Read Buddha and Jesus: Could Solomon Be the Missing Link? Online
Authors: R. E. Sherman
Buddha and Jesus: Could Solomon Be the Missing Link? (20 page)
Both Solomon and Buddha fell prey to particular kinds of spiritual pride. Though the two forms of pride to which they succumbed were quite different, they undoubtedly were both very real. The evidence for this is substantial.
An extraordinary sense of spiritual pride is a natural byproduct of the intense mental and moral discipline required to truly practice Buddhism, despite its rejection of “ego-consciousness,” or “the feeling of a separate ‘I’.”
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This is exhibited in several of Buddha’s proverbs:
When the learned man drives away vanity by earnestness, he, the wise, climbing the terraced heights of wisdom, looks down upon the fools, serene he looks upon the toiling crowd, as one that stands on a mountain looks down upon them that stand upon the plain.
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As on a heap of rubbish cast upon the highway the lily will grow full of sweet perfume and delight, thus the disciple of the truly enlightened Buddha shines forth by his knowledge among those who are like rubbish, among the people that walk in darkness.
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He whose conquest is not conquered again, into whose conquest no one in this world enters, by what track can you lead him, the Awakened, the Omniscient, the trackless?
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He whom no desire with its snares and poisons can lead astray, by what track can you lead him, the Awakened, the Omniscient, the trackless?
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Difficult (to obtain) is the conception of men, difficult is the life of mortals, difficult is the hearing of the True Law, difficult is the birth of the Awakened (the attainment of Buddhahood).
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I have conquered all, I know all, in all conditions of life I am free from taint; I have left all, and through the destruction of thirst I am free; having learnt myself, whom shall I teach?
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Solomon, too, must have been overtaken by spiritual pride when he concluded that he was exempt from the clear biblical prohibitions against hoarding horses, wives, and gold. For him, this was the way that seemed right to him, although it led to his spiritual death. He also allowed worship of foreign gods, in part, as mentioned earlier, to satisfy his numerous wives who came from other traditions. In this way he violated the teachings of Moses, the Torah, and the Levites, the very authorities he had earlier revered. These
actions would have been perceived by fellow Jews who knew the Torah as offenses to God himself, and thus extremely prideful.
Precursors to Buddha’s Right Concentration: Meditation
Today it seems that meditation and Buddhism are synonymous. Statues of the meditating Buddha number well into the billions. One would think that Buddha either invented, or perfected, the art and practice of meditation. Buddhists commonly believe that a person who does not meditate cannot progress spiritually. It’s that critical. In conversations between Buddhists and non-Buddhists, if the discussion gets spiritual at all, the Buddhist invariably asks the non-Buddhist if he or she meditates. It’s very important to them.
We know for certain that Buddha did not invent meditation. Meditation was a long-standing Hindu and Jain practice for centuries before Buddha. In addition, Jews practiced meditation centuries before either Solomon or Buddha lived.
In Buddhism, meditation is part of the last step of the Noble Eightfold Path, called “Right Concentration.”
Right Concentration
“Concentration . . . is . . . one-pointedness of mind, meaning a state where all mental faculties are unified and directed onto one particular object.
Right concentration for the purpose of the eightfold path means
wholesome concentration,
i.e., concentration on wholesome thoughts and actions.
The Buddhist method of choice to develop right concentration is through the practice of meditation.
The meditating mind focuses on a selected object. It first directs itself onto it, then sustains concentration, and finally intensifies concentration step by step. Through this practice it becomes natural to apply elevated levels of concentration also in everyday situations.”
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The practice of meditation goes to the very roots of the Jewish culture. Genesis 24 mentions that Isaac (circa 1900
B.C.
, the son of Abraham, the father of the Jewish people) meditated:
Isaac went out to
meditate
in the field toward evening; and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, camels were coming.
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The context text offers no clue as to what kind of meditation Isaac was practicing, or of what he was focusing on. This incident occurred over 1,360 years before Buddha became a monk.
In a well-known passage, Joshua (circa 1250–1450
B.C.
