Voidism

Similarly disqualified are the voidists, of whom the followers of Buddhism are the most prominent. Although Buddhism, like ordinary atheism, denies the existence of a Supreme Person, it is to the credit of Buddhist philosophy that it recognizes the futility of material activities aimed at enjoyment in the temporary world of matter. According to the philosophy of Lord Buddha, the existence of the world and its individual living beings arises from a combination of material elements, and if one can realize the illusory nature of his own identity and the existence of the world, he can attain voidness, the ultimate reality, and thus achieve nirvana, or freedom from all material miseries.

The flaw in this philosophy is obvious: if everything is ultimately void, what is the source of our so-called illusory consciousness and the illusory material world? Even an illusion must have a source, but the Buddhist philosophers cannot explain how the countless varieties of illusion could spring from a source that is void. It might be said that this illusion arises from consciousness and that consciousness arises from matter, but, like the theories of the atheistic scientists, this would not explain how gross and lifeless material elements could generate living consciousness. Still, even if one were so rash as to accept that consciousness somehow spontaneously appeared from a combination of material elements, the voidist philosophy could not explain the source of these material elements. If everything is void, where has the matter come from? The Buddhist philosophy is void of an answer.

Considering the extensive inadequacies and inconsistencies of voidist philosophy, it is doubtful that voidism could have won widespread acceptance and respectability had it not been for the personal influence of Lord Buddha himself. Voidist philosophy existed, of course, before Buddha's time, but by virtue of his personal life and teachings it gained such popular appeal that by the time of Emperor Asoka (273-232 B.C.) it was widely spread throughout India, Ceylon, Nepal and other neighboring Asian countries.

Curiously enough, how this came to be so was explained 2,500 years before the time of Lord Buddha in the Vedic scripture Srimad-Bhagavatam, which is respected by scholars as the mature explanation of the Vedanta philosophy. In the Bhagavatam, in a list of incarnations of the Personality of Godhead, a description of Lord Buddha appears. In the First Canto, Third Chapter, the Bhagavatam states:

"In the beginning of the Age of Kali, the Personality of Godhead will appear in the province of Gaya as Lord Buddha, the son of Anjana, to bewilder the demons who are always envious of the devotees of the Lord." (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 1.3.24)

This verse indicates that Lord Buddha may properly be considered an incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and it is significant to note that he is specifically mentioned by name and that his parentage, his mission and the province in which he would appear are also specifically mentioned. This is the perfect nature of Srimad-Bhagavatam. Unlike the theoretical assertions of speculative scientists and philosophers, Srimad-Bhagavatam is free from the defects of irrelevancy, error, cheating and imperfection. As a revealed scripture received through an authoritative chain of disciplic succession, the Bhagavatam is able to transmit pure knowledge in an unadulterated form, and therefore it is quite possible for it to predict, with detailed accuracy, events that will occur in future history. The word bhavisyati ("will appear") is significant, for it confirms that the event was to take place in the future.

Lord Buddha indeed appeared as the son of Anjana in the province of Gaya, 2,500 years after the Bhagavatam's prediction, and his appearance is worthy of careful scrutiny. If Lord Buddha was an incarnation of the Personality of Godhead who came to bewilder the atheists, why did he deny the very existence of Godhead and instead proclaim an atheistic doctrine of voidism? The explanation for this apparent contradiction is to be found in the verses of Jayadeva Gosvami, a great spiritual master in the disciplic line. In a prayer praising ten prominent incarnations of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Jayadeva sings:

"O my Lord, O Personality of Godhead, all glories unto You! You compassionately appeared in the form of Lord Buddha to condemn the animal sacrifices recommended in the Vedic literatures."

At the time when Lord Buddha appeared, the people of India were mostly followers of the Vedic literatures, but unfortunately they had deviated from the central purpose of the Vedas. As stated in Bhagavad-gita, vedais ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ: the purpose of all Vedic literatures is to lead one gradually to realization of Krsna. Materialistic scholars, however, not knowing the real purpose of the Vedas, mistakenly become preoccupied with the Vedic rituals and ceremonies and therefore mislead people in general, encouraging them in sacrifices aimed at material enjoyment instead of spiritual realization.

Among the sacrifices prescribed in the Vedas are animal sacrifices. In the course of Vedic rituals, an old bull would be killed upon the altar of sacrifice, and by the power of Vedic mantras it would then be given new life. The purpose of the sacrifice was not to kill the animal but to show the wonderful power of properly chanted Vedic mantras. The scriptures forbid such sacrifices in the present Age of Kali, which has been current for the last five thousand years, because there are no qualified priests who can properly chant the mantras. At the time of Lord Buddha, however, the people in general, misled by an unscrupulous priestly class, were sacrificing animals without discrimination on the plea of Vedic rituals and then indulging in eating the flesh. The real goal of the Vedas was forgotten, and under the banner of Vedic religion, slaughterhouses appeared everywhere, catering to the unrestricted taste buds of the degraded and atheistic public.

Lord Buddha came to stop this hypocrisy, and therefore he superficially rejected the authority of the Vedas and established his own independent cult of ahimsa, or nonviolence. As long as one indulges in the killing of innocent animals, he cannot progress in spiritual realization. Therefore, to save the misled people from the vice of animal killing and save the poor animals from slaughter, Lord Buddha, in his compassion, knowing that the corrupted priestly class would try to defend animal slaughter with the Vedic rituals, repudiated the Vedas entirely and declared his own doctrine of nonviolence.

The Supreme Lord is supreme in everything, and therefore He is also the supreme cheater. By His own transcendental plan He appeared as Lord Buddha, rejected the Vedas, concocted the theory of voidism as a pretext for nonviolence, and instilled within his followers devotion to him. Thus although he outwardly rejected the Vedas and preached an atheistic doctrine, he is an incarnation of the Personality of Godhead Himself, the original propounder of the Vedic knowledge, and therefore cannot possibly be an atheist. By appearing in this disguise, however, he made the unfaithful atheists faithful to him. Thus he turned them toward the real goal of life.

The voidist philosophy of Lord Buddha actually has no validity, but it was introduced by the Personality of Godhead as an emergency measure. Those who sincerely devote themselves to Lord Buddha and strictly follow his principles of nonviolence will gradually get the opportunity for elevation in transcendental understanding. However, the modern pseudo-Buddhists who indulge in meat eating, illicit sex and other forms of gross sense gratification and yet hope to attain liberation from all miseries by repeating a mantra or meditating on voidness are only fooling themselves and others, and they are certainly wasting their time. As confirmed in Bhagavad-gita (16.19), they are destined to take birth among the lower species of life after their current lifetime of pseudo-mysticism.

For those whose real intent is to enjoy a life of sensory happiness in the material world, the philosophy of voidness is merely a convenient rationalization for undisciplined indulgence in materialistic activities. For them there is no question of genuine spiritual progress. But even those who sincerely attempt to attain freedom from material activities by achieving a state of voidness will ultimately find this impossible. There is no void anywhere within the creation. Therefore, the path of voidism is a spiritual dead end. Once having determined to give up material enjoyment, the frustrated voidist must ultimately turn to personalism to attain actual spiritual freedom. At that time he will have to abandon in its entirety the misconception of voidness. Thus voidism is merely a stumbling block on the path of spiritual realization because it hinders one from understanding the eternal existence of transcendental form. An intelligent person must therefore always reject it.