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Vol.22 , No.2(1974)093笠井 貞「The Mind-Body Problem in the Thought of Dogens and Thomas Aquinas」

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The

Mind-Body

Problem

in the

Thought

of DOgens

and

Thomas

Aquinas

A Study

in Comparative

Philosophy

Tadashi

Kasi

Dogen-Zenji (1200-1253) and Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) are both think-ers and sages in the thirteenth century. They were regarded by their contem-poraries as bold innovators. The former, Dogen, is a major Buddhist in Japan and at the same time he is a great philosopher. And his thought is so highly evaluated by modern philosophers in Japans). The latter, Aquinas, is a great Roman Catholic theologian and philosopher. It is needless to say that Thomism is a living and developing movement of thought in modern philosophy.

The aim of this brief treatise is to clear up the difference and characteriza-tion in the way of thinking on the Mind-Body Problem in Dogen and Aquinas who are different from each other in their traditions and have the different forms of thought. The Mind-Body Problem is very difficult to make clear and traditionally important in philosophy because it has a close connection with the main concerns in metaphysics and ethics.

To begin with, let's consider the theory of Dogen2). His thought is founded on Buddhist philosophy. Accrding to Dogen, the human body and mind are composed of 'Shidai' and Gown'. Shidai (catvari maha-bhutani) means, four elements, namely, earth (hardness), water (moisture), fire (heat), and wind (mo-tion). These four elements make up human matter. Goun consists of five aggre-gates. (1) pupa-skandha, a generic name of forms of matter. As to man, this

1) See e. g., The Complete Works of Tanabe Hajime, Chikuma Shobo, Vol. 5, p. 445.

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The Mind-Body Problem in the Thought (T. Kasai) (10) is his body. (2) Vedana-skandha, perception. (3) Samjn"a-skandha, mental conceptions. (4) Samskara-skandha, volition. These three skandhas are mental functions. (5) Vijn"ana-skandha, consciousness of mind. This is the totality of the human mind. Thus, five skandhas compose the body and mind of men and all sentient beings. These five aggregates, however, have no substance. Man is produced by the temporary combination of five aggregates. Man is selfless and has no substantial ego.

Accordingly, Dogen describes in the Gakud oy of i n-shu as follows: "We have received this body, hair and skin from our parents. The two drops of red and white, which are products of father and mother, are empty from beginning to end. There is no self here". In Buddhism, all things owe their existence to causes and conditions. Consequently, there is nothing that exists independently. Everything exists temporarily only by means of the union of conditions. For this reason, man does not have any eternal and unchangeable substance in himself. In the Shobogenzo Zuimonki Dogen also says : "Consider the beginning and end of man. Our body, hair and skin are made by the union of the semen and ovum of our father and mother. When the breathing stops, the body is scattered in mountains and fields, and finally turns to earth and mud". In brief, Dogen asserts from the standpoint of Buddhism, that we should not cling to the body. On another occasion, Dogen says that human existence is supported by a combination of eighteen elements called `the Juhachi-kai' (astadasa dhata-vah, viz. Eighteen worlds). The Juhachi-kai is divided into three parts. The first contains six subjective elements-the senses of vision, audition, smell, taste and touch, and the faculty of the intellect. The second includes six objective elements-color and shape, sound, odour, taste, tangibility and non-sensuous objects. The third is made up of six kinds of consciousenss-visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, tactile and non-sensuous. Thus, for instance, visual con-sciousness arises from the correlation between the sense of vision and color and shape. According to the Buddhist philosophy, Dogen denies the ego that exists as the fixed substance. Thus, the human body and mind which is its

function are non-dual.