, Moses’ successor as leader of the Jews as they reached the Promised Land) exhorted the children of Israel to meditate:
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall
meditate
on it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
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Psalm 39, written by Solomon’s father, David, also refers to meditation:
I said, “I will watch my ways and keep my tongue from sin; I will put a muzzle on my mouth as long as the wicked are in my presence.” But when I was silent and still, not even saying anything good, my anguish increased. My heart grew hot within me, and as I
meditated,
the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue: “Show me, O LORD, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man’s life is but a breath. Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro: He bustles about, but only in vain.”
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David reigned from 1007 to 967
B.C.
The above psalm clearly expresses some opinions that coincide with the Right View of a Buddhist: (1) Life is fleeting; (2) A person’s days are a mere handbreadth; (3) A man’s life is an illusion and we hustle around in vain. Furthermore, David exhorts himself to practice Right Mindfulness (“I will watch my ways.”
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).
Psalm 1 (apparently written by an author other than David) underscores meditation as the key practice in inducing spiritual and physical blessings:
Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he
meditates
day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.
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Notice that the opening verse of Psalm 1 is also a strong exhortation to renounce keeping company with unworthy people, of three different types. But more importantly, for the purposes of our current discussion, is that this psalm is a precursor to one of Buddha’s proverbs about meditation:
Even the gods envy those who are awakened and not forgetful, who are given to
meditation,
who are wise, and who delight in the repose of retirement (from the world).
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So great are the blessings of those who seriously meditate on the laws of the Jews, as those blessings are symbolized in Psalm 1, that crooked, pleasure-seeking people would likely be envious of them. This same theme was expressed by Buddha:
He who gives himself to vanity, and does not give himself to meditation, forgetting the real aim (of life) and grasping at pleasure, will in time envy him who has exerted himself in
meditation
.
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It is believed that most of the psalms written by authors other than David were composed before or during Solomon’s reign [967–938
B.C.
]. At a minimum, Solomon was quite aware of meditation as it was practiced in his day. As further evidence, we can cite Asaph, an important tabernacle musician during King David’s reign.
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He referred to meditation in Psalm
77:
I will also
meditate
on all Your work, and talk of Your deeds.
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In addition, the sons of Korah were known as temple singers. David put them in charge of the service of song in the tabernacle (the “tent of meeting” used for worship before the temple was built) after the Ark of the Covenant, the sacred box covered with gold containing the tablets of Moses and other sacred items, was brought to Jerusalem.
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In Psalm 48, the Korahites refer to meditation:
Within your temple, O God, we
meditate
on your unfailing love.
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The belief that those who meditate deeply, habitually, and for prolonged periods of time attain some rarefied spiritual state has definite precursors in Psalm 119:
Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. Your commands
make me wiser than my enemies,
for they are ever with me. I have
more insight than all my teachers,
for I meditate on your statutes. I have
more understanding than the elders,
for I obey your precepts. I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey your word. I have not departed from your laws, for you yourself have taught me. How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path. Your word is a
lamp
to my feet and a
light
for my path.
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This Jewish outpouring of pride ends with a claim to have attained a modest form of enlightenment.
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One of Buddha’s proverbs extols being “radiant in meditation,” a state approaching that of the Awakened One, who showers his entire surroundings with light:
The sun is bright by day, the moon shines by night, the warrior is bright in his armour, the Brahmana is bright in his
meditation;
but Buddha, the Awakened, is bright with splendour day and night.
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Many precursors to Buddha’s practice of meditation are evident in pre-Solomon Judaism. What is less clear is whether there are also close similarities in the nature of meditative practice.
Solomon and Meditation
Solomon never directly referred to meditation. However, the following proverb of Solomon presumes some kind of meditation as a central, critical element in living a moral life:
My son, keep my words and store up my commands within you. Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.
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How would one go about writing Solomon’s words and commands “on the tablet of your heart”? Surely the most obvious way would be through dedicated repetition and memorization, as is done in guided meditation on a text.