The World’s Wisdom: Sacred Texts of the World’s Religions [First Edition] 0060663413, 9780060663414

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'[Shows] that

all the

wisdom we need

is

already available to us in abundance:

—Thomas Moore

US£D .

to

X

L

"It's

time to reconsider our devotedness to secular social

science and to re-discover the world's

many profound

traditions as our best guides back to a

life

religious

of heart and meaning.

Philip Novak's loving and imaginative presentation of key texts

from several traditions

new/old

direction,

available to us in

offers an excellent resource for this

showing that

all

the

wisdom we need

already

abundance."

— Thomas Moore, author of Care of "A book

is

to savor slowly, not only as a

the

Soul and Soul Mates

companion volume

study of religion, but in the living of one's

life.

The

in the

selections are

organized in a way that helps to make the familiar scriptures of the

West fresh

again,

and the scriptures of the East more accessible

and understandable."

—JACOB Needleman, author of The Heart of Philosophy and Money and the Meaning of Life "Beautifully organized to

—

both the

lay

.

.

.

the volume

is

a

major contribution

and professional studies of religion."

Publishers Weekly

"A smorgasbord of delicacies prepared by the greatest chefs of religious literature that's

bound

to please the spiritually

discriminating palate."

— Ram Dass "Mix one

part of Philip Novak's The World's

Wisdom with one

part of Huston Smith's The World's Religions and you get the best possible introduction to the religions of the world."

— Sam Keen, author of

Fire in the Belly

and To a Dancing God

"A superb

collection

to find expression in

from the most entrancing

human

literature ever

language, literature that emerges

from the mysterious depths of the soul where the primordial world of the sacred manifests

itself most clearly.

We can no longer

be guided spiritually in any adequate manner nor can we claim to be properly educated without having some acquaintance with these texts."

— Thomas Berry, author of The Dream of

the Earth

and

coauthor of The Universe Story

"This

skillfully

compiled volume

will

be extremely valuable

both as an independent work and as a companion to Huston Smith's very widely used The World's Religions.

—John Hick, author of An u

The World's Wisdom

is

highly

recommend

texts. It is

the finest thing of its kind.

it."

— Michael Murphy, Future of the Body

Interpretation of Religion

a deeply felt, beautifully organized

review of the world's sacred I

"

founder, Esalen Institute; author of The

THE WORLD'S WISDOM

•

LJ

i

!

The World's

Wisdom

SACRED TEXTS OF THE WORLD'S RELIGIONS

PHILIP

NOVAK

HarperSanFrancisco A Division of HarperCollinsPw^/js^ers

Permissions acknowledgments begin on page 42 1

THE WORLD'S WISDOM: Sacred

Texts

of the World's

Religions.

Copyright

© 1994 by

Philip Novak. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America.

of this book

may be used

or reproduced in any

No part

manner whatsoever without written

permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in

critical articles

and

reviews. For information address HarperCollins Publishers, 10 East 53rd Street,

New York, NY

10022.

first HarperCollins paperback edition published in 1995 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

The

world's

Philip Novak. p.

wisdom sacred :

—

texts

of the world's religions /

1st ed.

cm.

Includes bibliographic references and index.

ISBN 0-06-066341-3 ISBN 0-06-066342-1 1.

Sacred books.

BL70.N68

I.

(cloth)

(pbk.)

Title.

93-43995

1994

CIP

291.8'2-dc20

06 07 08 09

/RRD

40 39 38 37 36 35 34 33 32

i

TO HUSTON One should follow the learned, the

the wise, the intelligent,

much

enduring, the dutiful,

the noble; one should follow a

good and wise

man, as the moon follows the path of the (Dhammapada, 208)

stars.

Contents

Foreword by Huston Smith Preface

ix xiii

chapter one: Hinduism The Early Vedas The Upanishads The Bhagavad Gita

24

Grace Notes

40

2

9

chapter TWO: Buddhism The Instructive Legend The Rebel Saint

of the Buddha's Life

50 62

Core Doctrines

65

Mahayana Buddhism

77

A.

Tibetan Buddhism

86

B.

Zen Buddhism

95

Grace Notes

103

chapter three: Confucius the

Confucianism

Man

113

The Confucian Project The Great Learning

119

Mencius

134

Grace Notes

138

133

CHAPTER FOUR:

Taoism

The Tao Te Ching Chuang Tzu

146

Grace Notes

169

chapter

164

five: Judaism

The Teaching Nevi'im: The Prophets

176

Ketuvim: Other Writings

201

The Talmud

213

Torah:

Oral Torah:

Grace Notes

chapter The The The

SIX:

216 Christianity

Life of Jesus

228

Sayings of Jesus

239

Life of the Early

Church

Grace Notes

chapter seven: The The

191

253

264

Islam

Qur'an: Suras of Mecca and Medina

282

Qur'an: Selections Thematically Arranged

287

Hadith: Sayings and Traditional Accounts

of the Prophet

312

Grace Notes

322

chapter eight: Primal Religions Beginnings

334

Returning to the Sacred Realm

350

The Spirit-filled World The Shaman The Sacred Earth

354

Grace Notes

372

Index of Texts

381

Endnotes

401

Acknowledgments

421

354 363

Foreword HUSTON SMITH

Because

this

anthology of sacred texts

World's Religions, it.

lie

My

it

is

linked to

could be predicted that

response, however,

more than

is

with the book's subject,

I

my own

would speak well of

perfunctory.

The

reasons

approach to that subject, and

its

The

its

craftsmanship.

Because his book presents (rather than discusses) religious material,

tially

Philip

what

Novak does not mention book

his

is

revelation, but that

is

essen-

about. This sets the stage for the book's

human

importance, for revelation has shaped

more than

history

any other force besides technology. Whether revelation issues from

God

or from the deepest unconscious of spiritual geniuses can be

debated, but sions

its

signature

—

explosions,

is

invariably power.

we might

call

them

—of

are what created the world's great religions, civilizations they

have bodied forth.

other world. Revelation invariably

this

the one

showing be,

it

we normally know.

It relativizes

quotidian world in a vastly it

in history

is its

news of an-

relativizes

and ex-

the everyday world by

we unthinkingly take it to be exhilarating. By placing the

to be less than the "all" that

and that demotion turns out

dignifies

power

us of a separate (though not

removed) order of existence that simultaneously alts

periodic incur-

and by extension, the

dynamite

Its

tells

The

the

way

a

to

more meaningful

worthy setting enhances the beauty of a pre-

cious stone. People respond to this news of

because they hear in

context, revelation

it

life's

larger

meaning

the final warrant for their existence.

x

FOREWORD understood provides Novak with a worthy

If revelation thus

subject,

The

how does he approach

it?

Through

book announces

subtitle of this

which

entirely of sacred texts,

(in

primary sources.

its

that

almost

will consist

it

being the earliest reports of the

revelations they register) take us as close to their original scenes as

we can actual into

possibly get. In translation, they provide us with either the

words through which the world-transfiguring "news" broke

human

consciousness, or with eyewitness accounts of revela-

tory events. Firsthand accounts carry authority in themselves, but in the case of sacred texts, the diction in

which they are couched

augments

attests to the

one thing,

that authority. For

events had on their reporters; but

counts are

like

Rorschach blots

allow Commentators never ever subtler meanings: tains a

minimum

reach to seventy.

We

counts of revelation

is

in the wealth

tire

revelatory ac-

of interpretations they

comb them

of going back to

said that every verse of the

hear that "the is

for

Qur'an con-

—

its

—Novak honors

medium

the message," and

is

substantially the case. In favoring direct ac-

it

aftershocks as well as in

its

original earth-

ways that secondary sources cannot.

Every anthology of sacred that

more important,

impact the

of seven inner significances, and the number can

with sacred texts this

quakes

it is

it

texts can claim these

two

virtues, but

not the case with this book's third virtue.

Revelations are not mere assemblages.

They

are organisms

and

works of art, where presiding forms and controlling ideas count everything. This presents a challenge for those

who would

for

anthol-

ogize them, for texts are not like pictures that can be reduced with-

out losing anything but

choosing

at

scale.

Reducing

a sacred text requires

every point between what must be sacrificed (to keep

the book within bounds) and what

must be retained

to preserve the

revelation's integrity. In addition, thin explanatory tightwires

be stretched across the chasms that deletions create. Enter insight, talent,

and

muster and pray

gifts

book

is

for. It is a

to say that

all

the

of discernment that an anthologizer can

daunting project. In the end success

turns on spiritual artistry, and the plainest compliment this

must

nowhere

else in its

I

genre have

can pay I

found

Novak's artistry equaled.

A word about the book's title. When I first learned that it was to be The World's Wisdom,

I

feared pretension, but

I

have come to

FOREWORD accept

it

Novak's

as accurate. Traditional cosmologies

texts,

modern

do not

figure in

Nor

are social

science having retired them.

mores (gender relationships and the

like) his

concern, for these too

need to be rethought in our changed world. What remains vision of ultimate reality

ported in

its

know where

I

context.

and the way human

That

is

what Novak

life

the

can best be com-

fixes on,

could turn to find a richer harvest.

is

and

I

do not

xi

Preface

This book springs from

of teaching the world's

fifteen years

reli-

gions at the college level and from an ingrained habit of seasoning

from foundational

lectures with illustrative quotations

my own

search for a one-volume anthology to replace

unmanageable sheaf of papers had long been

futile.

texts.

The

increasingly

Few

scriptural

anthologies covered the ground in one volume; those that did either proffered a format that inclusive that they

became

opportunity to create this

Three

criteria

found disagreeable or tried to be so

I

prohibitively bulky.

new

anthology,

When

eagerly

I

offered the

embraced

governed the composition of the present

and

spirational power, instructional value,

A

linkage.

it.

text: in-

word about

each. Inspirational power Especially

when

the intended audiences are

the beginning student and the general reader,

it is

tant for a text to inspire as to instruct. For

often

opening of the heart depends.

I

in

wonder and

delight that

ing "Grace Notes"

I

and

refresh.

And

roam beyond the

reflect the universal character

wisdom

traditions.

terion that counted

among

upon an

all

initial

further study

translations.

The

text's

most when

I

Accustomed

in each chapter's

I

be-

conclud-

scriptural boundaries of the

earlier sections to present the brightest

these

impor-

have therefore taken pains to choose passages that

lieve will edify, exalt,

which

it is

easily as

gems

I

could find,

many of

and transcendent unity of

power

to inspire

was faced with

is

also the cri-

a difficult choice

to reading aloud to students,

I

— xiv

PREFACE gave the nod to renditions that

I felt

stood the best chance of quiv-

ering a listener's viscera. Religions share profound family resem-

Instructional value.

blances, but each

also unique.

is

I

have tried in every chapter to re-

mythic or historical moments,

veal a tradition's crucial

doctrines and practices,

distinctive vision,

its

and

its

its

central

characteristic

moods. Almost every passage has been pedagogically helpful in presenting the

chart their

own

to

uniqueness of these traditions. Teachers

courses through the chapters, but

I

me will

have composed

each with the hope that any reader, moving attentively from begin-

ning to end,

will

be rewarded with

tinctive personality.

explanatory

To reduce

comments

to a

clutter

I

have kept introductory and

minimum; enough remains,

guide solo readers to happy discoveries. In

Notes section of each chapter, tirely to selections

I

from foundational

and frequent minor abridgement

its

but the

believe, to

final

scriptures.

Only two

for inclusive

— without rewording—

number of selections

Linkage. Anticipating

all

I

Grace

have confined myself almost en-

were taken with them: occasional alteration

include a larger

of a tradition's dis-

a vivid sense

in the space

I

liberties

language

in order to

allowed myself.

use in academic settings,

I

have linked

The World's Wisdom to Huston Smith's acclaimed expository

text,

The World's Religions (formerly The Religions of Man), a favorite

among

instructors for almost forty years.

on core ideas and values and

to focus

at their best (as

opposed

to

The aims

to treat the world's religions

examining their

—

and all-too-human vagaries)

of that book

historical vicissitudes

are echoed here.

The

structure of

Smith's book has also been mirrored, thus limiting the number of traditions covered to eight:

Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism,

Taoism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Primal Religions as a

By

category.

virtue of their longevity, historical impact, and /or

numbers of current adherents, these tions.

They

also

seem

to

are undeniably major tradi-

be those most often surveyed

in introduc-

tory courses. Other traditions that could justifiably claim longevity or impact

Day

Latter —Zoroastrianism, Jainism, Sikhism, — not included not because of any inherent de-

Saints

fect or

Shinto, the

are

here,

unworthiness, but simply because such inclusions would

have caused the length of the current volume to swell unacceptably.

Though

the linkage to Professor Smith's

work

is

deliberate,

it is

PREFACE certainly neither slavish nor obtrusive.

volume from being used

rent

in

tandem with

from being enjoyed

text or indeed

been taken to make

it

in

and

mercialism, and quackery

wise.

and

all

Every

for itself.

effort has

many contemporary

group prejudice, violence perpetrated

that not

a different covering

meaningful for the general reader.

Religion shows an ugly face to

the liberating

Nothing prevents the cur-

wisdom

—

in its

eyes. In-

name, sexism, com-

these crude surfaces often blind us to

that courses far below.

aspects of these

wisdom

Let us readily admit

traditions are enduringly

Their cosmologies have been overtaken by modern science,

1

their social blueprints,

drawn

for times

now

gone, need revi-

sion in the light of changed circumstances and the continuing

quest for social justice. But while jettisoning their chaff,

continue to

wheat.

sift for

"The

telling question

of a person's

Carl Jung once wrote, "is whether or not [she or] he the infinite." great

2

wisdom

Infinite

—

The

animating conviction of this book

traditions remain our

to that

"closer to us than our jugular veins,"

Let

me

6

for her magnificent editorial work,

home

stretch,

is

that these

"Eternal" 4 yet

Harper San Francisco,

savvy, Priscilla Stuckey

Mimi Kusch

and Karen Levine

for

an angel's aid

for her patience

Mark and Amy Brokering and Paula and Jim Karman moral support;

Ramon,

Rabbi

Gawronski,

1.

Cf.

my

S.J.,

friends

Arik

to the

and the "End of all love-longing." 7

encouragement and

for his

related to

vouchsafing the "unshake-

take this opportunity to thank: at

John Loudon in the

5

3

life,"

is

most resourceful guides

"Beauty so ancient and so new,"

able deliverance of the heart"

we should

and help; for their

and professional colleagues Rabbi Einat

Ascherman,

the

Reverend

Raymond

Dr. Alan Godlas, Dr. Scott Sinclair, and Dr.

Huston Smith, The

World's Religions (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco,

1991), 387. 2.

Carl Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections

3.

Christianity (Augustine).

4.

Judaism.

5.

Islam (Qur'an).

6.

Buddhism.

7.

Hinduism (Upanishads).

(New

York: Pantheon, 1963), 325.

xv

xvi

PREFACE Kendra Smith Field

for

for incisive critiques of portions of the text; Katie

researching

some

elusive

facts;

the

Dominican College who have explored the wisdom me; Bridgett Novak

for helping

me regain

students

of

traditions with

balance and perspective

when they slipped away (and for some serious typing too); and, finally, Huston Smith, to whom this book is dedicated and without whom it would not be. What is of worth here belongs to him and

—

the traditions; the rest

is

mine.

