The Cult of Emptiness_ The Western Discovery of Buddhist Thought and the Invention of Oriental Philosophy

Abstract

Whereas the discovery by Europeans of the continents of our earth has been the subj ect of countless studies and its protagonists (such as Columbus) are universally known, research on the European discovery of our globe's "spiritual continents"its religions and philosophies-is still in its infancy. The Christian West's discovery of Asia's largest religion and fount of philosophies, Buddhism, is a case in point: though it triggered one of the most significant and influential spiritual and cultural encounters in world history, even the most basic questions remain unanswered. What did Europeans first learn about Buddhist thought ? When and where did this discovery take place and who was involved in it ? What did Westerners learn about Buddhist and related philosophies of Asia, how did they understand or misunderstand them, and what were the repercussions of such discoveries in Europe ? While trying to find answers to such questions I kept coming across references to a single "Oriental philosophy." I vividly remember my first encounter with this strange creature. In the process of tracing Schopenhauer's Oriental sources in the Schopenhauer Archive in Frankfurt in the mid- 1 990s, I was struck by a note the young philosopher had scribbled into his copy of a Latin translation of the Upanishads-India's seminal philosophical texts-that had been published in 1 80 1 under the title of Oupnelihat: 1 T H E CULT OF EMPTINE S S (E:rplicatio prtl:'CljJllOrlLln 1.}(;l'bOJ'Uln samskl'eticol'Uln, glUe in OUPNE1{'HAT adhibentllr.) Olr '[ ·.·B'l4l1 " 1 , JJ • .􀁀' 􀁁""',A".l • I j ctPranou etiam nomen ipsum hoc est, 'id cst, obsignata (cla;��\'(1 ,·:fi�;·;�)laei ens seen􀃒 tao :U;/,- e C'· I '!..2. Brahm: creator; FIG. 1: SCHOPENHAUER'S NOTES IN AN􀄂ETIL-D UPERRON'S OUPNEK'HAT (AN􀄂ETIL 1801, VOL. 1,:7) The line that startled me begins with the sacred Indian word 0 UM that translator Anquetil-Duperron equated with God (Deus). That Schopenhauer would replace Anquetil's "Deus" by "Brahm" was to be expected; but what in the world had "Omitto" to do with the Indian Upanishads, some of which are older than Buddhism ? Having specialized in Chinese and Japanese religions, I gathered that "Omitto" refers to the Buddha of Infinite Light Amitiibha who is known in Japan as Amida and in China as Amituo. The note indicated by Schopenhauer's handwritten cross-reference ("p. 1 5, not. 2") confirmed this. But Anquetil's footnote to "Deus;' which attempted to explain why OUM is the equivalent of God, led to even more confusion since it furnished an explanation linking Omitto to the Egyptian god Phta. What was going on here ? How did China's Omitto Buddha end up in the first European Upanishad translation as the equivalent of the sacred word 0 UM, the Hindu Brahman, the Judeo-Christian God, and the Egyptian god Phta ? Both my consternation and my interest grew when I read in Anquetil's long introduction that the Books of Solomon, the ancient ChineseJings (classics), the sacred Indian Vedas, and the Persian Zend Avesta all transmit "the same dogma" ( 1 80 1 :viii) and that this doctrine "made its way, under the name of doctrina orienta/is, from India to Persia, and from 2 Preface Persia to the Greeks and Romans" (p. cviii) . In support of this thesis, Anquetil cited numerous European historians of philosophy asserting the existence of an extremely ancient "Oriental philosophy." Since I had spent half of my life in Asia and studied a few Asian languages and philosophies, I knew very well that there is no single "Oriental philosophy" in existence, just as there is no single "Oriental language" or "Oriental cooking." This had to be a Western invention. I also knew from my research on the European discovery of Asian religions that a similar invention-the idea of a single "Oriental religion" -played a crucial role in the pre-modern European perception of Asia and the genesis of modern orientalism.1 So: how and by whom was this "Oriental philosophy" invented, what is its connection with Buddhism and other Asian as well as European religions and thought systems, and what role did this invention play in the European encounter with Asia ? As I followed traces of this strange creature from the nineteenth century back in time, I kept encountering characterizations of a common "inner" doctrine of this philosophy that had an unmistakable scent of Zen Buddhism. Thanks in large measure to my friends Steven Antinoff and Naomi Maeda I had in my twenties begun to study this particular form of Buddhism (called Zen in Japan, Son in Korea, Chan in China, and Thien in Vietnam) and subsequently spent a good part of my academic career exploring various facets of it. Since this happens to be the form of Buddhism popular with elites in Japan, China, and Vietnam when European missionaries first explored Asian religions and philosophies during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, such knowledge was a crucial asset for the journey to the roots of Anquetil's "doctrina orientalis." This book deals with the seeding stage from mid-sixteenth century Japan to the turn of the eighteenth century when this flower of imagination took root in the main hotbeds of pre-Enlightenment Europe, Holland and France. Perhaps more importantly, this book presents 1 Urs App, The Birth of Orientalism. