| Summary |
In his 20's the Buddha abandoned his family, and homeland, in the foothills of the Himalayas, to embark on an ambitious philosophical quest: to find a solution to human suffering. On the Indian plains he experienced the challenging ideas, and extreme methods, of wandering 'truth seekers'. But it was only when he found his own middle way, that he finally attained enlightenment - nirvana: a state of being where all delusion, desire and suffering were extinguished. The Buddha's philosophy would inspire a diverse belief system, which spread across the Far East and beyond, shaping the lives of hundreds of millions to this day. Confucius is considered the first Chinese thinker to take a systematic, philosophical approach to the social, political and moral challenges of his world. Born in a chaotic, violent age, he believed that harmony could be restored through the example of the sage rulers of history. A great innovator, he commandeered rituals and traditions of the past, to form a compelling philosophical vision. A pioneer in education, he attracted a loyal band of students, and tried to instill his principles of moral excellence and self-cultivation in China's rulers. He died without seeing his goal achieved. But eventually his philosophy became the bedrock of Chinese culture. Socrates was born in Athens during a creative, yet extremely tumultuous period of Greek history. Athens had given birth to democracy, and become a hotbed of new philosophical ideas. Socrates would become, arguably, it's most vocal and charismatic thinker. He set about scrutinizing, and working through, the key moral issues of his day. His technique, a systematic form of question and answer "the Socratic method", was delivered with such dazzling irony that he became a celebrity in his day. Yet, by challenging tradition and convention, he also made enemies. Eventually he was put on trial, found guilty, and sentenced to drink deadly hemlock. |
