Buddhist-Marxist Interface
By Adrian Chan-Wyles PhD
The Socialist State, despite everything it does for all citizens within a society, does not (and cannot) experience birth, the suffering inherent within existence or the process of physical death. Of course, the historical Buddha living within ancient India did clearly experience all these experiences. Even if it is acknowledged that the average human-being (existing within the current stage of evolutionary development), cannot cognise the birth-process as it occurs – nevertheless – as soon as body and mind development advances, then the human mind develops the ability to sense the inside and outside of the body, and understand changes in the environment. Consciousness, according to the Buddhist view, is the product of the interaction between the bodily sense-organs and the material sense objects (a process which creates a polarity of ‘awareness’ which includes perception, conception, thought formation and consciousness – 4 of the Five Aggregates – the other 1st aggregate being ‘matter’ – from which all aspects of the mind arise). Human consciousness comes to an end when the cognitive link between the bodily sense-organs and worldly sense-objects permanently ‘ceases’ at the point of physical death.
Every living creature – including human-beings – must traverse through the dying process as an individual. The Socialist State can provide every uplifting and supportive attribute to enhance the life of its citizens, but the Socialist State cannot experience the dying process. This is true even if the death occurs within a highly medicalised environment at the natural end of a life of an individual who is suffering from a terminal disease. Of course, Socialist medicine possesses the duty of relieving pain – even if the pain-relieving process ‘numbs’ the awareness process. Dying will happen anyway – even if the awareness capacity is diminished. The ideal situation should involve Socialist medicine relieving the pain of humanity – whilst simultaneously enhancing the ‘awareness’ capacity of each dying induvial. The reality of living in a pre-modern or predatory capitalist society – generally speaking the average individual possesses no access to advanced medicine. Only the rich and the privileged are permitted to experience a painless death – even if the pain-killing process also has the side-effect of numbing perception.
Poverty manifests in a number of ways. A person who does not have access to suitable finance cannot penetrate the pay-wall that separates citizens from products within a predatory capitalist society. Passing away whilst remaining fully aware of pain - and the dying process itself - is the norm for the majority of individuals. Indeed, this was the reality for the historical Buddha himself. He was ill – possibly suffering from food poisoning – whilst he remained consciously aware. His awareness traversed the ‘shutting-down’ process whilst his body lay on its right-side. Even before this, however, the Buddha seems to suggest that through his ‘awareness’ capacity, the dying process could have been delayed – but once a certain stage of decay had been allowed to set-in – then things had to be allowed to take their course. Being detached from physical pain (and the injustices of life within a capitalist society) whilst remaining fully ‘aware’ of the dying process itself – is the Buddhist method of traversing from life to death. If Socialist medicine is employed and all physical pain is nullified – then the dying Buddhist must remain ‘non-attached’ to the resulting numbness. Either way, the dying Buddhist must retain a pristine ‘awareness’ as the sense-organs permanently ‘detach’ from the sense-objects.
Uprooting greed, hatred and delusion generates the inner conditions of Socialism for the Buddhist. This is to say that non-greed, non-hatred, and non-delusion clears the inner-being of all the taints that lead to primitive, feudal and capitalist society. With these inner conditions removed – the outer (physical) behaviour patterns premised upon this foundation are also terminated. This is how a genuine Buddhist participates in the process of constructing a Socialist Society at the personal level of the individual mind and body. When the mind is purified of these taints – and the behaviour conforms with the directions contained within the Vinaya Discipline – there is an intersection between Buddhist self-cultivation and the construction of a post-capitalist (Socialist) society. Furthermore, as the empty mind is cultivated and contemplated overtime, the thinking-process is enhanced through continuous concentration. This in-turn leads to the development of ‘panna’ (prajna) – or a profound and superior (pristine) insight that emanates from the centre of the thinking-processes. Through supporting the construction of a Socialist State and the Dictatorship of the Proletariat – the mind of the cultivated Buddhist eventually progresses beyond Socialism (and the concept of ‘Class’) – and quite naturally arrives at the conditioned (and then non-conditioned) state of ‘Communism’.
