts thus,” Tao is not remote from Man but it is Man who is remote from Tao.” God should be known from the micro-reality of human personality or its microcosm. Whoever discerns microcosm knows macrocosm - the macro-reality of the cosmos. God or Buddha-nature dwells in the inner Heart of Man.
God should be perceived in terms of Process Reality of human personality in which Man and God interpenetrate as co-creators to complete an accomplishment when there are harmony of contigent conditions. Non-duality is the ultimate Reality which depicts Man’s reciprocal relationship with God. Success or Failure originates from both powers of Man and God who are co-creators of human destinies. God helps only those who help themselves. When Man does not strive hard enough, God or Emptiness fails him.
Actual Entites
According to Whitehead’s intuitive apprehension, multiple contigent conditions (See C1, C2, C3 and so on in the flow-chart given in the February Edition of Deer Park, 2009) are integrated and unified by the Unity of Existence of God. Process theistically put, God can be defined as the Process Reality of Unity of Existence which is Dependent Co-arising. Whitehead defines God as an actual entity. A number of contigent conditions are required to create the first actual entity AE1. Whitehead defines an actual entity as the prehension of a dependently co-arisen conditioned phenomenon. He advocates that an actual entity is said to prehend (condition) and to be prehended (conditioned) because it is dependently co-arisen from a past actual entity. The newly arisen actual entity then integrates with another new immediate actual entity to create another new actual entity. An actual entity is made up of atomic or momentary events. The events are a series of actual human empirical experiences. Buddhistly put, an actual entity or dependently co-arisen phenomenon is the dynamic process becoming of the unity of physical and mental elementary constituents called dhammas.
Whitehead conceives that prehension of actual entities is actually an unceasing process of creation from unity of contigent conditions. Buddhistly put, creation is arisen from the poetentiality of Emptiness. Emptiness is the unity or harmony (sāmagrī) of causes (hetus) and conditions (pratyayas). An actual entity is also defined by Whitehead as a creation of an ‘Accomplishment’ in the world giving rise to the satisfaction of God and correspondingly, the satisfaction in the human achiever, group or organization. Buddhistly put, the satisfaction of God is the consummated unity or harmony of causes and conditions. Ontologically put, Emptiness is an accomplishment and an accomplishment is Emptiness. Since Man introduces the contigent conditions through personal imposition and determinism by his personal will and efforts, this evidences that both Man and God co-create an aspired actual entity, such as a desirable accomplishment like obtaining a degree or manufacture a new car or any form of accomplishment.
An accomplishment is the unity of contigent conditions introduced by a man who sets his goal of attainment. God does not set the goal. It is man who sets the goal. Man furnishes the contigent conditions which are unified by the Unity of Existence of God. It is thus evident that Whitehead’s theory of Theistic creation is compatible with the theory of creation necessitated by the pentiality of creation of Emptiness (‘Sūnyatā). Emptiness is synonymous with Insubstantiality (Anattā). Emptiness or Insubstantiality connotes Unity of Existence. Any Unity of Existence is an actual entity (reified concrete phenomenon).
Whitehead defines an actual entity as God. Thus, we witness that Buddhism and Process Theism are ultimately Process Philosophy. Interestingly, I too discover that Taoism, Hinduism and Sufism are also ultimately process philosophy. Process philosophy is the universal Truth of cosmic Unity (Dharmadhātu). The past and modern saints or supreme masters have corroborated that process philosophy is the universal Truth of cosmic Unity or cosmic Self which moves dynamically. The static view of the empirical phenomena is illusory and false.
Universally compatible
Nāgārjuna equates Dependent Co-arising with Emptiness (MMK24.18). Emptiness is the concept of Insubstantiality (Anattā). Insubstantiality is the Process Reality of unity of parts. Being insubstantial, Emptiness receives a divine status like Brahman of Vedānta, Tao of Taoism, God of Christianity and Baqā of Islam which fit in with everything. Whiteheadian Process Thought is the Right Thought of Emptiness which is compatible with anything and everything in human experience. Therefore, Nāgārjuna affirms ,”Everything is pertinent for whom emptiness is proper.” (MMK24.14). Hence, Buddhist Fundamental doctrine of Emptiness is also compatible with Quantum Theory of Physics.
