Morrie`s view of life based on Buddhist philosophy as reflected in mitch albom`s Tuesdays with Morrie - USD Repository
MORRIE’S VIEW OF LIFE BASED ON BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY
AS REFLECTED IN MITCH ALBOM’S TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE
A THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree in English Language Education
By
Leonardo Herlangga. S
Student Number: 011214150
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM
DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION
FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2009 i
MORRIE’S VIEW OF LIFE BASED ON BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY
AS REFLECTED IN MITCH ALBOM’S TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE
A THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree in English Language Education
By
Leonardo Herlangga. S
Student Number: 011214150
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM
DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION
FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2009 ii
iii iv v
ABSTRACT
Suksmaditya, Leonardo Herlangga. 2009. Morrie’s View of Life Based on
Buddhist Philosophy as Reflected in Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays with Morrie.
Yogyakarta: English Language Education Study Program, Faculty of Teachers Training and Education, Sanata Dharma University.
This thesis discusses Mitch Alboms’s novel Tuesdays with Morrie. In this novel, Morrie, is the main character who was interested in following Buddhist philosophy he was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), a brutal, deadly and unforgiving disease of the neurological system. Morrie shared and talked to people about life and death in the remaining time of his life.
There are two problems related to the topic of the thesis: (1) How is Morrie’s described in the novel (2) What is Morrie”s view of life based on Buddhist philosophy as reflected in the novel.
There are two kinds of sources used in the study. The primary source is obtained from the novel Tuesdays with Morrie, and the secondary sources are obtained from books on literature and books on Buddhism. I also quote some literary criticisms to support this study.
I employ the theory of characterization to answer the first problem. The second problem is answered by using references on Buddhist philosophy and also employing the theory of characterization. In this study I use history of idea approach to relate Morrie’s view of life and Buddhist philosophy.
Based on the analysis, I make some conclusions. First, Morrie is a wise, loving and forgiving man who teaches people how to view life. He has a good personality and live his life based on love, acceptance, and human goodness, in a way that uphold ethical values. Second, his view of life and his way of being is influenced by Buddhist teaching and philosophy, it is reflected in his speech and his way of thinking. He has some relationship with some other character. The people who are close to him are: Mitch his former college student, his wife Charlotte, his two sons Rob and Jon, and Ted Koppel.
This thesis also gives some suggestions and implementations of Tuesdays with Morrie in teaching English. vi
ABSTRAK
Suksmaditya, Leonardo Herlangga. 2009. Morrie’s View of Life Based on
Buddhist Philosophy as Reflected in Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays with Morrie.
Yogyakarta: Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Skripsi ini membahas tentang novel karangan Mitch Albom yang berjudul Tuesdays with Morrie. Di dalam novel ini, Morrie, tokoh utama yang tertarik menganut filosofi Budha di diagnosa mengidap ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), sebuah penyakit mematikan yang menyerang kerja sistem syaraf. Morrie berbagi dan berdiskusi dengan beberapa orang tentang kehidupan dan kematian diwaktu sisa hidupnya.
Ada dua butir permasalahan yang terkait dengan topik skripsi ini, yaitu: (1) Bagaimanakah Morrie digambarkan di dalam novel ini dan (2) Bagaimanakah pandangan Morrie terhadap kehidupan dilihat melalui filosofi Budha.
Ada dua macam sumber yang digunakan di dalam penelitian ini. Sumber yang utama diperoleh dari novel Tuesdays with Morrie, dan sumber pendukung didapatkan dari buku-buku tentang kesusasteraan dan buku-buku tentang ajaran Budha. Saya juga mengutip beberapa kritik-kritik kesusasteraan untuk mendukung penelitian ini.
Saya menggunakan teori karakter untuk menjawab permasalahan pertama. Permasalahan kedua dijawab menggunakan referensi filosofi Budha dan juga menggunakan teori karakter. Pada penelitian ini saya menggunakan pendekatan sejarah buah pikiran untuk mengaitkan pandangan hidup Morrie dengan filosofi Budha.
