The Eastern Island: An examination of the manifestation of Eastern philosophical and religious traditions in Aldous Huxley's "Island"


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I found this essay I wrote for a university course I took many moons ago. Why I'm sharing it, I don't know. If you plagiarise it, you will be haunted by the hallucinating ghost of Aldous Huxley.

Pala, the island of Aldous Huxley's novel Island, is populated by a passionate, hard-working people who seem to have built an ideal society from the marriage of many aspects of Hinduism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism, with some Western practices as well. The founders of this partnership of philosophies, the old Raja of Pala and a Western doctor named Andrew MacPhail, strove to - with those who followed after them, "make the best of all the worlds - the worlds already realized within the various cultures and, beyond them, the worlds of still unrealized potentialities." (Island. p. 145)

"Nobody needs to go anywhere else. We are all, if we only knew it, already there." (Island, p. 36)

So begins Notes on What's What, and on What it Might Be Reasonable to Do About What's What, a book by the old Raja of Pala that the reader is told is “no better introduction” to Pala and its people. It is a book of philosophy, a description of Palanese thinking. It also, in more ways than one, has striking similarities to Taoism - not the least of them being the fact that they are written by the teachers of their respective philosophical and faith disciplines. Unlike most other faith practices, Taoism's foremost teachers - Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu - wrote their own works of philosophy, as did the Raja of Pala. This is not so of Confucianism or Hinduism in particular. The sayings of Confucius were compiled by his followers, and much of Hindu sacred literature is not in the first-person - in many cases being written by an anonymous mortal hand to describe the doings of the god-figures.

This, though, is merely a physical resemblance; there is also a lot of philosophical similarity between Notes on What's What and Taoist thinking. The first line of the Raja's book, for example, is very indicative of Taoist philosophy - which attempts to help people realise and recognise that the universe is one, that all things in it are one, that whatever “higher” nature or goal there is to reach, is already with us. We need but become attuned to it. In Taoist thinking, for example, man and the heavens, good and bad, man and animals, are all part of the same whole - the Tao itself. Being a Taoist also means that a person does not denounce the physical world, the world of sensation, as does a Buddhist - whose highest aim is to become free of samsara and reach Nirvana. In Taoism you accept the physical world, and everything about it, as all of it is part of the self-same whole. There is no heaven, Nirvana, or higher plane to strive for, because it is right there in front of you at all times. The Palanese are all Taoist masters of a sort, having learned - or in the process of learning - to work within what one is given, within the circumstances of daily life, without denial of anything physical.

“In religion all words are dirty words.” (Island, p. 37)

This concept is particularly significant in Taoism, as it illustrates both Chuang Tzu's and Lao Tzu's feelings that there are no labels which can adequately detail any aspect of nature, of the Tao itself. Taoism teaches that specific language, labels, applied to anything, are not only inadequate, but can also be a trap, can distract us from the real nature of things - even ourselves. No two people, for example, have the same understanding of any given object, person, or thing. The term Tao, for example, doesn't even have the same connotation for Taoists as it does for Confucians. Tao, for a Confucian, is the culmination of a life lived in the proper manner; a life of morality, adherence to ritual, respect for elders, etc. For a Taoist, however, it is far more. It is, quite literally, everything. Tao for the Taoist is the wellspring from which everything flows - humans, animals, good, bad, nature, the entire universe. To a Confucian a human would make the Tao; for a Taoist, the Tao makes us. This mistrust of labels is, in fact, the first concept we encounter in the Tao Te Ching: “The Tao that can be told [named, spoken] is not the eternal Tao.” It means that no words, no naming, are adequate or sufficient to describe what the Tao is, what it means. In fact, both Chuang Tzu and Lao Tzu felt that words were almost completely unnecessary.

"Words exist because of meaning; once you"ve gotten the meaning, you can forget the words." (Chuang Tzu, p. 140)

"More words count less." (Tao Te Ching: 5)

And the Palanese, too, recognise the traps and insufficiencies of names, referring to them as “question-beggars”. (Island, p. 102) Lin Yutang contends, also, that the “mechanism of our thinking and language fails, because our words must fail to describe an unconditioned existence.” (Yutang, p. 550) In other words, words - which are finite - cannot hope to describe and encapsulate that which is infinite - whether that is the Tao or Nirvana. Words bearing concept with them, are largely a matter of interpretation and teaching. If you are taught to comprehend a word in a bad light, that word will always carry negative connotations - whether they deserve them or not. The Palanese are very aware of this, very aware how even their means of mental liberation can be viewed depending merely on the words that are used to describe it.

