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Buddhism as the Deconstruction of Meaning

Authors: Naito, Ray;

Buddhism as the Deconstruction of Meaning

Abstract

This paper reinterprets early Buddhism as a practice for dismantling meaning-making itself. Rather than a metaphysical system describing reality, Buddhism is read as an intervention into the process by which human beings endow experience with meaning, institutionalize it as religious order, and thereby render suffering and injustice “natural” and “legitimate.” Reexamining key Buddhist concepts—Dhamma, ignorance (avijjā), right view (sammā-diṭṭhi), grasping (upādāna), observation (vipassanā), the Noble Truth of suffering, and the Three Marks—this study shows that they function not as components of a worldview but as practical devices that interrupt the hardening of meaning into dogma. In particular, the Three Marks (sabbe saṅkhārā aniccā; sabbe saṅkhārā dukkhā; sabbe dhammā anattā) are reinterpreted as an internal critique of the Brahmanical linkage between dharma (order) and ātman (essential self), rather than as ontological claims. On this reading, Buddhism does not replace one worldview with another. It intervenes at the moment when interpretation becomes “truth,” order becomes “world,” and roles become “self.” Buddhism thus emerges as a practice that continuously suspends the transformation of meaning into unquestionable reality and the justification of suffering that follows from it.

Keywords

Suffering, buddhism, Mean Making, Dhamma, Three Marks, Deconstruction of Religion

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selected citations
These citations are derived from selected sources.
This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Citations provided by BIP!
popularity
This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Popularity provided by BIP!
influence
This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Influence provided by BIP!
impulse
This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Impulse provided by BIP!
0
Average
Average
Average
Green