Buddha and Jesus: Could Solomon Be the Missing Link? (15 page)
Read Buddha and Jesus: Could Solomon Be the Missing Link? Online
Authors: R. E. Sherman
Additional proverbs of Solomon on generosity include the following:
A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.
108
If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered.
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A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children.
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The righteous man walks in his integrity; blessed (happy, fortunate, enviable) are his children after him.
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2b. Don’t Steal, Defraud, or Lie
A sense of the inevitable working of bad karma characterizes the next two proverbs of Solomon:
This next proverb of Buddha, quoted early in this chapter, cites all three forms of bad behavior covered in this section:
He who destroys life, who speaks untruth, who in this world takes what is not given him, who goes to another man’s wife; and the man who gives himself to drinking intoxicating liquors, he, even in this world, digs up his own root.
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Buddha makes an even more dramatic illustration of karmic consequences:
Better it would be to swallow a heated iron ball, like flaring fire, than that a bad unrestrained fellow should live on the charity of the land.
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2c. Avoid Hypocrisy
Buddha’s pronouncements against hypocrisy are much more clear and direct than Solomon’s. First, Buddha’s:
Like a beautiful flower, full of colour, but without scent, are the fine but fruitless words of him who does not act accordingly.
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But, like a beautiful flower, full of colour and full of scent, are the fine and fruitful words of him who acts accordingly.
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The thoughtless man, even if he can recite a large portion (of the law), but is not a doer of it, has no share in the priesthood, but is like a cowherd counting the cows of others.
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Let each man direct himself first to what is proper, then let him teach others; thus a wise man will not suffer.
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The importance of direct action over oblique religious ceremonies is emphasized by Solomon:
Winning souls requires both words and action, intention and effort.
3. Don’t Commit Sexual Misconduct
Solomon graciously exhorts men to be faithful to their wives:
Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well. Should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares? Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers. May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. A loving doe, a graceful deer—may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be captivated by her love. Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another man’s wife?
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As so often in this chapter, Buddha’s descriptions of dire karmic consequences are quite draconian:
Four things does a wreckless man gain who covets his neighbour’s wife,—a bad reputation, an uncomfortable bed, thirdly, punishment, and lastly, hell.
123
There is bad reputation, and the evil way (to hell), there is the short pleasure of the frightened in the arms of the frightened, and the king imposes heavy punishment; therefore let no man think of his neighbour’s wife.
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We have reviewed about a dozen pairings of similar proverbs on Right Speech in this chapter and over two dozen on Right Action. Surprisingly, there are some categories of Right Action where Solomon had much to say, but Buddha did not. These include women, family, government, and borrowing and lending, and are not covered here. However, the subject of Right Action has not by any means been covered fully: People also carry out actions in specific kinds of contexts, and one of these is the very important realm of earning a living. In addition, Right Action is not likely to happen without conscious attention to Right Effort. Buddha and Solomon both had much to say on these subjects.
Precursors to Buddha’s Right Livelihood and Effort
In this chapter, we will focus on proverbs regarding the fifth and sixth steps of Buddha’s Noble Eightfold Path: Right Livelihood and Right Effort. In the fifth step we will encounter some ways in which Buddha clearly differed from Solomon. As in all such instances, Buddha’s stance coincides with that of Jain ascetics.
Right Livelihood
“One should
earn one’s living in a righteous way and that wealth should be gained legally and peacefully.
The Buddha mentions four specific activities that harm other beings and that one should avoid for this reason:
1. dealing in weapons, 2. dealing in living beings (including raising animals for slaughter as well as slave trade and prostitution), 3. working in meat production and butchery, and 4. selling intoxicants and poisons, such as alcohol and drugs.”
1
These points are discussed below in the order in which they appear in the box.
Earning a Living Righteously
Solomon emphasized the nobility of performing a job with excellence, claiming that those who did so would earn solid recognition from rulers and other famous people:
Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before unknown men.
2
This same concept (i.e., mastery producing laudable results) is subtly present in one of Buddha’s proverbs:
Well-makers lead the water (wherever they like); fletchers bend the arrow; carpenters bend a log of wood; wise people fashion themselves.
3
This proverb of Buddha would seem to run counter to the first admonition about inappropriate occupations, in that fletchers make arrows, the purpose of which is either to kill animals or people. Is not a fletcher dealing in weapons? On the other hand, it could well be that Buddha was citing fletchers and their skill in making arrows as an example of skilled craftsmanship taken from Indian society, even though such activity was not acceptable to him.
Gaining Wealth Legally and Peacefully
In the next two proverbs, Solomon spoke against “ill-gotten gains” but did not provide specifics about what kinds of gains would be so regarded:
He surely would have thought ill-gotten gains would include those received by means of deceitful trade practices, such as the use of false balances:
A false balance is an abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight.
6
In the following proverb Solomon stressed the need to acquire wealth honestly through hard work:
Wealth gained by dishonesty will be diminished. But he who gathers by labor will increase.
7
To Buddha, labor was, at best, a necessary evil to common people. The effort expended in work would generate some kind of karma, whether good or bad, that would need to be dispelled before one could hope to approach enlightenment. We get this sense from the following proverb:
Let us live happily then, though we call nothing our own! We shall be like the bright gods, feeding on happiness!
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In another translation, the first sentence links living without possessions to being happy.
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This is an instance where Buddha differs sharply from Solomon, and, as with nearly all such differences, it probably harkens back to Buddha’s involvement with Jain asceticism just prior to his enlightenment. Both Buddha and Solomon warned against gaining livelihood or wealth by illicit means or through any activity that would treat others unjustly. For Solomon, this meant following honest business practices. Buddha took it further and extolled staying away from business, if possible, and making do with less. It is another instance where Buddha takes an issue to a greater extreme than Solomon.
Not Engaging in Activities That Harm Other Beings
In an agrarian society, animal husbandry and care is a leading occupation. Solomon highlighted the importance of considerate diligence in this activity:
Be diligent to know the state of your flocks, and attend to your herds; for riches are not forever, nor does a crown endure to all generations. When the hay is removed, and the tender grass shows itself, and the herbs of the mountains are gathered in, the lambs will provide your clothing, and the goats the price of a field; you shall have enough goats’ milk for your food, for the food of your household, and the nourishment of your maidservants.
10
Another proverb of Solomon paints a picture of the keeper of livestock taking care of his flock:
A righteous man cares for the needs of his animal, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel.
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A different translation adds another twist to the same proverb:
A righteous man regards the life of his animal, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.
12
In biblical times, animal sacrifices were a key part of sacred ceremonies in Judaism, as was commanded for the atonement of many sins and for the worship of and reconciliation with God in the writings of Moses. These practices, of course, directly conflicted with the prohibition against the taking of the life of any sentient (conscious) being that was very widespread in Hinduism and integral to Buddhism. The following proverb of Buddha emphasizes this:
A man is not an elect (Ariya) because he injures living creatures; because he has pity on all living creatures, therefore is a man called Ariya.
13
Again, Buddha takes an idea to a greater extreme than Solomon, though the root idea (in this case, treating animals well) is the same. Solomon said to take good care of one’s animals, but he never forbade animal sacrifices or meat-eating. Buddha took the idea further, promoting complete nonviolence toward animals, as was common among both Hindus and Jains.
Intoxicants
While the Dhammapada is silent about the perils of excess drinking, Solomon devoted some proverbs to the subject: