Pythagorean and reincarnation theory.VIETNAMESE TRANSLATE ENGLISH BY=THICH CHAN TANH.

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The concept of rebirth and reincarnation (saṃsāra) of life is not unique to the thought of Phe-da, in Buddhism or Hinduism, and as we have often thought that only countries influence the background. New Eastern wisdom is governed by this concept.

Western philosophy, which was primarily a mathematician and philosopher Pythagore, carried this nuance quite boldly. Not only did he have a clear conception of human regeneration, reincarnation (metempsychosis), but he also pointed out that it was the reincarnation of the soul (soul), and he also believed that there was a spiritual shift from man to animal after life joint. He knows the fate of the soul after death. He conceived the soul to be permanent and immortal. And from that belief, he maintained his life by being vegetarian, eating only legumes, fruit trees, not animals.

The philosopher Pythagorean.

He conceived in the life of animals that evolved from human consciousness, so the animal's body when dead, turned into food for humans, also carries with it the human soul. Therefore, the belief in samsara (saṃsāra) of the human consciousness has a great influence on the viewpoint of the human world and the universe, resulting in the achievements of science and mathematics, music, philosophy. by Pythagorean. Before him, this concept had existed in philosophers like Thales (624-546 BC).

With the concept of scientific cosmology, Thales excludes mythological elements when explaining natural phenomena, and affects Platon, with the concept of forming the Republic, a nation formed completely. by human will, not by any divine intervention, as in his Republic. The article will begin with the man of Pythagorean, the fields he has achieved. The concept of spiritual reincarnation, the vegetarian diet, the influences on cosmology and his human outlook.

We will present in a spirit of contrast between the contemporary mainstream ideologies Phe-da and Buddhism, and cite some more Western philosophers influenced by his conception. The article is not intended to be critical or critical of religious traditions or schools of philosophy related to this category.

Pythagorean and era

Pythagorean was born on Samos Island, on the west coast of Greece, his father was a businessman, and his mother was from Samos Island. In his youth, he went to Crotone city in southern Italy to study and to evade the dictatorial government of Polycrates. Here he studied with a contemporary math master, Thales. At that time, Pythagorean was only 16 years old. Thales was greatly impressed by the intelligence and talent of Pythagorean. He advised Pythagore to come to Memphis in Egypt to study the ritual with the well-known priests there. Perhaps he learned some geometric principles, later inspired him to invent the famous mathematical theorem named after him here.

After that, he continued on his journey to find out what the quintessence of nations considered to be contemporary in ideological, philosophical, arithmetic developments. Pythagoras have come to India, Babilon, Egypt and have stayed there for many years. He became erudite in most important areas: arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, geography, medicine, philosophy when receiving more knowledge gained from these countries.

At the age of 50, Pythagorore had just returned to his homeland. He founded a school in southern Italy, accepting hundreds of pupils, including women, with a 5-year study period of 4 subjects: Geometry, Mathematics, Astronomy, and Music. Only excellent students at the end of year 3 are directly taught by him. The students of Pythagorean called themselves mathematikoi (mathematicians). They live in boarding schools, are not privately owned and follow their teachers vegetarian. Other students living in nearby areas are also allowed to join Pythagorean classes, called akousmatikoi (listeners). Those students are meat eaters and have their own possessions.

The concept of rebirth and reincarnation (saṃsāra) of life is not unique to the thought of Phe-da, in Buddhism or Hinduism, and as we have often thought that only countries influence the background. New Eastern wisdom is governed by this concept.

According to Iamblichus, Pythagore's students lived a prescribed life with religious subjects, group meals, exercise, reading and philosophy. Music is considered a key organizing element of this life: the disciples sing together praises of Apollo; they use lyre to heal the mind and body, recite poems before and after waking up to enhance memory. Mathematikoi are learned in more detail and meticulously about philosophy and mathematics. The outer group, akousmatikoi, is the one who only hears the abridged headings of Pythagorean teachings, and is not explained further. Mathematikoi places more emphasis on a thorough understanding of the problem than akousmatikoi, even to the point it is not necessary, as in certain spiritual practices and rituals.

For mathematikoi, being a Pythagorean follower is a matter of innate nature and inner insight. Akousmatikoi can only listen to lectures read by Pythagorean from behind a curtain. They were not allowed to see Pythagorean and were not taught the inner secrets of all activities. Instead, they are taught the rules of treatment and ethics in a form that is difficult to understand, short sentences that hide their inner meaning.

