Buddha and Jesus: Could Solomon Be the Missing Link? (21 page)

Solomon’s exhortation is immediately followed by strong warnings against the seductress, who symbolizes the temptations of the senses:

Solomon concludes his exhortation with strong warnings of ugly eternal consequences. Buddha makes similar warnings. The above verses from Proverbs 7 are precursors to this proverb of Buddha:

Buddha’s imagery is akin to Solomon’s in the verses immediately preceding
Chapter 7
:

The similarities between these two sets of proverbs are apparent. There are remarkable correspondences not only in the ideas but in the very images used to express the importance of maintaining the right state of mind.

Psalm 119 Patterns

The longest chapter in the Bible by far is Psalm 119. Its authorship is unstated. Throughout its 176 verses is one common theme: the critical importance and benefits of meditating, cherishing, and obeying the Law. Its core substance could be summarized succinctly in Proverb 364 of Buddha:

Psalm 119, a key centerpiece of Judaism, and Buddha’s proverb both highlight the importance of upholding a whole system of laws (codes of conduct) as critical to self-purification. For the author of Psalm 119, “the Law” would mean the Law of Moses as presented in the Torah (discussed in more detail below). For Buddhists, the Law consists of Buddha’s teachings. But although the source of the
law referred to is different, the approach to it and commitment to it is the same. Curiously, meditation is mentioned in seven sections of Psalm 119. In every instance, the verse about meditation, and its adjacent verses, tightly parallel the content of Buddha’s 364th proverb. In the third, fifth, and seventh sections, the order of the content is identical to the order in Buddha’s 364th proverb, highlighted below in gray.

In the following table are displayed the verses from each of the remaining four sections of Psalm 119 that focus on meditation. Each part of Buddha’s 364th proverb, quoted in the headers highlighted in gray, has evident precursors within the indicated sections of Psalm 119.

The Jewish author(s) of Psalm 119 elaborated extensively on the key elements of spiritual practice that relate to meditation. In a psalm written around the time of Solomon’s reign, we have seven expansions for each component of Buddha’s 364th proverb. It would appear that the state of meditative practice of the Jews who wrote this psalm was quite elaborate and advanced.

Seven is the most important number in the Bible. In hundreds of examples, it is a symbol of completion or spiritual perfection. That the above pattern appears in seven sections of the longest chapter in the Bible may not be a coincidence. It may have been an intentional device used by the author(s) of Psalm 119 to emphasize the central importance of meditation on the Law as a critical part of seeking spiritual perfection.

We can also gain an appreciation for this by focusing on the content of all the verses in these sections of Psalm 119 that cover just one component. For example, we see from Psalm 119 that the component of “glorying in the Law” involves the following (noted by verse number):

Doing similar reviews of all the verses in Psalm 119 from the sections that explicitly mention meditation is also worthwhile. For example, doing this for “dwelling in the Law” is also fascinating.

What Kind of Meditation Was Being Practiced?

With few exceptions, meditation as practiced by Jews prior to and during Solomon’s reign (as described in the Old Testament) was focused on the Law, or Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. There are two exceptions. Asaph meditated on God’s work and God’s deeds (Psalm
77)
and the sons of Korah meditated on God’s unfailing love (Psalm 48). These are instances of focused meditation on external phenomena, as contrasted with many of the inner phenomena that are often the objects of meditation in Buddhism (e.g., one’s breathing, specific parts of the body, or sheer emptiness of mind).

Only six of Buddha’s proverbs mention meditation. The 364th proverb is the only one that mentions an object of meditation, and that object is the law, just as in the Hebrew scriptures. The other proverbs do not disclose the object of meditation but only mention elements involved in its practice. Those proverbs tell us that one’s mind should not wander during meditation, but should be absorbed in the meditation, “taking delight in the inner calm of renunciation.” For example:

Also, they tell us that meditation involves exertion:

The remaining proverb about meditation that has not yet been cited in this chapter is the following:

This proverb makes it clear that meditation involves solitary self-effort and entering “the path.”

There is only one clear difference between the kinds of meditation practiced by the Jews around Solomon’s time and that described in Buddha’s earliest published work, the Dhammapada: Jewish meditation directly or indirectly involved God.

Psalm 119 is broken up into twenty-two sections, each labeled by one of the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. In most of these sections, there is mention of some kind of spiritual activity that directly or indirectly involves meditation. All seven of the sections that directly mention meditation focus on self-effort. Many of the remaining sections are direct prayers from the seeker to receive help from God, rather than about using self-effort alone. It is these sections that clearly distinguish Judaic from Buddhist practice.
Buddhism is “I will do this.” Judaism is “Help me, God, to love and obey your laws.”
We see that in this excerpt from Psalm 119, where the author’s petitions for help from God are emphasized: