RT Article
T1 Embracing the Paradox: A Bodhisattva Path
JF Religions
VO 13
IS 1
A1 Bhattacharjee, Monica
LA English
PB MDPI
YR 2022
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1804251593
AB This article addresses the significance of paradox as a steady presence in our lives. Contradictions and ambiguities often lead to aversive states of anxious uncertainty where straightforward answers are often unavailable yet sought after to alleviate existential insecurities. In conditions where narratives of ambivalence intensify, such as during the worldwide COVID-19 crises, our traditional socio-evolutionary inclinations to avoid them either through denial or active resistance become more noticeable. It also leads to distress in intersubjective spaces especially when uncertainty and perceptions of threat stand as correlates, and we start to fear what we do not understand. In this paper, I consider wisdom responses from a Buddhist perspective to help us acknowledge the value of paradox, highlighting how changes in the formulation of our self-concept can help with that. I draw upon select principles and insights from the Diamond Sutra and the Heart Sutra, two texts within the Mahaprajnaparamita sutras of Mahayana Buddhism. Through these, I examine some inherent paradoxes as vital components of a larger ontological unity, the recognition of which can act as an enabler to the Bodhisattva path. This path is worthy of exploration, allowing us to move past the need for closure and instead focus on reconciliation, disclosure, and epistemic humility.
K1 Consciousness
K1 Identity
K1 intersubjective spaces
K1 nature of reality
K1 Otherness
K1 Paradox
K1 the Diamond Sutra
K1 the Heart Sutra
K1 Uncertainty
K1 Wisdom
DO 10.3390/rel13010067