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by Jayaram V
The middle way discovered by the Perfect One avoids both
these extremes; it gives vision, it gives knowledge, and it leads to peace,
to direct acquaintance, to discovery, to nibbana. - the Buddha
Let a man reform himself by himself. Let him not degrade
himself. The self alone is the friend of the self and self alone is the enemy
of the self - the Bhagavadgita
Whenever there is a decline of dharma or rise of adharma, I
manifest myself. For the protection of the pious and destruction of the
wicked and for establishing Dharma, from time to time, I come into Being -
the Bhagavadgita
Stay away from the fire but do not avoid it altogether. Let it
warm your body and cook your food, but not burn your hands - A Sufi Saint.
Human life is based on the principle of moderation. Our bodies cannot
tolerate
extreme physical conditions. So do our minds. We cannot withstand
extreme temperatures of heat and cold nor extreme conditions of pleasure
and pain. Excessive
asceticism is as harmful as excessive indulgence. Repeated failures lead to frustration,
unhappiness and lower self-esteem.
Excessive success or fame usually results in undue mental stress,
restlessness and dissatisfaction with material things in life. If overeating hurts the
body, so is obsessive dieting. If lack of sleep impairs our physical and
mental functioning, over sleeping leads to a
state of inertia and mental torpor.
Our
relationships do not thrive, if we get too close or move far away.
Children would suffer if they are treated too harshly or too leniently. Society at large is uncomfortable
and unappreciative of extreme forms of thinking and behavior. In
contrast, the approach of the moderate is considered safe and sound by a vast
majority of people, because
it is perceived as normal and natural. This is even so in politics,
economic and society at large. A dictator is as despised as an
incompetent and eccentric leader. Nature is built upon the principle
of balance and harmony and geared to nurture life on the conditions of moderation.
Since we are endowed with free will, we can go against nature, but not without
suffering.
The principle of moderation is an integral part of many eastern
religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Taoism. Most of these religions
draw a
distinction between socio religious pragmatism and uncompromising ascetic idealism, the
former distinguished by the mundane acts of religious worship and
practice of relative values aimed to maintain social order and religious
traditions and the
latter by extreme forms of self-denial and self-control in order to
transcend the limitations of self and experience eternity.
The former calls for faith, discipline and commitment on the part of the
believers, while the latter for even a stronger faith, sacrifice,
detachment, renunciation and extreme mortification of the mind and the
body. In the former religiosity rather than salvation of the seeker
is the
immediate goal, while in the latter salvation is the only goal
accomplished through inner purity and transformation of the lower self. The former is meant for the mundane, who cannot give up the
comforts of life for the liberation of the soul, while the latter is for
the few seekers of truth who are willing to give up everything in life to
experience the transcendental states of consciousness.
Hinduism
In Hinduism we see many approaches at work that range from one
extreme to the other. On the one extreme, we have the highly ascetic paths
that require self-torture
and self-denial based on painful bodily postures, renunciation of all pleasures
and total abstinence for self-realization. On the other extreme
are the weird tantric methods of self-realization which advocate the use
of sexual intercourse, human or animal flesh, bodily parts, magical chants and grave yard
rituals to transcend the limitations of human life. Falling in between the two
extremes, are some moderate paths
that call for divine centered living without renouncing the world and
without sacrificing the worldly comforts and simple pleasures of life.
The path of desireless actions (karma-marg) and the path of single minded
devotion (bhakti-marg), which are advocated by Lord Krishna in the
Bhagavadgita, fall into this category. They are considered to be the best, the surest and the easiest means to achieve salvation. The
so called popular religion practiced by millions of Hindus also fall in
this category, consisting of the performance of sacrificial rituals,
sacraments, adherence to code of conduct based on the scriptures,
maintaining the family and social traditions and order.
The middle paths of salvation in Hinduism are based upon the principles
of balance and moderation. Hinduism in its moderate forms is
neither escapist nor pessimistic, neither tortuous nor licentious and
neither dogmatic nor superstitious. It aims to release men from the cycle
of births and deaths by bringing together the best of their both material and
spiritual endeavor and by integrating the diverse components of human personality
around the highest and central purpose
of self-realization through holistic fulfillment of the needs of the
body, the mind and the spirit. It acknowledges the importance of social and
religious institutions and traditions in the spiritual elevation of the mankind and the need to
align them with our higher aims and aspirations so that we can
experience life in all its complexity and
diversity, as a part of our inner transformation and transcendental
rebirth, without compromising our spiritual and moral
aims.