Berdasarkan analisis tersebut, saya menyimpulkan beberapa hal. Pertama, Morrie adalah seorang yang bijak, penyayang dan pemaaf yang mengajarkan orang bagaimana cara memandang kehidupan. Ia memiliki kepribadian yang baik dan menjalani hidupnya berdasar pada cinta, kepasrahan, kebaikan dan menjujung tinggi nilai kebenaran. Kedua, pandangan hidup Morrie dan cara ia menjalaninya banyak dipengaruhi ajaran dan filosofi Budha yang tergambar dalam perkataan dan pola pikirnya. Morrie berhubungan dekat dengan orang disekitarnya. Orang- orang terdekatnya adalah: mantan muridnya saat diperkuliahan Mitch, Charlotte istrinya, kedua anaknya Jon dan Rob dan Ted Koppel.
Skripsi ini juga memberikan beberapa saran dan penerapan novel Tuesdays with Morrie untuk mengajar Bahasa Inggris. vii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to express my greatest gratitude to God Almighty for Thy love and guidance during my life especially the hard times in doing this thesis. He makes my life so beautiful and meaningful. He always gives me a wonderful surprises and blessings.
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my major sponsor, Ibu
Veronica Triprihatmini, S.Pd, M.Hum., M.A. for her guidance, encouragement,
understanding, and advice from the beginning until the end of this thesis writing.I also express my gratitude to all lecturers at Sanata Dharma University who have taught and given me valuable and great knowledge. I also would like to thank to the secretary staff for helping me in the administration and the librarian for helping me in searching the references.
I am sincerely grateful to my beloved parents Bapak Ferdinandus
Suharsono (t) and Ibu Maria Francisca Susantari, for their endless love
patience, tolerance, endurance and for their prayer for my success. I also thank my only brother, Don Bosco Laksma Budya Wardhana and wife and to Yosephine
Kristi Yulianingrum for the love, support, a new life, a new spirit, new destiny
and destination that laid rainbow on my past, present and future step.My best gratitude goes to my partner in “crime”: Nusi, Bhonz, Texex, Crutz, Coli, Mubz, Rara, Dhee, Ratri, Lintang, Novi, Widi, Marina, Della, Lia, Peye, Julie, Nusi, Ari Oneng, DogDick, Titit, Ukhe, Jette, Cece, Pietz, Kopet, Pleky, and Lambz for sharing the joy and sorrow through all the best time of my viii life. I am honored to have such great friends. Being with these guys for years is a priceless experience. My gratitude goes to all of my friends at Sanata Dharma University, especially 2001 students of PBI, with whom I have got through the good and bad times during my study.
I address my acknowledgement to all my friends in Brojowikalpo 1A: Ghowez, Bebe, Ikke, Martha, Vita, Yusta, Dicta, Patrice, Hana, Neti,Thomas Djorghi. I would also thank to the Gondz Community members: Katro Katz_Onde, Ekhi, Anton, Reza, Yoga, Dicky, and Dj Rey_no Karno. I thank them for encouraging me to keep trying and never give up. It is great to spend time with them.
Last but not least, I would like to thank those whose names are not mentioned here for their support and prayer so that I could finish this thesis. May God bless them all.
Leonardo Herlangga Suksmaditya ix
x
5 CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.3 Theoretical Framework …………………………………………….. 23
2.2 Criticisms …………………………………………………………... 22
17
2.1.3.1 The Four Noble Truth ………………………………. 15 2.1.3.2 The Noble Eightfold Path …………………………...
2.1.3 Buddhist Philosophies of Life ...……………………………... 14
2.1.2 Theory of Critical Approaches ...….…………………………. 12
2.1.1 Theory of Character and Characterization …………………... 8
2.1 Review of Related Theories .………………………………………. 8
4 1.5 Definition of Terms .……………………………………………….
TABLE OF CONTENTS page
4 1.4 Benefit of the Study .……………………………………………….
4 1.3 Problem Formulation .……………………………………………...
1 1.2 Objective of the Study .…………………………………………….