Buddhist thinking, therefore, is not related to religion in any way. Like the work of Marx and Engels (and Feuerbach) – Buddhism defines theological religion as being a typical (Bourgeois) ‘inverted’ device designed to mislead, corral, and control the masses. The answer to this ‘inversion’ is to end through the superior insight of adopting a logical perspective that is the ‘right way around’! Indeed, Buddhist enlightenment is not only the throwing-off of greed, hatred, and delusion – but also the complete rejection of the ‘inverted’ mind-set that underlies and justifies the Brahmanic religion – which today fully collaborates with predatory capitalism, keeping the masses of India illiterate and in a state of arrested development. The historical Buddha rejected this inverted theology thousands of years ago and established a vehicle which rejects ‘inversion’ and prepares the mind and body of humanity for progression to a new stage of reality. As Buddhism is the world’s oldest system that developed the practice of ‘monasticism’ – it follows that monasticism in the non-theological sense can be helpful to the Socialist State. Buddhist meditation permits the practitioner to take control of his or her own mind and deliberately ‘uproot’ greed, hated, and delusion - whilst perceiving the empty fabric of pre-cognitive existence.
Buddhist monastic practice teaches the individual members of the Proletariat to tidy and order their minds and bodies in accordance with the rules and regulations expounded by the Buddha and recorded in the Vinaya Discipline texts. This iron discipline of the Sangha is very reminiscent of the discipline required by all branches of the Communist Party - and certainly does not deviate or differ from it. All genuine (Asian) Buddhism is ‘anti-greed’ and therefore entirely opposed to any form of capitalist ideology and/or endeavour. Although the ‘Dhamma’ contains the ‘Words’ of the historical Buddha – which explains enlightened reality and how the mind and body should be ‘altered’ so as to accord with this insight – it is the Vinaya Discipline preserved by the Sangha (i.e. the ordained monastics) that acts as a ‘method’ for this insight to be realised in the material world. It is considered that those who have been ordained longer – possess a greater insight into the practice of the Vinaya Discipline. This experience allows this acquired wisdom to permeate outwards - to all members of the Sangha Kommune. As Buddhism is NOT an ‘inverted’ (theological) religion, it follows that as a distinct school of (pro-Socialist) philosophy - it cannot be subjected to the anti-religious criticism of Feuerbach, Marx, or Engels.
All Buddhist Masters are good Communists, after-all, unless they are the victim of capitalist corruption or Judeo-Christian brainwashing – then their Dhamma-practice is entirely dedicated to uprooting all forms of temporal indoctrination. The compromised Buddhism of the West is simply another form of Protestant Christianity and other than a superficial similarity to its Asian cousin – such a perverse vehicle has no place within authentic Buddhism. This type of Western Buddhism has been converted into a theological religion and is no longer fit for purpose - as it preserves the very ‘inversion’ and ‘ignorance’ the Buddha strove to overcome. Prime examples of this type of cult-minded Buddhism can be seen in the nonsense peddled by the Falun Gong and Pro-Tibetan Buddhist Movements – together with politically right-leaning Buddhist schools that have emerged from Japan.
It is clear that Buddhism developed as a transmission of wisdom between those who know – and those who do not know. The agency for this shifting of understanding between individuals is the disciplining of mind and body. At no time in any of the five-thousand Buddhist Suttas of any authentic Buddhist school does the Buddha (or his genuine representatives) demand ‘money’ as a replacement for this innate discipline. It is only in the modern (capitalist) world that a pay-wall has been constructed that separates the aspiring individual from the wisdom of the Buddha. Although very much a Western development – contemporary India – administered as it currently is by the fascist BJP government, has also developed the inclination that everything is open for ‘sale’, including Buddhist culture and philosophy. Therefore, even the ancestral land of the historical Buddha has betrayed the very spiritual traditions that have dominated and defined this country’s long development. A case can be made that the Buddha foresaw this misrepresentation of his teachings – and prepared his disciples for it. Enlightenment cannot be ‘bought’ like a tin of baked beans from a shop-shelf. Enlightenment is not a ‘commodity’ that can change hands on an open market. Paying money for a Buddhist text achieves NO discernible change in the mind or body of the purchaser. It is a capitalistic ‘myth’ which falsely suggests that monetary exchange (the essence of ‘greed’) can be used to uproot greed. This is a vitally important statement of fact – as ‘greed’ sustains capitalism and is used by the Bourgeoisie to prevent the working masses from organising around ‘Socialist’ ideology.
