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He in whom self has become extinct..

will desire neither worldly nor heavenly


pleasures

This is an excerpt from Buddhas Sermon at Benares, who preached to his
listeners about The Middle Path. This Middle Path states that neither the life of the
ascetic nor the life of the hedonist would lead to true bliss, but instead a life of balance
and freedom of desire would. The message that Siddhartha GuatamaBuddhas name
before enlightenmentwanted to spread to the world during the 1
st
century CE was one
that was concurrent with another spreading religion: that of Christianity. Jesus, Judaisms
Messiah and founder of Christianity, taught a similar message of faith, compassion, and
humility to his disciples. The key to the success of both religions lay in an egalitarian
approach and an easy message that appealed to the masses.
So what if Jesus had been listening to Buddhas Sermon at Benares? Perhaps his
response would have been one of concurrence. The entirety of the Sermon warns against
the futility of asceticism (a practice that the Buddha had been exposed to for six years)
and materialism, because neither path can reach Nirvana. He goes on to say, Self-
mortification does not cleanse the man who is not free from delusionsHe who tries to
light a fire with rotten wood will fail. This means that a persons thoughts are just as
important as a persons actions.
Jesus in his own time faced the opposition of the Pharisees, a sect of high-ranking,
religious Jews. Jesus warned against the Pharisees who were more focused on the letter
of the law and excluding other Jews who were not as wealthy or educated. Although
Jesus approach was less focused on eliminating desire and more about loving your
neighbor, both Buddhism and Christianity preach messages of hope, moderation, and
positivity.
You mustbe perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect.
I think the Buddha would have agreed with this sentiment as well. This perfection
is not one of physical fitness or education, but a spiritual perfection where faith and love
supersede all other things., and are the guiding forces in your life. This is how anyone can
achieve Heaven, and is a similar sentiment to the Eightfold Path (The Middle Path) that
led Buddha to Enlightenment.
Both Jesus and Buddha preached a message of thoughts equating actions. There is
no holy action if there is no holy thought behind it. Jesus in his sermon on the mount says
that if a man looks at another woman lustfully he has already sinned even if he didnt
touch her. Why? Because the desire is there. So Buddha teaches that the thoughts behind
your actions are just as important as your actions. Although their methods differ and each
preacher puts emphasis on different aspects, both have a similar message and would
probably have great philosophical conversations over tea if they had met.
Because I was raised in a Christian environment, I feel as though reading this
chapter drove home a lot of points that I grew up on. Reading secular material on my
religion gives an interesting perspective and the focus on different aspects of the religion
than Im used to.
One example that challenged my view on Christianity was the fact that no
historical record of Jesus had been made until the late 1
st
century, and nothing of his life
had been written down until forty years after his death. This murky origin throws shade
on some things and makes me question whether or not Jesus even existed, or what facts
are exaggerations and what are actually facts.
Another example that clarified things for me was the explanation of the Four
Noble Truths and The Eightfold Path. I didnt know much about Buddhism before this
class, and I didnt realize how similar Buddhism and Christianity are when compared and
contrasted in the chapter. I think that focusing on the commonalities that we share as a
human race are more important than the differences that most of us tend to get caught up
in.

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