<A>
Brahman life (pre 250 BC, post 250 BC): *
Pre 250 BC
Brahmanism developed out of the Vedic religion, incorporating non-Vedic religious ideas; it expanded from NW India to the Ganges valley; it included the Vedas & post-Vedic texts, which gave prominence to the priestly (Brahmin) class with emphasis on ritual. The first direct literary reference to them is in the Rig Veda (1200 BC). The first Brahmins serviced & followed a variety of primitive faiths & religious practices. They invented ceremonies around their philosophy of yajña, a religious ritual to satisfy the god, often was associated with animal sacrifice. Rituals became a source of earnings through the religious concept of donation. More & more aspects of life became linked with rituals; eventually every social event, from birth to death had a corresponding ritual; each required a Brahmin & a donation. The Brahmin community was a recognized divine priesthood, mediators between God & man. The belief grew that God could be pleased only through Brahmins. Even kings became subservient to Brahmins, who exerted indirect control by acting as royal advisers. Brahminism became the rule of law in religious practice as well as in day-to-day affairs of the state & society. The divine Brahmins & the concomitant caste system created huge inequities in society (denial of basic rights to lower castes, deprivation).
post 250 BC
Two factors led to the eclipse of Brahmanism. Around 800 BC India began moving towards urbanization. Political consolidation also began. By the 6th century BC, large kingdoms called Mahajanapadas were forming. This sped up urbanisation as commerce and travel flourished, & regions separated by large distances became easy to access. Secondly the Buddha (563-483 BC) challenged the received wisdom of the Brahmins. He argued no one was born a Brahmin or a Sudra, anyone could become Brahmin or Sudra through his actions. He challenged the infallibility of Vedas (declared divine by Brahmins). He propounded social equality & argued that the 4 castes were all born similarly from the same part of the body as a result of biological union between man and woman. He also denied the existence of God and the soul. A defining of feature of the Buddha's teachings was self-sufficiency, a concept that rendered the Brahminical priesthood redundant.
The urbanization & increase in commerce of the 6th & 5th centuries BC made the merchant class increasingly important. Merchants were attracted to Buddhist teachings which contrasted with existing Brahmin religious practice. In the latter merchants had a lower social position relative to the Brahmin caste. Consequently Buddhism became prominent in merchant communities & these men spread their beliefs throughout the Mauryan empire via commercial connections & along trade routes. This empire reached its peak at the time of emperor Aśoka (304-232 BC), who converted to Buddhism after the Battle of Kaliṅga. This heralded a long period of stability. The power of the empire was vast. Ambassadors were sent to other countries to propagate Buddhism. Aśoka himself became an important promoter. He established monuments marking significant sites in the life of Buddha & was closely involved in the preservation and transmission of Buddhism.
<B>
the Vedanta (before, after Buddha): *
before Buddha
The Samaveda is an ancient Vedic Sanskrit text (derived from sāman "song" and veda "knowledge"), 1 of 4 Vedas it is a liturgical text of verses, part of the scriptures of Hinduism; it deals with melodies and chants; composed between 1200 & 1000 BC. Inside this text is the widely studied Chandogya Upanishad, a primary Upanishad, influential in the 6 schools of Hindu philosophy (particularly the Vedanta school); composed between the 8th & 6th century BC; its name is based on Chandaor which means "poetic meter, prosody" & reflects the nature of the text which relates to patterns of structure, stress, rhythm & intonation in language, songs & chants; it is a motley collection of stories & themes but the broad unifying theme is the importance of speech, language, song & chants to man's quest for knowledge and salvation; it also contains embedded philosophical premises & deals with metaphysical questions.
after Buddha
Prashna Upanishad was written between the 4th century BC to early AD; its name means, "question, query, inquiry" and "task, lesson"; it contains 6 questions & their answers, very structured, it starts with macrocosmic & proceed to increasing details of microcosmic thus covering both universals & particulars; profound metaphysical questions but only the final section contains any defined, philosophical answers, mostly they are embellished mythology & symbolism; the 4th section does provide substantial philosophy; notable for its structure & sociological insights into the education process in India.
