This is a Philosophy finals question 1) From the Buddhist viewpoint, the nature

Question

This is a Philosophy finals question

1) From the Buddhist viewpoint, the nature and cause of human dissatisfaction (dukkha) is due to ignorance (avidya). Describe specifically how ignorance leads to suffering, according to this model. What essential characteristic of reality are we ignoring, according to this viewpoint? “Hard it is to train the mind, which goes where it likes, and does what it wants.” What kind of ‘turning’ does this perspective suggest is necessary for a psychologically healthy life? What does it mean to say that emptiness (shunyata) is the product of this kind of effort?

Explanation / Answer

Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily. I suggest adding material from your class work to support the argument below.

(Answer) According to Buddhism, the main cause of human dissatisfaction is ignorance. Furthermore, the Buddhist ideology believes that to attain ‘Nirvana’ or salvation, one must detach themselves from worldly pleasures. Here, salvation is the highest states of happiness and satisfaction that a soul can achieve.

Therefore, the satisfaction we can believe comes from overcoming ignorance. The highest form of satisfaction that is salvation comes from purging worldly pleasures. Accordingly, we can equate the thirst for worldly pleasures to ignorance. When we are ignorant of the needs of our soul, we do not know what brings us true happiness. This is when we seek out happiness and satisfaction in worldly pleasures. The pursuit of worldly pleasures by ignoring the needs of our soul is ‘avidya’.

This is very similar to the ideology of the Bible. Where a Christian is asked not to indulge in worldly pleasures and seek salvation through acceptance of the “cross” (worldly burdens) and asking for God's grace.

According to this theory, an untrained or unrestrained mind will seek worldly pleasures if left unchecked. In the Buddhist ideology, one is to train the mind to seek salvation through the knowledge that comes from giving no importance to worldly pleasures.

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