The concept of middle path is infused in the beliefs and practices of
Hinduism and cannot be identified separately as a distinct religious
tradition or school of philosophy. We can trace it in the
descriptions and legends of various Hindu gods and goddesses, who
despite their divinity and infinity, exemplify the virtues of moderation
and a balanced life. The gods are vibrant beings, full of life and zest.
They do not shun the life. They advocate restraint, but neither
self-denial nor self-torture. They suggest a way of life that is in
harmony with the ideals of the humanity and their spiritual aspirations.
The gods live in opulence and comfort, personify abundance of material
and spiritual wealth and serve as role models for the humanity to follow. In Lord Ganesha and
Krishna we see this symbolism reaching its crescendo. Even the ascetic
god Siva has a family of his own and is usually depicted with a robust
physique.
We find the working of the same concept in the varnashrama
dharma and the four purusharthas
of Hinduism. The Varnashrama dharma prescribes different duties and
obligations for each individual during the four stages of his existence
upon earth, namely
childhood (brahmacharya), adulthood (grihastha), retirement age (vanaprastha)
and old age (renunciation). In childhood he has to practice celibacy
and pursue knowledge. As a householder, he should perform obligatory
duties towards his family, community and ancestors. When the
children have grown up, he should retire from active duty and lead a life
of withdrawal. In old age, he should renounce everything and prepare
himself for the afterlife and the next birth. The Purusharthas are the
four chief aims of human life, namely virtue, wealth, sensuous desires
and salvation. It is believed that pursuit of these four aims would
enable a person to experience life in all its diversity and complexity
and achieve salvation through one's good deeds, commitment to Dharma and
the grace of God.
Buddhism
The Buddha suggested the Middle Path, also known as the Eightfold
Path, as the means to the cessation of human suffering. It consisted of
the practice of right living through right thought and attitude, right
intention, right speech, right
conduct, right livelihood, right effort,
right awareness and right concentration. For the Buddha the Eightfold
Path was not a mere theoretical or ethical solution, but a definite
means, based on his own enlightenment, to the attainment of Nirvana or
the state of non-becoming or immutable beingness, which is neither
existence nor non-existence, but a middle state between the two. Having lived a life of luxury
during his early life and practiced self-mortification for years before he
gave it up for a more benign asceticism in order to extricate himself
from the problems of aging, death and disease, he advised his followers to shun the
extremes of sensual desires and self-mortification and embrace the noble
Middle Path. He declared the pursuit of sensual gratification to be
"low, vulgar, common, unworthy and useless", and
self-torture to be "painful, unworthy and
useless. Instead, he presented the Middle Path as the ideal means for
the mitigation of suffering, which "opens the eyes,
produces knowledge and leads to peace, insight, enlightenment, and
nirvana; to wit, perfect knowledge, perfect outlook, perfect speech,
perfect action, perfect livelihood, perfect effort, perfect mindfulness
and perfect concentration."1
The Buddha's Middle Path appeared on to the religious scene of
ancient India at a time, when society was characterized by the failure of creeds and disintegration of
established systems.
The Lalithavistara speaks of the confusion and the decadence that
prevailed in India during Buddha's life time. In one of the dialogues, the Buddha
enumerates 22
methods of self-mortification and thirteen of clothing2
. The Buddha's
Middle Path stood in stark contrast to the prevailing religious traditions
of his time. It rested on the firm foundations of individual morality
and inner perfection, the pursuit of which would lead to the possibility of
experiencing transcendental existentialism. It was an approach based on
"ethical idealism", refined asceticism and unconventional atheism.
The Buddha's Middle Path makes sense, because from a logical point of
view, human suffering cannot
be mitigated by more suffering. It can be mitigated only by knowing its causes and addressing them
in an effective and lasting manner. The Middle Path is
the logical consequence to the thought process identified in the
Four Noble Truths concerning the origin and mitigation of human
suffering. If we acknowledge the validity of the Four Noble Truths as
universal, we have to accept the Middle Path as a natural solution to
the problems and the optimism it envisages. We have to agree that human suffering is not a product of divine
retribution, but one's own conduct and character, by changing which, in a
proper manner, one can end it altogether.
