| If Jesus and Buddha were to meet, they would recognize one another as fellow prophets because they were teaching the same truths. Both stayed in the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights and were tempted by evil, Jesus by Satan and Buddha by the demon Mara and his daughters. Jesus's original teachings promoted peace and turning the other cheek, passive resistance rather than armed insurrection. Marcus Borg, a Christian and Jesus scholar, focuses on this basic aspect of Christianity by selecting a range of quotations from the Gospels and pairing them with parallel sayings by the Buddha. For example, whereas Jesus said, 'Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God,' Buddha said, 'Let us live most happily, possessing nothing; let us feed on joy, like the radiant gods.' It is surprising, to a reader familiar only with the Bible, to find how similar the words of the two religious leaders actually are. When we compare two ancient spiritual traditions like Buddhism and Christianity, what we see is a striking similarity between the narratives of the founding masters: in the case of Christianity, Jesus Christ, and in the case of Buddhism, the Buddha. I see a very important parallel: in the very lives of the [founders] the essence of their teachings is demonstrated. For example... the essence of the Buddha's teaching is embodied in the Four Noble Truths: the truth of suffering, the truth of the origin of suffering, the truth of the cessation of suffering, and the truth of ... |