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................ viii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................ x
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the Study .………………………………………….......................................................................................................... vii
ABSTRAK
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI ............................ v ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................... vi
iv
TITLE PAGE ................................................................................................ i PAGES OF APPROVAL ................................................................................. ii STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY ..............................................
2.4 Sources ……………………………………………………………... 23
xi
4.2 Analysis on Morrie’s View of Life Based on Buddhist Philosophy … 38
54 Appendix 1. Summary of the Novel ……………………….……………………
52 APPENDICES ………………..………………………….…………………….
5.2.2 Suggestions on Teaching Reading using Tuesdays with Morrie . 50 REFERENCES ……………………………………….………………….…….
5.2.1 Suggestions to Future Researchers …….……………………… 49
5.2 Suggestions ………………………………………………………….. 49
5.1 Conclusions ………………………………………………………….. 48
CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
4.2.2 Analysis on Morrie’s View of Life Based on Noble Eightfold Path….….…………………………………………………………… 42
4.2.1 Analysis on Morrie’s View of Life Based on Four Noble Truth. 39
4.1.4 Forgiving ……………………………………………………… 38
CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY
4.1.3 Loving ………………………………………………………… 34
4.1.2 Wise …………………………………………………………... 30
4.1.1 Tough …………………………………………………………. 29
4.1 Analysis on Morrie’s Character...…...……………………………….. 28
CHAPTER 4 ANALYSIS
3.3 Method of the Study ……………………………………………….... 26
26
3.2 Approach of the Study ………………………………………………
3.1 Object of the Study …………………………………………………. 25
55 Appendix 2. Biography of Mitch Albom ………………….……………………. 56 Appendix 3. Mitch Albom’s Work ………………………….………………….. 59 Appendix 4. Lesson Plan for Teaching Reading ………….…………………….. 60 Appendix 5. Implementation for Teaching Reading ……….…………………… 62 Appendix 6. Reading Material from Tuesdays with Morrie ….………………… 63
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION This chapter is divided into four parts. The first part is the background of
study. This part discusses the topic of the study and why it is chosen. The Second
part is the aim of the study. The aim of the study states the purpose of the whole study and this is obtained by answering the questions in the problem formulation as the guidance. The third part is the problem formulation. In the problem formulation there are three questions dealing with the topic. The last part is the benefit of the study it discuss the benefits of the study in the teaching-learning process.
1.1 Background of the study
According to Hudson, “Literature is a vital record of what men have seen in life, what they have experienced of it, what they have thought and felt about those aspects of which have the most immediate and enduring interest for all of us. It is thus fundamentally an expression of life through medium of language (10).” Literature is a means of recorder of what has happen in life long ago until the present. We can grab the image and see many aspects of life through literature.
According to Grace, “Literature gives us a specific knowledge of life that of real experiences and provides a profitable supplement in terms of intellectual and critical values. It is actually possible to make a mature evaluation of life without having had a great deal of experience (7).” Literature communicates
2 thoughts, feelings and attitude towards life, so a work of literature contain immense knowledge that can make people feel that they had experienced a thing although actually they had never been, they only read, hear or see a work of literature, but not like math and science that mainly based on fact, literature largely based upon analysis and interpretation. There are no definite answers in literature, except the factual information about an author's life and the basic information about setting and characterization. The rest is a highly subjective reading of what an author has written; every person brings a different set of values and a different background to the reading, so as result, no two people see the piece of literature exactly the same.
A novel is an art product that tells a story about the world. De Laar said that: “A novel is a work of art in so far as it introduces us into a living world; in some respects resembling the world we live in, but with an individuality of its own (163).” In a novel, a portrait of life is commonly seen, an image similar to the life we live, but with its own portrayal.
In this thesis I analyze Mitch Albom’s novel entitled Tuesdays with Morrie. I am interested to analyze Morrie’s character and the influence of Buddhist philosophies on Morrie’s view of life. In this novel, Morrie Schwartz, a Sociology professor creates and follows life values that based on love, compassion, acceptance, and communication. Morrie is determined to accept his own death and the concept of death itself. Morrie consciously detaches himself from the experience when he suffers his violent coughing spells, each of which
3 comes loaded with the possibility of his last breath. Referring to the topic I want to analyze Morrie’s character and his view of life based on Buddhist philosophy.