CHAPTER ONE

Hinduism

ome four thousand years ago pastoral nomads whose ancestors

had sprung from Valley

Ones,

the soil

of northeastern Europe entered the Indus

of ancient India. They

and the

Noble

called themselves Aryans, or

religion they brought with

them comprised the first evolu-

tionary layer of Hinduism. The ritual centerpiece of Aryan religion

was a fire

sacrifice,

a burnt offering

to the gods,

specially trained to chant sacred hymns.

known

as Vedas or "sacred knowledge."

bedrock of the

Hindu

was

thought about associate with

and

sacrifice,

to ensure well-being

Vedas, the focus

of the first

human

of Vedic

The hymns themselves were

The Vedas are

the scriptural

and

indeed of Aryan religion in gen-

prosperity in this

destiny beyond this

Hinduism —

life.

section, contain little evidence

the cycle

life.

The early

of sustained

The doctrines most of us

of reincarnations driven by karma

the liberation from this bondage by

to be reflected

priests

tradition.

The aim of the Vedie fire eral,

performed by

means ofyogic

discipline

—were

only a thousand years later in the most recent layers

literature, called the

Upanishads. Selections from the Upani-

shads comprise the second section of this chapter. The third section focuses

on the scripture called the Bhagavad Gita and has

its

own

introduction.

2

HINDUISM

'

THE EARLY VEDAS 1.

He,

O Men, Is Indra

Of the four collections ofVedas,

Rig-Veda

the

is

foundational. The most popular god of the Rig-Veda

and dynamic Indra. He

and

the most important is

the expansive

said to have surpassed the other gods in

is

power as soon as he was born

and he

(v. J),

is

created the world by slaying a cosmic serpent

credited both with having

and thus

releasing the life-

and with helping

giving, monsoon-bringing waters (v. 3),

the

Aryans

overcome the non-Aryan populations they encountered.

The

chief wise god

who

as

soon as born

surpassed the gods in power;

Before whose vehemence the two worlds trembled by reason of the greatness of his valor: he,

O men, is Indra.

Who made firm the quaking earth who

mountains;

set at rest the agitated

Who measures out the air more widely, who supported

heaven: he,

O men, is Indra.

Who having slain the serpent released the seven streams Who has made subject the Dasa colour [the non-Aryan population] and has

The

terrible

made

disappear

.

one of whom they ask "where

of whom they also say "he

He

it

is

.

is

.

he,"

not";

diminishes the possessions of the foe

of gamblers. Believe in him: he,

like

the stakes

O men, is Indra

.

.

.

Even Heaven and Earth bow down before him; before his vehemence even the mountains are afraid.

Who is known as the Soma-drinker, in his

1.

.

.

.

See selection no.

hand: he,

3,

below.

1

holding the bolt

O men, is Indra.

.

.

.

THE EARLY VEDAS 2.

O Agni, Dispeller of the Night

Because of his role fire, is

in the all-important fire sacrifice,

perhaps second only

sand hymns dedicated

to

him

to

Indra

Agni, the god of

in popularity, with over

in the Vedas.

Here

is

one thou-

a briefselection from

a few.

a.

From Rig- Veda I I

praise Agni, domestic priest, divine minister of sacrifice,

Invoker, greatest bestower of wealth

To

thee, dispeller of the night,

.

.

.

O Agni, day by day with prayer,

Bringing thee reverence, we come; Ruler of sacrifices, guard of Law eternal [Rta], radiant one, Increasing in thine

Be

own

abode.

to us easy of approach,

even as a father to his son:

Agni, be with us for our weal.

b.

From

Rig- Veda

II

Thou, Agni, shining brought to

From out

life

in thy glory

through the days,

art

from out the waters, from the stone;

the forest trees and herbs that grow on ground, thou,

sovereign lord of men, art generated pure.

By thee, O Agni, all the immortal guileless gods eat with mouth the oblation that is offered them. By thee do mortal men give sweetness to their drink. Pure

c.

art

thou born, the embryo of the plants of earth.

From Rig- Veda I

VII

have begotten this new

will

thy

hymn

for Agni, falcon

he not give us of his wealth?

Bright, purifier, meet for praise,

Immortal with refulgent glow,

Agni drives Rakshasas [demons] away.

of the sky:

3

4

HINDUISM Agni, preserve us from distress:

consume our enemies,

O God Eternal,

with thy hottest flames.

3.

We Have Drunk Soma and Become Immortal

All one hundred and fourteen hymns of the ninth book of the Rig- Veda are addressed to

Soma,

the

god mho inhabits a mysterious psychotropic

beverage, said in the Vedas to be the food

of the

Soma

gods.

probably

ranks behind only Indra and Agni in Vedic popularity.

Of the That

On

sweet food

stirs

which

I

have partaken wisely,

the good thoughts, best banisher of trouble, to feast, all

gods as well as mortals,

Naming

the sweet food "honey,"

We have

drunk Soma, have become immortal,

come

Gone to the light have we, the gods What can hostility do against us? What,

together.

.

.

.

discovered.

O Immortal, mortal man's fell purpose?

Joy to our heart be thou, when drunk,

O Indu,

O Soma; Thoughtful like friend to friend, O thou of wide fame, Prolong our years that we may live, O Soma. Like father to a son, most kind,

These glorious freedom-giving drops by me imbibed

Have

knit

my joints

From broken

legs

together as straps a chariot;

may Soma drops

May they from every Be gracious unto us

illness

keep

for good,

protect me,

me

far

removed.

.

.

.

King Soma;

We are thy devotees; of that be certain. When might and wrath display themselves, O Indu, Do not abandon us, as wished by foemen. Protector of our body art thou, Soma, In every limb hast settled man-beholding:

we infringe thine ordinances be gracious As our good friend, O god, for higher welfare. If

.

.

.

!

THE EARLY VEDAS Ailments have

fled away, diseases vanished,

The powers of darkness have become afrighted. With might hath Soma mounted up within us; The dawn we've reached, where men renew existence.

4.

Varuna, The All-Knowing Guardian of the Cosmic

Order (Rta) In these hymns

to

order ofthe world, nence.

God and protector of the moral

Varuna, omniscient

we glimpse an early Indian

For transcendent Varuna

of God's imma-

intuition

also "hidden in this small drop

is

of

water."

a.

From Rig-Veda I To

gain thy mercy, Varuna, with

hymns we bind

thy heart,

as binds

The

charioteer his tethered horse

.

.

.

[Varuna] knows the path of birds that

fly

through heaven, and,

sovereign of the sea,

He knows

the ships that are thereon

He knows the pathway

.

.

.

of the wind, the spreading, high and

mighty wind;

He knows the

gods

who

Varuna, true to holy

Most

dwell above.

law, sits

down among

wise, sits there to govern

From thence

his people; he,

all.

perceiving he beholds

all

wondrous

things, both

what hath been,

And what hereafter will be done.

b.

From Atharva-Veda IV

If a

man

stands, walks, or sneaks about, if he goes slinking away, if

he goes into his hiding-place; scheme, King Varuna

is

if

two persons

there as a third, and

sit

knows

together and

it.

5

6

HINDUISM Both

here belongs to King Varuna, and also yonder

this earth

broad sky whose boundaries are

far away.

oceans are the loins of Varuna; yea, he

is

Moreover these two

hidden in

this small

(drop

of) water.

He free

beyond the heaven

that should flee

far

away would not be

from King Varuna. His spies 2 come hither from heaven, with

a

thousand eyes do they watch over the earth.

King Varuna and

As

that

all

is

sees through

beyond.

He

all

that

is

between heaven and earth,

has counted the winkings of men's eyes.

a (winning) gamester puts

down

his dice, thus does

he establish

these (laws).

5.

Who Can Say How Creation Happened? That One

Though early Vedic

religion

was blatantly polytheistic, the notion of an

underlying and all-encompassing metaphysical unity, so important in the

made an

later Upanishads,

ation

hymn marks a

level

occasional appearance.

of maturity

The following

cre-

in Vedic philosophical speculation.

In a reflection on origins the author ignores personal names ofgods and opts for asat).

more abstract concepts

like existence

and nonexistence

Pondering the possibility that That One (tad ekam)

origin

of things,

the

hymn

dissolves into total

boldly wonders whether perhaps even That

Then even

is

its

air then,

nor the heavens beyond

it.

What covered it? Where was it? In whose keeping? Was there then a cosmic water, in depths unfathomed?

Then

there were neither death nor immortality,

nor was there then the torch of night and day.

The One

breathed windlessly and self-sustaining.

There was At

first

That

is,

One

then, and there was no other.

there was only darkness

All this

2.

that

wrapped

was only unillumined

the stars.

water.

author

the Source.

nothingness was not, nor existence.

There was no

and

the ultimate

Mystery as

One knows not

(sat

in darkness.

THE EARLY VEDAS That One which came arose at

last,

to be, enclosed in nothing,

born of the power of heat.

In the beginning desire descended on that

it

was the primal seed, born of the mind.

The sages who have searched their hearts with wisdom know that which is, is kin to that which is not. .

.

.

But, after

whence

who knows, and who can say came, and how creation happened?

all,

it all

The gods themselves are later than creation, so who knows truly whence it has arisen? Whence he, he,

all

creation had

origin,

whether he fashioned

who

surveys

he knows

6.

its

it all

—

or

it

or whether he did not,

from highest heaven,

maybe even he does not know

Creation as Cosmic Sacrifice: The Myth of Divine Self-immolation and Its Sanction of the Caste System

A quite different

Vedic creation

hymn

conceives the world's origin as a

divine being's (Purushas) self-sacrifice.

Here we confront not only an

echo of the theme of many-from-One but also the mythic rationale for the fire sacrifice: since the world began with a divine sacrifice, priestly reenactment

ofsacrifice that sustains

Also important here

is

it is

the

it.

the reference to the four social groups (the

only such reference in the Rig- Veda) that have constituted the Indian caste system.

division

The Aryan

of clans

into

social structure featured a

broad occupational

a priestly caste (Brahmins), a military and polit-

ical caste (Kshatriyas),

and an

artisan caste (Vaishyas).

Non-Aryan

populations were incorporated into this structure mainly as a fourth caste

of laborers (Shudras)

to serve the other three.

Here

these social

divisions are given a transcendent sanction.

A thousand heads had Purusha,

a

thousand eyes, a thousand

feet.

He covered beyond.

earth

on every

side,

and spread ten

fingers' breadth

7

8

HINDUISM This Purusha

The Lord

is all

that yet hath been

and

all

that

of Immortality which waxes greater

So mighty

is

is

still

his greatness; yea, greater than this

is

to be;

by food. Purusha.

All creatures are one-fourth of him, three-fourths eternal in

heaven

When

.

.

life

.

gods prepared the

sacrifice

with Purusha as their

offering, Its oil

was spring, the holy

wood.

From

.

gift

was autumn; summer was the

.

that great general sacrifice the dripping fat

was gathered

up.

He formed

the creatures of air, and animals both wild and

tame.

From

that great general sacrifice

.

.

.

hymns were

Therefrom the metres were produced

From

it

were horses born, from

it all

.

.

born;

.

creatures with two rows of

teeth;

From

it

were generated kine, from

it

the goats and sheep were

born.

When

they divided Purusha

how many

portions did they

maker

What do

they

call his

mouth,

his

arms? What do they

call his

thighs and feet?

The Brahman- was 5

his

mouth, of both

his

arms was the

Rajanya [Kshatriya] made.

His thighs became the Vaishya, from

his feet the

Shudra

was produced.

The moon was gendered from

his

mind, and from his eye the

sun had birth; Indra and Agni from his mouth were born, and Vayu from his breath.

3.

Variant spelling of Brahmin, the priestly caste.

THE UPANISHADS Forth from his navel came mid-air; the sky was fashioned from his head;

Earth from his

feet,

and from

his ear the regions.

Thus

they

formed the worlds.

THE UPANISHADS "In the whole world, there

is

no study so beautiful and so elevating as

the Upanishads. It has been the solace

of

my

death."

4

This

is

the

way

of my

life

and

will be the solace

that the great nineteenth-century

German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer paid homage to the sublime ideas that have been animating the Hindu tradition for almost three "Himalayas of the Soul"

millennia. In the Upanishads, those majestic

we discover the pan-Indian in

diagnosis

of the human condition

a ceaseless round of death and rebirth (samsara), due

quences of actions

of all

life

of

also hear

this confining

in

is

of the prescription for

liberation

ignorance through each individuals real-

Universal Self or

the

none other than Brahman.

Upanishad: See All Beings

Isa

to the conse-

ignorance of the divine ground

his or her inner spiritual nature,

Atman, which

7.

karma) performed

(Brahman). We

(moksha)/r0m ization

(

as trapped

Your

in

Own

Self and

Your Self in All Beings Behold the universe

moves on

earth.

in the glory

of God: and

Leaving the transient, find joy

not your heart on another's possessions.

The

Spirit,

without moving,

cannot reach him: takes those

who

is

To

.

that lives

and

in the Eternal: set

.

swifter than the

He is ever beyond

run.

.

all

mind; the senses

them. Standing

still,

he over-

the ocean of his being, the spirit of

life

leads the streams of action. .

.

.

Who

beings, loses

4. I

sees

all

beings in his

own

Self,

and

his

own

Self in

all

all fear.

have been unable to trace this particular quotation, but Schopenhauer's pro-

found debt to and respect

for the

Upanishads

is

well

known.

9

10

HINDUISM .

.

all

When

.

a sage sees this great

Unity and

his Self has

beings, what delusion and what sorrow can ever be near

become him

:

May life go to immortal life, and the body go to ashes, OM. 5 Oh my soul, remember past strivings, remember! O my soul, re.

.

.

member

8

past strivings,

remember!

Kena Upanishad: Brahman,

8.

the Spirit:

Not What

People Here Adore

What cannot be spoken with

Know

spoken:

words, but that whereby words are

that alone to be

Brahman, the

Spirit;

and not what

people here adore.

What cannot be thought with the mind, but that whereby the mind can think What cannot be seen with the eye, but that whereby the eye can .

see

.

.

.

.

.

What cannot be heard with hear

.

.

the ear, but that whereby the ear can

.

What cannot be indrawn with indrawn:

Know

that alone to be

breath, but that

Brahman, the

whereby breath

Spirit;

is

and not what

people here adore.

9.

Katha Upanishad

a.

Nachiketas Seeks

Wisdom from the King of Death

The Katha Upanishad contains the famous story of Nachiketas, an earnest

young yogi who ventures

Death, in order rives while

his dwelling.

and

5.

offers

abode of Yama, the

God of

wrest from him the wisdom of life. Nachiketas ar-

to

Death

to the

is

Upon

away on

business

returning,

Yama

and spends

three nights alone in

apologizes for the inconvenience

Nachiketas three compensatory boons. Nachiketas's

first

OM is a sacred syllable, the fundamental sound that the Upanishads mysteriously

identify with reality itself See selection no. 11, this chapter.

THEUPANISHADS wish

that his father suffer no anxiety about him

is

upon

his return.

Then Yama

rifice.

Nachiketas

tells

dies, this

Death.

doubt

arises:

is

from

this.

of the fire sac-

some

say "he is" and

some

say

truth.

Even the gods had

this

the law of life and death.

rious

the secrets

"Choose now thy third boon."

Nachiketas,

me the

not." Teach

is

know

to

is

replies,

When a man "he

His second wish

and recognize him

doubt

Ask

in times of old; for

myste-

for another boon. Release

me

Nachiketas. This doubt indeed arose even to the gods, and you

O

say,

Death, that

understand; but no greater

difficult to

is

it

teacher than you can explain

it,

and there

is

no other boon so great

as this.

Death. Take horses and gold and cattle and elephants; choose

sons and grandsons that shall

panses of land, and other

long

gift that

life.

Ask

many

years.

years as you desire.

you think equal to

Be a ruler of this

for

To

tain.

live as

hundred

live a

and enjoy

this,

vast earth.

