Buddha and Jesus: Could Solomon Be the Missing Link? (57 page)
Read Buddha and Jesus: Could Solomon Be the Missing Link? Online
Authors: R. E. Sherman
R. E. Sherman, FCAS, MAAA
R. E. Sherman has been a highly successful management consultant for nearly forty years. From 1984 to 1991, he was a principal at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the world’s largest accounting and consulting firm. He has written several professional papers, two of which won national prizes. He has written seventy articles since 1986 in a major trade magazine.
For the past decade Mr. Sherman has worked with an Israeli physicist in examining claims about codes in the Hebrew Bible. He authored a book on their findings,
Bible Code Bombshell
(2005), which has sold 10,000 copies. He lives in a vibrant, eclectic college town, which is home to a large number of Buddhists, Jews, and Christians. He is a follower of Christ who respects and appreciates sincere followers of other major religions. He has many Buddhist and Jewish friends. He has been a serious student of the Bible for the past thirty-nine years. In this book he has tried to present each religion objectively and (whenever possible) positively, honoring the literal claims of its followers.
Mr. Sherman has been married for thirty-five years. He and his wife have two adult children who share his beliefs and seek to practice their faith. His daughter has been actively engaged in helping homeless children in a major U.S. city.
He graduated from the University of California at San Diego with a B.A. and an M.A. in Mathematics. He also passed three qualifying exams for a Ph.D. in Mathematics before deciding to pursue a career as an actuary. He is a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries and a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society. He has served as an expert witness in numerous major lawsuits. That experience helped him to improve his skills in assessing the quality of evidence presented in support of different positions.
Invitation to the Reader
1
Patrick French,
Tibet, Tibet
(New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2003), 27.
2
Ibid., 27.
3
Mary Garden, “Can Meditation Be Bad for You?” Humanist, September/October 2007,
www.thehumanist.org/humanist/MaryGarden.html
, retrieved Nov. 22, 2010.
4
French,
Tibet, Tibet,
27.
5
“His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet,”
www.dalailama.com/
, retrieved April 11, 2011.
6
Revelation 3:17-19, New American Standard Bible (NASB).
Chapter One Buddha: The Solomon of India
1
His Holiness the Dalai Lama,
Becoming Enlightened,
translated by Jeffrey Hopkins (New York: Simon and Schuster, Atria Books, 2009), 216.
2
Will Durant,
The Story of Civilization,
Part I
: Our Oriental Heritage
(New York: Simon and Schuster, 1963), 417–418.
3
Huston Smith,
The Religions of Man
(New York: Harper and Row, 1965), 104.
4
Walter A Elwell, ed.,
Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible
(Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988), 1:737. A range of dates for the time of the exodus is cited, from 1440 to 1290 b.c.
5
Ibid., 2:1975. Solomon reigned from 970 to 930
B.C.
6
E. Washburn Hopkins,
History of Religions
(New York: Macmillan, 1918), 552, 556.
7
“Buddha and Christ: Two Gods on the Path to Humanity,” November 2003, Exotic India,
www.exoticindiaart.com/article/buddhaandchrist/
, retrieved April 12, 2010.
8
Luke 6:38, New International Version (NIV).
9
Swami Abhedananda,
Journey into Kashmir and Tibet,
translated by Kashmiri 0. Tibbate (Calcutta: Ramakrishna Vivekananda Math, 1987).
10
Burjor Avari,
India: The Ancient Past
(London: Routledge, 2007), 113.
11
John Brockman, “The Politics of Christianity: A Talk with Elaine Pagels,” The Third Culture, July 17, 2003, Edge Foundation,
www.edge.org/3rd_culture/pagels03/pagels_index.html
, retrieved April 27, 2010.
12
Proverbs 4:18 (NIV). To save space, line breaks in quotations from the Bible have not been retained.
13
A typical example is Proverbs 14:11, “The house of the wicked will be destroyed, but the tent of the upright will flourish.” (NASB).