“What's in a name?” said Dr. Robert with a laugh. ‘Answer, practically everything. Having had the misfortune to be brought up in Europe, Murugan calls it dope and feels about it all the disapproval that, by conditional reflex, the dirty word evokes. We, on the contrary, give the stuff good names - the moksha medicine, the reality-revealer, the truth-and-beauty pill. And we know, by direct experience, that the good names are deserved.“ (Island, p. 153)

Moksha is probably the single most significant concept to many Hindus. To them, it is the "final and unconditioned release from the bondage of karma and samsara.” (Ludwig, p. 94) In other words, it is liberation from the “bondage of ego” and a true realisation of the nature of all things, and a true realisation of the ultimate. Ignorance to a Hindu means ignorance of one's true nature, atman. Both traditional Hindus and the Palanese see moksha in the same way, as “not annihilation or extermination of the atman; it is rather expansion, becoming all by transcending the limited self of mortal existence,” (Ludwig, p. 94) that brings an experience of “boundless compassion, fathomless mystery, and meaning [...] Not to mention joy.” (Island, p. 155) The difference between Hindus and the Palanese being that for a traditional Hindu such a state of liberation is reached through meditation, asceticism, and other spiritual exercises, but the Palanese sometimes choose to reach this state immediately, by ingesting a species of mushroom found on the island that brings on what we would see as a hallucinogenic state, during which they can become 'someone who has been liberated from his bondage to the ego.“ (Island, p. 154)

Normally the trappings of everyday living distract us from who we truly are, as we get caught up in the activities of the day. That first line of the Raja's book, however, not only reflects Taoist thinking, it also reflects something very significant in Buddhism as well - a lack of ignorance. Being aware, understanding the true nature of things, is one of the most important Buddhist concepts. Understanding is the point of the Buddha's Four Noble Truths (1) and The Eightfold Path (2). The importance of awareness, of attention, is driven home constantly to the residents of Pala by the island's population of mynah birds, who repeat the word "Attention” over and over. By this call, the residents of Pala are taught to comprehend and appreciate all aspects of living, by the constant reminder to be aware of who they are in relation to all of their experiences. Attention is important to Hindus as well, and manifests in their attitude towards yoga - a discipline which aims at training the consciousness for a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility that is attained through the paths of action, knowledge, devotion. For the Palanese, then, full awareness of what you are doing, makes work, play, everyday living, and even lovemaking, into the yogas of work, play, everyday living, and lovemaking. (Island, p. 169)

The concept of attention not only applies to the self, and to the actions one performs, but also attention to what Buddhists and Taoists might see as the impermanence of existence - the changeable nature of the universe and all that's in it. It also means being constantly aware that death is immanent, and life itself fleeting. As the children of Pala enter adolescence, they are taken on a mountain-climbing expedition - one fraught with potential dangers - that is meant to remind them of this fact, of the fleeting nature of life. After the climb they are given the “moksha medicine” as an emphasis and revelation of life, as a means of enlightenment to the concept of all aspects of life - and death - being bound together. Lin Yutang describes the process of enlightenment as “divesting oneself of the illusions of the sensory world and constantly rising to a higher conception of an ideal world [...] a steady process of dropping off of errors arising from the finite 'discriminating mind”, such as the habitual and ingrained notion of the ego and the individuality of things.“ (Yutang, p. 550) The "moksha medicine” aids in liberating the mind from the bounds of the senses, and aids in the process of seeing the boundlessness of things, and how they are infinitely bound together. (Island, p. 185-193)

In Palanese culture all things are bound together - the spiritual with the physical, work with play, life with death, the spiritual with the scientific, and the young with the old. Unlike many cultures which seem to shun their elderly, the Palanese culture attempts to incorporate them - and not just as venerated ancients, but, simply, as people. However, the incorporation of the elderly into society is reflective of the Confucian respect for elderly persons - respect based on the elderly being the base from which come the young, on the fact that the elderly are (hopefully) more learned; or, simply put, the elderly being the history of the present era. Also similar to Confucians (Analects, I: 16, II: 24), the people of Pala believe that standards of goodness, of behaviour, etc., are not to be sought or found in heaven, but in oneself and in other people. In fact, the old Raja felt that all of Palanese culture - from inside as well as out - should be “judged by what all the members of the community, the ordinary as well as the extraordinary, can and do experience in every contingency and at each successive intersection of time with eternity.” (Island, p. 196)

This concept of everything being part of the whole, reflects, also, the Eastern philosophical concept of balance, of a “middle way”. Extremes are to be avoided, and, when encountered, found an outlet for. The Palanese practice this philosophy physically as well as spiritually, creating no more products than is necessary to sustain the society and to use as export to gain what they cannot themselves produce. The industries of Pala, from the simplest to the most complex, even work on a sort of part-time basis, allowing all the workers to change jobs in order to suit taste and mood, as well as education. This ensures that people not only don't experience excess (of bad as well as good) within themselves, it also means they have a more concrete understanding of their fellows - they learn what each is going through, because they are going through it themselves. Human satisfaction comes first with the Palanese, so they have made every allowance they can to accommodate it.