Mandukya Upanishad was probably written first century AD; in contrast to the older Upanishads it is brief (shortest of all the Upanishads), with clear & concise formulations; 12 terse verses, prose style, associated with a Rig Vedic school of scholars; discusses the syllable Aum, presents the theory of 4 states of consciousness, asserts that Aum is Brahman, which is the Whole, that Brahman is this self (ātman); scholars contest whether it was influenced by Buddhist theories as the text has both similarities and differences with Buddhism.
<C>
“This is a matter not of mere political and economic, nor even of religious and artistic, transformations, nor of any tangible or factual change whatsoever, but of the condition of a soul after it has actualized its possibilities in full. It is easy, but useless, to point to the bigness of Hellenistic and of modern European achievement.”
Spengler is making a parallel between Hellenistic architecture, famously outsized, and Faustian (Western European & American) architecture. Both are products of the mid to late periods of Civilization, the Winter stage; this began for the Apollonians about 100 BC and for the West the late 18th century
<D>
“Mass slavery and mass machine production,…”
Spengler is comparing Apollonian and Faustian Civilization by using morphology. This is another parallel between economic phenomenon common to the middle to late Civilization stage, Autumn and Winter
<E>
“ ‘Progress’ and Ataraxia”
Spengler is drawing a parallel between Faustian “Progress” and the Greek state of mind Ataraxia. Both are “goals” although the first is a goal for society, a condition; the second is a goal for the person, the individual, a mental state.
Progress.
Faustian Progress can be defined as freedom, happiness or utility, the realization of human capabilities; it needs a universal history (historical narrative encompassing all of humanity); which aims to discover fundamental laws of historical development, to explain the past & predict the future. Apollonian thinkers did not believe in progress: Plato and Aristotle hold a cyclical view of human affairs. Likewise the Magians dismissed progress: Augustine gives a Christian vision of history: some humans, God's elect, will be saved, the remainder are predestined for damnation. During the Middle Ages (the Faustian spring) few intellectuals believed that sinful, impoverished mankind ruled by despots, was progressing. In the 16th & 17th centuries the scientific paradigm proved itself & significant gains justified optimism. The roots of “progress” start in the 17th century Enlightenment; French Enlightenment thinkers embraced the new idea, as did Scots (Hume, Adams). So too did the German Kant. He uses a priori reason to explain progress: tension within human nature itself is the source of change. The 19th century witnessed the domination of progress, although interpretations varied. Hegel & Comte believed the development of ideas over time led to overall improvement. Marx regarded the growth of the means of production as primary. Spencer was the high apostle of progress in England; for him human progress was one aspect of a universe in perpetual development, as justified by biological evolution & Darwin. This century was the high water mark of the “progress” idea.
Aataraxia.
Achieving this mental state was a common goal in Pyrrhonism, Epicureanism & Stoicism. Pyrrhonism was a school of scepticism founded by Pyrrho (4th century BC) which survived to late 2nd century AD. Epicureanism, founded 307 BC by Epicurus, was a challenge to Platonism. While the Stoics (early 3rd century BC) did not see ataraxia as the ultimate goal however, living virtuously in accordance with nature (their avowed goal) would lead to ataraxia as a by product. Spengler explicitly places the Last Sophists (Pyrrhon), Epicurus, the Stoics & Epicureans & Hellenistic-Roman Stoicism from 200 AD, in the Winter period of the Civilization stage. He also places Comte & Spencer in this winter period, hence by analogy Progress is part & parcel of this last period.
<F>
“Alexandrianism and modern Science”
Spengler is drawing a parallel between Alexandria, a unique centre of Hellenistic science (among other things) and the Faustian discipline of Science, both of which he sees as phenomenon of the Winter civilization
<G>
“Pergamum and Bayreuth”:
Pergamum represents one of the pinnacles of Hellenistic relief sculpture. Spengler describes this art as theatrical. Likewise Wagner (also highly theatrical by definition) is seen by Spengler as the pinnacle of Romantic Faustian music. In both cases the art forms (sculpture & music) represent the chosen deepest expressions of their respective cultures, and in both cases they come AFTER the Summer peak is achieved. He places both Pergamum & Wagner in the Civilization period, the Autumnal stage.
<H>
“social conditions as assumed in Aristotle and as assumed in Marx”
Aristotle (384–322 BC) lived & taught during the final years of Apollonian Autumn. Marx (1818-83) lived & wrote during the Faustian Winter. Aristotle & Marx are thus analogous.