I

will grant

it

Have

vast ex-

Or choose

an-

with wealth and

you

all

your

desires.

any wishes in the world of mortals, however hard to ob-

attend on you

I

you

will give

me

and musical instruments. But ask

fair

maidens with chariots

not, Nachiketas, the secrets

of death. Nachiketas. All these pleasures pass away,

O

weaken the power of life. And indeed how short

End

of

is all life!

They Keep thy

all!

horses and dancing and singing.

Man cannot be satisfied with wealth. you

in sight? Shall

for the

boon

I

we

live whilst

Shall

you are

in

we enjoy wealth with

power?

I

can only ask

have asked.

When a mortal here on earth has felt his own immortality, could he wish for a long

life

of pleasures, for the lust of deceitful beauty?

Solve then the doubt as to the great beyond. Grant that unveiis the mystery. ask.

.

.

is

the gift

the only gift Nachiketas can

.

Death.

Both

This

me

There

is

the path of joy, and there

attract the soul.

is

the path of pleasure.

Who follows the first comes to good; who fol-

lows pleasure reaches not the End.

11

12

HINDUISM The two paths lie in front of man Pondering on them, the wise man chooses the path of joy; the fool takes the path of pleasure. You have pondered, Nachiketas, on jected them.

wherewith

There

You have not accepted

men

and lead

are far apart

wisdom and

in the

and learned,

that chain of possessions

many

You

are,

Nachiketas, a fol-

pleasures tempt you not.

midst of ignorance, thinking themselves wise

fools go aimlessly hither

and

thither, like blind led

by

~

the blind.

What

They

the path of ignorance.

to different ends.

lower of the path of wisdom:

Abiding

re-

bind themselves and beneath which they sink.

the path of

is

and you have

pleasures,

lies

careless, or

beyond

life

shines not to those

deluded by wealth. "This

other," they say;

is

who

are childish, or

the only world: there

and thus they go from death

is

no

to death.

Not many hear of him; and of those not many reach him. Wonderful is he who can teach about him; and wise is he who can be taught. Wonderful is he who knows him when taught.

He

cannot be taught by one

cannot be reached by

much

Teacher who has seen him:

who

has not reached him; and he

thinking.

The way

He is higher than

to

him

is

through a

the highest thoughts,

in truth above all thought.

This sacred knowledge

is

not attained by reasoning; but

be given by a true Teacher. As your purpose

found him.

b.

May I

find another pupil like you!

is

it

can

steady you have

6

Atman: The Universal Self

In sections b through g Death

is

the speaker, continuing his teaching to

Nachiketas.

Death. Atman, the Spirit of vision,

is

Before him there was nothing, and he

6.

Some

translations suggest

"may

I

never born and never

is

ONE

for evermore.

Never-

never find another pupil like you." That

were as wise as Nachiketas, Death would lose

its

dies.

power over human beings.

is,

if all

THE UPANISHADS born and eternal, beyond times gone or to come, he does not die

when

the body dies.

If the slayer thinks that dies, neither kill:

he

kills,

and

knows the ways of truth. The Eternal

man

the Eternal in

cannot

Self; smaller

human glory of the Atman by

surrenders his

and beholds the

Not even through deep knowledge can

is

The Path

mind and peace

is

cannot

Atman, the

Spirit, the

narrow and

sorrows behind,

the grace of the Creator.

the is

Atman be

.

.

.

reached, un-

rest in the senses,

con-

in one's heart.

to Liberation Is as

arise! Strive for

the path

the

will leaves

ways are abandoned, and there

centration in the

Awake,

man

than the smallest atom, greater than the vast spaces.

The man who

# c.

in

die.

Concealed in the heart of all beings

less evil

the slain thinks that he

if

Narrow as a Razor's Edge

the Highest, and be in the Light! Sages say difficult to tread,

narrow as the edge of a

razor.

The Atman and perfume.

beyond sound and form, without touch and

is

It is eternal,

unchangeable, without beginning or

end: indeed above reasoning.

manifests

d.

man becomes

itself,

taste

When free

consciousness of the

Atman

from the jaws of death.

Who Sees the Many and Not the One Wanders On from Death

Who

to

Death

sees the

many and not

the

ONE, wanders on from death

to

death.

Even by the mind but only ONE.

this truth

to

be learned: there are not many

Who sees variety and not the unity wanders on from

death to death.

.

.

.

As water raining on all sides,

is

so the

a mountain-ridge runs

man who

down

the rocks on

sees variety of things runs after

them on

all sides.

But

as

pure water raining on pure water becomes one and the

same, so becomes,

O Nachiketas, the soul of the sage who knows.

13

14

HINDUISM e.

'

Eternal Brahman: Unmanifest Source of All

Manifestation

As

fire,

though one, takes new forms

Spirit,

though one, takes new forms

within

all,

and

is

takes

and

As the sun

is

new forms

new forms

the Spirit, though one, takes all,

in all things that live.

He

is

also outside.

As the wind, though one, within

in all things that burn, the

in

whatever

enters,

it

in all things that live.

He is

also outside.

that beholds the world

is

untouched by earthly imuntouched by external

purities, so the Spirit that is in all things is

sufferings.

There

is

one Ruler, the Spirit that

is

who

in all things,

forms his own form into many. Only the wise who see him

trans-

in their

souls attain the joy eternal.

He

is

the Eternal

among

things that pass away, pure

sciousness of conscious beings, the the many.

Only the wise who

see

ONE who

him

fulfills

Con-

the prayers of

in their souls attain the peace

eternal.

f.

Roots Above, Branches Below

The Tree reach

of Eternity has

down

to earth. It

its is

roots in heaven above

Brahman, pure

called the Immortal. All the worlds rest

him no one can

g.

Spirit,

on

and

its

who

that Spirit

branches

in truth is

and beyond

go.

Yoga and Immortality

When

the five senses and the

lence, then begins the Path

mind

are

and reason

rests in si-

called Yoga.

Then one

still,

supreme.

This calm steadiness of the senses

is

should become watchful, because Yoga comes and goes.

When

all

.

.

.

desires that cling to the heart are surrendered, then a

mortal becomes immortal, and even in this world he

is

one with

Brahman.

When

all

the ties that bind the heart are unloosened, then a

mortal becomes immortal. This

is

the sacred teaching.

THE UPANISHADS .

.

And

.

god of

Nachiketas learnt the supreme wisdom, taught by the

after-life,

and he learnt the whole teaching of inner-union,

Then he reached Brahman,

of Yoga.

came immortal and Atman,

anyone who knows his

his higher self.

Brahman, the Source and End of All

This

is

forth,

the truth:

As from

Radiant in his is

Infinite,

Hidden

in the

the supreme abode wherein dwells

all

that

moves and

Know him as all that is, and all that is not, the end

Attain That Goal, is

to

of the heart, the

of love-longing beyond understanding, the highest in

He

and

Heart

light, yet invisible in the secret place

breathes and sees.

c.

life

come

again.

Brahman, the

Spirit

a fire aflame thousands of sparks

even so from the Creator an infinity of beings have

him return

b.

in truth will

Mundaka Upanishad

10. a.

So

pure.

the Spirit Supreme, and be-

all

beings.

O My Child!

self-luminous and more subtle than the smallest; but in him

He is the everlasting Brahman, and he is life and word and mind. He is truth and life immortal. He is the goal to be aimed at: attain that goal, O my son! rest all the

worlds and their beings.

Take the great bow of the Upanishads and place sharp with devotion. hit the center

The bow Brahman

is

Draw

the

bow with

the

OM, 7 and

the sacred

mark of the

arrow becomes one with

its

let

the arrow

See note 5 above and selection

1

1,

him and

is

our own soul.

Even

as

an

the watchful soul be one in

him.

7.

an arrow

spirit.

arrow, the aim of the soul.

mark,

it

concentration on

of the mark, the same everlasting is

in

this chapter.

15

16

HINDUISM him

In

and

air,

are

him

in

ONE

as the

woven the sky and the earth and rest the

mind and

and leave aside

all

all

the regions of the

the powers of

all

other words.

He

is

Know him

life.

the bridge of im-

mortality.

Where

the subtle channels of the body meet, like spokes in the

all

center of the wheel, there he

.

.

Glory unto you

And when

.

then the

ties that

mind

of the

He

he

in

is

Self, place

his

your med-

immanence and transcendence,

seen in his

is

your

and transforms

your far-away journey beyond darkness!

have bound the heart are unloosened, the doubts

vanish, and the law of Karma works

supreme golden chamber

In the pure.

in the heart

Upon OM, Atman,

one form unto many. itation.

moves

the radiant light of

is

no more.

Brahman

all lights,

and

this

indivisible

and

knows he who

knows Brahman.

There the sun shines nings shine not there and

not, nor the

much

moon, nor the

less earthly fire.

these give light; and his radiance illumines

all

From

is

Brahman, the

Two Sweet

d.

Spirit eternal. In truth,

Friends: Individual Soul

his light

all

creation.

Far spreading before and behind and right and

and below,

stars; light-

left,

and above

Brahman

is all.

and Universal

Spirit

There same

are

tree.

two

birds,

The one

two sweet

friends,

eats the fruits thereof,

who

dwell on the self-

and the other looks on

in silence.

The

first is

tive, feels

the

human

soul who, resting

though ac-

becomes

free

from sorrow.

Who Knows Brahman Becomes Brahman

A man whose mind jects

that tree,

sad in his unwisdom. But on beholding the power and

glory of the higher Spirit [Atman], he

e.

on

wanders among

of desire, goes again to

life

and

is

longing for ob-

and death according

But he who possesses the End of found fulfillment, even

desires,

all

longing, and

to his desires.

whose

self has

in this life his desires will fade away.

THE UPANISHADS As rivers flowing into the ocean find their final peace and their name and form disappear, even so the wise become free from name and form and enter into the radiance of the Supreme Spirit who greater than

In truth,

greatness.

who knows Brahman becomes Brahman.

OM: The Sound of the Real

11.

From

a.

I

all

is

will tell

expresses,

the Katha

you the Word that all

When

From

b.

There

is

are

life

that sacred

Word

is

known,

all

means of salvation:

all self-sacrifice

That word

seek.

the everlasting Brahman: that

the supreme

It is

the Vedas glorify,

sacred studies and holy

That Word End.

all

Word

is

longings are

it is

is

OM.

the highest fulfilled.

the help supreme.

the Maitri

two ways of contemplation of Brahman:

in

sound and

in

By sound we go to silence. The sound of Brahman is OM. With OM we go to the End: the silence of Brahman. The End is silence.

immortality, union and peace.

Even

as a spider reaches the liberty

man of contemplation by means of OM reaches

thread, the

From

c.

Even

OM.

d.

of space by means of its own

the

freedom.

Chandogya

as all leaves

come from

a stem,

all

words come from the sound

OM is the whole universe. OM is in truth the whole universe. From

OM. This

the

Mandukya

eternal

and what beyond

Brahman

Word is

is all

four conditions.

is all:

what was, what

in eternity. All is

and Atman

is

is

and what

shall be,

OM.

Brahman. Atman, the

Self,

has

17

18

HINDUISM The

first

condition

the waking

is

of outward-moving con-

life

sciousness, enjoying the seven outer gross elements.

The second

condition

the dreaming

is

life

of inter-moving con-

sciousness, enjoying the seven subtle inner elements in

and

light

its

own

solitude.

The third condition is the sleeping life of silent consciousness when a person has no desires and beholds no dreams. That condition of

deep sleep

made of peace and The fourth .

.

.

awakened

life

a

mass of silent consciousness

enjoying peace.

condition

is

Atman

in his

of supreme consciousness.

This Atman

M,

one of oneness,

is

is

the eternal

Word OM.

.

.

Its

own pure

state:

the

.

three sounds, A, U, and

are the first three states of consciousness,

and these three

states

are the three sounds.

The

sound

first

common

to

men.

all

A .

.

The second sound sciousness.

.

.

the

is

first state

of waking consciousness,

.

U

is

the second state of dreaming con-

.

M

The third sound is the third state of sleeping consciousness. The word OM as one sound is the fourth state of supreme consciousness.

It is

beyond the senses and

non-duality and

who knows

12. a.

this,

love.

He

is

the end of evolution.

It is

goes with his self to the supreme Self

who knows

this.

Svetesvatara Upanishad

The

Practice of Yoga

With upright body, head, and neck into thy heart;

which

and the

OM

lead the

mind and

its

powers

of Brahman will then be thy boat with

to cross the rivers of fear.

And when

the body

is

in silent steadiness, breathe rhythmically

through the nostrils with a peaceful ebbing and flowing of breath.

The chariot of mind

is

drawn by wild

horses,

and those wild horses

have to be tamed.

Find

a quiet retreat for the practice of Yoga, sheltered

wind, level and clean, free from rubbish, smoldering

from the

fires,

and ug-

THE UPANISHADS and where the sound of waters and the beauty of the place help thought and contemplation. liness,

.

.

The scent,

of the practice of Yoga

first fruits

and

matter,

and

Even

.

waste

a clear complexion; lightness of the body, a pleasant

a sweet voice;

and an absence of greedy

as a mirror of gold, covered

shines again in full splendor, Spirit he

are: health, little

when

one with him, the aim of

is

by dust, when cleaned well

man

a

desires.

has seen the Truth of the

his life

is fulfilled

and he

is

ever beyond sorrow.

man becomes a lamp by which he finds the Truth of Brahman. Then he sees God, pure, never-born, everlasting; and when he sees God he is free from all bondage. Then

the soul of

The Transmigration of the Soul

b.

The

soul

born and unfolds

is

and the food of life. And then dance with

The airy,

it is

reborn in

quality of the soul determines

dom, or

lead

light. Its

it

But there

new

bodies, in accor-

former works.

its

heavy or

dreams and desires

in a body, with

is

thoughts and

its

to bondage, in life after

the

God

of forms

its

future body: earthly or

actions can lead

and when a man knows

God he is free from all bondage. He is an incorporeal Spirit, but he can be seen by is pure. ... He is God, the God of love, and when .

him then he c.

leaves

to free-

life.

Infinite,

.

it

.

a heart a

which

man knows

behind his bodies of transmigration.

Refuge in the Silence of Eternity

He is the never-created

Creator of all: he knows

sciousness, the creator of

migration of

life

and

all

time.

liberation:

.

.

.

all,

He is pure con-

From him comes

bondage

in time

the trans-

and freedom

in

Eternity.

...

I

go for refuge to

God who

is

ONE

in the silence

pure radiance of beauty and perfection, in peace.

He

is

the bridge

supreme which

whom we

man

it

find our

leads to immortality,

the Spirit of fire which burns the dross of lower If ever for

of Eternity,

and

life.

were possible to fold the tent of the

sky, in that

day he might be able to end his sorrow without the help of God.

19

20

HINDUISM Maitri Upanishad: Aphorisms on the Transformation of Mind

13.

Even

thoughts become silence the soul finds peace in

And when own sult

when

as fire without fuel finds peace in its resting-place,

mind which longs

a

its

own

source.

of

for truth finds the peace

its

source, then those false inclinations cease which were the re-

of former actions done in the delusion of the senses.

Samsara, the transmigration of

takes place in one's

life,

mind. Let one therefore keep the mind pure, that he becomes: this If men

would not

When tion,

what

a

man

thinks

a mystery of Eternity.

thought of God as

much

as they think of the world,

who

attain liberation?

the

then

is

for

own

it

mind

is silent,

beyond weakness or non-concentra-

can enter into a world which

is far

beyond the mind:

the highest End.

The mind

should be kept in the heart as long as

reached the Highest End. This

Everything else

is

Words cannot Spirit.