The Buddha's Middle Path was not just about right living and right
conduct, but also about choosing between the extreme postulations of our
understanding of the phenomenal world and dealing with the ambiguity
concerning our notions of such disparate concepts associated with it as existence
and non existence, knowledge and ignorance and permanence and
impermanence. It was about
accepting responsibility for one's own material and spiritual well being,
without the mediation of gods and priests. The Buddha honored the Middle
Path in every way. He neither confirmed nor denied the existence of God.
He denied the existence of soul, but spoke of an individuality that
survived death. He spoke of liberation not in terms of self-realization
but in terms of self-disintegration. He spoke against the castes and
empty rituals, but respected the true Brahmans for their knowledge,
wisdom and virtue. He established a monastic order and a strict code of
conduct for the monks, yet exhorted them to be lamps unto themselves and
arrive at the truth by themselves.
Different schools of
Buddhism, like the Madhyamika school of Nagarjuna or the Yogachara
school dealt with these subjects differently but were unanimous in not
accepting extreme standpoints. A British scholar3
commented upon the Middle Path in the following words,"The way of Buddhism is Middle Way between all extremes.
This is no weak compromise, but a sweet reasonableness which avoids
fanaticism and laziness with equal care, and marches onward without
the haste which brings its own reaction. The Buddha called it the
Noble Eightfold Path to Nirvana, and it may be regarded as the noblest
course of spiritual training yet presented, in such a simple form, to
man."
Jainism
Compared to Hinduism and Buddhism, Jainism is considered to be
a more austere and ascetic religion, built upon the principles of
severe penances, non-violence, renunciation, rigorous fasting,
vegetarianism, meditation and self-mortification. Karma is believed to be not an invisible
effect or a process of punishment and reward, but a substance of fine
particles that attaches itself to the beings as they perform various
actions and impacts their lives and future incarnations based on the
purity or impurity of their actions and intentions. Life is vested in
not only beings but also inanimate objects. Hence extreme care and
responsible behavior are required to conduct oneself in the world and
escape from the possible consequences of both intentional and
unintentional acts of carelessness and immorality.
Thus with its rigid approach to the issues of morality, karma and its
possible consequences, and denial of God as the absolute cause of the
universe, Jainism presents existence as a perilous ordeal with an
uncompromising solution, which requires immense sacrifice nothing short
of self-destruction, rather
than accepting life as an opportunity to experience the beauty and joy
of living in a virtuous and balanced manner, through one's own adaptation and inner transformation. For the more
serious followers of the religion, Jainism offers no compromise and no
moderation. Theirs is a path in which there is no point of return. It consists of
minimizing oneself to the extent of physical annihilation of
oneself and extermination of all becoming and beingness.
However for the lay followers it makes some concessions so that they
can eventually train themselves to withstand the rigors of ascetic life. The
lay practitioners are expected to reach the highest state of asceticism
and voluntary starvation resulting in their death through successive and
increasing states of inner discipline and restraint by observing various
vows. By all means, Jainism offers little solace and feelings of comfort
for the weak and the insincere. It is a religion of the mentally strong
and spiritually committed people, who are willing to let go of every thing
and endure every suffering to realized their spiritual ideals. For the
Jinas, their religion is not a side business that can be practiced as a
past time to delude oneself with the notion of spiritual endeavor, but a
serious pursuit that requires total dedication and unconditional
surrender.
Sikhism
By all means Sikhism is a simple and moderate religion that stands in
stark contrast to the rigors of Jainism and similar ascetic traditions.
It is unencumbered
by the ritualism of Hinduism, the complexities of its various
speculative schools of philosophy, and also the monastic idealism of Buddhism. In many ways it resembles the bhakti-marg of Hindus, minus
idol worship and the temple rituals. With emphasis on prayers, avoidance
of vice, and practice of charity, belief in God, remembering His name all the time, faith in Guru,
practice of virtues,
community service, respect for the Holy Scripture (Adigranth) and
accepting all humanity as equals, Sikhism offers the middle ground where
both Hinduism and Islam find their common elements. There is
no place for extreme penances in Sikhism or renunciation of the world.