Hence, Dogen points out in Bendowa' that the view that the mind is eternal

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-1118-and the body perishes is not right. Someone said to Dogen as follows: "Throw away the delusion of birth and death. There is an easy, shortcut to freedom from birth and death. It is to know that the spirit is eternal even if this body perishes..." Then Dogen expresses 'himself on this subject. According to his view this is not Buddhism. It is the thought of Senika heresy. In this heretical view, it is said that there is a spiritual knowledge in our body. And through this knowledge, we recognize like and dislike, right and wrong, pain and itch-ing, and suffering and pleasure. When the body perishes, this spiritual know-ledge is released there and is born anew elsewhere. Although it seems to die there, it is sure to be born in another place. So it never dies; it continues eternally (This is the outline of the heretical view.). If someone learns this and

thinks it Buddhism, it is more foolish than holding roof tiles or pebbles and thinking they are golden treasure. Furthermore, Dogen preaches as follows: "In Buddhist philosophy, the body and mind are essentially one, and the essence and form are non-dual. So, don't separate the mind from the body. Why do you say that the body perishes while the mind is eternal ? This is against the right law". The view of the unity of the body and mind has always been upheld in Buddhism. In conclusion, the doctrine of the immortality of the soul is against Buddhism.

By the way, in Dogen's thought, the ego which is the unity of the body and mind and is composed of pan-ca skandha is the individual self, what is called self -consciousness. The ego is non-substantial and impermanent, because it is based on the `pratitya-samutpada' (conditioned becoming). In addition to this, Dogen states his view. "All the worlds in the ten directions are the true human body itself" (Shinjin-Gakudo). "The whole world is one's own 'dharma-kaya' (the body of the highest aspect of the Buddha)" (Yuibutsu-yobutsu). Through these words, we can realize that Dogen regards the ego as the unity of mind (con-sciousness) and its objects and that he considers it to be as large as the universe. This ego is called greater ego' in contrast to ego' or smaller ego'. This thought shows the deepening of the theory of pratitya-samutpada.

According to Dogen, there exists what he calls the ancient-Buddha or the practical-Buddha. He explains this ego using various words, such as birth,

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The Mind-Body Problem in the Thought (T. Kasai) (12) birth, death or non-death (Gyoji). In this stage, that is, in self -nature or self-Buddha, birth and death cannot be conceived with respect to the ego. The totality-ego, which includes every ego stated above, is called Buddha-nature (Buddhahood) or a Mind by Dogen and all sentient beings equally possess the Buddha-nature which is the basis of Enlightenment3).

Buddhism is the teachings of the Buddha and the teachings to help one be-come a `Buddha' (the Enlightened One). The Buddha is the true self of man. Therefore, Dogen says man is born a son of Buddha. The First Principle or God is denied in the theory of 'pratitya-samutpada'. As a consequence, Bud-dhism is atheistic. Self is the lord of self, and man is a responsible self -mover. In spite of this, the self as it is won't be able to become an ultimate refuge. Our true self appears only when we deny our lustful self.

Dogen asserts that Practice and Enlightenment are one and the same, but yet he stresses the importance of practice. As we all have the seed of prajna (wisdom) in abundance, we enlighten the Buddha by this body and mind. In practice, Dogen sets great value on Zazen (meditation), because it was the great way of the Buddha. Zazen is the practice of the Buddha and those who engage in this practice are Buddhas. There is no soul apart from the body. Dogen's Zazen is based on the premise of the identity of the body and mind. His Zazen rejects the gap of the body and mind and he holds that sitting bodily leads us to Enlightenment of the mind. Zazen ' achieves a perfect balance between practice and knowledge. He denies the existence of the eternal soul and aims at the realization of the perfection of character in this life.

Man's sacred nature is Buddha-nature which is equally found both in man and in woman. According to Dogen, any daily work is respectable as long as it is based on the Buddha-nature. He says that it is present', not future or past, that is important, that the life of this very day is extremely valuable and that the body that holds such mind is also valuable. And he also adds that one should love and respect one's own body and mind which guide one to that practice. In short, Dogen's theory belongs to the metaphysics of

Budd-3) See Daisuke Ueda, Zen and Science, Risosha, 1963, pp. 23-25.

