The Age of the Sages

by Mark W Muesse

  Despite divergent ways of thinking about absolute reality, our examination of these many traditions suggests a point upon which some strands of axial thought seem to agree: the conviction that the highest reality is beyond our grasp. We find traces of this idea in the Confucian reluctance to speculate about Heaven or speak of “gods and prodigies.” This same reluctance is evident in the Buddha’s refusal to answer certain metaphysical questions about the origin and extent of the universe and the realization of nibbana. We see it in the concept of nirguna Brahman, the ultimate reality that so exceeds the mind that the Upanishadic sages only hint at it by saying what it is not. The first chapter of the Daodejing indicates that the Dao has both nameable and unnameable aspects.

  Drawing together these strands of thought, we see within the Axial Age a trajectory toward recognizing and preserving a sense of ultimate mystery against the countervailing tendency within all religious traditions to conceal what they do not know. That may sound paradoxical, since “mystery” seems to be religion’s stock-in-trade. But from the perspective of the axial sages, who knew when to keep silent, it appears that most religions attempt to banish or cover up mystery. Rather than allow us to feel the sometimes exciting and sometimes terrifying state of not knowing, most purveyors of religion have rushed in with explanations and answers. How did the world come to be? God created it. What happens after death? Rebirth in heaven, a Day of Judgment, or dissolution into the elements. Why must we die? Our ancestors ate forbidden fruit in paradise. Why are things going badly for us? We disobeyed the divine commandments. A problem with many religions today is that they tell us too much and with too much conviction. There is no place for mystery in their temples. We find in the notions of nirguna Brahman, the nameless Dao, and nibbana an essential corrective to this propensity to conceal what we really do not know by saying too much. In the face of genuine mystery, the most appropriate response may be simple silence.

  * * *

  Analects 6.30. My rendition. ↵

  S. N. Eisenstadt, The Origins and Diversity of Axial Age Civilizations (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1986).↵

  Glossary

  Agam Sutras (Āgam Sutras): the central Jain scriptures, believed by Jains to be the words of Vardhamana Mahavira as recalled by his chief disciple Indrabhuti.

  ahimsa(ahimsā): the practice of doing no harm to living beings according to Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism.

  Ahriman: the evil god in Zoroastrian theology; also known as Aeshma and Angra Mainyu.

  ahuras: the Avestan word for the gods or spirits aligned with the principle of good.

  airyana vaejah(airyana waējah): “the land of the noble” in the ancient Iranian language; the name from which “Iran” is derived.

  Analects: the collection of sayings and dialogues of Confucius, compiled (and at least partially composed) by his students after his death; known in Chinese as the Lunyu (Conversations).

  Ananda: the Buddha’s personal attendant who memorized the Buddha’s discourses and recited them at the First Buddhist Council; his recollections became the Suttas of the Pali Canon.

  anatta: the Pali term for Buddha’s denial of a permanent, substantial self or soul. Translated as no-self or not-self; known in Sanskrit as anatman, or no-atman.

  ancestor reverence: treating one’s forebears as living spirits whom one should honor, worship, and consult on important family decisions; an especially important practice throughout Chinese religious history.

  anekanta(anekānta):“many-sided”; the Jain idea that the world is composed of an infinite number of material and spiritual substances, each with an infinite number of qualities and manifestations. Because of this complexity of the universe, all claims to truth must be tentative.

  anicca:Pali word for impermanence.

  arahant:a living individual who has attained awakening.

  Ardhanarishvara (Ardhanārīsvara): iconic representation of the god as half Shiva, half Parvati; intended to symbolize the male/female, form/power aspects of the divine.

  ariya: noble.

  Arjuna:the warrior whose ethical dilemma forms the basis of a wide-ranging dialogue with Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita.

  Aryans (Āryans): the central Asian pastoral nomads who migrated into Iran and India prior to the Axial Age.

  Aryavarta (Āryavarta): “the land of the noble”; the Indo-Aryans’ name for their homeland in northern India.

  ascetic:one who practices forms of self-denial (e.g., fasting, celibacy, abstaining from luxury and comforts) in order to attain higher spiritual goals.

  asha:the Iranian principle of right and order; opposed to druj, the principle disorder and chaos.

  ashavans: those who follow and revere asha.

  Ashoka (Aśoka):ruler of the Mauryan Empire in India (reigned 273–232 bce); a Buddhist convert who was responsible for the spread of Buddhism throughout India and other parts of Asia.

  asuras:Sanskrit term for a class of divinities opposed to the devas; usually demonic in character.

  atman(ātman): the essential self. Initially understood as the breath in the early Vedic era, the atman is later regarded by Hindus as immortal and transmigratory.

  Avesta: the central scripture of Zoroastrianism. The most sacred sections of the Avesta are the Gathas, or Verses of Zoroaster.

