Buddhist Exegesis on Whitehead’s Process Philosophy (3/3)
Wong Weng Hon
Human freewill and self-efforts, permitted by the Emptiness of mutable contigent conditions, precede the unifying role of God or the Law of Dependent Co-arising . Process-theistically put, the unifying role of God corresponds with the dependent co-arisen unity of contigent conditions. If Man does not furnish the wholesome, constructive and ethical contigent conditions through personal wills and efforts, the unity of God or actual entity or consummated conditioned phenomenon of accomplishment does not occur. From the process philosophy, Monotheism, Hinduism and Buddhism are esoterically identically though exoterically or outwardly, they are glaringly distinct. The glaringly distinct exotericism of apparently dissimilar world’s religions, such as Hinduism, Taoism, Buddhism, Christianity , Judaism and Islam are merely dissimilarities in outward paths towards the identical esoteric goal of deliverance. There are different transport vehicles to reach the same destination – the obliteration of false self and the resurrection of the innate True Self. The communal Truth of wisdom is that one dies before one dies. The True Self or Cosmic Self (Dharmadhātu) is dissimilarly designated as Brahman, Tao, Buddha, God and Allah. Those who immerse themselves only in the exoteric dimension of their respective religions should refrain themselves from making critique of interfaith-understanding of the communal Truth of Wisdom. Internally or esoterically, all faith believers or adherents are identical.
True Nature of Man
Process-philosophically put, a human being is just a dynamic being of process becoming. The human being is a process reality of five aggregates integrating with the constant changes in the environment. Human personality is an actual entity constantly integrating with other related changing actual entities in their external environment. The integration process perpectuates incessantly without break until deliverance is attained.
Therefore, like any Supreme Master, Nāgārjuna rejects tritemporal existence traversing the past, the present and the future because a continuous process becoming of Emptiness transcends both space and time. Only an illusory substantial entity moves tri-temporally through space and time. The dynamic process becoming is insubstantial and perpetuates unceasingly. The incessant perpetuation of process becoming corresponds with the creative advance of the original actual entity of conditioned phenomenon. The original actual entity is designated by Whitehead as ‘objective immortality’.
Objective Immortality
The ‘objective immortality’ is the commencing determinate actual entity. It integrates perpetually with additional immediate new actual entities to become larger or more progressive actual entity of further or enhanced accomplishment. Mundanely put, the preceding accomplishment is elevated into more superior subsequent accomplishment through growing improvement in life. For instance, the financial growth of a business entity results in increasing profit margin from one financial year to the next financial year. The positive annual growth of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of a progressive nation is another good example. Conversely, the ongoing 2008-2009 financial meltdown indicates that the ‘objective immortality’ of the global financial industry has deteriorated currently.
At the macro-level of process becoming, this perpetual growth of global ‘objective immortality’ conditions the unceasing global concrescence of the world. Conversely, the regressive growth of global ‘objective immortality’ leads to the economic recession in the world. How the world appears to Man mirrors the perception of Man. The appearance of the empirical world is contigent upon the conceptual mind of Man. An actual entity of a conditioned phenomenon is a reified or substantial object corresponding to the substantial view of ontology. Succinctly put, the world is mind-made (citta-mātra). Thus, every actual entity of a conditioned phenomenon perceived by Man is mind-made. Substantial view of ontology is wrong view. Process insubstantial view is the only right vision of ontology. Process Reality of dynamic process becoming (sanātana dharma) is the only right view.
In truth, the process philosophy of Whitehead mirrors Buddhist thought of the syncretized philosophy of Madhyamaka of Nāgārjuna and Yogācāra of Vasuabndhu. Whitehead, a scientist as well as a process philosopher, differs in style but not in substance from aforementioned renowned Buddhist philosophers in the sense that he is adept at expounding the process philosophy of perennial wisdom very scientisfically and logically in which religion and science are interpenetrated without obstruction. The Avaṃtasaka Sūtra of Hua-yen Buddhism expounds the unobstructive interpenetration between secular life and spiritual life as the unobstructive interpenetration between phenomenon and principle.
At the micro-level of process becoming, therefore a man is an integral unit of an actual entity in the process becoming. A conditioned phenomenon is a series of moments of sense experiences as a result of integration of countless actual entities of conditioned phenomena. Metaphorically put, an actual entity of conditioned phenomenon is like a film show constituted from a roll of film negatives. The film show is the Unity and the roll of film negatives is the multiplicity. Without the multiplicity, unity does not exist. Likewise, the existence of unity unites the multiplicity. The ontological Monotheistic God concept or Emptiness operates similarly: The Unity is in the multiplicity and the multiplicity is in the Unity. This bipolar Reality of process becoming resonates with the celebrated Buddhist Heart Sūtra’s teaching of ‘Form is Emptiness and Emptiness is Form’.
