While I left Buddhism behind so far as my religion and Faith are concerned, I still draw much inspiration from it. I do believe that if Christians took seriously the task of seeing what Buddhism teaches well, what Buddhists do well, and then ask how they can find similar with their Christian Faith and scriptures, they would be better Christians, more fully living the teachings Jesus gave us.
Note: To ensure there are no potential copyright issues, I use the WEB translation of the Bible here, and the Muller translation of the Dhammapada. Both are available, for example, from the Gutenberg Project amongst other places. The public domain is so important, especially for me, since I know I don't have to even think about whether what I am doing is 'permitted use' in the sense of copyright laws, and which countries 'permitted use' exemptions apply and which don't, and so on. Public Domain rocks.
Doing vs Saying
Consider these two verses from the Dhammapada:
“19 The thoughtless man, even if he can recite a large portion (of the law), but is not a doer of it, has no share in the priesthood, but is like a cowherd counting the cows of others.”
“20 The follower of the law, even if he can recite only a small portion (of the law), but, having forsaken passion and hatred and foolishness, possesses true knowledge and serenity of mind, he, caring for nothing in this world or that to come, has indeed a share in the priesthood.”
Now consider the words of Jesus:
“For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, there is no way you will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.” —
and also the words of Paul:
“13 For it isn’t the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be justified 14 (for when Gentiles who don’t have the law do by nature the things of the law, these, not having the law, are a law to themselves, 15 in that they show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience testifying with them, and their thoughts among themselves accusing or else excusing them).” —
I can't help but see many important parallels and lessons:
- Knowing a few key passages of scripture deeply, and living their teachings is better than being able to recite many passages of scripture, yet doing little except reciting them. (cf. Bruce Lee's famous saying: "I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times." — it is the same with scripture, it is better to live one verse of scripture than to merely recite 10,000.)
The Dharma and The House On The Rock
There is a similar sentiment here (though the parallel is stronger with the phrase Easwaran uses):
“44 Who shall overcome this earth, and the world of Yama (the lord of the departed), and the world of the gods? Who shall find out the plainly shown path of virtue, as a clever man finds out the (right) flower?” —
“45 The disciple will overcome the earth, and the world of Yama, and the world of the gods. The disciple will find out the plainly shown path of virtue, as a clever man finds out the (right) flower.” —
and here:
“24 “Everyone therefore who hears these words of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it didn’t fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26 Everyone who hears these words of mine and doesn’t do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 The rain came down, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell—and its fall was great.”” —
Comparative Religion and Convergent Evolution
One of my convictions when it comes to Spiritual teachings is that there is a right way to live our lives, and that this right way doesn't happen on its own, but must be learned, practised, and refined. Wherever there is a 'right way to live', we tend to see parallel verses in different religions' scriptures. That is not to say that all religions are equivalent, but rather that there is considerable overlap in their teachings. This is the religious equivalent of what is termed convergent evolution: faced with similar problems in life that have to be solved through teaching hard-learned lessons on life though traditions, many times the same solutions to the same problems are found, taught, and passed down through traditions.