Even with

Only those who

so the

this is liberation.

describe the joy of the soul whose impurities are

as water

air,

wisdom, and

has not

only words.

cleansed in deep contemplation

own

is

it

—who

feel this joy

becomes one with

is

one with

know what

his

the Infinite

his

it is.

water, fire with

mind becomes one with

Atman,

fire,

and

Mind and

air

thus

attains final freedom.

Mind eration. free

is

indeed the source of bondage and also the source of lib-

To be bound

from them:

14. Taittiriya a.

this

to things of this world: this

is

is

bondage. To be

liberation.

Upanishad

From Joy All Beings Have Come, Unto Joy They All Return

Joy comes from God.

Who could

live

and who could breathe

joy of Brahman filled not the universe?

if

the

THE UPANISHADS Once Bhrigu Baruni went "Father, explain to

Then mind

me the mystery

life,

of the one

that knows,

his

Varuna and

father

said:

of Brahman."

spoke to him of the food of the earth, of the

his father

breath of

to

who

sees,

who hears, of the And he further said to

of the one

and of the one who speaks.

whom all beings and unto whom they all

him, "seek to know him from

have come, by

whom

return.

they

all

live,

He

is

Brahman." So Bhrigu went and practiced

tapas, spiritual prayer.

Then he thought that Brahman was the food of the earth. Then he thought that Brahman was life. Then he thought that Brahman was mind. Then he thought that Brahman was reason. Then he saw that Brahman is joy: for FROM JOY ALL BEINGS HAVE COME, BY JOY THEY ALL LIVE, AND UNTO JOY THEY ALL RETURN. .

.

.

.

.

.

b. I

.

.

.

.

.

.

Am Food!

Oh, the wonder of joy!

am

I

the food of life, and

the two in I

born

am

I

am

he who eats the food of life:

I

am

ONE.

the first-born of the world of truth, born before the gods,

in the center of immortality.

He who gives me is my salvation. I am that food which eats the eater of food.

Chandogya Upanishad: Thou Art That

15.

There all,

is

a light that shines

beyond

all

things on earth, beyond us

beyond the heavens, beyond the highest, the very highest heav-

ens.

This

is

the Light that shines in our heart.

OM. There

lived

once a boy, Svetaketu Aruneya by name.

One

day his father spoke to him in this way: "Svetaketu, go and become a student of sacred

wisdom. There

is

no one

in

our family

who

has

21

22

HINDUISM not studied the holy Vedas and

who might

name

only be given the

8

of Brahman by courtesy."

The boy

left at

the age of twelve, and, having learnt the Vedas,

he returned home

the age of twenty-four, very proud of his

at

learning and having a great opinion of himself

His

seem

father,

observing

this, said to

him: "Svetaketu,

what is

not heard

is

known

not

"What

is

is

heard, what

is

knowledge whereby

for that

not thought

is

thought, and what

known?"

that knowledge, father?" asked Svetaketu.

is

"[By] knowing a

lump of

clay,

my

son,

all

that

is

known, since any differences are only words and the "[And] by knowing a piece of gold

all

that

is

clay can be

reality is clay;

gold can be known,

since any differences are only words and the reality gold.

you

you think you are learned,

to have a great opinion of yourself,

and you are proud. Have you asked

my boy,

only

is

." .

.

Svetaketu said: "Certainly

my honored

themselves. If they had known,

masters knew not this

why would they not have

told

me?

Explain this to me, father."

"So be "Here

it,

it is,

"Break «i

'It is

my child.

Bring

from

this

banyan

tree."

it."

broken, Sir."

'What do you see

in it?"

"Very small seeds,

Sir."

«i

'Break one of them,

my son."

broken, Sir."

«i

'What do you see

«i

'Nothing

Then

fruit

father."

«i

'It is

me a

in it?"

at all, Sir."

his father spoke to him:

in the seed

"My

son,

which you cannot see comes

from the very essence

in truth this vast

banyan

tree.

"Believe me,

my

son, an invisible and subtle essence

Spirit of the whole universe. »

ART THAT.

8.

The

priestly caste.

That

is reality.

That

is

Atman.

is

the

THOU

THE UPANISHADS

23

"Explain more to me, father," said Svetaketu.

"So be

it,

my

son. Place this salt in water and

come

to

me

to-

morrow morning." Svetaketu did as he was commanded, and in the morning his father said to him: "Bring

me

the salt you put into the water last

night."

Svetaketu looked into the water, but could not find

for

it,

it

had

dissolved.

His father then

said,

"Taste the water from this

side.

How

is it?"

"It is salt."

"Taste "It

it

from the middle.

How is it?"

is salt."

"Taste

it

from that

side.

How is it?"

"It is salt."

"Look

The

for the salt

son did

and come again

so, saying: "I

me."

to

cannot see the

salt. I

only see the

water."

His father then see the Spirit.

"An verse.

But

invisible

That

is

"In the same way,

said:

in truth

he

That

is

is

Truth.

the Spirit of the whole uni-

THOU ART THAT."

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: Be Known?

16.

"As when a lump of salt solved it is

it

is

How Can

Knower

thrown into water and therein being

salt, in

the

O Maitreyi,

same way,

of the elements, into them ness after death."

it

Thus spoke

Thereupon Maitreyi that after death there

is

infinite.

taken is

Arising out

is

no conscious-

O my

Lord, to hear

returns again: there Yajnavalkya.

said: "I

am

amazed,

no consciousness."

this Yajnavalkya replied: "I

ment; but sufficient for wisdom

am

is

not speaking words of amaze-

what

"For where there seems to be a

one hears another, one

is

dis-

the supreme Spirit

an ocean of pure consciousness boundless and

other,

the

cannot be grasped again, but wherever the water

found

To

son, you cannot

here.

is

but subtle essence

Reality.

O my

I say.

duality, there

feels another's

one knows another. But when

one sees another,

perfume, one thinks of an-

all

has become Spirit, one's

i

24

HINDUISM own

How

hear?

who knows .

.

This

.

How and whom could one know? How can one know him

how and whom could one

Self,

and all? is

see?

whom could one How can the Knower be known?"

the great never-born Spirit of man, never old and

immortal. This

the Spirit of the universe, a refuge from

is

all fear.

THE BHAGAVAD GITA It

is

overestimate the esteem in which Hindus hold the

difficult to

Bhagavad

Gita. It has been called "the most important, the most influ-

ential, the

most luminous of all the Hindu scriptures," 9 "the most popu-

lar hook in

Hindu

religious literature"

10

and the one

that "most

Hindus

regard as containing the essence of the Vedas and the Upanishads." 11

The message of the Bhagavad Gita one ultimate end and purpose:

to realize the

and fully,

thus to know, finally

that each

is

the joy

human

life

Eternal Self within and

of union with God, the Divine

Ground of Being (Brahman). Whereas such knowledge was ally sought in retreat

from

option, teaches that

it

may

nonattached action

in the context

The

setting

of

tradition-

the world, the Gita, without omitting that

be attained in the midst of the world through

of devotion (bhakti)

the Gita reinforces

minute portion of the longest epic poem

message.

its

to

God.

The Gita forms a

in the world, the

Alahabharata,

between 400 B.C.E. and 400 C.E. The

which took shape

in the centuries

Mahabharata

an account of the

is

has but

origins, the

actual course,

and

the

aftermath of a great war between two clans, the Pandavas, on the one side,

and

their cousins, the evil sons ofDhritarashtra, on the other.

The

Gita opens on the battlefield where the two vast and powerful armies are arrayed. There worse,

among blood

is

no doubt that

relatives.

the saintly warrior Arjuna,

Pandava

9.

in

going

to be a

Profoundly disturbed by

whose task

clan into battle. Tormented,

Lord, Krishna, who,

it is

human form,

it

is

to

bloodbath and, this

prospect

is

lead the righteous

Arjuna begs help from

the Divine

stands beside Arjuna in his char-

R. C. Zaehner, Hinduism (London: Oxford Univ. Press, 1962), 10.

Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood, trans., The Song of God: Bhagavad Gita (New York: New American Library, 1944), 28. 11. John Koller, The Indian J^y (New York: Macmillan, 1982), 188. 10.

THE BHAGAVAD GITA Faced on the one hand with social duty as a warrior

iot.

to protect his

family from evil aggression, and on the other hand with the spiritual duty of nonviolence, Arjuna confesses

Arjuna's Distress

17.

Krishna, Krishna,

Now as I look on These my kinsmen Arrayed

for battle,

My limbs are weakened, My mouth is parching, My body trembles, My hair stands upright, My skin seems burning, The bow Gandiva Slips

from

my hand,

My brain is whirling Round and round, I

can stand no longer:

Krishna,

I

see such

Omens of evil! What can we hope from This

killing

of kinsmen?

Knower of all things, Though they should slay me How could I harm them? .

I

.

.

cannot wish

it:

Never, never,

Not though

The

it

won me

throne of the three worlds;

How much the less for Earthly lordship!

Krishna, hearing

The

prayers of all men,

Tell

me how can

his confusion to

Lord Krishna:

25

26

HINDUISM

We hope to be happy

•

Slaying the sons

Of Dhritarashtra? Evil they

may be,

Worst of the wicked, Yet

if

Our

we

kill

them

sin is greater.

How could we dare spill The blood that unites us? Where is the joy in The killing of kinsmen? Foul their hearts are

With greed, and blinded:

They

see

no

evil

In breaking of blood-bonds,

See no sin In treason to comrades.

But we,

clear-sighted,

Scanning the ruin

Of families

scattered,

Should we not shun This crime,

.

What

.

.

I

am

is

O Krishna? this

planning,

crime

O Krishna?

Murder most hateful, Murder of brothers! Am So greedy

I

for greatness?

Rather than this

Let the

evil

children

of Dhritarashtra

Come

with their weapons

Against

me

in battle:

I

shall not struggle,

I

shall not strike

them.

indeed

THE BHAGAVAD GITA

Now let them kill me, That

will

be

better.

Krishna's Response: Understand the True Nature of Existence

18.

Shake Off This Cowardice!

a.

Arjuna with a

Krishna begins

his response to

Arjuna,

hour of battle the time

is

this

they worthy of you,

who

surprising rebuke:

for scruples

and fancies? Are

Any brave man who

seek enlightenment?

merely hopes for fame or heaven would despise them.

What

is

this

weakness?

It is

beneath you.

you the foe-consumer? Shake off

call

Is

it

for

nothing

this cowardice,

men

Arjuna.

Stand up.

The Real Cannot

b.

Suffer Death

Krishna continues:

Your words are wise, Arjuna, but your sorrow truly wise

mourn

Nor

is

a time

when

The

1

The

did not exist, nor you, nor any of

there any future in which

Just as the dweller in this

and old

for nothing.

neither for the living nor for the dead.

There never was these kings.

is

age, so at death

we

shall cease to be.

body passes through childhood, youth

he merely passes into another kind of body.

wise are not deceived by that.

Feelings of heat and cold, pleasure and pain, are caused by the

contact of the senses with their objects.

They come and

they go,

never lasting long. You must accept them.

A and

serene spirit accepts pleasure and pain with an even mind,

is

unmoved by

That which which

is

Reality

is

either.

He alone

worthy of immortality.

come into being, and that Those who have known the inmost

non-existent can never

can never cease to

know

is

be.

also the nature of is

and

is

not.

That Reality which pervades the universe one has power

to

change the Changeless.

is

indestructible.

No

27

2 8

HINDUISM Bodies are said

to die,

but That which possesses the body

cannot be limited, or destroyed. Therefore you must

nal. It

is

eter-

fight.

Krishna Teaches About the Atman, the Universal Self

c.

Some

Is slain,

Call

Atman

say this

and others

the slayer:

It

They know

nothing.

How

slay

can

Or who

Know

It

shall slay

this

it?

Atman

Unborn, undying. Never

ceasing.

Never beginning. Deathless, birthless.

Unchanging

for ever.

How

can

The

death of the body:

Knowing Knowing Knowing

it

die

it

birthless.

it

deathless.

it

endless.

For ever unchanging.

Dream Is

not the power

yours to

command

it.

Worn-out garments Are shed by the body:

Worn-out bodies Are shed by the dweller Within the body.

New By .

.

dead.

bodies are donned

the dweller, like garments.

.

Death

is

certain for the born. Rebirth

You should not

grieve for what

is

is

certain for the

unavoidable.

Before birth, beings are not manifest to our

human

senses. In

the interim between birth and death, thev are manifest. At death

THE BHAGAVAD GIT A they return to the unmanifest again.

What

is

there in

all

this to

grieve over?

19.

The Illumined Person

Arjuna now asks Krishna

to describe those

who know. "In what manner

does an illumined soul live in the world?" he asks. Krishna replies:

Not shaken by adversity, Not hankering after happiness: Free from

fear, free

from anger,

Free from the things of desire.

him

I call

a seer,

and illumined.

The bonds of his flesh are broken. He is lucky, and does not rejoice:

He

unlucky, and does not weep.

is

him

I call

The The

tortoise can

seer can

him

I call

The

illumined.

draw

draw

in his legs:

in his senses.

illumined.

abstinent run away from what they desire

But carry

their desires with

When a man enters Reality, He leaves his desires behind Even

a

mind

that

him.

knows the path

Can be dragged from

The

them:

the path:

senses are so unruly.

But he controls the senses

And And I call

recollects the fixes

him

it

mind

on me.

illumined.

Thinking about sense-objects Will attach you to sense-objects;

Grow

attached, and you

Thwart your

addiction,

become addicted; it

turns to anger;

29

30

HINDUISM Be

angry, and you confuse your mind;

Confuse your mind, you forget the lesson of experience; Forget experience, you lose discrimination;

Lose discrimination, and you miss

life's

only purpose.

When he has no lust, no hatred, A man walks safely among the things To obey Is his

the

of lust and hatred.

Atman

peaceful joy:

Sorrow melts Into that clear peace:

His quiet mind Is

soon established in peace.

The

uncontrolled

Does not guess

How can

it

mind

that the

Atman

Without peace, where

.

.

present:

meditate?

Without meditation, where

.

is

is

is

peace?

happiness?

Water flows continually into the ocean

But the ocean

is

never disturbed:

Desire flows into the mind of the seer

But he

is

never disturbed.

The seer knows peace: The man who stirs up his own Can never know

lusts

peace.

He knows peace who has forgotten He lives without craving:

desire.

Free from ego, free from pride.

This

is

a statement

of enlightenment in Brahman:

A man does not fall back

from

it

Into delusion.

moment

Even

at the

He

alive in that

is

Brahman and he

of death

enlightenment:

are one.

THE BHAGAVAD GITA

Karma Yoga:

20.

The Great Teaching on Nonattached

Action Arjuna remains

confused. Krishna has told

traditional wisdom, action

ing to further bondage.

(karma) only

Now

him

begets

to its consequences.

acts, the quality

For the spiritual problem

as Krishna

—

is

not action

of mind with which one

and doomed to

out attachment to

rebirth.

results,

may

from further

one

one's actions, desiring certain results,

pattern

more of the same, lead-

be free

points out in the first verses below

one

but according to

Krishna explains karma yoga, the yoga

whereby, in the very midst of action, one

bondage

to act,

itself.

acts. is

it is

how

identifies

with

Rather

If one

bound

—

to that action-

However, if one acts earnestly but with-

performing every action as an offering

to

God alone is the only Actor, one proceeds on the Karma yoga is perhaps the central teaching of the

God, knowing that path

to liberation.

Bhagavad a.

Gita.

Act Without Seeking the Fruits of Action

[Krishna:]

You have the

right to work, but for the work's sake only.