Every moment of experience arises and perishes as rapidly as one’s sensual perception does. Buddhistly put, as long as a sentient being is entangled in karmic bondage, the sentient being participates in the creative advance of the world. However, if the sentient being has committed more evil karmas than wholesome karmas, it leads to his or her downfall or decline in the cycle of rebirth in the woeful realms of existence after death. Conversely, it leads to the cycle of rebirth in the favourable realms of existence.
Hence, we see that a man is an example of ‘objective immortality’. This commencing ‘objective immortality’ either ascends morally or descend immorally. Moral ascent is positive evolution of consciousness gaining favourable rebirths from life to life in the unceasing dynamic process becoming. Conversely, immoral descent is negative evolution of consciousness gaining woeful rebirths from life to life.
Metaphor of Rain
Man is a process reality subject to change from time to time like the falling rain. When the falling rain integrates with a good weather condition, it conditions the arising of a beautiful stream of water flowing down from a scenic mountain. Conversely, if the falling rain integrates with cold, freezing weather, it conditions the formation of falling snow. If it integrates with dire extreme weathers of freezing temperature and strong wind, it conditions the formation of snow storms. When the snow storm integrates with the heat of rising temperature, it melts excessively to produce flood. Therefore, the ‘objective immortality’ evolves either positively or negatively depending on the contigent conditions met or introduced or imposed in the incessant integration process.
Metaphor of Financial Crisis
Another good example of illustrating the concept of ‘objective immortality’ is the global financial crisis. The beginning state of a financial industry is ‘objective immortality’. This financial ‘objective immortality’ grows as usual through integration with other positive financial actual entities, such as the business transactions in the financial markets. However, eventually it meets and integrates with other toxic financial actual entities which are toxic contigent conditions. Consequently, it develops a financial systemic risk. Eventually, it erupts into a financial crisis. The ongoing 2008-2009 global financial crisis is a good example.
Independent Nation
Another clear example of ‘objective immortality’ is the birth of a newly independent nation. An independent nation is not a static entity. It is an actual entity of dynamic process becoming. It is growing politically, economically, and so forth. Its contigent conditions of national growth include politics, economy, education, human resources , social welfare, science and technology, utilities, infrastructure, defence, health, treasury, foreign investments, foreign relations and so on. If political leadership is wise and benevolent, the ministries, bureaucracies, and human resources are ethically productive and the natural resources are rich, the nation is also proportionately progressive and prosperous. A nation is a process reality changing and developing according to the sum total of its potentials of all aforementioned contigent conditions of actual entities at its disposal.
The ‘objective immortality’ of the nation concerned is the beginning nationhood of the independent country. The country’s ‘objective immortality’ is integrating unceasingly with all the divergent actual entities aforementioned at her disposal in the nation. All these contigent conditions are conglomerated to condition the creative advance of its national development. The national development is directly proportionate to national income collected from tax payers’ money in various forms of national revenue.
If the tax payers are well-behaved, well- educated, economically productive, earn much wealth and pay much taxes, the national GDP (Gross Domestic Product) grows together in direct proportion with the purchasing power of the tax payers. Thus, we see that a nation is the unity of existence of a main cause and a set of contigent conditions. The political leadership is the main cause and all other factors of production are the contigent condition. The most important contigent condition among all contigent conditions of unity of existence of a nation is the quality of human resources. Monotheistically put, a nation is the unity of existence. The unity of existence is the existence of God. A united nation is the Essence of God. A disunited nation is alienation from God. A nation alienated from God is sinful. The eventual consequence is doom.
Reciprocal Relationship
At an individual level, in order to ensure a better future life moment by moment , Man has to play the deontological ethical role, such as responsibility, co-operation, sincerity and harmony to impose and determine wholesome or constructive contigent conditions (Karmas) to actualize the actual entity of accomplishment. Accomplishment provides satisfaction for Man who has accomplished. The contigent conditions must be prepared by Man including private and public contributions of talents and efforts.
When all the essential contigent conditions are present , God or Emptiness completes the accomplishment and satisfaction for Man or Group or nation who accomplishes. God or Emptiness is the unifying force of dependently co-arisen Unity of Existence. Metaphorically put, human beings provide the cooking ingredients, God or Emptiness is the professional cook who will synthesize the ingredients to complete the dishes. Thus, the bipolar Reality is crystal clear that the correlationship between Man and God is non-dual, holistic, systemic and reciprocal.
