Kamal Ghorui
On Buddha Purnima, when the full moon illuminates the night sky, we commemorate the birth, enlightenment, and parinirvan of Siddharth Gautam, and the radical liberation of human inquiry from the chains of dogma. Buddhism stands as a singular philosophical tradition that refuses to sacralise belief. Unlike many religious traditions that demand faith, devotion, or unquestioning acceptance, Buddhism turns the very act of believing into an object of scrutiny.
Its invitation is austere, and profoundly modern: test everything, including the Buddha’s teachings. Even subtle, subconscious adherence to any concept, Buddhist or otherwise, is questioned. There is no blasphemy here, no sacrilege, because the Buddha never demands devotion to unexamined propositions.
Buddha’s epistemological courage with crystalline precision is audacious: “Do not believe anything merely because it is spoken by the Buddha, or because it feels right, or because you revere the teacher. Believe only that which you have verified through your own experience.” This maxim is not peripheral; it is central. This philosophy manifests most profoundly in Bhavana-maya panna , experiential wisdom. Such wisdom arises through meditation, particularly vipassana, where insight is not received secondhand but realised within.
Unlike sutamaya panna, wisdom gained from listening or cintamaya panna , wisdom derived from intellectual reflection, bhavana-maya panna is a direct, personal apprehension of reality. There is no intermediary – no deity, scripture, teacher, priest, God or metaphysical construct can substitute for this intimate knowing. The middleman dissolves. No one stands between the seeker and truth.
Buddhism’s intellectual courage extends further.
It eschews metaphysics, sidestepping perennial philosophical puzzles in favour of pragmatic inquiry. Buddha famously maintained a noble silence on the existence of God, leaving room for rational autonomy rather than theological subservience. Like Jainism and Taoism, Buddhism is a creatorless/godless religion. The problem of evil renders a benevolent, omnipotent, and omniscient God rationally incoherent, considering observed suffering. Buddha’s concern was relentlessly practical: the cessation of suffering through ethical living and epistemic integrity.
One could engage in the core project of cultivating mindfulness, compassion, and wisdom without a metaphysical commitment.
Any philosophy that functions as an organised religion or spiritual path comprises three interlocking components: epistemology, ethics, and metaphysics. Buddha’s genius lies in its refusal to bind them rigidly together. One can inhabit the tradition, participate in its moral and contemplative practices, and yet suspend belief in metaphysical doctrines. Buddhism allows room for disagreement, for suspension of judgement, and even for indifference or an agnostic outlook to its broader unverifiable metaphysical belief system, without negating one’s adherence.
In contemporary terms, Buddha offers a template for a modern spirituality, one that is investigative, experiential, and intellectually generous. It insists that truth is not handed down but discovered, that wisdom is cultivated, and that ethical life emerges from understanding rather than blind faith. In an interview, Nobel laureate Krasznahorkai reflects on Buddhaand the Buddhist metaphysical notion of nothingness, “Do you remember what Buddha told us about the circle? There is a big difference between the infinite and the uncountable finite. After all, what do you think happens when the Sufi dancer dissolves into nothing?”
Buddha’s legacy promotes a liberal, progressive and democratic spirit of ‘agree to disagree’. In an age of polarised certainties, the most enduring gift from Buddha is a vision of spirituality that is at once ancient and strikingly modern, inviting inquiry and honouring experience.
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