The Epicureans of India: the Charvaka (or Lokayata)

 The Epicureans of India: the Charvaka (or Lokayata)

Various centuries before the Common Era, an Indian school of thought, the Charvaka (or Lokayata) held that there was no afterlife and no post-mortem retribution for good and bad actions in this life. By their Hindu, Jain and Buddhist opponents (who all accepted the doctrines of karma and rebirth, even if they did disagree on the specifics) they were often perceived as 'worldy' and hedonist. A very early description of their views found in the Buddhist text reads as follows:

"There is nothing given, nothing offered, nothing sacrificed; no fruit or result of good and bad actions; no this world, no other world; no mother, no father; noAnyway,  beings who are reborn spontaneously; no good and virtuous recluses and brahmins in the world who have themselves realised by direct knowledge and declare this world and the other world." (MN 60, translation by bhikkhu Bodhi; source: https://suttacentral.net/mn60/en/bodhi?lang=en&reference=none&highlight=false) 

A much later description dated to the 14th century CE states which suggests that they had a rather anti-religious bent:

"There is no world other than this;There is no heaven and no hell; the realm of Shiva and like regions, are fabricated by stupid imposters." (Sarvasiddhanta Samgraha, Verse 8; source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charvaka )

Anyway, interestingly enough, again from an early Buddhist text, there is a suggestion that some Charavaka were in fact ascetics:

"“About this a wise man considers thus, ‘This good teacher has this theory and view: “There is nothing given… after death they are not”. Now if this good teacher’s words are true, then here in this teaching I have done my duty by not doing it, here I have lived the life divine by not living it; and both of us are exactly equal here in this teaching, both are arrived at equality. But what I do not say is that both of us are cut off and annihilated with the dissolution of the body, that after death we shall not be. But this good teacher’s nakedness, his shavenness, devotion to the squatting position and pulling out of hair and beard, are superfluous, since I, who live in a house crowded with children, using Benares sandalwood, wearing garlands, and unguents, accepting gold and silver, shall reap exactly the same destination as this good teacher. What do I know and see that I should lead the life divine under this teacher?’ So when he finds that this is no life divine, he consequently turns away and leaves it." (MN 76, translation by bhikkhu Nyanamoli; source: https://suttacentral.net/mn76/en/nyanamoli-thera?lang=en&reference=none&highlight=false)

While the point of this text might not be that there were actually Charvaka ascetics, the point that is made is that, if there is no life after death, a life devoted to religious practices and renunciation becomes meaningless. 

At the same time, though, I believe that in the Hellenistic period, we find an analogous view: Epicureanism. According to Epicureanism, there is no afterlife and precisely because of this we shouldn't fear death:

"Secondly, Meneceo, get used to thinking that death is nothing to us, because both suffering and pleasures are experienced through the senses; death, on the other hand, is merely the incapacity to be conscious. The awareness that death means nothing to us makes the mortality of life enjoyable, dispelling the illusion of infinite time that is caused, instead, by the desire for immortality. There is nothing dreadful in living for those who know that there is nothing to fear in no longer living…

Instead, you see, Meneceo, death – considered the most dreadful of all evils – does not exist for us. When we are alive, death is not present; when death is present, we are no longer there. Therefore, death is nothing to us, neither for us who are alive, nor for the dead, who are no more. Instead, common people flee from death as the worst evil, or they call it a place of peace compared to the troubles they endure…" (Epicurs, letter to Meneceus on Happines, source: https://www.ilsecondomestiere.org/en/epicurus-letter-to-meneceo-letter-on-happiness/)

While Epicurus didn't endorse asceticism, he still did suggest a life with the minimum amount of pain and this, according to him, could be reached by a life of moderation of pleasures. Despite this, Epicureans were accused of hedonism. So, perhaps, some of the Charavaka at least might held to something similar.