Parellels Between Hegel's Absolute Idealism and Eastern Wisdom Traditions

[DocWatts]

Just something interesting I noticed, after reading a book about Hegel's Absolute Idealism and a book about Vedic metaphysics back to back. I was struck by the similarities between the ontological models of Vedic metaphysics and Hegel's Absolute Idealism. Or to put it another way, my experience reading about the Vedic system was often along the lines of : some of this feels a lot like Hegel.

In that both are ontologies of becoming, and that Hegel's use of  Spirit and The Absolute feel like analogues of the Gross, Subtle, and Causal domains. 

So was Hegel directly influenced by these ideas as he was developing his philosophy? His arch-nemesis Schopenhauer made explicit reference to wisdom traditions like Buddhism, yet I've been unable to confirm whether in Hegel's case this was an instance of independent convergence resulting in similiar ideas, or if Hegel was aware of these traditions and incorporated them in to his own model.

[JosephKnecht]

5 minutes ago, DocWatts said:

In that both are ontologies of becoming, and that Hegel's use of  Spirit and The Absolute feel like analogues of the Gross, Subtle, and Causal domains. 

Hegel talks about Geist, which has several translations from German. 

In most books, Geist is translated as Spirit, but when you read Hegel it seems that the most proper translation about His Idea of Geist is Mind rather than Spirit. 

Hegel builds his philosophy on top of western ideas to prove that you can reach the same Absolute both from the East and West.

 

[Leo Gura]

If you access higher states of consciousness you will come to similar conclusions independently.

[Carl-Richard]

12 hours ago, DocWatts said:

or if Hegel was aware of these traditions and incorporated them in to his own model.

Was Spinoza or Parmenides aware of Advaita Vedanta?

[Leo Gura]

Are you aware of the first guy who invented jerking off?

[DocWatts]

41 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

Are you aware of the first guy who invented jerking off?

When I was twelve or thirteen there was probably a week or two when I would have claimed to be the first human being to discover it, but point well taken 

Edited December 22, 2021 by DocWatts

[Leo Gura]

If we knew his name he would be more popular than Jesus and our calandars would start from his birth.

[Alex_R]

i would like some video about this stuff, i used to hate the relativism/nihilist philosophy back when i was a blue stage christian but now after all my lsd trips i feel like i will need to study all the philosophy again.

[DocWatts]

1 minute ago, Alex_R said:

i would like some video about this stuff, i used to hate the relativism/nihilist philosophy back when i was a blue stage christian but now after all my lsd trips i feel like i will need to study all the philosophy again.

For Hegel in particular, while it's fair to say that he was to some degrees a relativist (in that he viewed thought by its very nature as perspectival, and believed that philosophies need to be evaluated from within a socio-cultural context), he was the opposite of a nihilist.

That's because for Hegel the universe had a very clear purpose, namely that it was a process of universal consciousness becoming aware of its true nature. And that this happened through a prolonged process of universal consciousness overcoming its own limitations and contradictions.

[itachi uchiha]

@DocWatts what is the benifit of learning philosophy

I was always practical and is super obsessed about survival.does learning philosophy help me in my survival

[DocWatts]

25 minutes ago, itachi uchiha said:

@DocWatts what is the benifit of learning philosophy

I was always practical and is super obsessed about survival.does learning philosophy help me in my survival

If your chief problems and concerns are about meeting basic survival needs (escaping wage slavery, attaining financial Independence, finding fulfilling relationships, etc), philosophy probably won't be hugely helpful.

Where philosophy does come in useful is where it comes to questions of meaning, self-actualization, and self transcendence. If you're curious about the world, curious about how your mind works, and if lifelong learning is something that's important to you, philosophy can be hugely enriching.