Co-creation
Whitehead expounds that Man and God co-create to create continuously new unities of existence or actual entities of accomplishment . If a person is indolent and exercises no personal will and determined efforts to accomplish, God is also helpless in the sense the primordial possibility can not be actualized into an actuality – the weakly aspired goal of accomplishment or satisfaction. This explains the stark reality in life that the diligent and determined one accomplishes and is relatively satisfied in life while the indolent one does not accomplish and is relatively unsatisfied in life .
Reunion
No one is served on a silver platter by God. Man is a co-pilot and God is the chief pilot. There is no free lunch in the world. Every accomplishment accompanied by satisfaction or happiness is earned by sweats of integrating human wills and efforts with other contigent conditions by the Unity of Existence called God or Emptiness. God (Unity of Existence) helps only those who are willing to become intimate co-pilot with God. The best way to work with God to annihilate one self-identity in the universal Unity of God in which the co-pilot and chief pilot merges into one. Material accomplishment is the mundane value of reunion with God. The supramundane value of reunion with God is spiritual salvation. The reunion with God is the most assured passport to accomplishment and satisfaction in life in all fields of human endeavours either physically or spiritually. Please bear in mind when I mention God, God is defined perennially as the Unity of Existence or Emptiness that actualizes primordial possibilities into actualities integrating human wills and efforts with all necessary contigent conditions to actualize accomplishment or satisfaction in human life.
God’s Dissatisfaction
The process philosophy makes us aware that Man plays the crucial role to determine his destiny and the in turn the destiny of human civilization. For instance, the ongoing 2008-2009 financial crisis was created by Man. God’s wrath is to make Man suffer from the crisis created by Man. The God’s wrath is retributive justice because it motivates Man to take immediate actions to rectify himself. It is direct evaluation feedback that thing has gone the wrong way or astray. It is the nature of God (or Truth) to issue the first warning to Man in the form of systemic risk. If the first warning of systemic risk is not heeded, the second warning is the systemic crisis like the 2008 financial meltdown. If the systemic crisis is not mitigated and fixed, crisis will develop into a catastrophe.
At the unfortunate level of catastrophe, the unity mould of God has collapsed completely and is shattered asunder. Permit me to unveil and share the secret of life that religion is most perfect process philosophy than even the philosophy of science and technology. The current philosophy of science and technology may be altered if new theories are discovered to replace the old ones. However, the eternal Truth of God or Emptiness is permanent and immutable. There will be no more new eternal Truth to be unearthed to replace the present Divine Truth discovered. Scientific theories are conventional phenomena whilst the eternal Truth of God or Emptiness is eternal Principle or the Absolute. Science is merely one of the subsets of the universal set of God or Emptiness. The elements in any subset are subject to change but the universal set is permanent and unchangeable. Metaphorically explained, the composition and the ethnic background of students in a classroom are changeable from year to year but the class room remains unchangeable.
Conditioned to Succeed
Human self-rectification will mitigate and finally fix the problem created by Man. The current financial meltdown and economic recession are certainly reversible if the toxic contigent conditions are rectified and monitored. It is the Essence of God (God= Brahman= Tao=Buddha=Allah= eternal Truth) in Man to make Man succeed if Man returns to his inner Heart. The inner Heart is the divine house of innate conscientious sincerity of wisdom and love of humanism. With the immanence of God or Buddha-nature or Brahman-nature in Man, Man is structurally engineered and conditioned to succeed. As long as human wisdom and virtue are nurtured and brought forth by education or religion, Man or a nation is conditioned to succeed in any field that he or she undertakes. Most importantly and beautifully, the accomplishment and bliss are sustainable by wisdom and virtue.
Cause of Failures
There are countless human successes which are unsustainable in the history of human civilization since time immemorial hitherto. The Way, Spirit , Truth and Life of God or adherence to the principle of Emptiness is the natural law of accomplishment and satisfaction. When Man has forgotten God (the eternal Truth of accomplishment ) or the principle of Emptiness, his wisdom and virtue are clogged. He is said to have gone astray from God or have obliterated the principle of Emptiness. He is thus conditioned to fail or to be doomed. All global crises in the ancient as well as in the modern civilizations of Man had or have erupted because the sinful or the irresponsible or lax ones had or have alienated from the Truth of God or Emptiness. God or Emptiness is the perfect knowledge of consummated accomplishment and lasting happiness.
