57. Differences between East and West

The audio recording is available at https://youtu.be/5sMr62fWvhc.

In terms of the differences between Eastern and Western perspectives, it can be noted that, in Eastern worldviews, for example, good and evil are not clearly separated. Eastern philosophy is not a religion; its foundation is not faith in revelation, but the teaching of the right lifestyle and worldview. Buddhism, for instance, does not recognize the concept of sin, and thus, it does not have a doctrine of forgiveness. As our Initiation Master teaches, salvation and making order do not require forgiveness of sins, but consciousness—enlightenment. In Buddhism, enlightenment is achieved through the recognition of the Four Noble Truths: that life is suffering (dukkha), that the cause of suffering are the desires or ignorance (avidya), and that suffering can be eliminated by overcoming desires. In contrast to the Buddhist perspective, we believe that suffering is not only physical but also soul suffering which is nothing other than its longing to return to the One. 

Overcoming suffering and being freed from it is happiness itself. Salvation and making order also mean freedom from the three characteristics of human existence (tilakhana), which include the factors of suffering, as well as freedom from the individual self and time. In Buddhism, and also in Zen, liberation, or the attainment of emptiness, can be achieved through an individual path, either by one's own effort or with the help of an external master. Zen, whose roots lie in yoga, is more aligned with the former. Note: In our understanding, enlightenment means awakening, the recognition of the spiritual crisis, while salvation is achieved through initiation. 

The Hindu saint teachings, which are quite similar to our perspective in several respects, say in the Upanishads that the salvation of the soul happens in three stages. First, we recognize our universal self, or atman, as our true self, the cosmic substance. Second, as a result of this realization, the perception of the external world and rational thinking cease, which signifies the continuous renunciation of the individual self (karma, mortality). In this state, we act less and meditate more. In other words, we allow the One to act within us. Third, the atman (universal self) and self-awareness are strengthened, restoring unity, when the atman identifies with "all" knowledge, the state of Brahman, thus achieving the union of "atman-brahman." In our conceptual framework, this is the returning of the universal self to the One. The cessation of the illusion of the visible world (samsara) or maya is achieved through turning inward. 

Other differences between the two perspectives include the fact that, in the East, a person is spiritual and judges according to facts, while in the West, moral viewpoints based on the old scripture dominate. The Eastern person understands that ritual acts are nothing but a means of making order, ensuring the similarity or unity between cosmic order and man order. There is also a difference in meditation that ensures the deepening of the soul: in Christianity, meditation is "objectified" and centres on the One, whereas Buddhist meditation is objectless. 

It is important to note that the spiritual connection between East and West began in Europe, and in our country, as early as the nineteenth century, and seems to be continually strengthening. However, those seeking new paths soon discovered that the East, too, had embarked on the path of sinking into the Western materialism. Today, Eastern spirituality has also become Westernized, or rather, degraded. Parallel to the sinking into materialism, the crisis of spirituality emerged, with the crisis arriving in the West earlier (since the end of the Middle Ages) and in the East later. Moreover, after the Western levelling and the misguided belief in progress and development spread to the East, in many Eastern countries, it has even surpassed the degradation seen in the West.