It could be said that the Palanese go against Taoist teaching in their use of science, particularly, to augment a person's intelligence (e.g. meditation techniques to augment the ability a person has to do mathematics), as it would be an interference in the laws of heaven, of nature. The Taoists stress a concept of wu-wei, or non-striving, which can be interpreted as the aforementioned non-interference. It means that one leaves things to develop as they will, without imposing will or change upon them. It is this lack of interference, unfortunately, that becomes the downfall of the Palanese people. They are a pacifist race, with no armies and no desire for physical violence, who allow the island to be taken over by the militaristic ideals of the present Raja and the neighbouring state of Rendang - even though they saw this coming. It was the order that fate was meant to take, so they do not - as many might have - even consider the possibility of dethroning the Raja. In an ironic twist, it is at this time of downfall for the Palanese that the 'hero’ of Island becomes 'aware’ of himself, and the philosophy of the Palanese, by use of the "moksha medicine".

The whole book reflects the lifetime experiences of the author, his experimentation with narcotics - particularly those he shared with his wife during the illness that led to her death, which is reflected in the story of Dr. MacPhail and his wife Lakshmi; and is an obvious wealth of Huxley's interest in, and experience with, all manner of Eastern philosophy and religion. In Pala, Huxley built an ideal society, one where population is under control, where over-consumption is minimised and are not the focus of industry or the people, where science is used for the betterment - rather than the destruction - of mankind, where the people are compassionate and understanding of themselves, of others, and of nature as a whole. However, Huxley's cynicism of Christianity, and mankind as a whole, are present throughout the book. Present in the descriptions of the descendants of Andrew MacPhail and the Christianity practiced by his parents, present in Will Farnaby himself who, despite being amongst a loving, understanding people, betrays them for mercenary gain, present where a person might think they wouldn't be, in a society so seemingly ideal. One where, despite its wealth of spirituality and understanding of the human condition, “the work of a hundred years [was] destroyed in a single night.” (Island, p. 329)

ENDNOTES

  1. The Four Noble Truths are the most basic expression of Buddha's teaching, and teach an alternative to how those in the West, for example, normally categorise thoughts, feelings, and actions. They are, for the Buddhist, the definitions of reality as it truly is, but are best understood not as beliefs, but as categories of experience. They can be summarised as follows:
  2. All life is unsatisfactory and suffering.
  3. The cause of suffering is attachment, desire.
  4. The way out of suffering is to eliminate attachment and desire.
  5. The path out of suffering, of eliminating attachment and desire, is The Noble Eightfold Path.
  6. The Noble Eightfold Path is the way out of suffering for a Buddhist, and is the fourth part of the Four Noble Truths. It is summarised in three categories: wisdom, virtue, and concentration.


The Noble Eightfold Path can be summarised as follows:

Wisdom

  1. Right View (Understanding, Perspective): To see and understand things as they really are.
  2. Right Intention (Thought, Resolve): The mental energy that lies behind or controls our actions. It is the volitional aspect.


Virtue

  1. Right Speech: In simple terms: to speak truly, kindly, and only when necessary.
  2. Right Action: To abstain from: that which harms, theft, and sexual misconduct. It means to act honestly, respectfully, and do nothing that is unwholesome.
  3. Right Livelihood: One should earn one's living in a righteous way, with monetary gain achieved in a legal and peaceful manner, and do nothing which would contravene right speech, action, and so on, either in oneself or others.


Concentration

  1. Right Effort (Endeavour): Those things which it is right to perform, to strive for; such as prevention of unwholesome states, abandonment of unwholesome states, arousal of wholesome states, maintenance and perfection of wholesome states.
  2. Right Mindfulness: The ability to clearly understand our perceptions of things.
  3. Right Concentration: Concentration on wholesome action and thought; a state where a person's mental faculties are united on one object.


SOURCES

Chuang-tzu. Basic Writings. Burton Watson, trans. New York: Columbia U.P. 1996.

Confucius. The Analects of Confucius. A. Waley trans. New York: Vintage Books. 1989.

Huxley, Aldous. Island. New York: Harper and Row. 1972.

Lao Tzu. Tao Te Ching. Gia-Fu Feng & Jane English trans. New York: Vintage Books. 1997.

Ludwig, Theodore M. The Sacred Paths: Understanding the Religions of the World. Third ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. 2001.

Meeker. Joseph W. ed. Ancient Indian Thought. Alberta. Athabasca University Press. 2002

... . Bhagavad Gita, The. Alberta. Athabasca University Press.

... . Buddhism. Alberta: Athabasca University Press.

... . Confucius. Alberta. Athabasca University Press. 1975.

... . Hindu Literature. Alberta. Athabasca University Press.

... . Taoism: Laotse and Chuangtse. Alberta: Athabasca University Press. 1975.

Yutang, Lin. ed. The Wisdom of China and India. New York: Bantam. 1971.

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