There are two main characters in this novel. First is Mitch Albom who is also the author of the novel. He is Morrie’s student back in college. The second character is Morrie Schwartz an old Sociology professor who got ALS. He has a unique personality which includes his way to cope with life.
Tuesdays with Morrie tells about Morrie Schwartz, Mitch Albom's former university professor in Brandeis University. He was diagnosed with ALS, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis; it is a deadly, brutal disease that strikes the deceased neurological system. Mitch and Morrie shared a relationship more like between father and son than teacher and student. They were so close back then, but they were separated as Mitch graduated.
Sixteen years after his graduation from Brandeis, Mitch is feeling frustrated with the life he had chosen to live. One night when Mitch scribbling the TV channel he sees Ted Koppel interview with his mentor on Nightline, he takes the initiative to reconnect with his long lost friend.
After Morrie's television appearance, Mitch contacts his beloved professor and travels from his home in Detroit to Morrie's home in West Newton to visit him. After that he started meeting with Morrie on Tuesdays. After their first Tuesday together, Mitch returns regularly every Tuesday to listen to Morrie's point of view on "The Meaning of Life." Mitch learns a lot about life and what is really important from Morrie.in his meeting, in his lessons, Morrie advises Mitch to accept death that one should not cling to anything, as everything that exists in
4 this world is temporary. Morrie stresses that one must accept death and aging, because both are inevitable, and live a life stand on love, acceptance, and human goodness, in a way that uphold ethical values.
They continuously met every Tuesdays until Morrie had passed away after the fourteenth meeting. Mitch records his discussions with Morrie on tape so that he may compile notes to write a book, Tuesdays with Morrie, a project which he refers to as his thesis.
1.2 Objective of the Study
The objective of the study is to find out Morrie’s view of life based on Buddhist philosophy. By doing this study I want to analyze Morrie’s character and the influence of Buddhist philosophies in Morrie’s view of life as seen in Morrie himself as the main character of Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays with Morrie.
1.3 Problem Formulation
In this thesis, I formulate three problems: 1.
How is Morrie described in the novel? 2. What is Morrie”s view of life based on Buddhist philosophy as reflected in the novel?
1.4 Benefit of the Study
I hope the result of this study can help us to see that life is not merely about wealth, fame, and people should try to live their lives and life would be
5 more enjoyed and understood more. We can also learn how Morrie give contribution to one another, even on the brink of death. We can also learn from Morrie’s sincerity and his compassion for life and for love in order to enjoy life to the fullest.
The novel implicitly imply the teaching-learning process as seen in Morrie and Mitch’s meetings every Tuesday and their relationship as student and lecturer as if they were back in college can give us example of a good teaching learning process. We also learn to give a sharp analysis because literature is not simply a black or white situation; instead, there are many gray areas.
1.5 Definition of Terms
In order to avoid misunderstanding, there are several words needs to define.
Death
Webster's New World, Medical Dictionary, 3rd Edition (35) defines death as:
1. The end of life. The cessation of life. (These common definitions of death ultimately depend upon the definition of life, upon which there is no consensus.) 2. The permanent cessation of all vital bodily functions. (This definition depends upon the definition of "vital bodily functions.") See: Vital bodily functions. 3. The common law standard for determining death is the cessation of all vital functions, traditionally demonstrated by "an absence of spontaneous respiratory and cardiac functions." In this study death is defined as the end of life where the all vital bodily function stops working.
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Philosophy
Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 5th edition (867) defined philosophy as: “1. (a) the search for knowledge and understanding of the nature and meaning of the universe and of human life. (b) a particular set or system of belief resulting from the search for knowledge”. In this study philosophy is defined as a set of beliefs treated as an attitude guidance principle toward life.