The act of participating in the practice of seated meditation is tantamount to the organisation of the worker. No other interpretation is justified in the modern world. The assumption of the seated meditation posture is the negation of every material aspect of predatory capitalism. For the duration of the meditation practice – the capitalist world ceases to exist in the interior of the mind and body of the practitioner – even if it is true that the (capitalist) socio-economic system continues in the external world unabated. The practice of Buddhist meditation ‘breaks’ the continuous pressure that predatory capitalism asserts on the mind and body of the worker. Although this relief lasts only as long as the practice is participated in for the beginner – eventually – a mature Buddhist practitioner can maintain this transformation of inner mind and body whether sat in the meditation posture or not. This is a very unique aspect of Revolutionary endeavour that only Buddhism has to offer the workers. Disconnecting the interior of the mind and body from the continuous pressure that predatory capitalism imposes – can be very useful for the development and sustaining of an effective Socialist movement. An impoverished worker can ennoble their existential poverty by ‘disconnecting’ their inner well-being from its more crushing aspects. Anyone can meditate regardless of where they live or how much (or little) money an individual might possess – as the Buddha rejects such fallacious categorisations of humanity.
Rebirth is NOT real and has no place within correct Buddhist ideology. The historical Buddha understands that Brahmanic society does teach about the existence of the rebirth of an ‘atma’ (a type of ‘soul’ theory that the Buddha denies exists) – and that many - if not all - of his disciples come from a background emphasising this belief. This is where the confusion arises – particularly in the West – where many interpreters of the Buddha’s message mistake his method for condoning this idea, but this is wrong. The Buddha essentially states that ‘rebirth’ exists only in the mind of those who believe it to exist – but that when enlightenment is achieved – the deluded edifice that supports this belief system falls away. The Buddha stated that when he ‘looked within’ he could see NO ‘atma’, no pantheon of Hindu Gods and no levels of rebirth. However, for those who still believed in the principle of rebirth, and had not yet realised enlightenment, the Buddha not only used the existing Brahmanic pantheon – but made-up a number of unique Gods not found within Hinduism – as part of his project of linking good moral behaviour in this life with expedient thought constructs in the mind. Behaving well – or so the Buddha suggested – not only pleased these non-existent Gods but guaranteed a better future life in this existence and the next. Rebirth, in this instance, was a prop used by the Buddha to lead those who believed in it to the reality of its non-existence. Indeed, within the Abhidhamma – a commentarial text designed only for Buddhist monastics to study – the past, present and future lifetimes taught to the laity are replaced with the past, present and future “moments” of contemplation located firmly within this existence – with NO metaphysical extension into other realms and/or bodily reconstructions. In reality, there is only this existential body and its transformation through “change” – a process which will lead to its eventual demise. The Buddha taught his disciples to remain “aware” in the midst of these changes.
Nibanna (i.e. ‘Nirvana’) – or the Buddhist definition of “enlightenment” – is both ‘conditioned’ (the path leading to its attainment) and ‘non-conditioned’ (the full “achievement” - in and of itself). As Marx describes the attainment of “Communism” in much the same way – I hypothesise that he borrowed this idea from Buddhist ideology. What the Buddhist achieves inwardly (in the face of a social system that outwardly remains undisturbed) Marx re-envisioned as being the total transformation of outer society in the face of an inner mind-set that initially stays the same. It is only after living within a Socialist society for some time that the mind-set of the worker is transformed through education and progressive cultural change. This is where Buddhist training and attainment comes into its own by generating an inward “Socialist” state of being which precisely interfaces with an outward Socialist State. In this regard the Buddhist is in the vanguard of any and all “Socialist” and “Communist” Revolutionary action. Of course, such a reality negates any opportunity for the Bourgeoisie to co-opt Buddhism for its own nefarious ends – although this interpretation does not stop the middle-class from continuously trying to sabotage the Buddha-Dhamma and mislead the workers away from any attempts at securing control of the means of production. For the Buddhist the means of production is the human mind and body – whilst for the worker it is the body and mind. This is why Buddhism and Marxism fully support and complete one another’s respective ideology.
©opyright: Adrian Chan-Wyles (ShiDaDao) 2023.