14
Ernest Valea,
The Buddha and the Christ: Reciprocal Views
(Seattle: BookSurge, 2009), 23: “The
Brahmana
writings, which are the first to mention a primitive idea of karma and reincarnation . . . were composed from the 9th century bc (Schumann 2004, p. 29) until about 500 bc (Dasgupta 1975, p. 14).”
15
1 Kings 11:3.
16
Ecclesiastes 1:9–10, New King James Version (NKJV).
17
Friedrich Max Muller, trans.,
The Dhammapada: A Collection of Verses, Being One of the Canonical Works of the Buddhists,
in vol. 10,
Part 1
,
The Sacred Books of the East
, translated by Various Oriental Scholars, edited by F. Max Muller, available at “Dhammapada (Muller),” Wikisource,
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Dhammapada_(Muller)
. This work is cited as “Dhammapada” hereafter. To save space, line breaks in quotations from the Dhammapada have not been retained.
18
1 Chronicles 22:7–8.
19
Ecclesiastes 4:6 (NIV).
20
Ecclesiastes 11:10a (NIV).
21
Dhammapada 96.
22
1 Kings 11:3.
23
1 Kings 11:2.
24
1 Kings 11:4–8 (NIV) (emphasis added).
25
Ecclesiastes 1:2, Amplified (AMP).
26
Ecclesiastes 5:15–17 (NKJV).
27
Ecclesiastes 4:1–2 (NIV).
28
Ecclesiastes 1:8 (AMP).
29
Proverbs 4:4b (NASB).
30
Proverbs 6:20–23 (NKJV) (emphasis added).
31
Proverbs 7:1–3 (NIV) (emphasis added).
32
Proverbs 24:13–14 (NIV).
33
Dhammapada 243.
34
Proverbs 4:5–7 (NKJV).
35
Proverbs 4:18 (NASB).
36
Proverbs 10:28a (NIV).
37
Dhammapada 204b.
38
Exodus 28:4 (NASB). Additional details appear in Exodus 28:31–43.
39
Leviticus 19:34 (NKJV).
40
Proverbs 25:21 (NKJV).
41
“Buddha and Christ: Two Gods on the Path to Humanity.”
42
Proverbs 11:28 (NASB) (emphasis added).
43
Proverbs 11:23 (AMP) (emphasis added).
44
Proverbs 10:21 (NIV) (emphasis added).
45
Proverbs 21:25–26 (NIV) (emphasis added).
46
Proverbs 12:10 (NIV) (emphasis added).
47
Proverbs 21:21 (NIV) (emphasis added).
48
Proverbs 21:29b (NIV) (emphasis added).
49
Proverbs 7:2b–3 (NIV) (emphasis added).
50
Dhammapada 246–247.
51
Exodus 20:13–17 (NIV).
52
Alan Khoo, “Leading a Buddhist Life and the Five Precepts,” Buddhism Fundamentals,
http://web.singnet.com.sg/~alankhoo/Precepts.htm
, retrieved April 12, 2010.
53
Proverbs 20:1 (NIV). See also Proverbs 21:17, 23:20–21 and 23:31–34.
54
Dhammapada 303.
55
1 Kings 3:9b–13 (NIV).
56
1 Kings 4:29–34 (NIV) (emphasis added).
57
For example, see Proverbs 6:6–11, 24:30–34, and 28:19 (“He who tills his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows frivolity will have poverty enough!”) (NKJV).
58
Dhammapada 155–156.
59
Sara Yoheved Rigler, “Difference Between Judaism and Buddhism,”
SimpleToRemember.com
: Judaism Online,
www.simpletoremember.com/articles/a/buddhismjudaism/
, retrieved July 27, 2010.
60
Matthew 12:42 (NIV).
Chapter Two The Middle Way
1
Ecclesiastes 7:16–17 (NASB).
