Buddha's Dhamma is based on rationalism.
The following features of dhamman support my above statement:
1. Samma Ditti.
2. Kalama Sutta.
3. Dhammapada.
4. His concept of Karma, rebirth, Ahimsa.
5. His refusal to take the help of miracles to spread
Dhamma.
Samma Ditti
This is the first of the eight-fold path. It means right view. It
means having a right view of the world. Samma Ditti is to know
reality rightly, free from superstition, ignorance, illusions, etc.
It is to know truth as truth and untruth as untruth, to know the
world as it is and not as it appears to our eyes. "The end of Samma
Ditti is the destruction of avijia (Nescience). It is opposed to
Michcha Ditti." Samma Ditti is opposed to Nescience; hence, it
supports right understanding of the world based on scientific
method.
Kalama Sutta
In Kalama Sutta, we come across Buddha's yardstick, which he gives
to the people to judge his own preaching. Sometimes, the laymen
doubt whether a word that is supposed to have been preached by
Buddha was truly preached by Buddha or not. In such a situation,
how can a layman find out its authenticity? Speaking on this topic
Buddha says, "Come, o Kalamas, do not be led by hearsay, nor by
tradition, nor by reports, nor by scriptural injunction, nor by
logic, nor by inference, nor by the appearances, nor by seeming
possibilities, nor by the consideration, 'this monk is our
teacher.' But Kalamas, when you know for yourselves: These things
are unwholesome, and blame worthy, unprofitable and censored by the
wise, and when acted upon, these lead to harm and misery, then do
you reject them."
Dhammapada
In Dhammapada the verses stress culture of mind. The first verse
itself begins with a stress on the fact that mind is the basis of
all religion. The sorrow follows the actions as a track follows the
cart wheel. Hence, Dhammapada calls for restraint and cultivation
of mind. It asks a Buddhist to exercise his judgment to ascertain
what is right and what is wrong.
His Concept of Rebirth, Karma and Ahimsa
All theistic religions believe that the soul exists independent of
the material physique. Our material physique is considered by them
as a house in which the soul dwells.
But Buddha rejects the existence of soul. Hence, the theory of
rebirth falls to ground because without transmigration of soul
there can't be rebirth. But yet, Buddha uses the words "rebirth"
and "'karma" but without soul. How can there be rebirth without
soul? He says that rebirth of a person is by his seed as a mango
tree finds its rebirth from its seed in the form of a young tree.
Buddha's concept is purely scientific. Similarly, according to
theists, "karma" means the actions done in our previous births but
they take effect in our present birth. We cannot control such
effects of karma. We have to suffer it helplessly. But Buddha says
that karma cannot extend beyond one birth. It takes effect in the
same birth itself. His "karma" is nothing but the principle of
cause and effect. An example: A theft results in the arrest of the
thief. The thief cannot escape his arrest and punishment. The
arrest cannot wait until his next birth. In this way, effect
follows the cause surely without fail in this birth itself, just as
a cartwheel follows the steps of the horse.
The "ahimsa" (nonviolence) of Buddha is entirely different from the
"ahimsa" of Jainism. "It is quite clear that Buddha meant to make a
distinction between will to kill and need to kill. He did not ban
killing where there was nothing but the will to kill. So,
understood there is no confusion in the Buddhist doctrine of
Ahimsa." A soldier killing enemies in war is an example of a need
to kill. So is killing bacteria to save a sick person. But hunting
animals for pleasure is exhibiting a will to kill.
His Refusal to Employ Miracles or Magic to Spread
Dhamma
While sending his Bhikkus to spread the Dhamma he instructed them
not to take the help of miracles and he himself neither performed
any miracles nor spoke of the supernatural. He never offered to
speak on the origin of the universe. This shows that he never
thought of deceiving innocent people. He never made false promises.
If he had taken the help of miracles, people would not have
remembered him now as a great rationalist. And he would not have
influenced human thinking as he has done. He never claimed his
Dhamma as divine or never arrogated to himself the position of God
or God's messenger or God's son. His Dhamma was not a revealed one.
"It was his own reasoning which had hammered out a doctrine of his
own evolving and of his personal invention such that whoso hears it
preached for his good has only to act up to it to be guided to the
utter ending of ill."
Hence, we can hail Buddha as the foremost and greatest rational
thinker mankind ever saw on this earth. Much research is yet to be
done on the influence of Buddha on Western thinkers starting from
the age of reason of Greece -- in the third century B.C., Ashoka
the Great sent Buddhist messengers not only to different parts of
Asia but also to other civilizations that flourished at that time,
including Greece, Persia, Egypt and Rome.
