Eastern philosophies such as Buddhism, Taoism and Hinduism have much to offer the West despite the fact that their way of perceiving the world and the Universe is completely different from Western philosophy and thought. Western thought is full of dualism and dichotomies, but Eastern thought and philosophy are based on the principle of unity.

Western philosophy has its origins in the Greeks, specifically Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Socrates used to say that he really didn’t know anything, so he always asked questions to find the truth. Socrates did not write anything, his student Plato wrote about Socrates and Plato also wrote his own thought. Plato was an essentialist, which basically means that he believed that all knowledge resided within his very being, in his soul, so to speak. For example, Plate believed that if you wanted to change your own tire on the road and didn’t know how, by asking yourself certain questions, such as what do I need to lift the car to change the tire, you would quickly determine that you need a lever from somewhere. and therefore a car jack. Plato also wrote about morality and knowledge.

Plato, writing about Atlantis, believed that with philosophy should come a certain morality. Plato’s moral story about Atlantis, a highly technologically savvy culture that became decadent and was destroyed by the gods and their anger for being so decadent, remains popular in correct religious thought to this day. In fact, Western philosophy traces much of its origin to the Church philosophers of the medieval period, such as Saint Augustine, who derived much of his thinking from Plato. The Church borrowed heavily from the Greeks and incorporated their thought into the medieval Church and their thought is still very much alive in correct religious thought in America today. The dichotomies of good versus evil and free will versus God’s Will and God on the outside or in Heaven while one exists apart from God is all in Western thought and philosophy.

Another school of thought that contrasts with the essentialism of Plato is the philosophy of existentialism, which is also of Western thought and was born out of the crisis of World War II and the Holocaust. After the aftermath of those two horrible tragedies, many atheists were born and discarded the essentialism of Plato and the philosophy of existentialism was born. Existentialism holds some precepts in this: life is essentially nonsense and the only meaning it has is the one that the person attributes to their own life; two: we are all mortal and death always looks us in the face pushing us to do what we must do before we die; three: one is always alone in the world with one’s own thoughts and feelings and there is a form of isolation from others. There is a fourth powerful precept but this author cannot remember what it is. Existentialism is the exact opposite of Plato’s essentialism in the West.

Eastern philosophies, however, are a great alternative to Western philosophy and thought, as well as existentialism. Eastern philosophies that base their birth on Buddhism, Taoism and Hinduism hold that everything is One. Unity is the driving principle of Eastern philosophy. There is no God separate from human or animal existence. It is true that there is a Higher Power, God with names other than “God” or Buddha or the Tao, but in Eastern philosophy you are part of a cosmic whole. In other words, you are a part of God or you are Tao or you are a little Buddha with a little mind while the cosmic whole is a Big Mind. Eastern philosophies have differences, even in different schools of similar thought, such as the schools of Taoism and Buddhism.

A common thing in Eastern philosophies along with the concept of unity that can be translated as “where do you leave and start the universe?” is the concept of energy. Taoists call it chi, hippies call it energy and vibrations, Hindus believe in chakras, which are powerful seats of energy within the human body. Taoists believe the same thing and believe that energy is neutral and that it flows through everyone and everything. This correlates very well with western scientific thinking in that energy can neither be created nor destroyed, it simply changes form. Common to Western thought is the belief that humans are not perfect and God is. Human beings in this way of thinking have flaws and imperfections or character flaws or flaws. Eastern philosophies believe the same to some extent.

Certain parts of a person’s character can be harmful to oneself and need to be combated, like laziness, for example. However, other “defects” are simply assets and defects at the same time. For example, what a Western thinker might call lust, an Eastern philosopher might say that every marriage begins with lust. In addition, a perfectionist, for example, may find it difficult to allow himself to make mistakes that can hinder his personal life as one learns from mistakes, but perfectionism can also be an advantage in the workplace or as an artist or writer. So, from the point of view of Eastern philosophy, assets and flaws can simply be the same, it only matters how they are approached and applied in daily life. Similarly, in contrast to the Western belief in free will is the Eastern philosophical view of the Will. The West sees that we are all individuals, which is really an ego that says “I” and “I” have choice and free will. Eastern philosophies hold that the ego serves as a divide between you and the Universe or Tao or the Nameless One or Great Mind. In this way of thinking, there is really no free will, it is simply Will. You are Tao or small mind or a part of the Universe and what you do is simply one more extension of the Universal Will.

In short, Eastern philosophy and thought differ drastically from Western thought, which is full of dualisms and dichotomies. Eastern philosophies hold to the principle of Cosmic Unity with the Universe and derive their way of thinking from certain religious and spiritual traditions such as Taoism, Buddhism, and Hinduism, just as the West derives its way of thinking from Christianity and Judaism. . Eastern philosophies also see the ego as a division between a self that thinks it exists apart from the All, while Western thought holds that the self is all there is. Eastern philosophies hold that the Universe or “God” IS, while Western philosophies see that individuals exist apart from a God who lives in Heaven.