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010. 3 THE C ULT OF EMPTINESS a completely new vision of Europe's discovery of Buddhism and for the first time describes the protagonists and most influential sources of the early phase of this momentous encounter between East and West. In my youth I had been fascinated by tales about famous explorers of our globe. The voyage of discovery that led to this book was as long, adventurous, and full of surprises as the exploits of the heroes of my childhood. I was fortunate to be accompanied by my wife Monica Esposito whose love, curiosity, learning, and sense of humor were a constant source of inspiration and joy. My thanks must also go to my Capucin teachers at the Collegium St. Antonius in Appenzell (Switzerland) whose lessons in Latin, Greek, and scholastic philosophy bore such strange and exotic fruit, and to a long line of teachers ofJapanese, classical Chinese, and other languages as well as a large and colorful collection of Zen masters, philosophers, university professors, historians, librarians, and living as well as deceased relatives and friends. I am especially indebted to my mentors in philology, the late Profs. Seizan Yanagida and Yoshitaka Iriya, to Prof Richard DeMartino, to my generous brother Pius App, and to those who most helped me cope with the sudden passing of my wife as the redaction of this book was in its final stages: D rs. Adriana and Valerio Pozza-Esposito, my son Alexander Huwyler, Rev. Taizan Egami and his family, Mark Thomas, Dr. Christian Wittern, A. J. Dickinson, Dr. Alexander and Ursula Ilg, Dr. Filippo and Paola Panzuto, my little granddaughter Leila, and Momo. Inline references consisting only of page numbers always refer to the last full reference. Unless a translator is indicated, all quotations from sources with non-English titles were translated into English by me. The letters "v" or "r" after page numbers signify recto (front of page) and verso (back). I made an effort to faithfully reproduce spellings of historical sources, for example the "u" and "v" of Latin and old Italian, or old English and French orthography ("perswade;' "premiere;' "vuide") that might seem erroneous to modern readers. 4 Preface Unless otherwise indicated, all tables and illustrations are by me or reproduce materials from my private library. Chinese characters written in "short" forms in the original texts are reproduced as such. The mixture of "short" and "long" forms is thus not due to oversight. In order to facilitate study, I decided to structure the index at the end of this volume by themes as well as by alphabet. This entailed some problematic decisions, for example the separation of general "Buddhist" from specific "Zen" doctrines and texts ; but I trust that the advantages outweigh the shortcomings for those willing to read the index and to explore key themes such as "esoteric / exoteric doctrines" (pp. 270- 1 ) or "first principle" (pp. 272-3). References to book tides are listed under the author's name. Thus Kircher's China illustrata is not listed under C but under "Kircher" along with other works by Kircher used in this study. Buddhist sutras are listed under "Buddhist texts," Zen terms like honbun under "Zen doctrinal elements" (pp. 292-4), issues related to the invention of the Buddha's deathbed confession under "Buddha's deathbed confession" (pp. 260- 1 ) , and so on. Given the volume of the index, cross-references were reduced to a minimunl. The calligraphy on the cover (mu􀂇; "no," "nothing;' or "nothingness") is by the Japanese Zen master Hakuin Ekaku Slll)U!. ( 1 686- 1 769) . Centuries before they began to study Buddhist texts from India in the Sanskrit and Pali languages, Europeans encountered this "nothingness" in Japan. Indeed, Zen's mu played a central role in Europe's discovery of Buddhism and in the deeply connected invention of an "oriental philosophy" which I describe in this book. Hakuin's wonderful work of art on the cover and Shin'ichi Hisamatsu's calligraphies in the body of this book belong to the Hisamatsu Shin'ichi Kinenkan in Guu city, Japan, whose director I wish to thank for his permission to use my photographs.