The emphasis is on simple acts of devotion, purity of faith and personal
conduct and selfless service to the community and the humanity in
general, in accordance with the ideals of the Adigranth, the teachings of
the Sikh Gurus and the social and religious practices prescribed by
them. Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, found no
difference between good conduct and fasting4. He questioned the validity
of blind adherence to rituals and superstitious practices. He criticized
social and caste inequalities based on birth material possessions. He
ridiculed the traditions that were rooted in untested beliefs. He believed in the unity
of Godhead and His indisputable involvement with the affairs of the
mankind.
The God of Nanak is kind and compassionate and unimaginably
responsive to the aspirations of human soul. Omniscient and omnipresent,
He resonates in the hearts
of people both as a sound and as unconditional love. He revealed Himself
in the past, through various teachings, whose ideals are preserved forever
in the compilation of the Adigranth, the holy book of the Sikhs. Guru
Nanak, himself did not establish a separate religion, but initiated a
thought process that took shape as religion four hundred years later
during the time of Guru Arjun Singh, the fifth and perhaps the most
influential of the Sikh Gurus. Sikhism is unencumbered by the burden of
speculative philosophy or didactical analysis of existential truths. It
is a simple and straightforward religion meant to connect humanity with
God through the simple idiom of the common people and the language of
the human heart, without distracting them with high sounding words and
intellectual deliberation. Guru Nanak went to the extent of advising his followers
not to waste their time arguing about such speculative issues as whether
to eat meat or not and what constituted meat and what constituted plant.
Taoism
Taoism projects the imagery of an ideal life, found on the universal
principles of moderation, inner balance, sublime aspiration, simplicity and
harmony with oneself and with nature. It is about living in accordance
with the highest aspirations man can envisage in his moments of profound
revelation and utter tranquility, undisturbed by the concerns and
skepticism of a pragmatic mind. The Taoist practices of Tai-chi and
Feng-shui and the Taoist symbols of Yin and Yang are based
on these ideals only. Moderation is one of the three jewels of
Taoism, the other two being compassion and humility. The echoes of moderation
are self-evident in the following verses of the Tao. They allude to an idealism
that would never compromise its expansive vision with the extremities of
human life.
The course and nature of things is such that
What was in front is now behind;
What warmed anon we freezing find.
Strength is of weakness oft the spoil;
The store in ruins mocks our toil.
Hence the sage puts away excessive effort,
extravagance, and easy indulgence. (29)
****
For regulating the human (in our constitution) and rendering
the (proper) service to the heavenly, there is nothing like moderation.
It is only by this moderation that there is effected an early
return (to man's normal state). That early return is what I call the
repeated accumulation of the attributes (of the Tao). With that
repeated accumulation of those attributes, there comes the subjugation
(of every obstacle to such return). Of this subjugation we know not
what shall be the limit; and when one knows not what the limit shall
be, he may be the ruler of a state. (59)
****
Conclusion
If there is anything we can learn from nature and from our
experiences, it is the principle of moderation. Life on earth is conditioned by the
same principle. There is an inherent balance in all creation, which
reflects itself as symmetry, beauty and perfection in the shapes, forms,
objects and beings of our world. In some intricate and inexplicable way, the diverse components of the universe remain
in equilibrium and act like the different instruments of a great symphony.
The sun is warm enough to sustain life upon earth. The seas are deep
enough to support life both on earth and in the water. Each season has
its own role to play in the creation, destruction and renewal of life. Even an occasional
calamity of nature has a purpose to serve. Without the inherent balance
in creation, life on earth would be extremely chaotic and stressful.
However, accepting the principle of moderation as the basis of our
happiness and inner peace does not
mean that we should settle for mediocrity in our actions
or aspirations.
We should aim for the best and do our best, but without pushing
ourselves into the extremities where our survival becomes perilous. We can have the best of the best
goals. We may test our limits and challenge our talents and skills. We
may try to transcend
our physical and mental limitations in the realization of such goals, but not to the extent
that it would impair our health and disturb our inner equilibrium. We can make success and happiness possible in
our lives through inner harmony, balance, restraint and moderation. The
middle path is the path of the mankind, sanctioned by God, blessed by
divinities and prescribed by the prophets, seers and sages. It is the
most efficient path of our enlightened idealism that stretches all the
way to the highest world of God.
Suggested Further Reading
Footnotes
1. Samyutta-Nikaya 56-11.
2. Indian Philosophy, Volume 1, by
S.Radhakrishnan, Oxford University
Press 1999.
3. Justice Christmas Humphreys commented
about
4. Let good conduct be thy fasting - Guru Nanak Var Majh
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