54 PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGIONsome erroneous idea cannot even clear away doubt, recognition
of reality will not arise and consequently meditation will be
profitless like that of the Tirthikas [i.e., non-Buddhists, espe-
cially Jains].^5The theme of these passages is clear enough. To put them in one jargon:
there is a heaven to gain and a hell to shun; there is one way to gain heaven
and shun hell, and there are plenty of ways to shun heaven and gain hell.
This insistence on the importance of doctrine comes out in another way. It
is not an accident that, as we have noted, the experiences that are religiously
central to our traditions are typically called enlightenment experiences or
they are said to yield knowledge of God;^6 they are described as cognitive. An
Advaitin description of moksha goes like this: “When a seer sees... the
Brahman-source, then, being a knower, shaking off good and evil, stainless,
he attains supreme identity with Him.”^7 The Jaina Sutras speak of “the
highest knowledge and intuition, called ‘Kevala’ which is... final
liberation.”^8 A Theravada text says that “The monk life leads to complete
detachment, to freedom from desire, to cessation, to peace, to
superknowledge, to the highest insight, to nibbana.”^9 Correspondingly, the
New Testament says that “We know that the Son of God has come and has
given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true.”^10
This feature of religion is often regarded with sadness or disapproval, an
unfortunate but accidental feature that can be removed from religious
traditions with gain and without loss. Such suggestions fail to understand
what a religion is. A doctor who diagnoses Mary as having migraine
headaches and proposes Darvon and stress reduction as a cure differs from a
doctor who diagnoses Mary as feigning pain and recommends
psychoanalysis. The one thinks that Mary’s pain is real and requires medical
attention; the other thinks that Mary has no pain and is faking it and thus
offers no remedy for pain at all. The first doctor, if she is competent and
confident of her diagnosis, will predict continuing anguish for Mary as long
as her migraine headaches are ignored. The second doctor, if he is competent
and confident of his diagnosis, will predict continuing fakery on Mary’s part
until she faces her childhood. This is what one would expect; it does not arise
from either or both of the doctors being immoral, loving controversy, or
taking pleasure in the thought of the suffering of others.
One who sincerely embraces a religious tradition accepts that tradition’s
diagnosis and cure of what it takes to be a deep problem in dire need of
treatment. The founders, authorities, texts, doctrines, and experiences of the
tradition are focused on properly diagnosing and successfully curing the
believer’s illness, which it takes to be an illness we all share. A sincere
Christian, Advaita Vedantin, Theravada Buddhist, and Jain will differ as to
the diagnoses they accept and the cures they embrace. Each will take the