You

have no right to the fruits of work. Desire for the fruits of work

must never be your motive

in working.

Never

give

way

to laziness,

either.

Perform every action with your heart fixed on the Supreme Lord. Renounce attachment to the success and failure; for

it is

this

fruits.

Be even-tempered

evenness of temper which

is

in

meant

by yoga.

Work done with done without such

anxiety about results anxiety, in the

is far

inferior to

work

calm of self-surrender. Seek

refuge in the knowledge of Brahman.

They who work

selfishly for

results are miserable.

In the calm of self-surrender you can free yourself from the

bondage of virtue and vice during

this very

life.

Devote yourself to

Brahman. To unite the heart with Brahman and then

to act: that

is

the secret of non-attached work. In the calm of self-surrender, the seers renounce the fruits of their actions,

ment.

Then

that state

and so reach enlighten-

they are free from the bondage of rebirth, and pass to

which

is

beyond

all evil.

31

32

HINDUISM When become

your

intellect has cleared itself

indifferent to the results of

all

of

its

delusions, you will

At

action, present or future.

present, your intellect

is

bewildered by conflicting interpretations of

When

it

can

the scriptures.

steady and undistracted, in con-

rest,

templation of the Atman, then you will reach union with the Atman.

Inaction

b.

Is

Impossible: Act Without Anxiety About

Results [Krishna continues:] I

may

have already told you that, in this world, aspirants

enlightenment by two different paths. For the contemplative path of knowledge: for the active

Freedom of activity

Nobody can become body can ever world

is

rest

is

as

is

the

the path of selfless action.

never achieved by abstaining from action.

perfect by merely ceasing to act. In fact, no-

from

imprisoned in

performed

is

find

his activity

its

own

even for a moment.

.

.

.

The

except where actions are

activity,

worship of God. Therefore you must perform every

action sacramentally, and be free from

all

attachments to

results.

Do Your Duty Always but Without Attachment

c.

Do

your duty, always; but without attachment. That

is

how

a

man

reaches the ultimate Truth: by working without anxiety about results.

d.

Without Devotion to God, by Their Own Actions

Human Beings Are Enslaved

When the heart is made pure by that When the body is obedient, When the senses are mastered, When man knows that his Atman Is

the

Then

Atman let

him

in all creatures, act,

Untainted by action.

The illumined soul Whose heart is Brahman's

heart

yoga,

THE BHAGAVAD GITA Thinks always:

"I

am

doing nothing."

No matter what he sees, Hears, touches, smells,

No matter

whether he

eats; is

moving,

Sleeping, breathing, speaking,

Excreting or grasping something with his hand,

Or opening his eyes, Or closing his eyes: This he knows always: "I

am not seeing, I am

It is

the senses that see and hear

And

He

not hearing:

touch the things of the senses."

puts aside desire,

Offering the act to Brahman.

The

lotus leaf rests

unwetted on water:

He

rests

To

the follower of the yoga of action,

on

untouched by

action,

The body and the mind, The sense-organs and the

action.

intellect

Are instruments only:

He knows himself other than the And thus his heart grows pure.

instrument.

United with Brahman,

Cut

free

from the

fruit

of the

act,

A man finds peace In the work of the

spirit.

Without Brahman,

Man

is

a prisoner,

Enslaved by action,

Dragged onward by

e.

The Human

desire.

Will Is the

Enemy Man's

will is the

only

Friend of the Atman:

Atman's Friend

.

.

.

and

Its

33

34

HINDUISM His

will

also

is

The Atman's enemy. Slash Delusion to Pieces: Take Your Stand in

f.

Karma

Yoga

When a man

can act without desire,

Through

practice of yoga;

When

doubts are torn to shreds

his

Because he knows Brahman;

When

his heart

is

poised

In the being of the

No bonds can bind can see

Still I

A

Atman him.

it:

doubt that lingers

Deep

in

your heart

Brought forth by delusion.

You doubt the truth

Of the

living

Where

is

Atman.

your sword

Discrimination?

Draw

it

and slash

Delusion to pieces.

Then

arise

O son of Bharata: Take your stand In

21.

Karma

Yoga.

Taming the Mind: The

Hinduism recognizes four

Yoga of Meditation

classes

of yoga

or

methods

of

self-

transformation: the yoga of action (karma), the yoga of devotion

and

(bhakti), the

yoga of knowledge

(raja yoga).

Here Krishna teaches Arjuna about

mind through transposed.

meditation.

(jnana),

the

yoga of meditation the taming

The original order of the

of the

verses has been

THE BHAGAVAD GITA The Wind Is No Wilder

a.

[Arjuna speaks:] Krishna, you describe this yoga as a

But

I

do not see how

this

life

of union with Brahman.

The mind

can be permanent.

is

so very

restless.

Restless man's

mind

is,

So strongly shaken In the grip of the senses:

Gross and grown hard

With stubborn For what

is

How shall Truly,

I

desire

worldly.

he tame

it?

think

The wind

is

no

wilder.

Concentration

b.

The yogi should retire into a solitary The place where he sits should be low,

and situated in a clean

His posture

will

spot.

.

.

place.

.

.

.

firm, neither too high nor too

.

be motionless, with the body, head and neck

held erect, and the vision indrawn.

.

.

.

man who overeats, or for him who fasts excessively. It is not for him who sleeps too much, or for the keeper of exaggerated vigils. Let a man be moderate in his eating and his Yoga

is

not for the

recreation, moderately active,

moderate in sleep and

in wakeful-

He will find that yoga takes away all his unhappiness. When can a man be said to have achieved union with Brahman? When his mind is under perfect control and freed from all desires, ness.

so that he

which describes

upon

c.

in the

Atman, and nothing

of a lamp does not flicker in a windless place": that

light ile

becomes absorbed

the

The

a yogi of one-pointed

Atman.

Fruit of Meditation

Utterly quiet,

Made

clean of passion,

else. is

"The

the sim-

mind, who meditates

35

36

HINDUISM The mind of the yogi Knows that Brahman, His .

.

.

bliss is the highest.

His heart

His eye in

all

is

with Brahman,

things

Brahman

Sees only

Equally present,

Knows

his

own Atman

In every creature,

And

all

creation

Within that Atman. .

.

.

Who burns with the bliss

And suffers every Of every creature

sorrow

own heart, Making his own Within

Each

his

bliss

and each sorrow:

Him I hold highest Of all the yogis.

Krishna Reveals His Divine Form

22.

In chapter eleven of the Gita, Arjuna asks Krishna, who has been standing beside him in

human form

self in his true divine nature.

during

Arjuna

cosmic spectacle that unfolds. It

is

is

this teaching, to

reveal him-

not prepared for the awesome

one of the great theophanies in world

religious literature:

a.

The Theophany: "Fiery-Faced You

Blast the World to

Ashes" [Krishna to Arjuna:]

O

conqueror of

universe with

of mine.

And

all

sloth, this very

day you

things animate and inert

whatever else you desire to

shall

behold the whole

made one see, that

you

But you cannot see me thus with those human I

give you divine sight.

Behold

—

this is

my

yoga power.

within this body shall see also.

eyes. Therefore,

THE BHAGAVAD GITA [Sanjaya, the narrator:] .

.

When

.

he had spoken these words, Sri Krishna, master of all

Arjuna his transcendent, divine Form, speaking

yogis, revealed to

from innumerable mouths, seeing with myriad

of

eyes,

many mar-

velous aspects, adorned with countless divine ornaments, brandishing

all

kinds of heavenly weapons, wearing celestial garlands and the

raiment of paradise, anointed with perfumes of heavenly fragrance, of revelations, resplendent, boundless, of ubiquitous regard.

full

Suppose is

a

thousand suns should

the glory of the Shape of Infinite

Then

the son of

rise together into the sky:

such

God.

Pandu [Arjuna] beheld the

entire universe, in

multitudinous diversity, lodged as one being within the body

all its

God of gods. And then was Arjuna,

of the

that lord of mighty riches,

wonder. His hair stood erect. tion,

and clasped

his hands,

He bowed

overcome with

low before

God

in adora-

and spoke:

[Arjuna:]

Ah,

my God,

Each

I

see

all

gods within your body;

in his degree, the multitude

of creatures;

See Lord Brahma throned upon the See

all

the sages, and the holy serpents.

Universal Form, Infinite

See,

lotus;

I

see

you without

limit,

of arms, eyes, mouths and bellies

and find no end, midst, or beginning.

Crowned with diadems, you wield the mace and discus, Shining every way the eyes shrink from your splendor

—

Brilliant like the sun; like fire, blazing, boundless.

You

are

all

we know, supreme, beyond man's measure,

This world's sure-set plinth and refuge never shaken,

Guardian of eternal

law, life's

Soul undying.

Birthless, deathless; yours the strength titanic,

Million-armed, the sun and

moon

your eyeballs,

Fiery-faced, you blast the world to ashes.

Krishna: "I

b. I

for that

.

.

Am Come as Time"

am come as Time,

Ready

.

the waster of the peoples,

hour that ripens

to their ruin.

37

— 38

HINDUISM All these hosts

—no Seem

die; strike, stay

your hand

matter.

Therefore Arjuna,

must

strike.

arise,

O

Win kingdom,

ambidextrous bowman.

By me

to slay.

wealth and glory.

these

men

are slain already.

Arjuna Awed

c.

Well

it is

the world delights to do you honor!

At the sight of you,

O master of the senses,

Demons scatter every way in terror, And the hosts of the Siddhas bow adoring. Mightiest,

how should

they indeed withhold their homager

Prime Cause of all, even Brahman the Beginner Deathless, word's abode, the

Lord of devas,

You

are what

You

are first

It is

within you the cosmos rests in safety.

You

are

Endless

is

not,

what

and highest

is,

in

known and knower, in

and what transcends them.

heaven,

O ancient Spirit.

goal of all our striving.

your change, you body forth creation.

Krishna Calms Arjuna

d.

[Arjuna:] 1

have seen what no

man

ever saw before me:

Deep is my delight, but still my dread is greater. Show me now your other Form, O Lord, be gracious. [Sanjaya, the narrator:]

Having spoken thus

peared in his own shape.

more

his

.

.

.

Krishna ap-

to Arjuna,

The Great-Souled One, assuming once

mild and pleasing form, brought peace to him

in his

terror.

[Arjuna:]

am e.

O Krishna,

now

I

see

you

in

your pleasant

human

form,

I

myself again.

The Importance of Devotion

[Krishna:] That Shape of cult to behold.

(Bhakti) to

God

mine which you have seen

Even the devas themselves

is

very

diffi-

are always longing to see

THE BHAGAVAD GITA it.

Neither by study of the Vedas, nor by austerities, nor by alms-

nor by

giving,

can

rituals

be seen as you have seen me. But by

I

may be Consumer of

single-minded and intense devotion, that form of mine completely known, and seen, and entered

into,

O

the foe.

Whosoever works

for

me

me

makes

alone,

his only goal

and

is

devoted to me, free from attachment, and without hatred toward any creature

—

"Dear

to

23.

Krishna

that

man,

O Prince, shall enter into me.

Me"

Arjuna what manner ofperson

tells

is

A man should not hate any living creature. compassionate to

He must

accept pleasure and pain with equal tran-

be forgiving, ever-contented, self-controlled,

united constantly with unshakable.

Such

He must

a devotee

He

is

in his meditation.

is

and

me

His resolve must be

and

in

mind.

men, nor allows himself

to be-

be dedicated to

in intellect

dear to me.

come disturbed by

He

me

neither molests his fellow

envy, anxiety

Let him be friendly and

He must free himself from the delusion of "I"

He must

and "mine." quillity.

all.

especially dear to him:

the world.

fear.

He

is

Therefore he

no longer swayed by is

joy

and

dear to me.

pure, and independent of the body's desire.

He

is

able to

deal with the unexpected: prepared for everything, unperturbed

anything. tions.

He

by

He is neither vain nor anxious about the results of his ac-

Such

a devotee

is

dear to me.

does not desire or rejoice in what

dread what

by good or

is

unpleasant, or grieve over

evil fortune.

His attitude

is

the

Such

a devotee

is

is

pleasant.

it.

He

He

does not

remains unmoved

dear to me.

same toward friend and

foe.

He

is

indifferent

from attachment.

He is free He can con-

trol his speech.

His home

to

honor and

insult, heat

and cold, pleasure and pain.

He values praise and blame equally. He is content with whatever he gets.

everywhere and nowhere. His mind is full

of devotion.

fixed

upon me, and

his heart

He is dear to me.

This true wisdom

The

is

is

faithful practice

I it

have taught will lead you to immortality. with devotion, taking

me

for their highest

39

40

HINDUISM aim.

To me they surrender

heart and mind.

They

are exceedingly

dear to me.

GRACE NOTES:

Sayings of Shankara, Ramakrishna,

AND RAMANA MAHARSHI Shankara

(686-718),

Ramakrishna

Maharshi (1879-1950), are

Hindu

of the greatest mystic-sages of the

They are widely considered

tradition.

liberated souls.

three

Of Ramakrishna. who

have been jivanmukti,

Mahatma Gandhi God face to face.'

once said, "Ramakrishna's

life

Shankara

24.

On The Nonduality

a.

of the Real: All of This Really Isn't

Both bondage and liberation are the

They do

snake does not really exist in the rope. out parts, beyond action. ther

bound nor

—

liberation

•Who,

this

in this

is

.

.

.

There

is

it

for a snake.

The Atman

The imagined

is infinite,

with-

neither birth nor death, nei-

the ultimate and absolute truth.

of Questions and Answers world, can be called pure?

He whose farinri

is

pnrgj

can be called wise?

He who

Who

our ignorance.

aspiring soul, neither liberated soul nor seeker after

A Garland

Who

fictions of

not really exist in the Atman. Just as a piece of rope re-

mains rope, whether or not we mistake

b.

to

has been given the lions share of

space in this section, enables one to see

and Ramana

(1836-1886),

is

can discriminate between the real and the unreal.

the greatest hero?

The person who

is

not terror-stricken by the arrows which

lj shoot from the eves of a beautv.

12.

Quoted

13.

Adapted

in

Les Hixon, Great Swan (Boston: Shambhala, 1992),

for

gender neutrality.

vii.

GRACE NOTES

41

Who is poor? He who is not contented. What

rolls

quickly away, like drops of water from a lotus leaf?

Youth, wealth and the years of a person's

What is hell? To live in slavery

life.

to others.

How is heaven attained? The attainment of heaven

the freedom from cravings.

is

What is a person's duty? To do good to all beings. What are worthless as soon Honor and fame. What brings happiness? The friendship of the What

as they are

won?

holy.

destroys craving?

Realization of one's true

self.

Who are our enemies? Our

sense-organs,

when they

are uncontrolled.

when they

are controlled.

Who are our friends? Our

sense-organs,

Who nw iias has uvvituiuv overcome the tut. world? vvunu: He who

*~ |QS (v^j ^^-

own fnindj L,

» '

f/viO

^" «-

Q

j

.

IX/OHO

Ramakrishna

25.

Grace

a.

The Winds of God's Grace Are Always Blowing

%

The winds our

14.

has conquered his

_

sails.

of God's grace are always blowing;

Commonly

quotation.

it is

for us to raise

14

ascribed to Ramakrishna.

I

have not been able to locate the direct

42

HINDUISM Grace Rains .

.

.

Awakening

Down

Ceaselessly

not possible so long as the mind

is

is

constantly dis-

tracted from Truth by remaining habitually egocentric, by instinctively seeking personal gratification.

down

illuminating energy that rains

mind, heart, and high, rocky

hill

soul,

Divine Grace, the healing and ceaselessly

On

Truth

Insanity:

its

hard, barren

truth.

