The Buddha: The 'First Rebel in The Realm of Spirituality'
By Sumit Paul, New Age
Islam
2 August
2024
One of the
most beautiful words in Sanskrit is 'Iish-Parangmukh.'
It was coined by the great Sanskrit poet Ashvaghosh of Saket (modern Ayodhya)
in his epic poem Buddha Charitam, composed in the early second century CE. The
word describes the Buddha as beyond Theism and Atheism as the Buddha never
wasted his time on the futile debate as to the existence or non-existence of a
god. So, the Buddha cannot be called an atheist, agnostic or a believer. He
transcends all man-made words and states of mind.
By the way,
the loose equivalent of the Sanskrit word 'Iish-Parangmukh'
is 'apatheist'. Canadian sociologist Stuart Johnson coined this word in his
study of indifference to religion amid secularization published in 1972.
The late
philosopher Robert Nash popularised it in the new millennium. Unlike atheism or
agnosticism, apatheism doesn’t describe any particular claims about the nature
of god or god’s existence.
Since
apatheism reflects a lack of interest, few people will apply that label to
themselves. Most who actively think that god and religion are irrelevant would
label themselves as atheists or agnostics. That being said, it would be fair to
say that apatheism is one of the most common attitudes in modern culture.
Coming back
to the Buddha's beliefless state of mind, it must be said that he cannot be
pigeonholed into any category. Buddhism, not believing in any god, heaven and
afterlife, never called Buddha a prophet or a messenger. He's seen as the
Epitome of Bodhisattva. “Bodhisattva” is a key idea in Buddhism. The word is
constructed from the Sanskrit root Bodhi,
meaning “awakening” or “enlightenment,” and sattva, meaning “being.” The core
meaning of the word is “a being who is on the way to becoming enlightened.”
Buddha was
DECEITFULLY integrated into Vaishnavism through its mythology in the Vaishnava
Puranas, where the Buddha is considered as the ninth avatar of Vishnu.
According
to the Agni Purana, Vishnu assumed this incarnation on earth due to the daityas
defeating the devas in their battles.
In short,
the Buddha was a 'godless enlightened' (Iishwar-Virhit
Pragyapurush, according to Kedarnath Pandey, better known as Rahul
Sankrityayan).
It's
worthwhile to note that the Buddha's moral code doesn't stem from any god or
divinity. A widespread and ingrained belief that morality comes from religion
and religiosity gets a jolt because Buddha basically preached a philosophy,
which in essence is atheistic.
The
Buddha's silent and non-belligerent iconoclasm is a constant thorn in the flesh
of all religions and religionists. A religious and god-intoxicated mind can
never fathom the kernel of Buddha's godless teachings. Nor can it empathise
with the profundity of 'Bodhisattva.' That's why the Buddha is called the 'first
rebel in the realm of spirituality.'
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A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in
comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed
articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including
Persian.
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/buddha-rebel-realm-spirituality/d/132848