I read through the Dhammapada (a translation by Acharya Buddharakkhita), which is one of the best known and most widely esteemed religious texts in the world and the sacred scriptures of Theravada Buddhism.
Here are some quotes I found particularly interesting:
From the introduction: "To his followers, the Buddha is neither a god, a divine incarnation, or a prophet bearing a message of divine revelation, but a human being who by his own striving and intelligence has reached the highest spiritual attainment of which man is capable--perfect wisdom, full enlightenment, complete purification of mind. His function in relation to humanity is that of a teacher--a world teacher who, out of compassion, points out to others the way to Nibbana (Sanskrit: Nirvana), final release from suffering. His teaching, known as the Dhamma, offers a body of instructions explaining the true nature of existence and showing the path that leads to liberation."
From the introduction: "Always shining in the splendor of his wisdom, the Buddha by his very being confirms the Buddhist faith in human perfectibility consummates the Dhammapada's picture of man perfected, the Arahat."
From the introduction: "In contrast to the Bible, which opens with an account of God's creation of the world, the Dhammapada begins with an unequivocal assertion that mind is the forerunner of all that we are, the maker of our character, the creator of our destiny."
From the introduction: "If this is done repeatedly [contemplation for application], with patience and perseverance, it is certain that the Dhammapada will confer upon his life a new meaning and sense of purpose. Infusing him with hope and inspiration, gradually it will lead him to discover a freedom and happiness far greater than anything the world can offer."
1:11 - "Those who mistake the unessential to be essential and the essential to be unessential, dwelling in wrong thoughts, never arrive at the essential."
1:18 - "The doer of good delights here and hereafter; he delights in both the worlds. The thought, 'Good have I done,' delights him, and he delights even more when gone to realms of bliss."
2:25 - "By effort and heedfulness, discipline and self-mastery; let the wise one make for himself an island which no flood can overwhelm."
3:36 - "Let the discerning man guard the mind, so difficult to detect and extremely subtle, seizing whatever it desires. A guarded mind brings happiness."
3:42 - "Whatever harm an enemy may do to an enemy, or a hater to a hater, an ill-directed mind inflicts on oneself a greater harm."
4:51 - "Like a beautiful flower full of color but without fragrance, even so, fruitless are the fair words of one who does not practice them."
5:75 - "One is the quest for worldly gain, and quite another is the path to Nibbana. Clearly understanding this, let not the monk, the disciple of the Buddha, be carried away by worldly acclaim, but develop detachment instead."
6:76 - "Should one find a man who points out faults and who reproves, let him follow such a wise and sagacious person as one would a guide to hidden treasure. It is always better, and never worse, to cultivate such an association."
8:115 - "Better it is to live one day seeing the Supreme Truth than to live a hundred years without ever seeing the Supreme Truth"
9:122 - "Think not lightly of good, saying, 'It will not come to me.' Drop by drop is the water pot filled. Likewise, the wise man, gathering it little by little, fills himself with good."
11:154 - "O house-builder, you are seen! You will not build this house again. For your rafters are broken and your ridgepole shattered. My mind has reached the Unconditioned; I have attained the destruction of craving." - these verses are the Buddha's "Song of Victory," his first utterance after his Enlightenment The house is individualized existence in samsara, the house-builder craving, the rafters the passions and the ridge-pole ignorance.
13:178 - "Better than sole sovereignty over the earth, better than going to heaven, better even than lordship over all the world is the supramundane Fruition of Stream Entrance."
14:183 - "To avoid all evil, to cultivate good, and to cleanse one's mind - this is the teaching of the Buddhas."
15:202 - "There is no fire like lust and no crime like hatred. There is no ill like the aggregates (of existence) and no bliss higher than the peace (of Nibbana)."
16:211 - "Therefore hold nothing dear, for separation from the dear is painful. There are no bonds for those who have nothing beloved or unloved."
17:228 - "There never was, there never will be, nor is there now, a person who is wholly blamed or wholly praised."
18:251 - "There is no fire like lust; there is no grip like hatred; there is no net like delusion; there is no river like craving."
20:273 - "Of all the paths the Eightfold Path is the best; of all the truths the Four Noble Truths are the best; of all things passionlessness is the best: of men the Seeing One (the Buddha) is the best."
24: 348 - "Let go of the past, let go of the future, let go of the present, and cross over to the farther shore of existence. With mind wholly liberated, you shall come no more to birth and death."
26:405 - "He who has renounced violence towards all living beings, weak or strong, who neither kills nor causes others to kill - him do I call a holy man."
26:418 - "He who, having cast off likes and dislikes, has become tranquil, is rid of the substrata of existence and like a hero has conquered all the worlds - him do I call a holy man."
I naturally contrast this teaching with that of Christianity. I find that Buddha really latches on well to the human sin condition with its roots in desires and gives a great analysis of how this effects all of life. However, the Bible teaches that the cause of our unsatisfactory existence (from our sinful cravings) is because of the Fall of Adam and Eve and the solution is Jesus Christ. Passions were originally "good" and they were lived out perfectly in Jesus and in the new heaven and new earth passions and life will be as it was meant to be. I find that Buddhist teaching on getting to the heart of an issue, your own body and the world as your obstacles, an 'eternal' (so to speak) focus, and receiving good for good has a lot of overlap with Christian ideas.
The Buddha works from a view of reality wherein there is reincarnation and one must achieve aloofness and enlightenment by their own strength in response to the human condition. The Christian view teaches where desire comes from and its proper function and how one day this situation of unsatisfactoriness we find ourselves in will be put to an end by God. We were designed to be in perfect bliss and satisfaction with our Creator and all creation. The Bible teaches that only one man overcame the sin condition and we are invited to overcome it by faith in Him, because on our own we will never be able to do so. We are invited to entrust ourselves to Jesus Christ, the truly perfect one (fully God and fully man) who truly conquered the passions and lived them purely and so was a perfect substitute for mankind on the cross, so that we can be redeemed from sin and participate in this promised righteousness partially now and fully in the life to come.
There is a lot more that could be said and has been said by more learned men than I; however, these are just some mused thoughts after looking a lot more into Buddhist thought and teaching.
Soli Deo gloria,
The Reader
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