Walking Through Asian Philosophy
This is an overview of Asian philosophy as I’ve learnt it through Prof. Bommarito’s Asian Philosophy course at SFU. It reflects one particular path through a large and diverse tradition, rather than a complete or definitive account. My hope is that this gives people a small introduction to a side of philosophy that is not as often taught in schools, especially compared to the Western canon. Shoutout to Nicholas for teaching this type of content (he is probably never going to see this).
💡 Asian philosophy spans centuries and cultures, but many of its thinkers circle around the same core questions. What is the self? What matters? And how should we live?
The Upanishads
The Upanishads are focused on what is truly real beneath appearances. They argue that behind everything is a deeper unity called Brahman, and that the inner self, Atman, is not separate from it. Ignorance is what traps us in suffering. Liberation comes from seeing that the boundary between self and world is not as solid as it seems.
“That which is the subtle essence, this whole world has for its Self. That is the true. That is the Self. Thou art that.”
— Chandogya Upanishad
The Bhagavad Gītā
The Bhagavad Gītā presents philosophy as a crisis of action. Arjuna is unsure what the right thing to do is, and Krishna responds by laying out multiple paths to meaning. One can act selflessly, pursue knowledge, or devote oneself to the divine. The central lesson is that action is unavoidable, but attachment to outcomes is optional.
“You have a right to your actions, but never to the fruits of your actions.”
— Krishna, Bhagavad Gītā
The Dhammapada
The Dhammapada focuses less on metaphysics and more on mental habits. It claims that suffering begins in the mind and can also end there. Ethical behavior, attention, and discipline are not abstract ideals. They are tools for reshaping how we experience the world.
“All that we are is the result of what we have thought.”
— The Buddha, Dhammapada
The Cārvāka School
Cārvāka philosophy rejects spiritual afterlife, karma, and metaphysical speculation. Only what can be directly perceived is taken seriously. There is no soul and no hidden cosmic order. Pleasure and pain become the main values, and philosophy becomes a way of staying grounded in the world we actually live in.
“While life remains, let a man live happily, let him feed on ghee even though he runs in debt.”
— Attributed to the Cārvāka school
The Analects
Confucius shifts the focus away from the universe and toward everyday social life. The good life is built from ritual, respect, and responsibility. Ethics is not about escaping society but improving it from within. Personal character and political order are treated as inseparable.
“The man of virtue makes the difficulty to be overcome his first business.”
— Confucius, Analects
Mengzi (Mencius)
Mengzi develops Confucian thought by arguing that humans are naturally inclined toward goodness. Compassion is not something invented by society. It is something fragile that needs protection and cultivation. Education becomes a way of helping moral tendencies grow rather than imposing rules from the outside.
“The feeling of commiseration is the beginning of benevolence.”
— Mengzi, Mencius
The Daodejing
The Daodejing resists control and overthinking. It presents the Dao as a natural process that works best when left alone. The idea of wu wei suggests that effective action often looks like non action. Power, ambition, and rigid plans interfere with harmony.
“The Dao that can be spoken is not the eternal Dao.”
— Laozi, Daodejing
Zhuangzi
Zhuangzi pushes Daoism further by questioning fixed viewpoints altogether. Through strange stories and humor, it dissolves distinctions between right and wrong, success and failure, and even self and other. What looks important from one angle looks trivial from another. Freedom comes from not clinging too tightly to any single perspective.
“Once Zhuang Zhou dreamed he was a butterfly…”
— Zhuangzi, Zhuangzi
Nāgārjuna
Nāgārjuna argues that nothing has an independent essence. Everything exists only through relationships and conditions. This idea of emptiness is meant to loosen our attachment to rigid concepts. The problem is not that things are unreal. It is that we treat them as permanent when they are not.
“Whatever is dependently arisen, that is explained to be emptiness.”
— Nāgārjuna, Mūlamadhyamakakārikā
Śāntideva
Śāntideva centers moral life on compassion. He asks what would happen if concern for others mattered as much as concern for oneself. The bodhisattva ideal postpones personal escape from suffering in order to help others escape it. Wisdom becomes inseparable from ethical commitment.
“All the joy the world contains has come through wishing happiness for others.”
— Śāntideva, Bodhicaryāvatāra
The Platform Sutra
The Platform Sutra presents enlightenment as immediate rather than gradual. Awakening is not something accumulated through study or ritual. It is something recognized directly. This shifts attention away from doctrine and toward lived experience.
“Enlightenment is originally without a tree, and the bright mirror has no stand.”
— Huineng, Platform Sutra
Dōgen
Dōgen treats practice as the expression of enlightenment itself. Meditation is not preparation for awakening. It is awakening in motion. Philosophy becomes something embodied rather than something merely believed. Every moment becomes a chance to realize what is already present.
“To study the self is to forget the self.”
— Dōgen, Shōbōgenzō
Why This Still Matters
What struck me most about these traditions is how practical they are. Much more so than other philosophy courses that feel more abstract. I personally find the notion of attachment and suffering plays a pivotal part in how I approach the world. It helps me recognize that identity, by virtue of what it is, causes suffering. Not necessarily a bad thing, but that type of consciousness helps ground you I must say.