Weak Ethics
Alas, the best and brightest esoteric knowledge of God or Emptiness is not sought by the modernists. Modernists have regarded religious study as merely the education and training of ethics. In between ethics and economic wealth, generally people rush for the latter. The crucial aspect of wisdom development in religion is neglected by modern parents, educationists, and governments. Without training in concentration and wisdom of divine contemplative prayer or insight meditation, human morality is too fragile to withstand the temptations and adversities of life. Really, ethics cannot be acquired and mastered without human training in mental concentration and wisdom furnished by religion. The gist or quintessence of religion is the combined dimension of concentration and wisdom to invigorate ethical development through the development of insightful wisdom of knowing God or Emptiness. This most esteemed esoteric dimension of religion is generally ignored in modern religious education. This is the source of human vexation and anguish. This is the root of global crises and future catastrophes if the human moral fallibilities and vulnerabilities causing the systemic risk are not rectified and eliminated.
God’s satisfaction and His wrath constitute the primordial law of moral accountability. God’s satisfaction is the consummation of Emptiness or Tao. God ‘s wrath mirrors the obliteration of Emptiness. God relates with Man in two possible directions. Firstly, Man moves in the exoteric or outward direction of human evolution through his creative power of the mind. Secondly, Man, through self-cultivation of Gnosis or Self-realization, moves esoterically or inwardly towards the inner Heart to regain self-redemption of salvation.
If one’s truly understands the bipolar reality of process philosophy, it is not difficult to comprehend the law of moral accountability in the relationship between the world and God. Buddhistly put, the law of karma and phala (cause and effect) links the conventional reality of phenomena with the absolute Truth of the Principle.
Unity and Disunity
God works on the natural law of Unity and Disunity. Unity is perfected Emptiness. Disunity is obliteration of Emptiness. Unity rewards the achiever ; disunity punishes the non-achiever. Unity is God or Emptiness; Disunity is negation of God or Emptiness. Unity is the determinate mould of God. Disunity is the collapse of the unity mould of God. Fortunately, Man has power of freewill and choice to contribute the contigent conditions of Unity positively or Disunity negatively. Morality constructs Unity leading to accomplishment . Immorality constructs disunity leading to failure. The wise choose unity supported by virtues ; the fool choose disunity supported by vices. God loves virtues and hates vices. Virtues support Emptiness and vices destroy Emptiness. Buddhistly put, God is Emptiness ; alienation from God is negation of Emptiness. God is Emptiness ; Emptiness is God. This is process philosophy universally applicable for all in all places . The process philosophy is non-sectarian and non-denominational. It is equally applicable to believers as well as non-believers.
Conclusion
God is always personified in the sermons of the modern priests or religious teachers. The personification is merely an expedient device or skillful means of pedagogy to present the profound and sometimes abstruse message of the Truth of God or Emptiness to the religious audience. However, preaching or teaching of religion through personification of God incorrigibly may lead to substantial object reification of God. Reification of God is idolatrous. Buddhistly put, it is grasping upon God as a substantial al-mighty figure or power existing beyond the living beings in the Kingdom of Heaven. Process Theism unveils that the Kingdom of Heaven is found within us. God dwells in the cave of our inner Heart. Buddhistly put, Buddha-nature exists innately in every sentient being.
Egoistic grasping upon any form defiles consciousness with cankers (āsavas). Consequently, it defeats the original function of religion which is purification of consciousness. The original function of religion is to annihilate completely the self-centric ego to purify the consciousness. Self-centric ego leads to clinging or grasping and mental obsessions. The reified divine worship is unfortunately transmuted into idolatrous worship. This is the main shortcoming of traditional approach of preaching of classical Theism. This shortcoming is a very grave one as it obliterates the Christ Mind or the God-mind or Buddha-mind. Worst of all, the carnal mind of the false self is invited to sit on the throne of our lives directing and empowering whatever we do or perform. This is the origin of calamities and suffering.
The process approach of Process Theism rectifies this grave shortcoming so that what is originally process reality is not reified as a concrete reality which perverts the original message of all esoteric religions. The original concept of God , Brahman, Tao, Buddha or Allah is dynamic process becoming. The ultimate Reality is the Process Thought but not a static thought of a concrete and static reality.
Nāgārjuna, Fa-tsang, Vasubandhu, Ibn ‘Arabī, Whitehead, Charles Harshorne, Gnostics, Apostles and Supreme masters have played very significant roles to resurrect the original communal teaching of Hinduism, Taoism, Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism and Sufism. The communal and original teaching of all major world’s religions aforementioned is the Process Thought of Reality which is dynamic process becoming (sanātana dharma).
The End
Editor’s Note:
Since God or Emptiness is everything and everything is God or Emptiness. Thus, it evidences that God is both mundane and supramundane. It is both secular and spiritual. This implies that living in the secular life, we are not apart from spiritual life. Likewise living in spiritual life, we are not separate from secular life. This is quintessence of process philosophy- the one and only Truth in the cosmos. Man and the world are saved if this reciprocal relationship is intuitively discerned. God is Emptiness and Emptiness is God.
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