Akousmatikoi attaches great importance to mathematikoi and sees them as orthodox Pythagorean followers. But mathematikoi does not consider such akousmatikoi. After Cylon's soldiers, a discontent disciple killed Pythagorean and some mathematikoi, the two groups were completely separated from each other. Pythagorean wife Theano and her two daughters lead the mathematikoi group. His wife, Theano, daughter of Brontinus, was a mathematician. She is credited with writing the works on mathematics, physics, medicine and child psychology, though no works exist today. Her most important work is thought to be of neutral principles. In the days when women were often regarded as possessions and only played housewives, Pythagore allowed women to have equal activities with men in his organization.

Pythagorean mathematician a2 + b2 = c2

Everyone knows Pythagorean mathematician with the theorem named after him:

- The total area of ​​two squares with adjacent sides (a and b) is equal to the area of ​​the square whose side is the hypotenuse of that triangle (c).

- The sum of squares of two right-angled sides is equal to the square of the hypotenuse of that right triangle.

- Formula: a2 + b2 = c2

The history of the Pythagorean Theorem in his name has much to learn. Whether or not Pythagorium personally proves this theorem is still uncertain, because in ancient times, students' discoveries were often attributed to the teacher's name. The first text referring to this theorem with the name Pythagorean appeared five centuries after his death.

It is worth noting that the transmission of knowledge to his students, Mathematikoi as well as Akousmatikoi, is only by word of mouth, that is only verbally, not recorded by signs or language. This is correlated with the transmission of Phe-ideological thought and philosophy in India, and also to the Buddhist teachings.

It is known that the thought of the Vaju was conceived as the revelation (śruti) of the Most High (Brahman). This is supreme authority. The lineage to the optimal classes is said to be Brahmin only through sound revelation (śabda), which is speech. So was the Buddhist period. The Buddha taught enlightenment teachings to his disciples also verbally. The listener applies that teaching to the practice, to transform, to enlightenment. That disciple class is called Thanh Van (Śrāvaka). It was not until the time of King Asoka (Aśoka; 273 - 232 BC), the Confucian Dynasty (孔雀, S: Maurya), that it was written.

Gandharva here is not a god or a midwife is responsible for witnessing the pregnancy, but only a seed, or core elements in the fetus. The term gandharva only makes sense in this particular case. Not to be confused with a lasting soul.

The concept of reincarnation

Pythagorean believed in reincarnation, which has been revealed in many remaining bibliographies up to now. The term metempsychosis was recorded very early in the Orphic tradition, whose founder, Orpheus, first appeared in the Thrace region, believed to inherit a semi-civilized civilization, on the northwestern Greek border ... This is introduced into the English vocabulary as transmigration or reincarnation. This term has its limitations within the inner meaning because it is associated with the soul (soul), which is the object of rebirth or reincarnation. Orpheus in Greek myth is a poet and musician. His wife died soon. Too sorry for his wife, Orpheus went to the underworld to search and meet her, but could not bring her back to earth.

Orpheus argues that the soul (soul) and body (body) are united by an unusual connection. The soul (soul) is divine (divine), immortal (immortal) and longs for freedom (aspires to freedom); while the body (body) is bound as a prisoner. Death solves this relationship, but only restrains the free soul after a short time, because the cycle of birth and death is unshakable. So the soul continues its journey, back and forth between unrestrained separate existence and new rebirth, going around the vast circle of the inevitable law, as a union of many bodies. Human and animal body 1

Thus, the term metempsychosis is used only in the context of Greek philosophy, but is also used by modern philosophers such as Schopenhauer2 and Kurt Gödel3. It has a prominent role in Ulysses by James Joyce and it is also related to Nietzsche's ideology.

Another synonym that is sometimes used is Palingenesia. The Greek philosopher associated with reincarnation (metempsychosis) was Pherecydes of Syros at the earliest, but Pythagorean, known as his student, was the one who expanded this outstanding philosophy first. Pythagorore was neither the inventor of this doctrine nor introduced from Egypt, but made himself famous by bringing the Orphic conception from Northeastern Hellas to Magna Graecia and by connecting. communities for the promotion of that doctrine.

Heraclides Ponticus recounted the story that Pythagorean claims he had experienced four previous lifetimes and that he could detail each of them. In a lifetime, according to Aulus Gellius, Pythagorean was a beautiful prostitute. According to Xenophanes, Pythagorean heard his friend's cry in the dog barking

Xenophanes paid attention to the Pythagorean story of mediating in place of a beaten dog. He confessed that he realized in his dog's cry that his friend had passed away. Pythagorean thought it was the voice of Euphorbus, the son of Panthus, who died in the battle of Trojan, as well as his other personalities, being a merchant, a prostitute, and so on.

