The single greatest difference between Eastern and Western philosophy is that in the West we assume that "I think therefore I am", whereas in the East they assume the opposite: that "I am therefore I think".
In other words, in the West it is assumed that thoughts are a product of the human mind, whereas in the East thoughts are seen as being like the wind in our metaphorical sails, as a source of impetus but nothing more.
This leads to a number of other deductive discrepancies. For instance, in the West technologies are "invented" whereas in the East they are "discovered". And in the West idle speculation is described as being "just a thought" whereas in the East thoughts have no such insignificance.
There are many people throughout history who have tried in vain to bridge this metaphysical divide. And there will be many more such diplomats to come, from now until the ending of the world.
In another life I was one such person. As I sought to reconcile the two, I gradually became caught between them, like the rope in a ceaseless game of tug-of-war. And at one point I realized that I had to choose between them, because embracing both East and West proved more difficult than balancing a boulder atop the Himalayan mountaintop.
So here I now lie, a wasted life no more. Though intellectually there was fertile ground on both sides of the greatest philosophical divide in human history, and neither was morally superior, I chose the one over the other, and therein found greater happiness than I had ever before known.
Add new comment