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-1116-ha-nature, or more accurately, the metaethics of Buddha-nature.

Furthermore, we are dependent' upon many factors which are combined to enable us to live. Dogen is even of opinion that mountains, rivers and the earth are all the sea of the Buddha-nature. He has a tender heart to nature which is at one with human beings. Consequently, He asserts the concept of

the unity of all things and ethics of the non-duality of one's self and other self. Now, we will consider Aquinas' thought. His theory may be briefly summa-rized in the following paragraphs4). According to Aquinas, man is composed of a spiritual and a corporeal substance. What is the soul (anima) ? The soul5) is defined as the first principle of life (primum principium vitae) and it is not a body (corpus) but the act of a body (corporis actus). The essence of the soul is a simple form. The human soul, which is called the intellect or the mind, is not only incorporeal but it is also a substance. Man has his own soul as well as his body, and is composed of the soul and the body. The soul has an existence in the body and in each part of the body. Since man is really a unity he is not a compound of two independent substances, as -Plato and Au-gustine held, but one substance. Just as Aristotle asserted, the soul which is the source of intellect is the form of the body.

Aquinas goes on saying. As Plato said, the human soul is incorruptible. The soul of brutes, having no rational faculty, are corrupted, when their bodies are corrupted. On the contrary, the human soul is produced by God. Aquinas maintains his opinion on the basis of the Bible. The human soul retains its own being after the dissolution of the body. Besides, the multiplicity of souls is in proportion to the multiplicity of bodies and after the dissolution of the bodies, the souls retain their multiplied being (These are Aquinas' view on the human soul.).

Aquinas says that the soul is united to the body in order to have an existence and an operation suitable to its nature. It has one mode of existence when it is united to the body, and another when separated from it. Nevertheless, its

4) S. Thomae Aquinatis: Summa Theologiae, cum textu ex recensione Leonina. (Roma 1948); Summa Contra Gentiles. Leonina (Roma 1934); etc.

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The Mind-Body Problem in the Thought (T. Kasai) (14) nature always remains the same. For want of space, it is impossible to describe the state of the soul of the deceased, the soul which is separated from the body. (Cf. S. T-I, Q. 89, a. 1. -a. 8. )

The human soul, according to Aquinas, is produced immediately by God. As the soul is naturally the form of the body, it is necessarily created, not sepa-rately, but in the body ; that is to say, the soul, as a part of human nature, has its natural perfection only when it is united to the body. For this reason, the soul cannot be created separately; it should be created in the body. The soul is not created before the creation of the body; it should be created just when it is to be given to the body. In other words, it is not transmitted by semen, but created anew for each man6.

The soul is immortal after the dissolution of the body. Aquinas' demonstra-tion of the immortality of the soul is as follows: "It is impossible that a natural desire should be in vain. And man naturally dsires to remain in per-petuity. This is clear from the fact that it is existence that is desired by all things. More-over,..." (C. G-2, 79) In the Summa Theologiae (I, Q. 75, a. 6), the similar description is found. Aquinas goes on saying. When the soul exists without the body, it is contrary to the nature of the soul. And nothing which is contrary to nature can. be perpetual. Aquinas believes that the soul must remain until the time of the resurrection when it will be re-embodied.

Well then, what is the human body in Aquinas ? As for Adam, the first hu-man being, it is written in Genesis that God made hu-man of the slime of the earth. But he takes the position that the human body is created out of the four elements, earth, water, fire, air. (Water, fire and air are less in quantity. Cf. S. T-I, Q. 91, a. 1. ) Adam, the first formation of the human body, was made immediately by God. And it is said that God fashioned the human body in that disposition which was best for the fitness of the soul and its operation. The body depends on the soul and not the soul on the body. The soul is no-thing but the form of the, body. The soul controls the body and it is God that controls the soul. The above is the outline of Aquinas' view on the

Mind-6) If the soul is not transmitted but created anew, how can the sin of Adam be inherited ? This important problem is not explained by Aquinas.

