D. Amarasiri Weeraratne
Benedict Spinoza (1632-1677) was born in Amsterdam in a Jewish community that had become Christians to avoid persecution by the Spanish Inquisition, but had reverted back to the ancestral faith after the greatest danger was over.
He was the author of one of the greatest metaphysical systems in the history of philosophy. To his contemporaries, both Jews and Christians, his account of the nature of God was the most shocking feature of his philosophy.
According to Spinoza God was a conscious and omniscient being, but had no free-will. He had no purposes. He acted according to the necessity of his own nature. God could not therefore have any special care for man. The good man, although he loved God, should not expect God to love him in return.
In 1663 he published his epoch-making work on Cartesian philosophy and set forth a Pantheism which made God the cause and substance of the Universe. His “Ethics” was not published until after his death. Spinoza is usually described as a Western philosopher. He is actually a puzzling figure, or as Schopenhauer described him: “An Eastern plant growing in Western soil.” He is a lone star growing in the philosophical firmament of the West. He appears to knowledgeable Buddhists as a purveyor of Vedanta Philosophy. He would have been understood, appreciated and honoured had he been born and lived in India. However, in fact, his teachings were anathematized by the Jewish Rabbis and he was excommunicated as a heretic.
He can be called the father of modern Bible criticism and the founder of the death of God-Theology. He shattered the personal God concept of the Judeo-Christian tradition and taught that God was an impersonal force, without desire, without activity connected with creating, sustaining and looking after his creation. He did not expect prayers from men. Hence, his view of God can be described as Vedantic, as opposed to the anthropomorphic God of the Bible. (It is an irony of fate that the Jewish synagogue which excommunicated Spinoza later accepted most of his teachings.) Today, 323 years after his death, Jewish life in the West is permeated with his approach to these matters. Three of the modern reform movements in Judaism are directly traceable to his influence.
His greatest work – his magnum opus “Theological Political Treatise” aroused the ire of the Christian theologians. They not only attacked, misrepresented and falsified his theory but attacked his character as well – their usual tactics for those who do not accept their doctrines as pronounced. One of them wriote in 1702 “Spinoza seems to have been hire by Satan to develop Atheism.” Some critics called him “son of hell,””dog,” and “skunk.” Even scholars of repute such as Dayling of Leipzig University called Spinozism “impious doctrine.”
These constant attacks on Spinoza were one of the causes of his later popularity. Because of this barrage, men of dispassionate judgement took the trouble to study his writings. This brought him many admirers and followers among the intellectuals of Europe. In 1927 when the 250th anniversary of his death was observed throughout the western world, Russia under Lenin proclaimed Spinoza the official philosopher and patron saint of the USSR. Before him the place had been assigned to Emmanuel Kant.
Therefore, it came to pass that the Philosophy of the lonely Jew of Amsterdam became the official creed of the Communist world. Christianity in Russia was replaced by Spinozism. Some eminent leaders of men have taken an interest: Lenin, Bismarck- the “Iron Chancellor,” became admirers of Spinoza and, it is claimed that even Catholic Hitler read his works. Spinoza’s preference for the aristocracy-governed state as well as his dictum that the sphere of the right is delimited by might appealed greatly to all dictators! Hence Bismarck’s, Lenin’s and Hitler’s admiration for Spinoza! Nietschze and Hegel were eminent Western philosophers who were followers of Spinoza. Hegel was so much taken up with his teachings that he said ”That which is rational bears the stamp of Spinoza.” The rediscovery of Spinoza by the Germans contributed to the shaping of the cultural destinies of the German people for almost 200 years. When the Jewish authorities asked Albert Einstein, “Do you believe in God?” with view to taking punitive action against him for Atheism, his reply was, “I believe in the God of Spinoza.”
According to Spinoza a satisfactory philosophy should have the following requirements:
1) It must be intelligible, devoid of dogmas and inexplicable mysteries.
2) It must be consistent with the findings of science. Its teachings should not be discredited by the findings of science.
3) It must explain the main facts of life satisfactorily, e.g., the problem of evil (a Christian extreme concept deriving from harmful actions by others) and the problem of suffering.
4) It must provide a worthy object for respect or veneration.
Hence, it can be seen that any religion, to be useful at a personal level, should meet the standards of philosophical rationality. Hitherto philosophy in Europe had been divorced from religion. Spinoza broke with that taboo and brought philosophy and religion together, as is the case of the Buddhist and Hindu traditions where philosophy and religions are inseparably tied up with each other.
Now, it can be seen by Buddhists that in terms of the four requirements stipulated by Spinoza Buddhism fits well as a good, useful, practical religion and as the ideal philosophy because:
1) Buddhism is intelligible, rational and has no mysteries.
2) Buddhism is consistent with the principles of science. Its fundamentals have not been discredited by science but have been confirmed and reinforced.
3) It provides the three Characteristics of Existence, Anicca, Dukkha and Anatta. Evil is an extreme Christian term with only a mild equivalent in Buddhism as “harmful Action.” At the core of the philosophy is Causality, Karma and its fruit, Vipaka. Without its teaching of Karma and Rebirth the problem of suffering becomes an inexplicable mystery. It provides the best solution to the problem of suffering.
4) Buddhism provides a worthy object of veneration in the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha. These are not mystical Gods whose existence is unverifiable, but (a) a respected teacher, (b) respected teachings of the deepest wisdom and (c) respected practitioners of that wisdom.
Like Spinoza, the Buddha was an intellectual and a determinist in that he taught that our fate is determined by our Karma which we accumulate. Like Spinoza, the Buddha explains that desire is the origin of life and its activities. The Brahma referred to by the Buddha is the prototype of Spinoza’s God. Spinoza-ism, like Buddhism, is a philosophy deeply ingrained with religion. The triumphs of Spinoza were due to the well founded principles he had developed; similar principles made Buddhism great, too.
Article Re-submit to Ceylon Diary By R.O.S