  Avestan:the Indo-European language in which the Zoroastrian Avesta was originally written.

  avijja(avijjā): Pali word for ignorance or misknowing.

  awakening:traditional metaphor for the experience of realizing the highest spiritual wisdom. When Siddhattha Gotama completely understood the causal factors of dukkha and the way to nibbana while sitting under the bodhi tree, he claimed to have had this experience; sometimes called enlightenment.

  Axial Age: term coined by philosopher Karl Jaspers to denote the era of exceptional religious and philosophical creativity between 800 and 200 bce that gave rise to the major world religions.

  Babylonian Captivity:the deportation and exile of a large segment of the population of Judah to Babylon by King Nebuchadrezzar (586–536 bce); this event marks the start of the Jewish Diaspora; also known as the Exile.

  Banaras (Banāras): the holiest city in India; situated on the Ganges River in the present state of Uttar Pradesh. The Buddha gave his first discourse at the Deer Park near Banaras; also known as Varanasi and Kashi.

  bao:Chinese word for the desire to repay kindness with a similar act of kindness.

  Bhagavad Gita (Bhagavad Gītā): much-beloved Hindu text recounting the dialogue of Lord Krishna and Arjuna prior to the war between the Kurus and the Pandavas.

  bhikkhu/bhikkhuni:Buddhist monk/nun.

  bodhi tree:Buddhist term for the tree (Ficus religiosa) under which Siddhattha Gotama realized awakening and became the Buddha.

  brahman: the absolute, ultimate reality. Originally, brahman was the Vedic word for the power inherent in ritual; later, the term came to designate the highest reality beyond all conceptualization.

  Brahmin (Brāhmana): the South Asian caste of priests and intellectuals.

  Buddha:one who grasps the causes of suffering and puts an end to it. In the Theravada Buddhist tradition, “the Buddha” is a title reserved for one who realizes awakening on his or her own; those who see nibbana through the teaching of a Buddha are called arahants. Buddha literally means “the Awakened One.”

  Buddhism: religious tradition whose origins date to the ferment that initiated Jainism and classical Hinduism. Following the conversion of Emperor Ashoka, Buddhism became a dominant religion of India and remained so until the medieval period.

  caste: term to describe the stratification of Hindu society based on occupation and purity. Caste usually refers to the varna system, the fourfold classification of priests, warriors, producers, and servants ( Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras). Derived from the Portuguese casta, meaning pure.

  Celestial Masters:early movement of the Daoist “church,” whose followers sought to attain immortali
ty through elixirs.

  Charlie Chan:character in American movies in the 1930s and 1940s who shaped popular Western impressions of Confucius.

  Confucius (Kongzi, Master Kong),c. 551-479 bce: perhaps the most influential Chinese philosopher, Confucius maintained that human harmony lies in moral action and good government, which support the well being of the state and the people. In the Han dynasty, Confucianism was adopted as the state ideology, and Confucius himself was later deified and worshiped.

  cosmic maintenance: the preaxial function of religion in which the processes of the world are supported or controlled by human activity.

  cosmogony:creation story.

  daeva(daēva):Avestan cognate of deva, a “shiny one”; considered by Zoroaster to be a class of malevolent divinities; the word from which “devil” derives.

  Dao:Chinese for “the way.”

  Daodejing:the Chinese classic (jing) of the Way (dao) and the virtue (de); the basis of philosophical Daoism.

  daojia:philosophical Daoism; literally, the school of the Way.

  daojiao:the Daoist “church”; literally, the teaching of the Way.

  darshan(darśan): to “take darshan” means to see and to be seen by the deity in Hinduism. Darshan is also the word for a philosophical system, such as Yoga or Vedanta.

  Day of Judgment:the end of the world as we know it. According to Zoroaster, the Day of Judgment will entail the final triumph of good over evil; this concept also appears in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

  de:Chinese for virtue or power.

  Deer Park:the site of the Buddha’s first discourse; located in present-day Sarnath, near Banaras, India.

  deva: Sanskrit term for god; literally, “shiny one.”

  devi(devī): Sanskrit term for goddess.

  Dhamma:Pali term for the teaching of the Buddha. Sanskrit: Dharma.

  Dharma: in Hinduism, dharma is one’s sacred duty according to caste; the principle of cosmic order. Dharma is the principle that succeeded the Vedic concept of rita.

  di: Chinese term for earth.

  Di:shortened form of Shangdi, the early Chinese high god.

  Digambaras:one of the two orders of monastics in Jainism; members of this order renounce even their clothes, inspiring its name, the “sky-clad.”

  divination: the practice of communicating with the spirits through the interpretation of tangible elements.