.

matter

.

.

"My

Religion Alone Is True'*

tells

1

-"*

Everyone

foolishly

assumes that

that

The

entire world

is

phrase:

"My

religion alone

is

no clock

Mystery? But

if

Koranic revelation supersedes

true."

Who

O Mother,

you have shown

can make a system from Divine

any sincere practitioner, within whatever culture

Truth alone, Your Grace

will flood his

Mother. His particular sacred tradition

He

will reach the

Mother, Mother!

How

I

one goal of

will

commitheart,

bow and

their

mosques! All religions are glorious!

be opened and illumi-

prostrate with devoted

Single Obstacle, Single Aim,

Mother,

Many

Muslims

mere machine, an automatic function. God

15.

Ramaknshna

our only true

bliss

in

Paths

Obsessive self-awareness, whether collective or individual,

us,

O

long to pray with sincere Christians in

churches and

to

mind and

spiritual evolution.

their

ence within

me

Only the transcendent sun of

or religion, prays and meditates with great devotion and

nated.

all

being driven insane by this single

entirely accurate.

is

knowledge remains on time.

to

no

insist that their sect,

small and insignificant, expresses the ultimate position.

others.

ment

his

correct time. Christians claim to possess exclusive

Devout Muslims maintain

that

soil.

Countless varieties of Hindus

how

ground of ego, without

in the Religions

Mother, Mother, Mother! clock alone

human

of personal interest and personal importance. This

ever penetrating

b.

the

cannot be absorbed or assimilated by the

precious, life-giving water runs off the high

»

upon

is

is

a

the only living pres-

and freedom. Divine Nature,

often invoked Divine Realitv as

Mother

GRACE NOTES which alone

is

our ultimate being, has nothing to do with narrow

self-interest or limited self-consciousness.

realized

and

fully actualized in daily life

Divine Nature can be

by sincerely following any

number of revealed paths. All the integral transmissions of sacred wisdom and contemplative practice that survive the test of time are true

—

true in the sense that they function authentically and bear

the sweet fruit of sanctity.

All Spiritual Invitations

Come from

the

Same Host

Place your devotion whole-heartedly at the service of the ideal

most natural that

all

to your being, but ideals

spiritual

Presence.

Do

know with unwavering

certainty

same supreme

are expressions of the

not allow the slightest trace of malice to enter your

mind toward any manifestation of God or toward any practitioner who attempts to live in harmony with that Divine Manifestation. Kali, Krishna,

sions of the

Buddha, Christ, Allah

same

indivisible

—

these are

Consciousness and

revelatory initiatives of Divine Reality, not

Blessed

howl

is

the soul

who

has

known

that

all is

expres-

all full

These

Bliss.

manmade one, that

are

notions.

all

jackals

essentially alike.

On Awakening

c.

The Process ofAwakening

My dear friend, when you hear one of the glorious Divine Names be

Allah, Tara, Krishna, or whichever revealed

it

your heart

—

if tears

of ecstasy

Name is closest to

come spontaneously to your eyes or if

the sensation of weeping springs forth secretly in your heart this is authentic

confirmation that you are awakening.

.

.

.

You

.

.

.

will

not have to renounce the formalities of religion. Formalities of every kind will simply disappear from your being.

.

.

.

Even the

Names most intimate to you will eventually disappear, and you will commune directly with the One Reality, which precedes

Divine

and which emanates

all

names and forms. You

will

experience then

only a subtle resonance or a delicate radiance. .

.

.

Gradually yet inexorably, one

is

drawn

into the living heart

of worship. Simplification and intensification occur. Finally, the practice of religion

merges into the source of religion. One abides

43

4 4

HINDUISM blissfully in the

supreme Source, even

tinues to flow with

all

as this infinite fountain

the precious sacraments,

forms of worship and meditation ever revealed

to

all

con-

the powerful

humankind.

Xo Premature Presumption Yet the authentic practitioner never renounces prematurely the

precious disciplines of his tradition

—

prayers,

daily

ceremonial

worship, study and chanting of scriptures, silent meditation, and selfless service to fulfill the physical

The genuine

beings.

thentic renunciation to

is

full

one goal of true

awakening

as

Truth.

Craving for Personal Immortality

the

only true sacrifice to offer God.

progress,

needs of conscious

until actually reaching the

—complete God-consciousness,

Overcoming

The

spiritual

aspirant remains in a constant state of inward

and outward pilgrimage pilgrims

and

O

lovers of

God, the only au-

can clear away obstacles to spiritual

that

abandon once and

for

all

this constant drive for self-

perpetuation, this instinctive urge to survive and dominate which

manifests in so session with

mam

subtle and obvious forms

becoming holy

—including

the ob-

or elevated.

Seeing Through the World's Madness

Many

people cannot begin to

feel the life-giving attraction for

Divine Reality until they pass through the painful experiences aswith grasping

sociated

at

habitual

enjoyment.

This desperate

grasping includes selfishly accumulating material wealth, arrogantly cultivating power over others, and

welcoming

well as enjoying absurdly refined comforts and ever

diversions.

We

must unequivocally

flattery,

more

as

bizarre

see through this deceptive sur-

depth of ecstatic Divine Enjoyment.

face in order to enter the

Recharging Your Battery

To

cultivate love for

Truth one must occasionally come forth from

the conventional environment into spaciousness and tire

now and then

or heart,

month,

is

into blessed seclusion, even in one's

necessary

for a year.

clarity.

—

To

re-

own house

for several hours, for several days, for a

Swim

peacefully through clear waters of soli-

tude, illuminated bv the sunlight of Truth.

Then \ou

can return

GRACE NOTES compassionately to the denser, more obscure realms of social re-

without becoming disoriented by them.

sponsibility,

Spiritual Maturity

The mature

spiritual person,

remain involved

The

one who

truly awakened,

is

need not

in social responsibilities or religious observances.

sense that one must, or even can, initiate any action begins to

disappear as one realizes that only final fruition

God

This

acts.

realization

is

the

of all aspirations and disciplines.

Everyone Will Arrive Everyone

will attain

Some

God-consciousness and be liberated.

receive their meal early in the morning, others at noon,

others

still

not until evening. But none will go hungry. Without any exception, living beings will eventually

all

know

own

their

true nature to be

timeless awareness.

On the Nonduality of the Real

d.

Absolutely Not Two

My dear formless and nameless friend, the omnipresent process of creation and dissolution, the sheer

your

blissful

Mother.

The

cisely the

same Reality

Brahman

is

Absolute

is

nameless, formless Reality ...

that

is

The

reality.

realities.

They

pre-

perfectly peaceful

They

not different from the playful relative universe.

two

is

you perceive blossoming around you.

not different from shakti.

are simply not

same

dynamism of Divine Power,

are not

Nor

are they

two dimensions of the

even two perspectives. Not two!

Absolutely not two!

What Is Simply Brahman

is

Is!

a shoreless ocean. Shakti

pendent action of

its

waves. ...

is

the omnipresent, interde-

As long

as

Her

inscrutable Will

keeps consciousness manifest through the

human

tempted

—

to think that there are

two

realities

form, one

is

no such twoness whatsoever. There

knowledge separate from or opposed is

God But no, my

the formless

and these confusing mirror images called the universe. friend, there

is

no super-

to ordinary ignorance.

not day as a reality apart from night. There

is

is

There

only wholeness or

45

46

HINDUISM completeness

—beyond night

beyond ignorance or knowl-

or day,

edge, yet containing both, manifesting both.

How

to describe this

dynamic plenitude? Not with words from any scripture or philosophy.

What

A .

is

.

.

simply

is

Case of Mistaken Identity

This same Truth holds

The

any duality.

any

is!

conscious being. There never

for every

principle of awareness, atman, never engages in

although from this pure principle alone, the luminous,

activity,

When

transparent, insubstantial universe spontaneously unfolds. the practitioner

is

consciously identified, not with any expression

of awareness but with the living principle of awareness.

mains no sense of

good and istence.

evil,

and

.

there re-

involvement with polarities such

intrinsic

virtue

.

vice, self

However, when one

and

other, existence

as

and nonex-

identities with activity rather than

with principle, manifesting an ego that claims to generate various chains of events, then the tensions between polar opposites split that person's consciousness, creating various

forms of obvious and

subtle suffering.

Xondual Knowledge: Like Calmly Falling from

a Tree

Your very life-breath must become the conscious, timeless affirmation of Reality by Reality.

SOHAM, SOHAM,

the dualistic imagination perceives

makes

primordial affirmation.

this

knowledge

comparable

is

clearly aware,

without tensing

am

some separate .

to falling

I

.

.

The

from

a single

a

Only

It, It is I.

practitioner

actual state of

who

nondual

high tree and remaining

muscle or feeling the

slight-

est anxiety.

Seeing

God Everywhere

After God-realization, which fest

the conscious union of the mani-

is

with the Unmanifest, the same Reality

mensions of being and of Being

—

is

experienced as

also as the dimensionless

Ground

all

di-

or Source

the open space of unconditioned awareness. Every con-

scious being

we gaze upon

structures as well are

is

God.

Manifestation, surprising as subtle nervous system

—

then perceived to be God. Inanimate .

it

.

.

But the most complete Divine

may seem,

a potential

is

this

human

reality, this

expanse of illumination greater

GRACE NOTES than the physical cosmos and greater then the eternal heavenly realms.

The Mystery of Evil

e.

You may

"How, then, can we

ask:

caused misery,

rally

The answer

is

human

that these

arrive at any explanation of natu-

viciousness, pervasive unhappiness?"

forms of suffering, which one sincerely

struggles to overcome, are experienced by individual awareness but

not by the very principle of awareness, which remains ever-free, ever-blissful.

is

venom

which may be used

die or is

There

in the snake that

may

cause others to

as a healing medicine, but this substance

neither poison nor medicine to the snake.

26. a.

Ramana Maharshi Why Cover the World with Leather When You Can Wear Shoes?

mind is happy, not only the body but the whole world will be happy. So one must find out how to become happy oneself. If the

Wanting

to

reform the world without discovering one's true self is

like trying to

cover the whole world with leather to avoid the pain

of walking on stones and thorns.

b.

We

much

simpler to wear shoes.

The Point of Religious Practices loosely talk of Self-realization, for lack of a better term.

how can one give

It is

up our

realize that

which alone

is

real? All

habit of regarding as real that

which

gious practices are meant solely to help us do

c.

we need is

to

do

But is

to

unreal. All reli-

this.

On the Nonduality of the Real Reality Is Always Already Here and

There

is

though

no greater mystery than

in fact

we

are reality.

We

this, that

Now we keep seeking

think that there

is

something hid-

ing reality and that this must be destroyed before reality

How

ridiculous!

A

reality

day will dawn when you will laugh

is

gained.

at all

your

47

48

HINDUISM past efforts.

That which

will

be on the day you laugh

is

also here

and now

Nothing but Grace God's grace

is

the beginning, the middle and the end.

pray for God's grace, you are water and yet crying for water.

deep

like

When

you

someone standing neck-deep

It is like

saying that

in

someone neck-

in water feels thirsty, or that a fish in water feels thirsty, or

that water feels thirsty.

CHAPTER TWO

Buddhism

B ]

years since that light was kindled

uddhism has been called the Light of Asia.

in ancient India, it

In the 2600 has suffused a

wide array of cultures and has been refracted by their palette of indigenous

Through

beliefs.

its

many forms

the Buddhist tradition has

had

an incalculably vast influence on the metaphysical imagination, the moral bearing, and the aesthetic Asia,

and in

the last

sensibility

hundred years

as fecund for the West. For two

it

of the diverse peoples of

has shown itself to be potentially

and a half millennia Buddhism has

il-

lumined the minds and lightened the hearts of the world's peoples, the sophisticated tion

alike.

The source of this remarkable irradia-

was a man, Siddhartha Gotama, called the Buddha or Awakened

One. There

and

and simple

the

is

no better

way

to

begin an understanding

Dharma (Way of Truth)

legend of his

life.

of the Buddha

he taught than with the instructive

50

BUDDHISM

THE INSTRUCTIVE LEGENt) OF THE BUDDHA'S LIFE •

1

.

His Miraculous Birth

There

once upon a time a king of the Shakyas, a scion of the

lived

whose name was Shuddhodana.

solar race,

who was

called Great

.

.

.

He had

.

Maya. These two tasted of

and one day she conceived the defilement.

.

a wife

.

.

love's delights,

of her womb, but without any

fruit

A

Just before her conception she had a dream.

.

.

white elephant seemed to enter her body, but without causing her

any pain.

She

.

set

.

.

her heart on going to Lumbini, a delightful grove. [The

newborn babe] came out of his mother's pain or injury.

.

.

And

.

since he had for

in the practice of meditation,

meaning

was born,

for the

without causing her

many aeons been engaged

he now was born in

and not thoughtless and bewildered these words full of

side,

awareness,

as other people are. [He] spoke

for the future:

good of all that

full

lives.

"For enlightenment

I

the last time that

I

This

is

have been born into this world of becoming."

2.

The Visit of the Wise Man

Then

Asita, the great seer,

birth of [the Buddha].

.

came

to the palace. ...

for in his trance

.

miraculous signs which had attended his eyelashes the seer

these words: "It

is

.

.

.

it.

not for him that

birth,

which

will give

which

when he

is

hemmed

up

is

is

he had perceived the

With

I

am

born who

perturbed, but

come when

as

to

I

I

am

.

.

.

must pass

shall discover the extinction

his

kingdom. By strenuous

To

those

who

efforts

of

by their worldly concerns, who are

travellers

scorched by the

fire

who have

of greed. ...

he

will

win that

are tormented with pains and

tracks of Samsara, he shall proclaim the path tion,

on

tears flickering

so hard to win. Uninterested in worldly affairs he

truly real. ... in

of the

explained his agitation to the king in

disappointed for myself. For the time has away, just

He knew

lost

He

lost in the desert

which leads

to salva-

way.

Creatures are

will refresh

them with the

their

LEGEND OF THE BUDDHA'S LIFE rain of the

when

cloud

• 3.

Dharma, which

is

copious

the rain from a mighty

like

the summer's burning heat

over."

is

The Prisoner of Pleasure

Since the king

.

.

.

had

.

.

.

heard from Asita that the supreme beat-

itude would be the prince's future goal, he tried to

tie

him down by

sensual pleasures, so that he might not go away into the forest.

him

selected for

by name, chaste and out-

... a maiden, Yasodhara

standing for her beauty.

The monarch

.

.

He

.

decided that his son must never see anything that

could perturb his mind, and he arranged for him to

upper storeys of the palace, which was

.

.

.

live in the

brilliantly white. ... It

contained rooms suited to each season, and the melodious music of the female attendants could be heard in them.

from gold-edged tambourines which the finger-tips,

and they danced

.

.

women

.

Soft music

tapped with their

as beautifully as the choicest heavenly

nymphs. They entertained him with

soft words,

wanton swayings,

sweet laughter, butterfly kisses, and seductive glances.

came

women who were

a captive of these

Thus he

him

come down. a son, who was named Rahula.

to

Yasodhara bore ...

4.

.

The First Three Passing

.

be-

well versed in the subject

of sensuous enjoyment and indefatigable in sexual pleasure. did not occur to

came

And

it

.

Sights:

.

.

.

Old Age, Disease,

and Death a.

The Prince Ventures Out

In the course of time,

.

.

.

feeling like an elephant locked

a house, [Siddhartha] set his heart

The

palace. sion.

.

.

