Dear PT
Thank you for your email.
When I first began to see a similarity between Early Buddhist philosophy and Classical Marxist thought – I was told that this cannot be correct – as Marx had no connection with Buddhism. Twenty-years of research later, we now know Marx was best friends with Karl Koppen from his university days – and that Koppen is recognised as an early modern European expert in Early Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism. Indeed, his German-language works are still extant (I have read the his Pali Canon works) and it is interesting that this has not been translated into English ((such as similar work by the Scandinavian Rune EA Johansson). Koppen was a very good and close friend to Marx – and is recorded as gifting Marx copies of his works on Buddhism. There is the direct connection – but there might be others – stemming from his study of Hegel at university in Germany (it was a heady time of Revolutionary thinking). Since then, I have found both Marx and Engels scattering the odd (positive) comment about Buddhist thinking throughout their collected works – including Marx and his writings published in US newspapers.
Chain of Dependent Origination – for Marxists
We must develop a simplicity of vision unclouded by the fog of religiosity. Marx points-out that the bourgeoisie function through an “inverted” mind-set. Thoughts generated in the head (imagined concepts) are mistaken as existing in the material world as concrete facts. Entire vistas of imagined realities ensnare humanity because of this illogical position. The Buddha, whose philosophy is older, also explains that the ordinary mind functions the “wrong way around” (inducing suffering through perceptual error) – and describes the enlightenment experience as the mind “being turned the right-way around”. Why is there this essential connection? The best of my thinking to date is contained within this article:
The Buddhology of Marx and the Development of Historical Materialism
As you can see from the content of the BMA (UK) website – there are plenty of comparisons to be had between Buddhism and Marxism. This is the correct dialectical position and we must not permit revisionism or Trotskyism to stand in our way. Others have perceived such a connection – but I have spent many years quietly travelling to Buddhist countries, studying the Buddhist texts, sat in meditation, and navigating the labyrinth that is Socialism and Communism. This is a journey we must all go on (in our own way) to develop this pristine view. It is not “religious” – but the result of the stripping away of religion. This has included bypassing all the dialectical errors that have occurred in the understanding and deployment of Marxist Thought throughout the years. There is “no blame” – but merely getting on with what needs to be done.
Best Wishes
Adrian
SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 