Hi there -
In Buddhism, it is said that there is nothing in this world that is permanent (not even an unchanging universal "soul"/consciousness) whereas in Hinduism, there exists the concept of Brahman - that one eternal unchanging Awareness. Is this a major contradiction/disagreement between the two religions or am I understanding it wrongly? Could someone please explain? Thank you in advance.
Oh yes certainly. The core difference in fact.
You probably have read http://awakeningtoreality.blogspot.sg/2007/03/thusnesss-six-stages-of-experience.html
Stage 1 to 4 sort of realizations can be found in other religions like Hinduism. Stage 5 to 7 are Buddhist sort of enlightenment.
The Buddhist realization has to do with anatta/no-self, emptiness and dependent origination.
Thank you, AEN. If there is not even a universal unchanging soul, then where does compassion fit in? Isn't compassion only just another feeling then? So why so much emphasis on compassion in Buddhism?
You don't need to have universal soul in order to have compassion.
I wrote in 2011:
In attempting to find and locate where thought comes from, reside, and go to, it is realised that thought is ungraspable, unfindable, unfathomable... A magician’s magical apparition, like everything (the experiential universe) is... A wonderful display of luminous emptiness, dependent origination. Yet after this is seen, it is nothing resembling nihilism or non-existence... When someone lights up his lighter to burn an innocent ant, compassion just arise... A magical universe demands magical response and compassion from no one to no one
Later I found another article that said about the same things:
http://luminousemptiness.blogspot.sg/2007/11/gampopa-and-compassion.html
Excerpt:
The third form of Compassion Gampopa talks about is that of 'Compassion
without Reference Point'. This is where we have developed sufficiently
that we see something of the true nature of things. We have some
experience of Shunyata, of Emptiness, and therefore we no longer cling
to the notion of person, of illness, of helping as solidly existent
'things'. As a result of seeing the play of mere appearances in mind, we
don't attach to these illusory notions, and therefore we don't suffer
whilst helping alleviate suffering. We see this play of appearances,
which are ultimately empty, but at the same time, we recognise that the
'person' before us does not see this.
We also see that the
difference between seeing things as they are, and of grasping onto the
solidity or reality of things, is, in a sense, razor thin. The
difference is so slender between seeing, and not seeing.
When
the experience of emptiness arises, we see that seeing how things are,
and seeing with ignorance is the most subtle shift, in a sense, (and yet
the most enormous shift, in another sense!!!!). We see how easy it is
to lose this 'view', both during, and between meditations. We slip into
it and out of it so easily. So, we have an appreciation of how small a
shift it is, in a sense, and how 'easy' it could be for those suffering
beings to see in accordance with the nature of things, to act in
accordance with the nature of things, and therefore not suffer. That
recognition of how 'easy' it would be for them to not suffer becomes the
cause for a great compassion to arise in us. The recognition of how
unnecessary that suffering is, indeed, how unnecessary and how easily
thrown off.
Further, the recognition from the previous stage (and
classification) that we ourselves self-cause our own suffering is
deepened here - with the addition of now seeing the potential 'ease' of
throwing it off.
At this stage, our compassion arises without
having an object, as we no longer 'see' any being to be the object of
our compassion. Indeed, we no longer see 'ourselves' as being
compassionate, nor see the 'act' of compassion either. We see the play
of empty appearances - and yet, and yet ... we act. How is this? How can
we act, when we no longer see sentient beings, as such? Well, from my
very limited experience, this Compassion is the natural response, the
natural outpouring of the mind that sees things as they are. It's as if
when we take all this mistaken understanding and seeing out of the way,
what lay beneath - the sun behind the clouds - can pour forth its
energy, which had been previously obscured and dammed up.
- an
attempt to clarify in my own mind my own confusion, and previous
potentially confusing post ... in the hope it might also be of help to
others -
may we all give rise to the Compassion that has no reference point ...