Buddha and Jesus: Could Solomon Be the Missing Link? (54 page)
Read Buddha and Jesus: Could Solomon Be the Missing Link? Online
Authors: R. E. Sherman
S
IDDHARTHA
: Good sir, I have heard many stories about the Jewish people. I would love to learn more about your rulers. Tell me about King Solomon. I have heard he was so wise that rulers from every nation sent their wise men with gifts, so they could learn from his great knowledge and understanding. Is this true?
A
BRAM
: Yes, it is. . . . How did you know that?
S
IDDHARTHA
: I have friends who practice the Jain religion. They have mentioned Solomon’s writings in our discussions. They tell me their ancestors admired his rules of conduct, although their own rules are much stricter than his.
A
BRAM
: How did they get copies?
S
IDDHARTHA
: Many ships carried goods between the Middle East and India—olive oil, pomegranates, cedar wood, carved figurines, fabrics, and rolls of papyrus. Some of those scrolls included Solomon’s writings.
A
BRAM
: There has been much trade between our lands for centuries past. What you say makes sense. To us Jews, Solomon was the wisest man ever. He assembled hundreds of sayings into a Book of Proverbs. He reigned during the height of Israel’s glory. Oh, if only I had lived back then. It is a struggle to be refugees far from our homeland, with no hope of returning.
S
IDDHARTHA
: It must be quite difficult. Are there any of his sayings that have been especially comforting to you? I would like to know more about them. Could you recite some for your favorites?
A
BRAM
(clearing his throat):
Not easily, but I do have them on papyrus scrolls.
S
IDDHARTHA
: Are they in Pali?
A
BRAM
: Not the oldest copies, but a Pali translation is now available. Your people keep asking for it. They are most curious about spiritual things from foreign lands.
S
IDDHARTHA
: If you had to cope with Hinduism and to appease its 3 million gods, you’d be looking for alternatives, too. How much would a copy be?
A
BRAM
: Ten silver coins.
S
IDDHARTHA
: That is no problem. I will pay it.
A
BRAM
: Come with me to my village, and I will get one for you.
They amble along, chatting, negotiating a muddy, pothole-infested road through groves of bodhi trees and amaranth bushes.
One week has passed, and Siddhartha has read most of the scroll. This morning he has cautiously left the palace and journeyed to Abram’s village. As Siddhartha approaches Abram, they greet each other. Abram offers Siddhartha a cup of diluted chai. He accepts, and they sit on a fallen log in front of Abram’s hovel to talk.
S
IDDHARTHA
: I didn’t know Solomon lived in India!
A
BRAM
: He didn’t. Why do you think he did?
S
IDDHARTHA
: Listen to this. He must have been in India to have written this:
Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun: I saw the tears of the oppressed—and they have no comforter; power was on the side of their oppressors—and
they have no comforter. And I declared that the dead, who had already died, are happier than the living, who are still alive. But better than both is he who has not yet been, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun.
1
(Abram and Siddhartha stare at one another for a few seconds.)
S
IDDHARTHA
: Solomon would not have allowed such misery and oppression in his own realm. It seems as if he is talking about someone like my father, who wants me to become like him. I could never be an oppressor.
A
BRAM
: But you do have to be a warrior, don’t you?
S
IDDHARTHA
(with a look of horror):
Never! Killing is never right. I would die or go to prison before I would strike someone with a sword. I would renounce whatever power had become mine.
A
BRAM
: I have heard that you take part in your father’s war games.
S
IDDHARTHA
(clearing his throat and wincing):
Those are just games. If we actually harm another combatant, we are punished.
A
BRAM
: So your father thinks you would fight in battle?
S
IDDHARTHA
(grimacing):
Alas, he does. He would strike me down if I refused to go to war. I am most grieved. Fortunately, things have been peaceful for many years.
A
BRAM
: You could quickly become a great sorrow to your father!
S
IDDHARTHA
(looking down and shaking his head):
He demands silence from me whenever I am near him. He suspects I disagree on many things, and he will not hear of it. I am heir to the throne, yet I cannot speak!
A
BRAM
(with a look of amazement):
We Jews declare a boy to be a man when he turns thirteen. As a man, his opinions are heard.
S
IDDHARTHA
: How can one become a Jew?
A
BRAM
: It is not easy. You are better off as you are. Though life is hard, I try to be content. One of my favorite sayings of Solomon is this:
Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind. . . . Better a poor but wise youth
than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to take warning.
2
S
IDDHARTHA
(sighing):
I wish someone like you were my father. I would be better off as a poor but wise youth.
A
BRAM
: You do not know the sorrows of my people, or how good you have it.
S
IDDHARTHA
(with a doubting look):
Life is suffering . . . for all people. If only there were a way to be freed from suffering. I must search for that way.
A
BRAM
: You have the leisure of doing that, do you not?
S
IDDHARTHA
: How? I must wait on my father . . . or his officials . . . or my wife. I am constantly pestered . . . harassed!
A
BRAM
: Yet you have rich food and splendid surroundings.
S
IDDHARTHA
: They are no real condolence. They leave me empty. My father, my wife, they drive me mad. Sometimes I think about fleeing the palace and going away to seek the truth.