Buddhism
According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism), Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices considered by most to be a religion and is based on the teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as "The Buddha" (the Awakened One), who was born in what is today Nepal. He lived and taught in the northeastern region of the Indian subcontinent and most likely died around 400 BC. Acoording to Kandy, Buddha or enlightened one, Knower or awakened one is the honorific name given to the Indian wise. Gotama, who discovered and proclaimed to the world the Law of Deliverance, known to the West by the name of Buddhism. He was born in the 6th century B.C, at Kapilavatthu, as the son of the king who ruled the Sakya country, a principality situated in the border area of modern Nepal. His persona1 name was Siddhattha, and his clan name Gotama
th
In his 29 he renounced the release of his princely life and his royal career, and became a homeless ascetic in order to find a way out of what he had early recognized as a world of suffering. After a six year’s quest, spent under various religious teachers and in a period of fruitless self-mortification, he finally attained to perfect enlightenment (samm -sambodhi), then he spent forty years of
7 tireless preaching and finally he died in the age of 80. This law of deliverance is now called Buddhism. In the study Buddhist philosophies will be used to define and analyze Morrie’s view of life.
Detachment
Detachment, according to the Buddhist’s Tipitaka, Sutta Pitaka, Samyutta Nikaya, Sagatha Vagga, Devaputta-samyutta, Uttara Sutta in the book The Word of The Buddha detachment is defined for the drop of the world's bait and look for peace (24).
Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 5th edition (316) defines detachment as: “1. (a) the state of being not influenced by other people. (b) a lack of emotion.2. a group of soldiers, ships, etc sent away from a larger group, esp to do special duties”.
In this study detachment refers to the process of separation one to the earthly material. Detached does not mean that we cannot enjoy anything or enjoy being with anyone, rather it refers to the fact that clinging very strongly to anything or anyone causes us problems. We become dependent on that object or person. We have to learn to accept that we cannot always have what we want and everything we have is impermanent.
CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE This chapter discusses the related literature and the theoretical framework. The first part is review of related literature, in this part I will discuss some
theories, sources that are used in writing this thesis. The theories that support my analysis are: theory of character and characterization and the Buddhist Philosophies on life. I use philosophical and history of idea for the approach. In the second part, this chapter provides theoretical framework to explain how the theories and reviews are applied in the study.
2.1. Review of Related Theory
In this theoretical study, I will explain some theories that are related to my thesis. These theories are important to support my analysis on Mitch Albom’s work, they are: theory of character and characterization, History of idea approach and Buddhist philosophies on life.
2.1.1 Theory of Character and Characterization
The novel appears to have deeper knowledge of human life than other literary form. People generally consider a novel as a book that tells a story, and this story is concerned with people. These people as characters play a big role toward the story. We can see people’s life in a novel. A novel puts ideas in a human context. Clearly everything we know in novels depends to our
9 understanding of the character in it. Hugh states that a character is “a complicated term that includes the moral constitution of the human personality, the presence of moral uprightness, and the presence of creatures that is seen like a real human being. The person is described not as an individualized personality but as an example of some vice or virtue of type (81).” From the statement we can conclude that character in the novel is a picture of a real person, with many resemblances in personality.
When we analyze a character it means that we should be interested in complex people. We are interested to know what indicates them. Story line and events will produce change in character, and complex people who act from a combination of motives and emotions are likely to experience the most marked changes. According to Henkle there are two types of characters; they are main characters and secondary characters. “To a great extent, main characters are created because only they are given the amplitude and attention to present convincing dramatizations of the human issues of the book. If they fail in this role, the book essentially fails (93).” The failure of a main character to dramatize a novel’s issue occurs when we cannot accept the characterization of the performance of the issue. “The most obvious function of secondary characters is to populate the world of the novel. Since fiction presents human contexts, the secondary characters establish that context (94).” In the mode of the social novel, such life is important, for an objective of social novels is to portray the social culture and its nature. Some secondary characters clash with the main characters
10 in order to bring out into the open crucial elements of the nature or unpleasant situation of those main characters. “Another group of secondary characters acts within the shadow of the main characters, reduplicating, in different ways, the experiences that engross the novel’s principal figures (97).” When a secondary character experiences the same emotional states as a main character, or participates in a situation that parallels that of the main character, then the secondary character functions as an analogue.
