Asian naturalism (Essay Sample)

Asian Naturalism
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In his article Asian Naturalism: An Old Vision for a New World, Hee-Sung Keel hypothesizes that Asian naturalism is significantly different from the western naturalism which was conceived on the basis of dual origin. The main differences are pronounced by the divergent views in which the Asians and the westerners viewed the world. In contrast to the western naturalism which was founded on a dual origin platform, Asian naturalism did not have any idea of divine revelation which made it possible for there not to be a split between revelation and logic. In addition, it is contrasted from the western ideology ideally because of its organic view of the world. This makes Asian naturalism a spiritual affair.
According to Hee-sung keel, the main differences between western naturalism and Asian naturalism are pronounced depending on how each view the world and nature in general. For instance, western naturalism viewed the world at large as passive and an object which they can understand thoroughly by the human mind. Asian naturalism, on the other hand, viewed the world as a creative and dynamic object that that carried numerous messages which were available for the people to read and learn. The Asian naturalism tended to look no further in nature. They regarded nature as something that had its own power and principle and thus they did not expound further on it. With this respect, unlike the Western naturalism, Asian naturalism did not concern itself with cosmic intelligence. It held that the world was in itself self regulating. However, the main aspect that sets Asian naturalism apart is that it sort its solutions and ideas from nature to explain various events.
Some of the aspects that characterise Asian naturalism includes; Heaven, Dao and the emptiness. The Dao distinguished the asian naturalism from the western naturalism in that it enabled subscribers of Asian naturalism to view nature and the world in general as unpredictable. Every event was explained in the lenses of Dao which was mysterious, unpredictable and spontaneous. Therefore, among the Asian naturalists the world did not contain any mathematical order, rather it was a manifestation of Dao.
Like Dao, the concept of heaven which is synonymous with Asian naturalism sheds more light in how the Asian naturalism viewed the world. Like Dao, heaven was infinite, numerous objects with their proper nature originated there and returned when their time was right. One aspect that regularly emerges is even though there are minute differences between the Confucians and Daoists, they both acknowledge heaven and Dao as platforms beyond human imagination. The theme of heaven is further encapsulated by the teachings of Haeweol, who insisted that everything used the energy that came from the heavens and thus everything irrespective of w...