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-1114-Body Problem.

Then, what is the real end of God's creating the human being ? Let's sum-marize Aquinas' view. His thought is grounded on his Christian faith. In Genesis i-26, one can find the passage, "Let Us make man to Our own image and likeness". But His only son, Jesus Christ, alone is the perfect image of God. There is in man a likeness of God, not a perfect likeness, but imperfect. Man is said to be the image of God by reason of his intellectual nature. The image of God, in the intellectual nature, is found both in man and in woman. How-ever, in a secondary sense, the image of Cod is found in man, and not in woman. For man is the beginning and end of woman, as God is the beginning and end of evey creature. The above-mentioned view of Aquinas' is founded on the Biblical quotations.

According to Aquinas, human beings are the most valuable in the universe by reason of the mentality of the soul. Man, being made to the image of God, is above other animals. Matter is for the sake of form; and the imperfect form is for the sake of the perfect. Thus, in the use of natural things, the imperfect are for the use of the perfect. The plants make use of the earth for their nourishment, animals make use of plants and man makes use of both plants and animals. Therefore, the subjection of other animals to man is proved to be natural.

In the above outline, we have endeavoured to consider the views of the mind and body in DogIn and Aquinas. Let's find out the difference and the charac-terization in their views. Dogen who is an orthodox follower of Buddhist philosophy rejects both idealism and materialism. In the Mind-Body Problem, Aquinas makes an attempt to avoid materialism on the hand and pure dualism on the other, and tries to take the middle road between the two extremes.

In Dogen's view, as stated above, the ego is not a substance but it is actually non-existent. In Aquinas, on the contrary, the ego is a substance, that is to say, an essence which is capable of existing by itself. The ego, an individual substance, is a compound of the body and soul, or a rational animal; and it is person. Here, we come to a fundamental difference between Dogen and Aquinas. According to Dogen, the' fundamental truth in life is the principle

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of pratitya-samutpada'; all phenomena are impermanent, phenomenal things are in existence only by conditions. Man, however, seeks immutable and sub-stantial ego amid the non-existent beings. Woksa (perfect freedom) is to take hold of the truth in lif; through prajna' which is the 'fruit of si la (moral conduct) and dhyana' (meditation). In Dogen there is no gap between the body and mind. The body and mind are organically one, besides, the body depends upon the mind, and the mind depends upon the body. Dogen's theory is a form of Buddhism which is philosophy of mind'7).

Aquinas says that the soul is what makes the body into a human body, and that the soul and body are combined to form one substance. And he draw a sharp distinction between the mind or the soul of man and the body. He pre-mises the only proposition, 'Deus est' (God exists.). To Aquinas, the only God

is the creator of the body and mind.

Aquinas, an orthodox Christian philosopher, asserts that the world was created not from any matter but from nothing. The principle of 'creatio ex nihilo' was an idea entirely f oreigen to Greek' and Buddhist philosophy8). He states his view on the premise that the human body and mind are created by a per-sonal God. So, the highest good is beatitudo (supreme happiness) which comes from the intuitive knowledge and the love of God. Those who believe in the principle of ex nihilo cuncta' viz. 'creatio ex nihilo' can find a profound truth in Aquinas' philosophy. Unlike his predecessors, Aquinas adapted Christian Dogma to Aristotles' philosophy and established a basis of wholly new Christian philosophy.

Now, we must draw a conclusion from the above consideration for want of space. In sum, we may be able to conclude Dogen's view belongs to the identity theory' in which we can find the causal connection between the mind and body. And as to Aquinas, he may be called a proponent of `the person theory'.

7) What is called the mind (citta) in Buddhism is different from the soul (anima), that is, a simple substance which is asserted by rational psychologists. (This soul Kant refuted as the paralogism of pure reason in Kritik der reinen Vernunft.) 8) See especially Kumataro Kawada, Buddhism and Philosophy, Heiraku ji Shoten,

1957, p. 215ff.

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