In The Life of Apollonius of Tyana, Philostratus wrote that Pythagorus not only knew who he was, but he also knew who he was. 8 In fact, the importance and weight of moral doctrine. In the West, metempsychosis was attributed to Plato's recognition.

In the eschatological narrative of closing his Republic, Platon presents how Er, the son of Armenius, resurrected 12 days after his death and told the mysteries of the afterlife like that. come on. Er said that after he died, he went to the judgment and found souls returning from heaven, and they started with the realm corresponding to their new life choices. they, as humans or animals. Er saw that the soul of Orpheus transformed into a swan, the soul of Thamyras turned into a nightingale, the soul of the songbirds who chose to be reborn as a human, Atalanta's soul chose to be reborn as a prestigious athlete. Humans turn into animals. Domesticated animals and animals are mutated.

After choosing, the soul was drinking the water of the Lethe River, then they died out like a meteor through a new life. There are many myths and assumptions about the same impression in other conversations such as about Phaedrus, Meno, Phaedo, Timaeus and about the law. We can learn more about the concept of the reincarnated soul of Pythagorean through Plato, because Plato is influenced by Pythagorean quite a lot. In Plato's opinion, the number of souls is fixed; therefore, rebirth is not the creation of a new soul, but merely the movement from one body to another.10 But Plato's conception of reincarnation is met by many scholars in modern times, such as Marsilio Ficino in his thesis Platonic Theology 17.3-4. There he thought that Plato's allusion to reincarnation was only an allegory.

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860), a German mathematician and philosopher, talks about reincarnation: “We see that the theory of reincarnation, which began in the very early days, in the golden age of mankind, always spread broad in the human world, considered the beliefs of the majority but also the teachings of all religions; except for the beliefs of the Jews and the two religions originating from the delicate form of that faith (Islam and Christianity).

Reincarnation has moved very close to the truth mentioned by Buddhism. Thus, while Christians comfort themselves with the idea that they will meet again in another world, in which they will rediscover their full personality, and will immediately recognize themselves, then according to other religions, the reunion has happened many times, but we are not aware. In rebirths that continue to recur, those who have been intimately related or have immediate contact will meet again in a future life, again and again related or identical, or similar. , and sentiments, good or evil, to each other as in this life ... As recorded in the Vedas and all other scriptures in India, reincarnation is considered the basis of her- la-subject and Buddhism.

So far, most non-Muslim Asians, more than half of humanity, still firmly believe in reincarnation and the daily real life is deeply influenced by this theory. It was also the tradition of Egyptians and from Egypt, Orphée, Pythgore and Platon received warmly. According to the above, belief in reincarnation is in itself a natural conviction of the human being whenever he thinks about this issue without being obsessed first. ” (The World As Will And Idea).

The beliefs about reincarnation (metempsychosis) of the soul and the vegetarian policy of Pythagorean have influenced the concept of the universe. According to the Greek historian Diogenes Laertius, Pythagorean was the first to use the term kosmos to refer to the universe. And Pythagorean was the first person to proclaim that the world was round.

According to Phe-da philosophy, ancient Indian thought, the concept of reincarnation (saṃsāra) has a different meaning. The object of reincarnation, or samsara, is Ātman. According to the oldest biblical sources, Ātman means breath, as in Ṛg-veda X, 16, 3: Sūryam cākṣuḥ gacchatu, vātam ātmā. This is the reading before the dead, which means "May the human eye go with the sun, the breath (ātmā) go with the wind". So mantman means vivid breath, vitality. So the mind or the breath is often used in what we call a soul. Since then, mantman is often understood as life (spirit), spirit (spirit).

From the soul (soul) there is only one small step to fall (Self), and that step is often more grammatical than practical. We read in Atharva-veda IX, 5, 30: Ātmānaṃ pitāraṃ putraṃ paiitraṃ pitllmahaṃ, Jāyāṃ jānitrim mātāraṃ ye priyās tān ūpa hvaye. “I myself, (for) father, son, grandfather, wife, mother, anyone is close. I hope they are. ” But here the self can be translated as soul or person.

