Buddha and Jesus: Could Solomon Be the Missing Link? (17 page)
Read Buddha and Jesus: Could Solomon Be the Missing Link? Online
Authors: R. E. Sherman
Another series of Solomon’s proverbs provides examples of three of the four types of moral effort, with repeated mention of mental activities intended to maintain a high moral state:
Words of Solomon | Types of Buddhist |
| |
Proverbs 4:5–9, NKJV | Moral Endeavor |
5a. Get wisdom! Get understanding! | Arouse |
5b. Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth. | Maintain |
6a. Do not forsake her, | Prevent |
6b. And she will preserve you. | Maintain |
6c. Love her | Arouse & Maintain |
6d. And she will keep you. | Maintain |
7. Wisdom is the principal thing. Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding. | Arouse & Maintain |
8a. Exalt her, | |
8b. And she will promote you; she will bring 9. She will place on your head an ornament of grace; a crown of glory she will deliver to you. | Maintain |
The following excerpt from Solomon’s writings seems to presume the simultaneous application of all four types of moral effort:
I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven
. . . . I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind. . . . I thought to myself, “Look, I have grown and increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.” Then
I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom,
and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind. For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.
19
How would it be possible for any person to pursue wisdom and knowledge while reviewing “all the things that are done under the sun”? Surely many of these “things” would involve moral temptations to the investigator. So there would be a great need, before beginning such a sweeping review, to
abandon
any moral weaknesses one had, being objective and ruthless about it. As the investigator encountered various temptations, there would be an ongoing need to
prevent
the arousal of unwholesome feelings and activities. To be able to do that, one would need to deliberately attempt to
arouse
wholesome states of mind and heart to fortify oneself against being drawn into morally hazardous activities. And one would need to
maintain
such wholesome states throughout the whole process.
Solomon called such speculation “vanity,” which he says causes much sorrow and grief. Solomon’s conclusion, in Ecclesiastes, was that one should just live in the moment, enjoying the simple
pleasures of life. The conclusions of his far-reaching investigations are notable:
Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him—for this is his lot. Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work—this is a gift of God. He
seldom reflects
on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart.
20
In other words, partaking in speculation about philosophical issues and questions of religious doctrine is not helpful in trying to become a more ethical person. Huston Smith described Buddha’s opinion on this matter: “‘Greed for views’ on questions of this sort ‘tend not to edification.’ His practical program was exacting, and he was not going to let his flock be diverted from the hard road of arduous action by the agreeable fields of profitless speculation.”
21
Solomon taught his sons—and he must have had many, for he had three hundred wives—to deeply value (i.e., treasure) his teachings:
My son, keep [
maintain
] my words and treasure [
arouse
] my commandments within you. Keep [
maintain
] my commandments and live, and my teaching as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart [
maintain
].
22
So strong was this emotional valuing to be that his sons were to want to keep his teachings as instinctively as they would protect and value their eyes. And their loyalty to these teachings was to be unshakable—as much as a ring is bound around one of their fingers. Further, Solomon’s teachings were to be burnished into the deepest part of their inner being. We also find this kind of intensity of devotion expressed in the following proverb of Buddha:
He in whom a desire for the Ineffable (Nirvana) has sprung up, who is satisfied in his mind, and whose thoughts are not bewildered by love, he is called urdhvamsrotas (carried upwards by the stream) [
arouse
].
23
Solomon warned his followers to guard their hearts from anything that would weaken their devotion to following the path of pursuing righteousness that he had espoused:
Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life [
all
].
24
Buddha likewise put great stress on guarding against various things that could easily derail one’s spirituality. In the next proverb of Buddha, the word “guard” is also present to describe this mental discipline:
Beware of the anger of the mind, and control thy mind [
prevent
]! Leave the sins of the mind [
abandon
], and practise virtue with thy mind [
arouse
]!
25
An Indian picture of guarding appears in the next proverb of Buddha:
As rain does not break through a well-thatched house, passion will not break through a well-reflecting mind [
prevent
].
26
Yet other proverbs of Buddha also convey the importance of guarding what one’s mind and heart are focused on:
He who holds back rising anger like a rolling chariot, him I call a real driver; other people are but holding the reins [
prevent
].
27
Those who are ever watchful, who study day and night, and who strive after Nirvana [
arouse
], their passions will come to an end [
prevent
].
28
This mind of mine went formerly wandering about as it liked, as it listed, as it pleased; but I shall now hold it in thoroughly [
prevent
], as the rider who holds the hook holds in the furious elephant.
29
If a man would hasten towards the good, he should keep his thought away from evil; if a man does what is good slothfully, his mind delights in evil [
arouse, prevent
].
30
He who always quiets the evil, whether small or large, he is called a Samana (a quiet man), because he has quieted all evil [
abandon, prevent
].
31
Solomon underscored the great benefits of going hard after right living and caring deeply about others. These benefits included a fulfilling, satisfying life that others would admire:
He who pursues righteousness and love [
arouse, maintain
] finds life, prosperity and honor.
32
To Buddha, pursuing one’s own righteousness was of paramount importance:
Let no one forget his own duty for the sake of another’s, however great [
maintain
]; let a man, after he has discerned his own duty, be always attentive to his duty [
arouse
].
33
If anything is to be done, let a man do it, let him attack it vigorously [
arouse
]! A careless pilgrim only scatters the dust of his passions more widely.
34
The importance of intensely seeking wisdom and understanding is emphasized in the following words of Solomon:
My son, if you receive my words, and treasure my commands within you, so that you incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding; yes, if you cry out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding, if you seek her as
silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom, from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
35
While Solomon believed, at least during the earlier parts of his reign, that a quest for wisdom and understanding would ultimately lead the seeker to a knowledge of God and God’s blessings, Buddha sought to formulate a religion that avoided acknowledgment or reliance upon God or any gods. In Buddha’s words:
There is no satisfying lusts, even by a shower of gold pieces; he who knows that lusts have a short taste and cause pain, he is wise; Even in
heavenly pleasures
he finds no satisfaction,
the disciple who is fully awakened delights only in the destruction of all desires
.
36
The great importance of abandonment among the four types of effort is stressed in the last sentence of Proverb 187 above. Many of Buddha’s other proverbs also stress this, a clear departure from Solomon’s views and his personal practices later in his life:
Let a wise man blow off the impurities of his self, as a smith blows off the impurities of silver one by one, little by little, and from time to time [
abandon
].
37
Not only by discipline and vows, not only by much learning, not by entering into a trance, not by sleeping alone, do I earn the happiness of release which no worldling can know. Bhikshu, be not confident as long as thou hast not attained the extinction of desires [
abandon
].
38
Cut down the whole forest (of lust), not a tree only! Danger comes out of the forest (of lust). When you have cut down both the forest (of lust) and its undergrowth, then, Bhikshus, you will be rid of the forest and free [
abandon
]!
39
So long as the love of man towards women, even the smallest, is not destroyed, so long is his mind in bondage, as the calf that drinks milk is to its mother [
abandon
].
40