Descartes vs Buddha

When it comes to the concept of the self, there are many different believes and ideas about its nature. Questions are commonly asked such as "Do I exist?", "Do I not exist?", "If so, why do I exist?", "In what realm do I exist in?", and "In what capacity do I exist?" Many leaders and scholars throughout time have attempted to find answers to these questions and ultimately find truth. Two examples of people who want to explain the nature of the self are Rene Descartes and Siddhārtha Gautama (Buddha). These two men, who are very important to their specific disciplines and beliefs, would disagree with each other on the nature of the self.

In Descartes Meditations on First Philosophy, he attempts to find truth by disproving his prior believes. After Descartes disproved these prior beliefs he realizes that when everything else is gone, he is still left with himself. Since he has this powerful ability to doubt everything that he previously believed, he must exist to be able to doubt. To Descartes, the fact that he can doubt proves his existence. He establishes that through thought there is an “I” or self. He exclaims this saying, “I think, therefore I am.” Although this idea is compelling and widely known, in my opinion, the Buddha would disagree.

The Buddha would argue the opposite; saying that the “I” is impermanent and always changing, thus there is no self. This is a huge concept in Buddhism that helps form its basic beliefs and values. In the opinion of the Buddha, asking questions such as “Do I exist?” will inevitably lead to more stress and further to more suffering, which is what we want to ultimately escape from.

One final connection between the two is the concept of meditation. Meditation is present in Buddhism and Descartes also writes on six meditations that lead him to finding truth. The undeniable difference between these two forms of meditation is the goal. Descartes uses meditation to clear out everything that isn’t the self and thus find this self or “I” that he has been searching for. For Buddhists, meditation is a time to search for the self but ideally not find it, because there is no self. The goal here is emptiness.