Again, in IXg-veda IX, 113: Balām dādhānaḥ ātmāni, which means putting power on yourself.11 And sn becomes the standard pronoun for yourself. And since then there is the main notion of mantman, the Self under the samsara (saṃsāra). Ātma here can be translated as the spirit of life. But in another passage, mantman simply represents the intrinsic nature of all things, and more specifically that of man, in the end it means very much like what medieval philosophers called essence. (quiddity), or the Indian philosopher called Idantā of things (the sprouting of all things).

Thus, we have read the first sentence: ātmānam ātmanā, paśya, meaning "See your self as your self"; or the sentence: ātmaiva hy ātmanaḥ sākṣī, meaning "self is the witness of the self". In this sense, Ātman is later used as the name of the highest character, the soul of the world, the First Person (Paramātman), as in Śatap Brāhmaṇa XIV, 5,5,15: Sa vā ayam ātmā , sarveṣāṃ bhūtānām adhipatiḥ, sarve-ṣāṃ bhūtānāṃ rājā. It means: "That self is the supreme power of all sentient beings, it is the king of all species" .12

And when Ātman is able to enter into Brahmā, to attain the Great Compassion, to complete the process of reincarnation (saṃsāra). Also known as being able to enter the ego, the Small Self (Ātman) into the Great Self (Brahama).

By the time of Buddha, this concept was somewhat different. According to Buddhism, sentient beings are born from the fetus of karma (S: karmayoni). It is the act or karma of past beings that the fetus nourishes and facilitates rebirth. Parents structure material basis. Thus, before beings there are beings. Before a being in the present life, there must be a being in the past life. At conception, it is karma, the human behavior, that facilitates consciousness (vijñāna) as the first source of life for the fetus. If the father and mother meet without being pregnant and don't have a single seed (S: gandharva; P: gandhabba; Han: 乾 闥 婆) then there's no germ. If the parents meet during their mother's pregnancy without the coordination of a gandharva, there is no germ.

Gandharva here is not a god or a midwife is responsible for witnessing the pregnancy, but only a seed, or core elements in the fetus. The term gandharva only makes sense in this particular case. Not to be confused with a permanent soul.14 There is rebirth in one place, of course, there must be a being that dies somewhere else.

Strictly speaking, the birth of a being, the aggregation of the five aggregates (khandhanam patubhavo), or mental-physical phenomena in the present life, transitions immediately after the death of a being. recently passed away, just like we say, when the sun goes down in one place, the sun rises in another. The seemingly mysterious statement could be clearer and easier to understand if we envision life as a wavy, not as a straight line. The waves rise, then descend to start a new wave. Although the two wavy differently, there was no interruption. Birth and death are only two stages in a process. Birth and death, death and birth, the endless rotation of birth-death, death-birth of a long series of lives called samsara (saṃsāra). Saṃsāra, samsara, according to the original meaning of the noun,

In Atthasālinī, Buddhaghosa defined the term saṃsāra as follows: Khandhanam patipati dhatu-ayatanana ca Abbhocchinam vattamana samsaro ti pavuccati.15 That is, saṃsāra, the continuous continuation of the five aggregates, the four elements and the six continents. Ending samsara (saṃsāra) is liberation, the realm of Nirvana. How to reach this realm? That is the teaching that Buddha has been teaching for 49 years, from his enlightenment to his death. That is also the ideal, is the ultimate goal of Buddhist practitioners.

“Pythagorean avoids eating animal meat because of its rigid belief in transmigration, and also because meat food requires a lot of digestion, and too much fat. They also avoid beans, for bloating, and other reasons. ”

Vegetarian problem

In an anonymous autobiography of Pythagorean 'stored' by Photius, the reincarnation is also mentioned: "Pythagoras avoid eating meat because of their rigid belief in transmigration, and also because Meat foods require a lot of digestion, and too much fat. They also avoid beans, for bloating, and other reasons. ”

And in another statement: “Pythagorean affirms that people can develop in three ways: first of all, by dialogue with God, because for them no one can approach them. unless you abstain from evil deeds, imitate the Saints, even consume them in their deeds; second, by talent, it is a saint's virtue; third, with the desire for the gentle escape of the soul from the body, as a result of training to sublimate the soul as the beginning of a divine dream ... ”16

In this description, there is an account of the soul's ability to exist when separated from the body, there is a premonition in the dream, the connection between the doctrine of reincarnation (transmigration) and the abstinence of vegetarian. There are also mentions of discipline to sublimate, encourage rebirth in a higher life and a complete departure from the evil path.

Diogenes Laertius points out that the path of rebirth is intimately linked to memory, as we can see in a parable, Pythagore chose memory when he refused immortality. Although this choice implies that he should have died, it is memory that is the key to immortality to overcome the spirit of battle.

