Eastern Philosophy

When we talk about Eastern philosophy, I am alluding to Indian Philosophy (Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism), Chinese philosophy (Confucianism, Legalism and Taoism) and Japanese philosophy (mix of Confucianism, Buddhism and Shinto). There are others too like Korean philosophy etc. which are a variation of the philosophies mentioned above mixed with local traditions like Shamanism. However, I have not been exposed to them as much as Hinduism and Buddhism so will mainly talk about these two traditions.

I do not call Hinduism and Buddhism as religions because there is no literal translation of the word “religion” to Sanskrit or Hindi. Often the word “dharma” is used for translation purposes, however, religion and dharma are not equivalents. Oxford dictionary defines religion as a particular system of faith and worship. Dharma on the other hand alludes to a righteous path or duty in order to achieve transcendence or salvation or moksha. In some cases it deals with questions related to our understanding of the nature of reality. As a result this is a more inclusive concept where it is not bogged down by faith, dogma or revelation. As a result there is no concept of blasphemy or conversion.