Buddha and Jesus: Could Solomon Be the Missing Link? (28 page)
Read Buddha and Jesus: Could Solomon Be the Missing Link? Online
Authors: R. E. Sherman
Solomon | Buddha |
| |
Great wealth is in the house of the righteous, but trouble is in the income of the wicked. Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind. | He who drinks in the law lives happily with a serene mind: the sage rejoices always in the law, as preached by the elect (Ariyas). |
The wealth Solomon refers to above may be much broader than just a collection of expensive things in one’s house. Having a good marriage, children, neighbors, and friends and living contentedly in a peaceful neighborhood may also be involved. The implication is that even if “the income of the wicked” is high, it is not equivalent to the “great wealth” of the righteous. The proverb quoted below provides additional evidence that for Solomon, “riches” involve more than material things. For Buddha, happiness and peace are all that really matter, and little materially is needed.
Solomon | Buddha |
| |
He who trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like foliage. | Wise people, after they have listened to the laws, become serene, like a deep, smooth, and still lake. |
Both use appropriate symbols for their respective culture: For Solomon, the righteous are like
“a
thriving plant,” whereas Buddha advocates attaining a state of mind like a very quiet lake.
Both have specific things in mind when they consider the goals or rewards worth striving for. They each feel that these specific forms of goodness will come to the person who actively seeks to do good.
Solomon | Buddha |
| |
The desire of the righteous ends only in good, but the hope of the wicked ends only in wrath. Do they not err who devise evil and wander from the way of life? But loving-kindness and mercy, loyalty and faithfulness, shall be to those who devise good. | A wise man should leave the dark state (of ordinary life), and follow the bright state (of the Bhikshu). After going from his home to a homeless state, he should in his retirement look for enjoyment where there seemed to be no enjoyment. |
The specific types of goodness that Solomon believes await the righteous are expressed in the second proverb of his above: loving-kindness, mercy, loyalty, and faithfulness, from both God and other righteous people. His focus was on relationships. To Buddha, the goal of the enlightened person is to shed all desire for worldly things and pleasures and position and become content with very little. His focus was on solitude rather than relationship.
Both also emphasize an additional benefit of righteousness and wisdom: longevity.
Solomon | Buddha |
| |
Honor your father and your mother, that | He who always greets and constantly reveres the aged, four things |