A
BRAM
: You are too sensitive and tender-hearted to be a king. You must be tough!
S
IDDHARTHA
: Money and security are a trap, holding a man in until what is noble within him has been utterly stifled.
A
BRAM
: Ah! The facades of wealth and power! It reminds me of this proverb:
Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless. As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owner except to feast his eyes on them?
3
S
IDDHARTHA
(eyes moistening visibly):
I couldn’t agree more. These sayings are most precious and powerful. They offer the secrets to happiness and great blessings. If I meditate on them daily, will that make me a Jew?
A
BRAM
(raising his eyebrows):
Have you heard the story of the later years of Solomon’s life?
S
IDDHARTHA
: Only fragments . . .
A
BRAM
: Before you consider becoming a Jew you should become acquainted with more of our writings. Besides his collection of proverbs, Solomon wrote another book when he was old. It is called Ecclesiastes. He was deeply depressed and disillusioned when he wrote it.
S
IDDHARTHA
(a look of curiosity washing over his face):
Rich, deeply depressed, disillusioned. That would be me. Do you have a translation?
A
BRAM
: Only the first five chapters, so far. We are working on more chapters, but it is slow work.
S
IDDHARTHA
: Can I obtain a copy?
A
BRAM
: Yes. Another five silver coins.
Siddhartha hands him the coins. Abram fetches a copy from his hovel. They meet again a week later. Squatting outside of Abram’s hut again, they survey part of a scroll that they have rolled open.
A
BRAM
: What did you think of this book, this Ecclesiastes?
S
IDDHARTHA
: I could have written it! It spoke straight to my aching heart and my empty soul. So eloquent . . . forceful.
A
BRAM
: So you agree with most of it?
S
IDDHARTHA
: There is one troubling thing. He mentions “God” here and there. I do not believe in God. My people have thousands upon thousands of gods. Gods bring people nothing but suffering, oppression, and despair. There are so many injustices in our society—Hinduism sanctifies them all! I cannot imagine how awful it would be if all these gods were compacted into one overwhelming, frightful deity . . . a ferocious, bloated Brahma!
A
BRAM
(shaking his head in sorrow and humiliation):
Most Jews here don’t believe in God either. God abandoned us, letting Babylonians destroy our land, driving us out of our beloved country. Why should we believe in such a feeble, indifferent god?
S
IDDHARTHA
: You shouldn’t. We see things much the same way!
A
BRAM
: It seems so. We Jews couldn’t handle one god. How your people willingly suffer under thousands of gods, I do not understand.
S
IDDHARTHA
(clearing his throat):
I am not a Hindu. Never have been. I was raised by my mother’s younger sister, Maha Pajapati, without belief in any gods.
A
BRAM
: You have been blessed in that.
S
IDDHARTHA
: If only we could have a religion that leaves gods out, and just focuses on how to live right . . . as Solomon taught. The Jains do that. The only thing is they go to extremes in protesting Hinduism. They totally isolate themselves from everyday society and starve themselves so they can meditate and seek inner truth.
A
BRAM
: They are fanatics who accomplish nothing! On the other hand, we have found much value, insight, and cultural richness in Solomon’s sayings, so we try to live by them . . . at least much of the time. I mean . . . we live by them when they are helpful, and quietly ignore them when they are not.
S
IDDHARTHA
(with an odd smile):
You equivocate . . . beautifully!
A
BRAM
(smiling):
There is much hope for you.
S
IDDHARTHA
: Is there? If the great Solomon became disillusioned and depressed when he became old, even though he had all his wise sayings to counsel him, what is to stop that from happening to me?
A
BRAM
: Ah! Alas! The later years of Solomon’s life . . . a very sad story. He made peace with all the kings of surrounding nations, marrying dozens upon dozens of their royal young women. Soon he had a hundred of them. Then several hundred.
S
IDDHARTHA
: Say nothing more! That is enough to undo any man! Very sad . . .
A
BRAM
: Many of them begged him to build altars to their gods and to offer sacrifices. He refused at first. He held out for quite a while, but then he gave in to the most alluring and persuasive ones. Ah, women!
S
IDDHARTHA
: And so, what is so bad about that? What kinds of food or plants did Solomon’s foreign wives offer up? Hashish? Opium? Was every one getting . . . high?
(He swirls his hands into the air in a artful frenzy.)
A
BRAM
: Alas! If only it had been so. Usually, a lamb or pig or cow was butchered and burned on the altar. But then it got much worse. First-born children were killed and sacrificed.
S
IDDHARTHA
(
gasping in horror, covering his face with his hands
): That is . . . utterly unthinkable. (
He begins to weep, shaking.
) No one should follow such perverted gods. Even the Hindu gods only demand sacrifices of food or plants. And Solomon went along with this?
A
BRAM
: Tragically, he did. It became routine, as it had been in the lands of Solomon’s foreign wives.
S
IDDHARTHA
(
with a look of shock):
Why? How could a man with so much wisdom allow such vicious practices?
A
BRAM
: I suppose he got to the point where he felt he was above it all. You know, the rules didn’t apply to him. Wealth, power, and fame went to his head. He hoarded women, horses, and gold. Our own sacred texts forbade him to do that, but he ignored these prohibitions, and even his own proverbs.