The Particle Physics discovers that a substance is the unity of atoms; an atom is the unity of sub-atomic particles; a sub-atomic particle is the unity of sub-sub-atomic particles. Succinctly put, a substance is empty of inherent existence. Thus, any substance is Emptiness. Hence, every substance is God because it is the unity of existence. All Supreme Masters declare that an individual substance with its permanent self-nature and devoid of integral parts never exists.
Emptiness equaling God is of universal application to describe the ultimate Reality which is beyond designation actually. Nevertheless, the designation is necessitated by the purpose of human communication and social intercourse. Nāgārjuna asserts that even the tetralemma of “ Empty, Not Empty, both and neither’ (MMK22.11) does not suffice to express the ineffable ultimate Reality of Process Thought of Emptiness or Dependent Co-arisen phenomena (pratītyasamutpanna-dharmas). The tetralemma is only suitable to depict a substantial entity. However, any substantial entity is illusory or unreal. Process becoming or Emptiness is the one and only Truth. The most ideal way to describe process becoming is the Buddhist fundamental doctrines of Insubstantiality (Anattā) and Dependent Origination or Co-arising (Pațiccasamuppāda).
Atomic Theory of Physics
The Quantum Theory of Physics states that every matter is the unity of atoms and every atom is the unity of particles. Interestingly, these particles are constantly exerting forces .They are moving and are not static. The quantum mechanics is a micro Process Reality of dynamic process becoming. Like wise, the five aggregates or the eighteen elements of a human personality is also a dynamic process becoming. Hence, Religion and Science are reconciled and compatible in terms of Process Thought of Emptiness.
Whitehead himself is a scientist as well as a process philosopher. His doctrine of process Thought is supported and expounded by many other 20th century western process philosophers, such as Samuel Alexander, George Herbert Mead, John Dewey, C.S.Peirce, William James and especially Charles Hartshorne. Whitehead can easily be ranked to be of equal status in Theosophy to Vedānta philosophers, Badarayana and Adi ‘Sankara, Mahāyāna philosophers, Nāgārjuna and Vasubandhu, Sufi Philosophers al-Ḥallāj and Ibn ‘Arabī , Tao philosopher Lao-tzu and Hua Yen Bhikkhu Fa-tsang. Most importantly, Whitehead is a modern grand western commentator on Buddhist tenet of Process Philosophy of Sanātana Dhamma of the unobstruction between the phenomena and the Principle or between the world and God.
Buddhistly put, the AE1 (See flow chart in the February Edition of Deer Park, 2009) is the conditioned phenomenon which is synthesized from the contigent conditions C1, C2 , C3 and so forth. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, the dorminant contigent condition is the cause (hetu) and the supporting contigent factors are a set of conditions (pratyayas). In Abhidhamma, the contigent conditions are variable physical phenomena (rūpadhammas) and the mental phenomena (nāmadhammas) comprising the mind (citta), mental concomitants (cetasikas) and material form (rūpa). Man furnishes the contigent conditions. The law of Dependent Co-arising or God consummates the unity of contigent cause and a set of conditions into a determinate actual entity of accomplishment .
Concrescence of God
After the accomplishment of AE1, God retains AE1 and integrates it with new contigent conditions, namely C3, C4, C5 and so forth to create a second new actual entity AE2 (See the aforementioned flowchart). AE2 is the second new accomplishment A2 in the world. Unceasingly, God retains AE2 and integrates it with a third new AE3 to create the third A3. The continuous creative advance or growth of God is designated as the concrescence of God by Whitehead. It is the collective growth of all actual entities integrated. The concrescence of God corresponds to a series of accomplishments of a progressive human achiever, group, community, society, nation or the world. The crucial contigent conditions are the impositions and determinations introduced by the human free will and human efforts. This eliminates the fatalistic determinism of God. Man plays a reciprocal role with God in determining his destiny. This corresponds with the generally noted fact that God helps one who helps oneself. Buddhistly put, if Man does not introduce the necessary contigent conditions, the unity of conditioned phenomenon does not come into existence or Emptiness is not consumated.
Created Accomplishments
The creative power of God is the primordial nature of creative potentialities or possibilities of God existing immanently in every person as the Unity of Existence in every actual entity. This primordial nature of God is synonymous with the Reality of Emptiness of the Buddha-nature lying innately in every sentient being. The Buddha-nature is the attribute of Insubstantiality or Selflessness (Anattā).Insubstantiality or Selflessness connotes Unity of Existence. Therefore, Anattā equals God in terms of Selflessness or the negation of substantiality.