.

affliction

He

on making

up

inside

a journey outside the

king heard of his plans and arranged a pleasure excurgave orders that

all

the

common

folk

with any kind of

should be kept away from the royal road, because he

51

— 52

BUDDHISM feared that they might agitate the prince's sensitive mind. Very

gently

cripples were driven away, and

all

aged, ailing, and the royal

b.

and

like,

also

all

all

who were

those

crazy,

wretched beggars. So the

highway was supremely magnificent.

He Confronts the Inevitability of Decay

But

as fate

would have

a bent,

it,

toothless,

pears on the roadside. Stunned by the

sight,

and haggard old man apPrince Siddhartha asks his

The charioteer responds:

charioteer to explain this oddity.

"Sweet Prince! This

no other than an aged man.

is

Some

fourscore years ago his back was straight,

His eye bright, and

The

his

body goodly: now

thievish years have sucked his sap away,

Pillaged his strength and filched his will and wit;

His lamp has

lost its oil, the

wick burns black;

What life he keeps is one poor lingering spark Which flickers for the finish: such is age." Then spake the Prince "But shall this come to others, or to all, Or is it rare that one should be as he?" .

.

.

"Most Will

noble," answered Channa, "even as he,

all

these

grow

if

they shall

live so long."

"But," quoth the Prince, "if I shall Shall

I

be thus; and

if

Live fourscore years, .

.

.

Yasodhara

is

this old age for her.

.

?"

.

charioteer replied.

The Prince Responds

[The

prince:]

"So

that

is

how

old age destroys indiscriminately the

memory, beauty and strength of all! And it

long

"Yea, great Sir!"

The c.

live as

the world goes on quite unperturbed.

travel

back quickly to our palace!

parks

when my

went back into

heart

is full

his palace

yet with

such a sight before

Turn round the horses and

How can I delight to walk about in

of fear of ageing?"

.

.

.

which now seemed empty

And

the prince

to him.

.

.

.

LEGEND OF THE BUDDHA'S LIFE On a second pleasure excursion [he saw] a man with a diseased body. When this fact was explained to him, [he] was dismayed and in his

then

compassion he uttered these words the calamity of disease, which

is

have learnt of the danger of

illness,

afflicts

my

low voice: "This

in a

heart

people!

.

.

Since

.

I

repelled by plea-

is

sures and seems to shrink into itself."

On a third

excursion [he saw] a

against the top of the chariot voice:

"This

is

world forgets

rail,

corpse.

.

.

Leaning

.

he spoke these words in a forceful

the end which has been fixed for

its

fears

his shoulder

and

all,

yet the

men

and takes no heed! The hearts of

are

surely hardened to fears, for they feel quite at ease even while travelling along the road to the next

no time or place

5.

life.

the prince withdrew from contact with the in

answer to the reproaches of Udayin, the

new

king's counsellor, he explained his

words: "It

is

not that

well that they

I

call

impermanence of everything in

this world,

then

this loveliness

world looks to

then

ried

plowed.

into the countryside.

The plows had

torn

.

.

.

There he saw grass

who had been

sight of

.

.

.

exist,

..."

His longing

up the sprouting

this grieved the prince.

fire.

him some

land was littered with tiny creatures all

can find no de-

Insight

palace with the king's consent.

him deep

full

pleasure. [But] the

In the hope that a visit to the forest might bring left his

I

an all-consuming

The Discovery of Meditative

know

and death did not

would surely give me great

me as if ablaze with

I

when I consider

the 'world,' but

Yes, if this triad of old age, illness,

it.

all

attitude in the following

despise the objects of sense, and

make up what we

light in

he

is

A World on Fire

women in the palace, and

6.

This

chariot!

for pleasure excursions. ..."

From then onwards

the

Turn back the

He

.

peace, .

.

.

killed.

car-

being

soil .

.

and the .

.

.

The

observed the plowmen,

saw how they suffered from the wind, sun, and dust and how the oxen were worn down by the labour of drawing. ...

He

reflected

53

54

BUDDHISM on the generation and the passing of he said

distress

to himself:

His mind longed spot

at

"How

He withdrew

for solitude.

the foot of a rose-apple tree.

then he worked on his mind in such

When

and concentrated.

he had

he was suddenly freed from

He

cares of any kind.

which

all

.

There he

.

.

a

... to a solitary

way

.

.

.

won through

When

had reached the

which normally

strength, youth, and vitality.

and

became

it

stable

mental stability

to

desire for sense-objects and from

he thus gained insight ... he

self-intoxication,

re-

that lives,

all

that

down,

sat

first

stage of [absorption],

calm amidst applied and discursive thinking.

is

in his

pitiful all this!"

on the origination and passing away of

flected

and

living things,

all

lost at the

arises

He now

.

.

.

same moment

from pride

all

own

in one's

was neither glad nor grieved;

doubt, lassitude, and sleepiness disappeared; sensuous excite-

all

ments could no longer influence him; and hatred and contempt

for

others were far from his mind.

The Fourth Passing

7.

.

.

.

He

saw ...

Sight: The Religious Mendicant

a religious mendicant [and] asked him: "Tell

you are," and the answer was: homeless state in

life to

win

"I

am

salvation. ...

which extinction

is

I

8.

may

I

has adopted a

search for that most blessed

unknown. Possessions

expectations either. Intent on the supreme goal

cepting alms

who

a recluse

me who

I

I

have none, no

wander about,

ac-

receive."

The Great Going Forth

There and then [Siddhartha] made plans homeless

life.

.

.

.

He

to leave his palace for the

decided to escape during the night.

descended from the upper part of the palace, looked

women

lying about in

tatingly

went

all

.

.

.

.

.

.

upon

He the

kinds of disorderly positions, and unhesi-

to the stables in the

outermost courtyard.

Chandaka, the groom, and ordered him

to

He

roused

bring the horse

Kanthaka.

They rode

off, till

they came to a hermitage, where the prince

took off his jewels, gave them to Chandaka, and dismissed

him

LEGEND OF THE BUDDHA'S LIFE with this message to his father

be dispelled,

tell

him

.

that I have

.

"So

:

.

gone

my

that

father's grief may

penance grove for the

to this

purpose of putting an end to old age and death, and by no means yearn for Paradise, or because

because

I

or from

moody

grieve for me.

resentment.

.

.

.

There

me to leave for the forest. But vent me from leaving my kinsfolk for

.

.

due course death would say.

.

.

.

if

it

was too early

affection should pre-

now of my own accord, in and in that we would have no

tear us apart,

end

The meeting

of

in their parting.

all

living beings

—

must

likewise in-

This world passes away and disap-

to have a sense of ownership for people

dream

that

just

points the hopes of everlasting attachment.

a

him,

no reason why he should

even

.

for

Birds settle on a tree for a while, and then go their separate

ways again. evitably

is

My father will perhaps say

.

.

.

no affection

I feel

for a short while only

It is

therefore unwise

who are united with us as in

and not

in fact."

Siddhartha now studies under two ofthe greatest yogis of the

Kalama and Uddalaka Ramaputta. But even

time,

Alara

after mastering the

highest contemplative states that they teach, he finds that the spiritual liberation he senses

possible has not yet been attained.

is

He then

turns to

bodily mortification.

^>

The Rejection of Self-Torture

9.

as a

Way to

Liberation

He

.

.

.

embarked upon further

austerities,

starvation. In his desire for quietude

years and carried out a

number of

and particularly on

he emaciated his body for

strict

methods of

fasting.

six

The

bulk of his body was greatly reduced by this self-torture, but by

way of compensation

more and more.

.

.

his psychic

.

After a time, however,

wore out

torture merely

reasoned as follows:

.

under the rose-apple

1

.

See selection no.

6,

powers grew correspondingly

.

.

his

became

clear to

him

body without any useful

that

.

1

that

was more certain

.

.

self-

result. ...

That method which some time ago

tree,

above.

it

I

He

found

in its results.

But

55

56

BUDDHISM those meditations cannot be carried out in this weakened condi-

must

tion; therefore I this body.

.

.

take steps to increase again the strength of

.

Inward calm

is

needed

maintained unless physical strength replenished. strain

Only

if

the body

is

constantly and intelligently

is

reasonably nourished can undue

on the mind be avoided.

The Vow Beneath

10.

Inward calm cannot be

for success!

the Tree

From a compassionate cowherd woman, Siddhartha much offending five companion

rice-milk,

But Siddhartha, now

gust.

which

tree,

He

is

soon

to

ascetics

receives

who depart

tree or tree

change

this position so

And he

.

.

long as

I

of a

of enlightenment.

then adopted the cross-legged posture, which .

in dis-

nourished, positions himself at the foot

become the bodhi

because so immovable.

a meal of

is

the best of

all

said to himself: "I shall not

have not done what

I set

out to do!"

The Defeat of Mara

11.

Because the great Sage tion

.

.

.

Mara

.

.

.

.

.

had made

.

shook with

events connected with a

thought of freedom.

life

He had

Mania, and Sullen Pride

fright.

his

vow

[Mara

of passion

.

.

is] .

to

win emancipa-

the one

who

his three

rules

hates the very

— daughters—Discontent,

with him his three sons

—and

who

Agitation,

Excitement, and Craving. These asked him why he was so disconcerted in his mind.

And he

replied to

them

in these

words: "Look

He

over there at that sage, clad in the armor of determination. sat

down with

Mara

's

sons

move him

the firm intention of conquering

my realm.

has

." .

.

and daughters invade Siddhartha's mind, attempting

to

he remains calm, unshaken by fear or

to terror or lust, but

desire.

Mara could and

his

army were

2. Literally,

a

achieve nothing against the Bodhisattva, defeated,

.

.

.

39, below.

and he

their elation gone, their toil ren-

"wisdom-being," the term refers to one who

Buddha. See selection

2

is

on the way

to

becoming

LEGEND OF THE BUDDHA'S LIFE dered

fruitless.

.

.

.

The

great seer, free from the dust of passion,

victorious over darkness' gloom, had vanquished him.

The

12.

Nibbana

Realization of Nibbana (Nirvana) often considered the ultimate goal

is

of Buddhist endeavor.

Its

attainment removes the mind's last traces of craving and aversion and it fully

frees

and finally from

the

round of rebirth. See

selection 34, this

chapter.

The Progress of Insight

a.

Now

he had defeated Mara's violence by his firmness and

that

Bodhisattva

the

calm,

.

.

.

put himself into trance, intent on

discerning both the ultimate reality of things and the final goal of existence.

.

.

.

In xh^ first match of the night he recollected the successive series

of his former births. "There was ceased from there

I

came here"

—

in this

way he remembered thou-

sands of births, as though living them over again.

own births and deaths mind towards other living

recalled his

sionate

my name; de-

so and so; that was

I

.

.

.

When

he had

the Sage turned his compas-

beings, and he thought to

him-

self:

"Again and again they must leave the people they regard as

their

own, and must go elsewhere, and that without ever stopping.

Surely this world

is

unprotected and helpless, and

wheel

like a

it

turns round and round." ... In the second watch of the night ... he looked tire

world as though reflected in a spotless mirror.

upon

He

the en-

saw that the

decease and rebirth of beings depend on whether they have done superior and inferior deeds.

Then

.

.

.

as the third watch of that night

drew on

[he] turned his

meditation to the real and essential nature of this world: "Alas, ing beings wear themselves out in vain! are born, they age, die, pass

on

to a

new

Over and over again they life,

and are reborn!"

then surveyed the twelve links of conditioned co-production. 3

3.

Or "dependent

origination." See 29, below.

liv-

He

57

58

BUDDHISM When

comprehended

the great seer had

that

where there

is

no

ignorance whatever, there also the karma-formations are stopped

—then he had achieved

knowledge of

a correct

known, and he stood out

all

there

world as a Buddha.

in the

is

He

to

be

passed

through the eight stages of transic insight, and quickly reached

From

summit of the world downwards he no self anywhere. Like the fire, when its fuel is burnt

their highest point.

could detect up, he

became

to himself:

tranquil.

"This

the

He had reached perfection, and he thought Way on which

the authentic

is

in the past so

many great seers have travelled on to ultimate and And now I have obtained it!" At that moment, in the fourth watch of the night .

.

.

breezes blew

show reverence

.

a cloudless sky, flowers

trees out of season

—

in an effort, as

.

pleasant

and it

fruits

were, to

for him.

The Buddha Rejoices

b. It

from

softly, rain fell

dropped from the

real truth.

.

is

moment

said that at this

the

Buddha

uttered the following

ofjoy:

Through many

a birth I

wandered

in this world,

Seeking in vain the builder of this house. Unfulfilling

it is

to

be born again and again.

O housemaker! Now I have seen you! You

shall build

All your

beams

Your ridgepole

no more houses

for

me!

are broken, is

shattered.

My mind is freed from all past conditionings, And

craves the future no longer.

In Praise of Liberty

c.

I,

Buddha, who wept with

Whose

all

my brother's

heart was broken by a whole world's woe,

Laugh and am Ho! ye who

glad, for there suffer!

is

Liberty!

know

Ye suffer from yourselves. None

None

tears,

else

compels

other holds you that ye live and die,

paean

LEGEND OF THE BUDDHA'S LIFE And

upon

whirl

the wheel, and

kiss

spokes of agony.

Its

Buddha Decides

After Hesitating, the

13.

hug and

to

Teach

The Hesitation

a.

For seven days he dwelt there

—

his

body gave him no

trouble, his

own mind. He thought: "Here I have found freedom," and he knew that the longings of his He surveyed the world heart had at last come to fulfillment. with his Buddha-eye, intent on giving it peace. When, however, he

eyes never closed, and he looked into his

.

.

saw on the one side the world

lost in

low views and confused ef-

covered with the dirt of passions, and saw on the

forts, thickly

Dharma

other side the exceeding subtlety of the

he

felt

.

of emancipation,

But when he weighed up the

inclined to take no action.

nificance of the pledge to enlighten

all

sig-

beings he had taken in the

he became again more favorable to the idea of proclaiming the

past,

path to Peace.

b.

The Buddha's Decision

[And he

resolved:] Yet there are beings

whose eyes are only

a little

covered with dust: they will understand the truth.

14.

He

The Buddha's First Encounter had

alone. ...

ment

.

.

and now, calm and majestic, went on

fulfilled his task,

.

A

mendicant

.

.

.

"The

said to him:

but yours have been tamed.

saw him on the road and

senses of others are restless like horses,

Who then is your teacher?".

"No teacher have I. Dharma won. That is

replied:

the

.

.

now on my way

.

wonder-

in

.

the reason

.

to Varanasi.

Quite by myself, you

.

.

.

.

There

I

am

a

.

.

see,

But he have

Buddha. ...

I

I

am

shall I beat the deathless

Dharma's drum, unmoved by pride, untempted by renown. Having myself crossed the ocean of suffering, I must help others to cross

it.

Freed myself,

I

must

set others free. ..."

59

60

BUDDHISM Thus begun, the Buddha's teaching career spans the next forty-five years. The content of that teaching will he outlined below, under "Core

We

Doctrines."

with accounts of the Buddha's

close this section

fi rial

hours and last words.

"Mv Death

15.

He

Is

an Occasion

then went to Kushinagara, bathed in the

order to Ananda: "Arrange

Go

Nirvana!" ...

For they

and

tell

will regret

for

me between

it

4

this

those twin Sal

will enter [final]

the Mallas [a clan of that vicinity] about later

on

if

they did not

now

witness the

."

Nirvana.

[final]

couch

a

and gave

river,

course of the night the Tathagata

trees! In the

it.

for Toy"

.

.

The Mallas, their faces covered with tears, came along to see the Sage. They paid homage to Him, and then, anguish in their mind, stood around Him. And the Sage spoke to them as follows: "In the hour of joy priate,

win is

.