Again, memory is emphasized by Iamblichus and Porphyry as a process of remembrance. And this memory is related to the practice, to the moral imperative, such as respect for the Unity, that is to live vegetarianism.

The concept of vegetarianism is somewhat similar to that of Jainism. Jainus disciples believe that all micro-organism organisms also have a soul, and they have one or more senses in addition to the five senses. So Jainic disciples did everything they could to minimize harm to living things.

Most revered Jews do not eat vegetables, because they think vegetables contain more microorganisms than other vegetables. So they only eat beans and fruits, but the cultivation of those things is not involved in killing too many microorganisms. Foods made from dead animals are also not used, because when an organism dies, some microorganisms (known as decomposers - bacteria or fungi that cause organic matter to rot quickly) will reproducing in the body to decompose the body, and when eating dead animals, the conflict of decomposition is inevitable.

Jainists often went on a hunger strike, and when they knew by their supernatural powers that their lives were very short, they began a hunger strike until they died.18 tree (fruitarian) .19 Honey is not used, as honey synthesizes many things like eggs, excretions, dead bees and saliva of bees.

Some Jainists do not use underground plant growth such as roots and tubers, as microorganisms can be damaged when roots and tubers are uprooted.

Buddhism has the story of the Codified Sequence of Female-khưu (草 系 比丘; S: Kuśa-vandhana), Female-khưu being tied with grass. But this is an example to emphasize the Male-khưu strictly forbidden precepts. In the solemn commentary, volume 3 has: There is a Female-khưu going in the middle of the road to meet the enemy and robbing them. .

This story is used to illustrate the strict observance of the precepts of Buddhist monks.

Affect cosmology

The beliefs about reincarnation (metempsychosis) of the soul and the vegetarian policy of Pythagorean have influenced the concept of the universe. According to the Greek historian Diogenes Laertius, Pythagorean was the first to use the term kosmos to refer to the universe. And Pythagorean was the first person to proclaim that the world was round

Explained in terms of etymology, kosmos is a harmony, organized structure (organisation) in natural order (natural). So the Pythagorean cosmology is a harmonious whole, in which the natural phenomena, the objects, the morphologies created, etc. are arranged in a harmonious order of balance. This must be a contemporary conception of cosmology. This has influenced the generations of philosophers, most recently Plato, whom we see best in his work, The Republics.

According to Buddhism, sentient beings are born from the fetus of karma (S: karmayoni). It is the actions or karma of past beings that the fetus nourishes and facilitates rebirth. Parents structure material basis. Thus, before beings there are beings. 

But then over time, it also gets sunk in other rational ideologies. It wasn't until Giordano Bruno (1548-1600), the Italian, who was a philosopher, mathematician, astronomer, who proposed Copernic's theory of modern science, that is, the theory of the universe (infinite). universe) and the multiplicity of worlds in which he opposed traditional geocentric theory (geocentric; earth-centred), and with intuition he advocated and promoted heliocentric theory (heliocentric; sun- centred) of Copernic. This decision led to the tragic death of Bruno, because he did not tolerate the absurd notion of both the Roman Church and the Contemporary Reform Church.

Then there was Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), who theorized all the planets including the earth, orbiting the sun, endorsing the Copernic doctrine that was controversial in astronomy. The geocentric view (the planets orbiting the earth) has been the dominant doctrine since Aristotle's time, and the controversy arose after Galileo presented heliocentrism as a demonstration, prompting the Roman Church to ban transmit it as a proven fact.

Galileo was finally forced to give up his heliocentric theory and live the last days of his life under house arrest at the behest of a Roman pagan court. It took more than 10 centuries before the flash of light back to a progressive universe that seemed to have disappeared completely into the Western sky.

(9) In common folklore, often transmitted after death, the soul comes to Pluto. After Pluto finished impeachment, he fed Porridge before giving birth. This may have influenced the Chinese tradition. In Greek mythology, Lethe is one of the five rivers in Hades hell. Also known as Ameles potamos (Stream of Forgotten Water). The Lethe River flows around the Hypnos cave and passes through purgatory, where the souls after drinking the Stream of Forgetting Water lose all memory, experience and memory. Lethe is also the name of a Greek god, owner of oblivion. END=NAM MO SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA.( 3 TIMES ).WORLD VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST OLDER=GOLDEN AMITABHA MONASTERY=VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=THICH CHAN TANH.AUSTRALIA,SYDNEY.13/11/2019.