Henkle states, “Characters functioning analogically often point up facets of aspects of the action of the main characters. The minor characters, being generally less complex, or less intense, and drawn in shallower relief, present what is often only one side of the experience (97).” The main characters are not limited while the secondary is, they must be more complicated than secondary and a lot more complex and interesting.
There are many ways to analyze a character in a novel. Murphy (161) explains that a character can be seen through:
1. Personal description The author can describe a character’s appearance and clothes. A character’s character can be recognized from his/her appearance and clothes.
2. Character as seen by another The author can describe a character through the eyes and opinions of others. Other characters help the reader understands the character deeper.
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3. Speech Whenever a person speaks, whenever he is in conversation with another, whenever he makes opinion, in a novel. He is giving us some clue to his character.
4. Past life The past life can give us a clue to events that have helped to shape a person’s character. This can be done by the author’s direct comment, through the person’s thoughts.
5. Conversation of others People talk about other people and the things. People’s talking about other people and the things they say often give a clue to the character of the person spoken about.
6. Reactions A characters show his/her personality by letting us know how that person reacts to various situations and events.
7. Direct comment The author’s comment on a character explicitly gives us a clue about the character’s personality.
8. Thoughts The author can give us direct knowledge of what a person is thinking about. The reader then is in a privileged position; he has a secret listening device plugged into the deepest thoughts of a person in a novel.
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9. Mannerism The character’s behavior and act towards something shows his/her personality.
Holman (82) states that there are three fundamental methods of characterization:
1. The explicit presentation by the author of the character through direct exposition, either in an introductory block or more often piecemeal throughout the work, illustrated by action;
2. The presentation of the character in action, with little or no explicit comment by the author, in the expectation that the reader will be able to deduce the attributes of the actor from the actions;
3. The representation from within a character, without comment on the character by the author, of the impact of actions and emotions on the character’s inner self, with the expectation that the reader will come to a clear understanding of the attributes of the character.
2.1.2 Theory of Critical Approaches
According to Rohrberger (6) that there are several approaches to literary works. They are Formalist approach, Biographical approach, Sociocultural-historical approach, Mythopoeic approach, and Psychological approach.
The first approach is the Formalist Approach. This approach concentrate almost entirely on its esthetic value, it is concerned with demonstrating the
13 harmonious involvement of all the parts to the whole and with pointing out how meaning is derived from structure. In other words, this approach does not need any reference from other resources like, sociological, biographical, and historical information.
The second approach is the Biographical Approach. This approach proposes the idea that the only way to understand literature is by asserting the necessity and appreciation of ideas and personality of the author. We must know the author’s life to understand his writings.
The next approach is Sociocultural-Historical Approach. It is an approach that examines the work of art in reference to the civilization. Then the attitude and the actions of specific group of people become the subject matter. This approach insists that the only way to locate the real work is in reference to the civilization that produced it.
Mythopoeic Approach is the fourth approach. This approach tries to discover certain universality and recurrent patterns of human thoughts in the works of art which are believed to have expression in the works.
The last approach is Psychological Approach. Psychological Approach Critics that involve the effort to locate and demonstrate certain recurrent patterns of human psychology in the works of art.
