Aristotle vs Buddha on Mind
Aristotle and Buddha on mind, side by side — 4 passages against 8, and what the disagreement is actually about.
Aristotle and Buddha both have a great deal to say about mind — 4 passages and 8 respectively in thinkr's library — and they do not say the same thing. Setting them side by side is more useful than reading either alone, because the disagreement shows you what each position is actually giving up.
Aristotle on mind
Student of Plato, tutor of Alexander. His Nicomachean Ethics defines virtue as the mean between extremes, and happiness as activity of soul in accord with virtue.
“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”
“Knowledge of the fact differs from knowledge of the reason for the fact.”
“If a man knows what it is right to do, he does not require a formal reason. And a person that has been thus trained, either possesses these first principles already, or can easily acquire them. (Bk I, Ch II)”
“Now men seem, not unreasonably, to form their notions of the supreme good and of happiness from the lives of men.”
Buddha on mind
Siddhartha Gautama — the awakened one. His teachings on the Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path form the foundation of Buddhism.
“The mind is everything. What you think you become.”
“As rain breaks through an ill-thatched house, passion will break through an unreflecting mind.”
“He abused me, he struck me, he overcame me, he robbed me' -- in those who do not harbor such thoughts hatred will cease.”
“To cease from evil, to do good, and to purify the mind yourself, this is the teaching of all the Buddhas.”
“If, Mahāmati, meat is not eaten by anybody for any reason, there will be no destroyer of life.”
“Listen well, listen well, and mull it over in your thoughts!”
“Whatever an enemy might do to an enemy, or a foe to a foe, the ill-directed mind can do to you even worse.Whatever a mother, father or other kinsman might do for you, the well-directed mind can do for you even better.”
“Develop the mind of equilibrium. You will always be getting praise and blame, but do not let either affect the poise of the mind: follow the calmness, the absence of pride.”
Where they part
Greece, 384–322 BCE and India, c. 5th–4th c. BCE are not the same world, and the difference is not only historical. Aristotle treats mind as something to be it is the mark of an… — a matter of practice. Buddha approaches it from another side entirely. Neither is refuting the other; they are answering slightly different questions, and noticing which question you are actually asking is most of the work.