  Diwali: popular South and Southeast Asian holiday celebrated by Hindus and Jains in the autumn. Known as the Festival of Lights.

  dragon bones:nickname for the inscribed cattle bones and turtle shells used for divination in the Shang Dynasty; so-called by modern Chinese pharmacies when they were sold as ingredients in medicines.

  druj:Avestan term for the principle of disorder, evil, chaos; Sanskrit: druh.

  drujvants:“Followers of the Lie”; those who, according to Zoroaster, aligned themselves with the principle of druj.

  dukkha:Pali term usually translated as suffering, disappointment, and unsatisfactoriness.

  Durga (Durgā):one of the manifestations of the goddess in Hinduism.

  Dyaoš, Dyaus-Pitr:ancient names for the high god in the Avesta and Veda, respectively; cognates of Zeus and Jupiter.

  Eastern Zhou: see Zhou Dynasty.

  epistemology:the philosophical study of knowledge.

  equanimity:the attitude of calmness and serenity.

  eschaton:the end of time.

  ethicization:the interpretation of events or practices in ethical terms; one of the characteristic processes of Axial Age religions.

  evil, problem of:the dilemma posed by the belief in a god who is considered both all-good and all-powerful in a world in which evil exists; logically, according the traditional formulation of the problem, if evil exists, then god must be either not all-good or not all-powerful.

  Ezekiel:prophet of ancient Judah.

  Ficus religiosa:scientific name for the bodhi tree.

  filial piety: the practice of reverencing and honoring one’s parents; Chinese: xiao.

  Five Aggregates of Being:according the Buddha’s teaching, the ever-changing forces composing what is conventionally called the “self”: matter, sensation, perception, mental formations, and consciousness.

  Five Precepts:the vows taken by Buddhists to guide wholesome action. They include the promise to abstain from harming sentient beings, to abstain from false speech, to abstain from misusing sexuality, to abstain from taking what is not offered, and to abstain from taking intoxicating substances.

  Four Noble Truths:the essence of the Buddha’s teaching as expressed in his first discourse following awakening. They are dukkha (suffering and disappointment), the cause of dukkha, the cessation of dukkha, and the eightfold path to nibbana.

  Four Sights:the experience that prompted Siddhattha Gotama to renounce home life to seek an end to suffering. According to tradition, Gotama saw a sick person, an old person, a corpse, and a shramana in an excursion outside the palace precincts.

  Frashokereti:the “making glorious”; Zoroaster’s term for the eschatological battle in which the forces of good defeat the forces of evil once and for all, ushering in an everlasting reign of peace and harmony.

  Gandhara (Gandhāra):the region in present Afghanistan and Pakistan where the first anthropomorphic Buddha images were produced nearly five hundred years after the life of the Buddha.

  Gathas (Gāthās):the “Verses”; part of the oldest Avesta, the foundational scripture of Zoroaster’s religion. These verses are believed to have been actually composed by Zoroaster himself under moments of religious inspiration.

  Gaya (Bodh Gaya):northeastern India town, location of the Buddha’s awakening.

  ghosts: in Chinese religion, the spirits of the unburied dead.

  Gotama, Siddhattha (Sanskrit: Gautama, Siddhārtha) ca. 490–410 bce: the given name of the Sakyan noble who became the Buddha.

  guru: teacher.

  Han dynasty:the family who ruled China in 206 bce–220 ce, one of most prosperous and stable periods in Chinese history.

  Haoma: see Soma.

  Heptad:“the seven”; the spirits or gods including Ahura Mazda seen by Zoroaster in his call to be a prophet.

  High Hara:the holiest mountain on earth, where souls will be judged on the fourth day following death, according to Zoroastrian theology.

  Hinduism:the Western term for the Indian religions that regard the Vedas as the highest authority.

  householder: the second stage of life for both men and women of caste. At the householder stage, Hindus marry, raise children, work, and contribute to the good of family and society.

  idolatry:confusing the ultimate reality with what is less than ultimate.

  Indo-Aryans (Indo-Āryans):modern designation for the Central Asian people who eventually settled in India in the second millennium bce.

  Indo-European:modern term for the Central Asian ancestors of many of the inhabitants of India and Europe.

  Indo-Iranians: modern term for the Central Asian people who migrated southward from the steppes and eventually split, with some settling in Iran (the Iranians or Irano-Aryans) and some in India (the Indo-Aryans).

  Indra:the war god of the Indo-Iranians; the ascendant deity of the Rig Veda; the deva who also controlled the waters.

  Indus Valley Civilization: one of the great cultures of the ancient world; flourished in 3300–1900 bce in northwestern India along the Indus River system; also known as the Harappan (Harappān) civilization.

  “Inner Chapters”: part of the Zhuangzi, a text of early philosophical Daoism; probably written by Zhuangzi himself.

  ishta-devata(ishta-devatā): one’s personal deity of choice in Hinduism.

  Jainism: religious tradition whose origins date to the ferment that initiated Buddhism and classical Hinduism. Jainism and Buddhism are regarded by Hindus as heterodox philosophies because they deny Vedic authority.