Religious Spirituality and Buddhism in Postmodern Era

ABSTRACT

The present study is concerned with the problems of spirituality in postmodern era, and its relationship with Buddhism. In this study, the following issues are examined: (a) How does Buddhism understand the concept of spirituality in the postmodern context? (b) How does Buddhism interpret postmodern philosophy? (c) What are the Buddhist spiritual movements in postmodern era? Especially, the study focuses on the meaning of spirituality as Buddha nature and concept of deconstruction as enlightenment. As a method of study, we emphasize similarities rather than differences in order to open dialogue between postmodernism and Buddhism. But the context of differences are also carefully reviewed. Postmodernism is a cultural and intellectual phenomenon in this era. Religions in the late 20th and early 21st centuries are also influenced on this movement. Postmodernism was originally a reaction to modernism. It is used in critical theory to refer to culture of modernity, particularly in relation to critiques of rationalism, universalism, or traditional systems of morality. Thinkers of postmodernism emphasize deconstruction of tradition and thought system concerning substantial truth and reality. Postmodernism has a common unity with Buddhist thought. There are striking doctrinal parallels between deconstruction and Buddhist idea of sunyata. Even though there are fundamental differences in history of thought, they both emphasize anti-substantialism and pluralism. Poststructuralism examines that there was no intrinsic essence to a text, merely the contrast of difference. However, a similar postmodern ideology already existed in Buddhism. Postmodernism deconstructs all absolute centeredness in existent phenomena as Buddhist doctrines of sunyata and dependent origination attempt to transcend all concepts of reality, theories, and boundaries.