Owing to the impermanence or mutability of contigent conditions, change is possible for any conditioned phenomenon or actual entity. Every unity of existence is an accomplishment if the contigent conditions are wholesome and adequate. Conversely, every unity of existence may be either a defeat or failure if the contigent conditions are unwholesome or defective or inadequate.
The purpose of life is to create an increasing number of wholesome micro-unities or actual entities in one’s life journey so that one progresses from light to light. Every micro-unity or actual entity represents an accomplishment positive or negative. Man and God are co-pilots in the life journey of Man. Man contributes contigent conditions supported by ethics or vices . God contributes the unifying force of Unity of Existence by which all contigent conditions are conglomerated. Man introduces or imposes and determines the building blocks of life. The unifying force of Unity of Existence consummates the life journey for Man.
Human failure and suffering are arisen from separating Man from God or Buddha-nature which is actually the process reality of Unity of Existence. God or Buddha-nature of Emptiness is the unifying force of Unity of Existence. An atom is the Unity of Existence of sub-atomic particles. A car is also the Unity of Existence of its components. Therefore, an Atom or a Car is the Unity of Existence of God. The life of Man is, in truth, a dynamic Unity of process becoming in which human will and God’s will are integrated to bring about the Unity of Existence – the complete life journey of Man.
Process Reality
Human life is actually the dynamic reality of a continuous series of changing actual entities. Process Philosopher, Charles Hartshorne, an eminent disciple of Whitehead defines that the empirical reality is composed of innumerable minds (mental concepts) or innumerable occasions of changing sense experiences. Hence, he defines Process Thought as Psychicalism or Panexperiencialism. All conditioned phenomena or actual entities are human conscious experiences . Every actual entity is mental experience conceptualized by Man.
Buddhistly put, Process Becoming is a series of human sensual experiences mentally constructed by Man from mental conceptualizations and obsessions. Succinctly put, every occasion of human experience is mind-made (citta-mātra). This is consonant with Yogācāra school of Buddhist Thought expounded by Vasubandhu.
I jubilantly discover that Whiteheaden Process Philosophy impacts Buddhist scholars because his celebrated work of ‘Process and Reality’ encompasses the thoughts of Buddhist Madhyamaka school of Nāgārjuna and Buddhist Yogācāra School of Vasubandhu. Madhyamaka School expounds the doctrine of Emptiness and Middle Philosophy. Yogācāra School expounds the doctrine of ‘Mind-Only’. It is very Truth unveiling that Buddhism and Process Theism corroborate one another.
Relative-Principle Creation
Though the concept of creation of the world is diversely paraphrased, the communal Truth of Wisdom pertaining to creation of the world is identical. It is constructed upon the relative-principle or world-God relationship of process philosophy. The relative-principle or world-God relationship actualizes worldly creations through the dynamic process becoming. The Whiteheadian Process Thought or Process philosophy is rooted in Process Thought of Heraclitus in the west and Buddhism in the east . This marks the perfect match of alliance of civilizations between the west and the east. The best and brightest brains are found both in the west and the east. The west and east can learn from one another for the communal benefits and wellbeing of the earth community .
Whitehead exerts that every actual entity is empty of inherent existence or self-nature (svabhāva). Every actual entity is the unity of contigent conditions. The creation of the countless actual entities of multiplicity is called consequent nature of God. Succinctly put, any form of unity is the existence of God. It is evident that Whitehead posits that every actual entity or conditioned phenomenon (event; accomplishment; occurrence; existence etc ) is empty of a permanent substance to permit the unobstructed flow of creative advance of the world. Process becoming can not occur if a permanent substance exists. A permanent substance existing in any actual entity impedes transformation and creative advance of the world.
Conclusion
Buddhism, in fact, is the most sophisticated ancient form of process philosophy . However, credit should go to Whitehead which has contributed his thoughts to make process philosophy much more lucid and coherent. Whiteheadian process philosophy has indeed helped us comprehend the obstruse Gotama Buddha’s teachings of Process Thought of Insubstantiality and Dependent Co-arising compiled in the Suttapițaka and Abhidammapițaka of Theravāda tradition. The Dhamma Theory (Dhammavāda) of the Abhdhamma philosophy is Buddhist tenet of process philosophy. Heart Sūtra is the most condensed form of Buddhist Process Philosophy. Abhidhamma is the most sophisticated form of Buddhist Process Philosophy. All world’s religions shepherd us towards a common destination of the inner Heart of Man in which self-redemption or liberation occurs.
To be continued
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