Buddha and Jesus: Could Solomon Be the Missing Link? (8 page)

In the first two chapters we have looked at a broad range of reasons why Buddha may have been influenced by Solomon. In Chapters Three through Nine, we will review proverbs (and other writings) of Solomon that are precursors of every key facet of Buddha’s Four Noble Truths and Noble Eightfold Path. These will appear adjacent to similar proverbs of Buddha. Later in this book, we will also make thorough comparisons of Buddha and Christ, in topically arranged sections, and consider the possibility that the similarities between them may be due to Solomon and Judaism as common predecessors.

The evidence presented in the first two chapters generally supports the feasibility of the inquisitive young Buddha encountering a learned man from a nearby Jewish settlement. To survive in India, some Jews had become quite fluent in Pali or Sanskrit. Most likely they had scrolls of the Torah and of other sacred writings, such as the Psalms and Solomon’s writings. Perhaps portions of these had been translated into Pali or Sanskrit and copied onto scrolls. The people of northeastern India at the time of the young Buddha had a strong interest in viable alternatives to Hinduism. In that same
spirit, Buddha may have obtained copies of these translations and studied them.

Chapter Three

Precursors to Buddha’s Four Noble Truths

Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary
defines a precursor as “one that precedes and indicates the approach of another.” Most of the fundamentals of Buddhism have clear and extensive precursors in Solomon’s writings in the biblical books of Ecclesiastes and Proverbs.
¹

In this chapter, we will be making comparisons between the Four Noble Truths (from Buddha’s proverbs) and excerpts from Solomon’s writings. In the ensuing five chapters, we will be examining parallels between each of the steps in the Noble Eightfold Path (also from Buddha’s proverbs) and Solomon’s writings. The Dhammapada is the earliest work purporting to contain the sayings of Buddha, and as such would be more likely to show marks of influence from outside sources than later collections.

First Noble Truth: Life Is Suffering

Even though Solomon was the richest and most famous king of his day, in his later years he developed a very negative view of the fundamental nature of life. Several parts of his Book of Ecclesiastes make this very clear. This same idea is the first of Buddha’s noble truths. We will look at four aspects of the “truth” that life is suffering, as expressed by Solomon and Buddha.

Life Is Suffering and Is Full of Sorrow

Solomon gave a very bleak picture of the nature of life:

Similarly, Buddha saw life in this world as inherently involving suffering and sorrow:

Suffering Is Pervasive in This World

As Buddha noted in the proverb quoted above, a world full of suffering is pervasive. Solomon shared this view:

Life Is Fleeting

Solomon was painfully aware of the brevity of life and of his future death:

Buddha put it this way in the Dhammapada, in a proverb that appears just before the one quoted earlier:

It Is Difficult to Be Happy

Both Solomon and Buddha said that happiness is very elusive. We are worn out from work, and neither words, nor what we see and hear, can bring true satisfaction. This is a common theme of Ecclesiastes, as exemplified in this verse:

Similarly, Buddha noted that finding happiness as an ordinary person in society is difficult, much as it is in a monastery:

Second Noble Truth: Desire Is the Cause of Suffering

A number of Solomon’s proverbs focus on specific types of people for whom desire is clearly the cause of suffering. Here is a dramatic example:

Desire, in this case, leads to death. Likewise, Buddha foresaw death awaiting the pleasure seeker:

Solomon presented coveting as one of the worst forms of desire, for it is a longing to have what someone else has. It is a violation of the
Tenth Commandment. Coveting involves envy and jealousy, against which Solomon gave specific warnings about ensuing suffering:

The types of desire Solomon described in these proverbs do not necessarily involve wanting things that are blatantly sinful. Rather, they are entanglements in the things of this world—hankerings for what others have and urges to compete selfishly with others to gain worldly status and even potentially “wholesome” things. However, Solomon also warned that those who are devious will suffer because they will become ensnared by their wicked desires:

In four proverbs, Buddha wrote about similar pursuits and the suffering that ensues:

Here, Buddha’s references to undergoing “birth and decay” repeatedly have to do with the Eastern notion of reincarnation. Reincarnation was not a hopeful concept; instead, being in the cycle of death and rebirth was seen as continued suffering. When one reached enlightenment, Hindus and Buddhists believed, one was freed from this cycle.

Though Solomon did not subscribe to the idea of reincarnation, he did focus on the specific types of suffering that afflict those who have been successful and have accumulated wealth:

Solomon also described another kind of suffering, which is much like the Rolling Stones song, “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction”:

Solomon does offer a refuge, though, which he calls “wisdom,” that involves a reining in and refocusing of one’s emotions. Rather than seeking pleasures, one should seek to be wise and righteous:

For Buddha, too, there is a path of wisdom, and, as in Solomon’s writings, it involves renunciation of desire.

Third Noble Truth: The Path to Liberation from Suffering Is to Renounce All Desire

The four-step process is as follows: (1) begin with Solomon’s writings, excluding references to God; (2) assume reincarnation; (3) renounce the world; and (4) retreat within to insulate yourself from suffering.