2
According to the “Sexual Rites” article of Wikipedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra
(retrieved January 27, 2011):
Sexual rites of Vamamarga may have emerged from early Hindu Tantra as a practical means of catalyzing biochemical transformations in the body to facilitate heightened states of awareness. These constitute a vital offering to Tantric deities. Sexual rites may have also evolved from clan initiation ceremonies involving transactions of sexual fluids. Here the male initiate is inseminated with the sexual emissions of the female consort, sometimes admixed with the semen of the guru. . . . The sexual act itself balances energies coursing within the
pranic ida
and
pingala
channels in the subtle bodies of both participants. The
sushumna nadi
is awakened and
kundalini
rises upwards within it. This eventually culminates in
samadhi,
wherein the respective individual personalities and identities of each of the participants are completely dissolved in a unity of cosmic consciousness. Tantrics understand these acts on multiple levels. The male and female participants are conjoined physically.”
3
“Jainism,” Jainism Global Resource Center,
www.jainworld.com/jainbooks/Books/Jainism.htm
, retrieved April 12, 2010.
4
“Buddhist Ceremonies. Personal Ceremonies: Marriage / Funeral Rites,” Buddha Dharma Education Association,
www.buddhanet.net/funeral.htm
, retrieved March 28, 2011.
5
1 Kings 10:23–25 (NIV) (emphasis added).
6
1 Kings 10:22 (NIV) (emphasis added). The King James Version (KJV) differs from the NIV (“baboons” appears instead of “peacocks”).
7
“Peacock,” Encyclopedia Britannica Online,
www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/447818/peacock
, retrieved April 12, 2010.
8
1 Kings 4:29–34 (NIV) (emphasis added).
9
NIV Archaeological Study Bible: An Illustrated Walk Through Biblical History and Culture
(Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2005), 960.
10
“Amenemope,” Encyclopedia Britannica Online,
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/19165/Amenemope
, retrieved May 17, 2011.
11
Will Durant,
The Story of Civilization,
Part I
: Our Oriental Heritage
(New York: Simon and Schuster, 1963), 479.
12
John A. Thompson, “India,”
Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible,
edited by Walter A. Elwell (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1988), 1:1,030.
13
Louis Ginzberg,
The Legends of the Jews,
vol. 4,
Bible Times and Characters from Joshua to Esther,
translated by Henrietta Szold, Philologos Religious Online Books,
http://philologos.org/__eb-lotj/vol4/p05.htm#SOLOMON%20MASTER%20OF%20THE%20DEMONS
, retrieved April 12, 2010.
The Legends of the Jews
was originally published in 1909–1938. On Solomon, Ginzberg wrote:
Never has there lived a man privileged, like Solomon, to make the demons amenable to his will. God endowed him with the ability to turn the vicious power of demons into a power working to the advantage of men. He invented formulas of incantation by which diseases were alleviated, and others by which demons were exorcised so that they were banished forever. As his personal attendants he had spirits and demons whom he could send hither and thither on the instant. He could grow tropical plants in Palestine, because his ministering spirits secured water for him from
India.
14
1 Kings 9:28; 10:11; 22:49; 1 Chronicles 29:4; 2 Chronicles 8:18; Job 22:24; 28:16; Psalms 45:9; Isaiah 13:12.
15
“Alvaro de Mendana de Neira,”
www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/374724/Alvaro-de-Mendana-de-Neira
, retrieved April 12, 2010.
16
H. G. Rawlinson, Intercourse Between India and the Western World (London: Cambridge University Press, 1916), 8, found at Columbia University Library Digital Collections,
www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/digital/collections/cul/texts/ldpd_5949061_000/index.html
, retrieved April 12, 2010.
17
“Troy / Wilusa / Ilium,”
www.livius.org/to-ts/troy/troy_I-V.html
, retrieved April 12, 2010.
18
Rawlinson,
Intercourse Between India and the Western World, 2.
19
Walter A. Elwell, ed.,
Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible
(Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1988), 982. Specific biblical references to Hittites appear in Genesis 26:34; 27:46; 49:29–32; 50:13; Exodus 33:2; Numbers 13:29; Deuteronomy 7:1; 20:17; Joshua 11:3; 12:8; 1 Samuel 26:6; 2 Samuel 11,12; 1 Kings 9:20; 10:29; 11:1 (wives of Solomon); Ezra 9:1, and Ezekiel 16:3,45.
20
“India,” Jewish Virtual Library, A Division of the American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise,
www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0009_0_09525.html
, retrieved May 12, 2010.