The History of idea approach
Eagleton (1983) also proposes an approach called The History of idea approach. This approach asserts that a work of literature can be considered as a
14 recorder of history of idea or philosophy as Eagleton said ” literature can be treated as a documentation in the history of ideas and philosophy, for literary history parallel and reflects intellectual history (111)”. According to Eagleton in recent decade, American scholar study this ideas and calling their method ” history of idea” which view more broadly than the one that developed and advocated by A.O.Lovejoy. Lovejoy has brilliantly demonstrated this approach pursuing the idea through all model of thought: philosophy in `the strict sense, scientific thought, theology and specifically literature, but he limits the study only to the great thinker. ” He further distinguishes that the history of philosophy studies the great system, while history of idea traces unit ideas (111).” ”history of idea is simply a specific approach to the general history of thought, using literature only as a document and illustration (111),” so it is kind of one sided study unit ideas to the exclusion of systems and neglecting the study of those coherent wholes, a specific work of art. From (http: //en. wikipedia.org /wiki /History of ideas) history of ideas is a field of research that deals with the expression, preservation, and change of human ideas over time. The history of ideas is a sister-discipline to, or a particular approach within, intellectual history. Work in the history of ideas may involve interdisciplinary research in the history of philosophy, the history of science, or the history of literature.
2.1.3 Buddhist Philosophies of life
The Buddha’s main concern was to eliminate suffering, to find a cure for the pain of human existence. According to Kandy the basic knowledge of Buddha
15 concerning life is The Four Noble Truth, it explains the essence of Buddhism view of life (5):
2.1.3.1 The Four Noble Truths
According to Fraser in the Pali Tipitaka, the Four Noble Truths were the first teaching of Gautama Buddha after attaining Nirvana. They are sometimes considered as containing the essence of the Buddha's teachings of life: 1.
Life is or leads to suffering/uneasiness (dukkha) in one way or another.
2.
(Samudya) is the origin of (dukkha) Suffering, is caused by craving (tanha) or attachments to worldly pleasures of all kinds. This is often expressed as a deluded clinging to a certain sense of existence, to selfhood, or to the things or phenomena that we consider the cause of happiness or unhappiness.
3.
(Nirodha)is the cessation of (Dukkha), suffering ends when craving ends, when one is freed from desire. This is achieved by eliminating all delusion, thereby reaching a liberated state of Enlightenment (bodhi); 4. (Magga) is the way leading to cessation of (Dukkha). Reaching this liberated state is achieved by following the path laid out by the
Buddha(16) First noble truth is Dukkha, it is a suffering, pain, impermanence; it is the unsatisfactory quality of life which is targeted. Life is often overwhelmed with sorrow and trouble, and even at its best, is never completely fulfilling. We always want more happiness, less pain, but this “wanting more” is itself the problem. The
16 second noble truth teaches that the pain of life is caused by “tanha” our cravings, our attachments, our selfish, and greedy after pleasure and avoiding pain. The third noble truth says a complete release from attachment or detach from dukkha is possible, a liberation from pain and rebirth. The fourth noble truth tells how to attain this liberation.
Life and death was considered by the Buddha as a cycle that was an effect of craving and attachment. Mullin said The Buddhist conception of this cycle not only relates to the birth and death of entities, but also relates to every moment of a being's life. "Each moment's consciousness is said to be a product of the fading out and re-arising of a previous moment's consciousness. The present mind is thus a unit born from the death of the last moment's mind (18)."
Early Buddhism was concerned with the problem of all types of suffering, especially the suffering caused by aging and death. According to Buddhism, the root of all types of suffering, including grief and fear of death, was the desire for unchangeableness in a world in which all things were continually changing.
Human beings themselves were seen as examples of constant change, part of a field of causes and effects which formed the world.
The Buddha perceived the dissatisfaction of suffering in the continual cycling and realized that if craving did not arise neither would birth, aging, sickness and death. The goal of the Buddhist is to attain Nibbana (or Nirvana) which is supposed to be unconditioned and therefore free from suffering. To do this the Buddha recommended developing mindfulness, morality, concentration,
17 wisdom and non-attachment and so breaks the links in the cycle of birth and death.
