The possibility of drawing teachings from Eastern religion didn’t occur immediately to Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860). It does not appear in his early work “About the fourfold root of the principle of sufficient reason” (1808) and only starts to take shape in “The world as will and representation” (1818).
Schopenhauer grew acquainted with Buddha’s teachings in the years after 1815. Initially, he read extensively about the life of Siddhartha Gautama, the creator of Buddhism.
The insights gained by Siddhartha Gautama appear rather harsh for thinkers trained in Western philosophy. Buddhism in its original form entails a radical rejection of Western comforts and values.
Schopenhauer was unwilling to endorse a radical rejection. I have no problem understanding his logic; he wanted Buddhism to enrich his life, not to render it miserable; he wanted to attain higher levels of happiness, not to give up happiness altogether.
Schopenhauer and the Middle Way in Buddhism
In the sixth century of our era, Bodhidharma (also called Da Mo) made the ideas of Siddhartha Gautama even more radical.
When Bodhidharma said that “everybody knows the way, but few people actually walk it,” he was appealing to emotions and demanding visceral reactions. He wasn’t offering a smooth path from Western philosophy to a Buddhist lifestyle.
Those radical teachings did not appear to Schopenhauer. He had realized that Buddhism had very much to offer in terms of stress reduction but was unwilling to abandon the comforts and sophistication of Western culture.
Schopenhauer found after further research a milder form of Buddhism, a form that appears more practicable to the Western mind. The developer of this milder variant was Nagarjuna, a Buddhist thinker of the second century of our era.
Nagarjuna presented himself as a follower of all Siddhartha Gautama’s precepts, but developed additional doctrines that are known as The Middle Way. Nagarjuna’s doctrines are outlined in poetic sentences compiled by his disciples.
Schopenhauer and enlightenment in Buddhism
According to Nagarjuna, we can overcome all suffering and achieve enlightenment if we understanding the nature of reality and act accordingly. The process of understanding, he said, can require extensive meditation, accompanied by study.
Schopenhauer did not care much for the stories of miracles attributed to Nagarjuna and other Buddhists thinkers. Miracles cannot be reproduced by the reader. Schopenhauer was mainly interested in techniques for stress reduction, increasing one’s effectiveness, and making better decisions.
Nagarjuna had acknowledged the suffering inhering in each individual existence. He wrote that “birth is suffering, ageing is suffering, illness is suffering, a displeasing environment is suffering, loss of pleasure is suffering, frustration is suffering, and death is suffering and inescapable.”
Those elements are dominated by the will (“life force”) that Schopenhauer had described in his book “The world as will and representation. Nagarjuna’s teachings are greatly appealing to people who want to keep suffering at bay without having to renounce the world.
Schopenhauer and suffering reduction in Buddhism
Nagarjuna’s formula for reducing suffering can be presented in just one sentence: You can substantially reduce all forms of suffering if you eliminate from your thinking and actions all that relates to the self.
Why did Nagarjuna call his strategy “The Middle Way”? He did so because it focuses on the self, that is, on the connection between emotions and the objective cause of suffering.
Schopenhauer adopted from Nagarjuna the insight that the attempt to cling to desires increases suffering. If we reduce the emotional clinging and enhance our empathy (compassion), we can reduce stress and suffering.
Nagarjuna did not speak about “how to increase happiness.” His main preoccupation is to reduce suffering. Nonetheless, the virtues of empathy and compassion also increase happiness. It is a difficult process, but it is feasible.
Schopenhauer favoured empathy and compassion in “Two fundamental problems in ethics,” a book he published in 1843. He turned abstract Buddhist philosophy into a straightforward action plan that every person can adopt.
Schopenhauer and peace of mind in Buddhism
Nagarjuna used the term “emptiness” for referring to “peace of mind.” He considered necessary to abandon all our personal views in order to attain peace of mind. Schopenhauer used a similar terminology, replacing the term “emptiness” by “self-awareness.”
While Nagarjuna was advising to do away with the self, the advice of Schopenhauer is more nuanced. He is recommending us to grow aware of the influence of the will. “Self-awareness” means opening our eyes to reality. The second step is to adopt countermeasures to secure our independence.
Compare for instance Nagarjuna’s insight that every form of attachment and desire is generating suffering, with the insight from Schopenhauer that lack of self-awareness is generating a lethal risk because it places us under the will’s domination.
Schopenhauer and meditation in Buddhism
The Middle Way went through further transformation in the thirteenth century through a Japanese Zen Buddhist thinker named Dogen Zenji (or “Dogen Kigen”).
Buddhist tradition tells us that Dogen suffered profoundly when, still a child, he saw his parents pass away. He studied in China four years (1223-1227) and returned to Japan in order to found a monastery.
In order to attain peace of mind, Dogen recommends seated meditation and spiritual reflection in everyday activities. Every part of the day offers an opportunity to enlightenment. Each of our chores can be turned into a form of meditation.
Schopenhauer pursued daily enlightenment through artistic contemplation, which plays a similar role as Dogen’s seated meditation; in addition, Schopenhauer took long walks, steered away from unpleasant situations, and tried to increase his self-awareness at every opportunity.
Schopenhauer and the daily practice in Buddhism
Like Dongen, Schopenhauer emphasised the integration of philosophical practice into everyday activities. Dogen defined Buddhist practice as the study of oneself in order to forget the self, so that we grow enlightened.
In a similar way, Schopenhauer defined good philosophy as the daily practice of habits (self-awareness, self-reliance, forms of artistic meditation, etc.) that minimize the destructive power of the will and help us make better decisions. By practising the above-mentioned habits, we can maximize our happiness.
If you are interested in applying rational principles here and now for addressing problems, I recommend you my book titled “Thriving in difficult times.”
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