Suffering, Authenticity and Freedom: Comparative Perspectives of Buddhist and Heideggerian Conceptions of Human Existence in East-West Dialogue

Abstract

In the context of globalization and the subsequent transformations of this process, a cross-cultural and cross-social understanding between Eastern and Western philosophies appears inevitable. Concepts and elements, formerly separate, interweave and blend together. But the absence of a true synthesis of philosophical conceptions of human beings has not helped to overcome the spiritual and existential crises of modernity. In this paper, an examination of Buddhist and Heideggerian existentialist conceptions of human beings, human suffering and liberation is conducted, followed by identification of key similarities and differences between them. The paper compares the similarities between Buddhism’s Nāma-Rūpa (mind-body interdependence) with Heidegger’s Dasein (being-there), and divergences between the former’s communal ethics of the Noble Eightfold Path with the latter’s individualistic “resolve” (“ Entschlossenheit ”). The concept of “cultural additivity” and syncretic tradition of Tam Giáo are applied to further mediate ideas from Buddhism and Heidegger through an integration of Taoism.