2.1.3.2 The Noble Eightfold Path
Burtt (19) describes the way to the end of suffering, as it was laid out by Siddhartha Gautama is by following The Noble Eightfold Path. It is a practical guideline to ethical and mental development with the goal of freeing the individual from attachments and fantasies; and it finally leads to understanding the truth about all things. Together with the Four Noble Truths it constitutes the gist of Buddhism. The Noble Eightfold Paths are as follows:
The first is Right View. It is the beginning and the end of the path, it simply means to see and to understand things as they really are and to realize the Four Noble Truth. As such, right view is the cognitive aspect of wisdom. It means to see things through, to grasp the impermanent and imperfect nature of worldly objects and ideas, and to understand the law of karma and karmic conditioning. Right view is not necessarily an intellectual capacity, just as wisdom is not just a matter of intelligence. Instead, right view is attained, sustained, and enhanced through all capacities of mind. It begins with the intuitive insight that all beings are subject to suffering and it ends with complete understanding of the true nature of all things. Since our view of the world forms our thoughts and our actions, right view yields right thoughts and right actions.
The second is Right Purpose. While right view refers to the cognitive aspect of wisdom, right purpose refers to the volitional aspect, i.e. the kind of
18 mental energy that controls our actions. Right intention can be described best as commitment to ethical and mental self-improvement. ”Buddha distinguishes three types of right intentions: 1. the intention of renunciation, which means resistance to the pull of desire, 2. the intention of good will, meaning resistance to feelings of anger and aversion, and 3. the intention of harmlessness, meaning not to think or act cruelly, violently, or aggressively, and to develop compassion(24).”
The next path is Right Speech. The importance of speech in the context of Buddhist ethics is obvious: words can break or save lives, make enemies or friends, start war or create peace. ”Buddha explained right speech as follows: 1. to abstain from false speech, especially not to tell deliberate lies and not to speak deceitfully, 2. to abstain from slanderous speech and not to use words maliciously against others, 3. to abstain from harsh words that offend or hurt others, and 4. to abstain from idle chatter that lacks purpose or depth (25).” Positively phrased, this means to tell the truth, to speak friendly, warm, and gently and to talk only when necessary. Shortly, it is abstinence from lying speech, from back biting and abusive speech, and from idle babble.
The fourth path is Right Action. Right action involves the body as natural means of expression, as it refers to deeds that involve bodily actions.
The principle is explained in terms of abstinence: right action means 1. to abstain from harming sentient beings, especially to abstain from taking life (including suicide) and doing harm intentionally or delinquently, 2. to abstain from taking what is not given, which includes stealing, robbery, fraud, deceitfulness, and dishonesty, and 3. to abstain from sexual misconduct (25)
19 Positively formulated, right action means to act kindly and compassionately, to be honest, to respect the belongings of others, and to keep sexual relationships harmless to others.
The fifth path is Right Livelihood. Right livelihood means that one should earn one's living in a righteous way and that wealth should be gained legally and peacefully. The Buddha mentions four specific activities that harm other beings and that one should avoid for this reason:” dealing in weapons, dealing in living beings (including raising animals for slaughter as well as slave trade and prostitution), Working in meat production and butchery, and Selling intoxicants and poisons, such as alcohol and drugs. Furthermore any other occupation that would violate the principles of right speech and right action should be avoided (27).
The next path is Right Effort. Right effort can be seen as a requirement for the other principles of the path. Without effort, which is in itself an act of will, nothing can be achieved, whereas misguided effort distracts the mind from its task, and confusion will be the consequence. One must strive to improve himself to avoid evil and to develop and preserve what is good.
The seventh path is Right Awareness. Right awareness is the controlled and perfected power of cognition. It is the mental ability to see things as they are, with clear consciousness. Usually, the cognitive process begins with a feeling encourage by perception, or by a thought, but then it does not stay with the mere impression. Instead, we almost always conceptualize sense impressions and thoughts immediately. We interpret them and set them in relation to other
20 thoughts and experiences, all this happen only half consciously, and as a result we often see things obscured. Right mindfulness is attached in clear perception and it enters impressions without getting carried away. Right mindfulness enables us to be aware of the process of conceptualization in a way that we actively observe and control the way our thoughts go. ”Buddha accounted for this as the four foundations of mindfulness: 1. contemplation of the body, 2. contemplation of feeling (repulsive, attractive, or neutral), 3. contemplation of the state of mind, and 4. contemplation of the phenomena (28)”.The mind must be kept alert, vigilant and constantly aware.