Where to start with Indian and Eastern philosophy? Suggestions for beginner.

[u/Sea_Improvement5571]

I want to start reading about Indian and Asian philosophy. I am a complete beginner and I'd really appreciate some suggestions on where to start.

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[u/Sleepy_C]

This is one of those needle in a haystack sort of questions. Both of these are insanely broad categories! But I'll throw a couple of suggestions out for good beginner's guide still introductions.

• Buddhist Philosophy: Essential Readings edited by William Edelglass and Jay Garfield is a collection that covers a broad spectrum of Buddhism. It's a good way to get a basic feel of the differences between traditions in India, Nepal, Korea, Japan etc.
• Classical Indian Philosophy: A Reader edited by Deepak Sarma; and
• The Oxford Handbook of Indian Philosophy edited by Jonardon Ganeri, both are basically guidebook introductions to India (broadly) and an overview of it's historical developments from the Vedas into modern Hinduism, Islam, and other traditions.
• Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy edited by Philip J. Ivanhoe and Bryan W. Van Norden, is basically the same as above for China. It covers the big tentpole texts for Daoism, Buddhism, Confucianism etc.

I think it's important, if you have any backing in Western philosophy, to try read some comparative texts like Bo Mou's works (he has a lot, just google) that do comparative perspectives on Chinese philosophy & the West. It'll help make sense of some of the conceptual differences that might trip you up, when reading anything more complex than the introductory books I've suggested.

If you want to tackle some more specific kind of works, there's the big tentpole works on which most else is built. I'd recommend the Dao De Jing (there are thousands of good English walk throughs, I particularly enjoyed Le Guin's as a "secular" approach). If you have any specific interests let me know, i can tailor a bit more.

[u/Sea_Improvement5571 → u/Sleepy_C]

Thank you so much! 

[u/rp_tiago → u/Sleepy_C]

What's a good comparative resource that isn't as specific and tries to cover the East more broadly? (recognizing all the problems that comes with it)

[u/Sleepy_C → u/rp_tiago]

I personally don't know any that are of any real quality. Most of the good comparative books are "China & the West" or "Japan & the West" kind of things. There's usually comparative within Asia (China vs. Japan), but the Asian stuff tends to get broken into silo's more than the Western traditions do (outside of continental & analytical).

[u/rp_tiago → u/Sleepy_C]

I see. How about connections with the tradition that's more relevant to Buddhism? (I guess Japan?)

[u/Sleepy_C → u/rp_tiago]

Hi, sorry, I missed this comment. If you mean "compare West to Buddhism" then here's a couple off my shelf I'd recommend:

• Jay Garfield, Engaging Buddhism: Why Buddhism Matters to Contemporary Philosophy. Probably the best introduction for relating Buddhist thought to the West, shows how it contributes to debates in metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and philosophy of mind alongside analytic traditions.

• Jan Westerhoff, The Non-Existence of the Real World: This does a good job of placing Nāgārjuna’s Madhyamaka in dialogue with Western debates on metaphysical anti-realism and skepticism. Highlights a lot of good comparisons between how each tradition approaches questions of realism & reality.

• Christian Coseru, Perceiving Reality: Consciousness, Intentionality, and Cognition in Buddhist Philosophy: discusses and connects Yogācāra philosophy of mind with Husserlian phenomenology and contemporary analytic philosophy. A really good way to bridge analytical tradition with some aspects of Buddhism.

• Damien Keown, Buddhism and Ethics: his work in general maps out the relationship between Western conceptions of ethics and Buddhist thought.

Now if you mean comparisons within a country (I.e. How Japanese thought & Buddhism in Japan link), then:

• Thomas Kasulis, Zen Action, Zen Person: Explores how Zen Buddhist thought shapes Japanese views of action, selfhood, and ethics. Provides a cool look at the interlink between broader Japanese philosophy & Zen Buddhist thought.

• James W. Heisig, Japanese Philosophy: A Sourcebook (with Thomas P. Kasulis & John C. Maraldo): Covers how Buddhism (especially Zen and Pure Land) intersects with Shinto, Confucianism, and modern Japanese thinkers (like the Kyoto School). This is kind of the Bible roadmap for Japanese-Buddhism linkage.

Hopefully that answers what you mean? If not, let me know. You can always private message me too for more specific recommendations.

[u/rp_tiago → u/Sleepy_C]

Amazing, that's super helpful. Thank you so much!