.

not proper to grieve. Your despair

it is

and you should regain your composure! The .

there

now at last is no longer far away. When that room for grief then in your minds? ... At

enlightenment,

emerge from the you

won

is

ill,

vast

.

.

the time .

.

.

.

I

how won

Now

is

on

its

Now

way

out.

body, which

at last this .

and endless suffering

.

.

—

Now is

that at last

is

indeed

a fact that salvation

sight of

Me.

Yoga. ...

A man

the physician

and

that the time for

It

is

cannot come from the mere

demands strenuous must

efforts

in

the practice of

take medicine to be cured; the

not enough.

try to control your

.

.

.

minds!

mere

sight of

Therefore be energetic, persevere,

Do

good deeds, and

win

try to

mindfulness!"

4.

I

to grieve?

"It

.

the

get rid also of this body, the dwelling place

I

of the acts accumulated in the past.

much

hard to

goal, so

got rid of the causes of becoming.

I

hour comes near when

harbours so

quite inappro-

is

.

.

But

still

Another name

the tears continued to pour from their eyes.

for the

Buddha, meaning "one who has thus gone.

.

.

.

LEGEND OF THE BUDDHA'S LIFE

The Buddha's Final Instructions

16.

Nothing Held Back

a.

The

Venerable Ananda went up to him, paid his respects, sat

Lord

down

am] a

little

comforted

by the thought that the Lord would not pass away

until

he had

to

one side and spoke

his instructions

to the

thus: "[I

left

concerning the Order."

"What, Ananda! Does the Order expect

that of

me?

I

have

taught the truth without making any distinction between exoteric

and esoteric doctrines;

for with the Tathagata there

as the closed fist of the teacher

Let

b.

who keeps some

is

things back."

My Teaching Be Your Refuge

You might

think:

"Gone

(dhamma) and the Discipline (vinaya) which

have

for the

Law

I

have taught you, will

my death be your master.

The Law be your The Law be your Look

c.

We

the doctrine of our master.

is

Master no more." But thus you should not think;

after

no such thing

for

Hold firm

refuge

no other refuge!

"Be Your

So, Ananda,

isle,

Own Lamps"

you must be your own lamps, be your own refuges.

to the truth as a

lamp and a refuge and do not look

refuge to anything besides yourselves.

lamp by continually looking on

moods and

ideas in such a

A monk

manner

possessed and collected in mind.

now

or

when

I

am

becomes

his

.

.

for

own

his body, feelings, perceptions,

that he

and depressions of ordinary persons and

this, either

.

conquers the cravings

is

always diligent, self-

Whoever among my monks does

dead,

if

he

is

anxious to learn, will

reach the summit.

d.

The

Mission: For the Happiness of Many

Go your ways, oh monks,

for the benefit of many, for the happiness

of many, out of compassion for the world, for the good, benefit and

61

62

BUDDHISM happiness of gods and men. No' two should go in the same direc-

Teach the

tion.

Dhamma

which

the middle, and in the end

is

—both

Make known your own pure way

beneficent in the beginning, in the spirit and the letter of

it.

of life.

The Last Words of the Buddha

17.

Impermanent Observe

are

all

formations.

this carefully, constantly.

THE REBEL SAINT: The Buddha's Attitude Toward Authority, Ritual,

and Moot Points

The Buddha 's pragmatic concern

ical emphasis on self-transformation

tain

common

aspects

belief in the efficacy

and his psycholog-

to relieve suffering

made him pointedly

of religion, including blind

critical

of cer-

reliance on authority,

of ritual, and windy debate about unanswerable

questions.

*

Proper to Doubt: See for Yourselves

18.

It Is

It is

proper ... to doubt, to be uncertain.

.

.

.

Do not go upon

what

has been acquired by repeated hearing; nor upon tradition; nor

upon rumour; nor upon what consideration,

"The monk

is

is

in a scripture;

.

.

.

nor upon the

our teacher." [Rather] when you

yourselves know: "These things are bad; [when] undertaken and

observed, these things lead to [Likewise]

when you

harm and

ill,"

abandon them.

yourselves know: "These things are good;

[when] undertaken and observed, these things lead to benefit and happiness," enter on and abide in them.

19. a.

To

Against Ritual

Dubious Efficacy seek to win peace through others, as priests or sacrificers,

same

as if a stone

is

the

were thrown into deep water, and now people,

THE REBEL SAINT praying and imploring and folding their hands, came and knelt

down

all

around saying: "Rise,

O dear stone! Come to the surface,

O dear stone!" But the stone remains at the bottom. Right Action, Not Ritual, Ennobles

b.

If this river

.

.

the other side

bank, and

were

.

.

say,

.

.

full

of water

.

.

.

and a man with business on

standing on this bank, should invoke the further

"Come

hither,

O

come

further bank!

over to this

side!"

Now

what think you? Would the further bank ... by reason of

man's invoking and praying and hoping and praising, come

that

over to this side?

same way

... In just the

...

do the Brahmans

[priestly caste],

omitting the practice of those qualities which really [noble]

and adopting the practice of those

make people

we

call

[ignoble], say thus: "Indra

upon!" [The thought

that] they,

we

qualities call

in

no wise

—

verily

.

.

.

really

Brahma

after death

.

.

.

be-

be.

Time on Ineluctably

The Ten Unanswered Questions and

a.

which

such a condition of things can

Against Wasting Precious Moot Points

20.

upon

a person

by reason of their invoking

and praying and hoping and praising, would,

come united with Brahma

make

the Parable of the

Arrow

Now

it

happened

to the venerable

Malunkyaputta, being in seclu-

sion and plunged in meditation, that a consideration presented self to his

has

left

mind, as

follows:

"These theories

... the Blessed

it-

One

unexplained, has set aside and rejected:

that the world

is

that the world

is finite

that the soul

is

that the person

eternal or not

or not

one thing and the body another, or not

who

has achieved Nirvana exists after death, or

does not exist after death, or both, or neither.

63

64

BUDDHISM .

.

.

And

me does

the fact that the Blessed

smeared with poison, and kinsfolk,

man were

were

his friends

to procure for

him

a physician

.

.

.

his relatives

and the

arrow taken out until

man who wounded me

Brahmin

caste, or to the

an arrow thickly

and companions,

to say, "I will not have this

whether the

learnt

these is-

replies:

man had been wounded by

It is as if ... a

and

Buddha and addresses

takes himself to the

The Buddha

sues to him.

does not explain them to

me or suit me.

not please

So Malunkyaputta

One

I

sick

have

belonged to the warrior

caste, or to the agricultural caste or to the

menial caste."

Or until

I

again he were to say, "I will not have this arrow taken out

have learnt the

name of the man who wounded me, and

to

what clan he belongs."

Or until

again he were to say, "I will not have this arrow taken out

I

have learnt whether the

until

I

tall,

or

middle height."

short, or of the

Or

man who wounded me was

again he were to say, "I will not have this arrow taken out

have learnt whether the

man who wounded me was black,

or

dusky or of a yellow skin."

Or until

again he were to say, "I will not have this arrow taken out

have learnt whether the

I

town, or

this or that village, or

Many

man who wounded me was from

city."

other possibilities are mentioned.

That man would learned

[all] this.

.

The

religious

life

.

Malunkyaputta, without ever having

die,

.

.

.

.

does not depend on [the answer to these

questions].

Accordingly

.

.

.

explained and what

bear always in it is

that

I

mind what

have explained.

it is

I

that

I

have not

have not explained

[any of the aforementioned issues].

And what

.

.

.

have

I

explained? Misery have

origin of misery, the cessation of misery,

cessation of misery have

I

explained.

I

explained; the

and the path leading

to the

CORE DOCTRINES Other Unwise Considerations

b.

And

unwisely [an aspirant] considers thus: "Have

past? Or, have

How

have

I

not been in the past?

—

change in the past?

What

the future? future?.

.

Shall

shall I

I

been in the

What have I been

been in the past? From what

I

I

state into

be in the future? Or

be in the future?

How

in the past?

what

state did I

shall I not

shall

I

be in

be in the

."

CORE DOCTRINES: The Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, and Other Basic

Buddhist Concepts

The Four Noble Truths and

21.

From

the

the Eightfold Path

Buddha's first sermon, "Setting Rolling the Wheel of Truth."

The Four Truths

a.

Suffering, as a noble truth,

is this:

Birth

is

suffering, ageing

fering, sickness is suffering, death is suffering,

pain

.

.

and despair are

.

from the loved

one wants

—

suffering

clinging's objects.

Thus

sorrow and

.

suffering, association with the loathed

suffering, dissociation is

suf-

is

is

suffering, not to get

in short suffering

is

.

.

is

what

the five [groups] of

5

of suffering, as

the origin

a

noble truth,

is this: It is

the

craving that produces renewal of being, accompanied by enjoyment

and

lust

—

in other words, craving for sensual desires, craving for

being, craving for non-being. Cessation of suffering, as a noble truth,

fading and ceasing,

5.

The

five skandhas,

See no. 27, below.

.

.

.

letting

is this: It is

remainderless

go and rejecting, of that same craving.

or "groups of existence" that

make up

a

human

individual.

65

66

BUDDHISM 77?^

way

leading to the cessation of suffering, as a noble truth

simply the eightfold noble path

this: It is

is

[of] right view, right inten-

mind-

tion, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right

fulness, right concentration.

Their Centrality

b.

As long

as the

.

.

true knowledge and insight as regards these

.

Four Noble Truths was not quite that

I

clear in

me, so long was

had won that supreme Enlightenment.

.

.

.

But

as

I

not sure

soon

as the

true knowledge and insight as regards these Four Noble Truths

had become perfectly clear that I

22.

in

me, there arose

in

me

the assurance

had won that supreme Enlightenment unsurpassed.

The Eightfold Path

as the

Middle Way

Also from the Buddha 's first sermon, "Setting Rolling the Wheel of Truth

":

Monks, these two extremes ought not forth

in the objects

vulgar, ignoble,

and leads

torment, which

is

gives knowledge,

nibbana.

And what

fold path.

.

.

.

23.

Karma

a.

Volition

of sensual desire, which

to

no good; and there

painful, ignoble,

The middle way

It is

be cultivated by one gone-

from the home-life. What are the two? There

dulgence ...

it

to

.

.

to

it

that

.

.

.

is inferior,

devotion to

inlow, self-

no good.

avoids both these extremes;

.

and is

and leads

is

is

it

gives vision,

leads to peace, to direct acquaintance to

middle way?

It is

simply the noble eight-

[See 21a.]

volition that

I

call

"karma." Having willed, one [then] acts by

body, speech, and mind.

CORE DOCTRINES b.

Deeds

All beings are the owners of their deeds (karma), the heirs of their

womb

deeds; their deeds are the

—good

Whatever deeds they do

from which they sprang.

or evil

—of such they

will

.

.

.

be the

heirs.

c.

Ignorance and Craving

Truly, because beings, obstructed by ignorance and ensnared by craving, seek ever fresh delight, fresh rebirth continually

comes

to be.

The Three Poisons:

24.

And

the action

sion,

.

fruits

.

that

25.

Samsara Its

.

.

done out of greed, hatred and delu-

it

in this

life,

one experiences the

or the next

life,

or in

some

fu-

.

Inconceivable Beginnings

Inconceivable is

is

this action ripens there

of this action, be

life.

ered

.

wherever

.

ture

a.

.

.

Greed, Hatred, Delusion

any

is

first

the beginning of this Samsara; not to be discov-

beginning of beings,

who

obstructed by ignorance

and ensnared by craving, are hurrying and hastening through

this

round of rebirths.

b.

The Tears Shed on This Long Way

Which do you

think

is

wailing you have shed

more: the flood of tears, which weeping and

upon

this

long way

—hurrying and hasten-

ing through this round of rebirths, united with the undesired, separated from the desired

—

this,

or the waters of the four oceans?

67

68

BUDDHISM Long have you

suffered the death of father and mother, of sons,

daughters, brothers and

you have indeed shed more

ing, is

And

sisters.

tears

whilst you were thus suffer-

upon

this

long way than there

water in the four oceans.

The Three Marks of Existence

26.

All formations are

impermanent

[anicca]; all formations are subject

to suffering [dukkha]; all things are

The Five Skandhas or Groups of Existence

27.

The skandhas are

the

Buddha's fivefold

and mental factors comprising local interaction

And

classification

of the physical

reality; unrefiective persons mistake the

of these factors for an ego or personality.

what, in brief, are the Five Groups of Existence?

materiality, sensation, perception,

moods and

thoughts.

They

are

6

Anatta or Without-a-Self

28.

Anatta

we

"without a self" [anatta].

a fundamental Buddhist doctrine. It suggests thatjust as what

is

designate by the

and so

shaft, motor,

or "I"

is

name

car has no existence apart from axle, wheels,

on, that

which we conventionally designate person

nothing hut a continually shifting combination of impersonal

physical and mental phenomena.

Suppose the

a person

Ganges

who was not

as they drove along.

blind beheld the .

.

.

many bubbles on

After he had carefully watched

them and examined them they would appear

to

him empty, unreal

and unsubstantial. In exactly the same way does the student of the

Buddha behold

all

corporeal phenomena, sensations, perceptions,

moods, and thoughts. ...

6.

Adapted;

tions,

and

my

He

watches them, examines them care-

source uses the terms corporeality, feeling, perception, mental forma-

consciousness.

CORE DOCTRINES fully;

him

and, after carefully examining them, they appear to

empty, void and without a self

29.

Dependent Origination

The doctrine of dependent origination doctrine.

is

the counterpart

of the anatta

Because all processes are empty-of-self they cocondition and

codetermine each other. Accordingly, reality

is

a vast field of mutually

conditioning events.

a.

The Buddha on the

Centrality of Dependent

Origination

Who sees Dependent Origination sees the Dhamma 7 who sees the Dhamma sees Dependent Origination. ;

b.

The Basic Formula

This body, monks, should be regarded

is

not yours, nor does

[as the

product

through what has been willed and

of]

felt.

it

to be;

In regard to

from the arising of this, that

itself:

it,

the [wise

If this

is,

that

arises; if this is not, that

does not come to be; from the stopping of this, that

c.

It

former karma, effected

person] reflects on Dependent Origination

comes

belong to others.

is

stopped.

The Twelve Links of the Chain of Dependent Origination

Conditioned by ignorance are the karma-formations; conditioned

by the karma-formations sciousness

is

is

consciousness; conditioned by con-

mind-and-body; conditioned by mind-and-body are

the six sense-fields 8 ; conditioned by the six sense-fields

impression; conditioned by sense-impression tioned by feeling

is

Or Dharma

8.

In Buddhism,

tongue senses

(Sanskrit); that

mind

tastes.

is

is

is,

sense

feeling; condi-

craving; conditioned by craving

conditioned by grasping

7.

is

is

is

grasping;

becoming; conditioned by becoming

the

Way

the sixth sense.

of Truth.

It

"senses" thoughts in the same way a

is

69

70

BUDDHISM by birth there come into being ageing and

birth; conditioned

dying, grief, sorrow, suffering, lamentation and despair. This

the

mass of suffering.

origin of the whole

And now

is

the reversal

of this process:

But from the stopping of ignorance

is

karma-formations [and so on until we come

the stopping of the

to] the

stopping of the

whole mass of suffering. d.

The Image of Dependent Origination:

This great imaginary net ...

Indra's Net

is

to

be visualized ... as stretching

throughout the entire universe:

its

vertical extension representing

time;

its

horizontal, space.

At every point where the

net's threads

interconnect [every point-instant of existence], one imagines a crystal

bead symbolizing an individual existence. Each one of these

innumerable crystal beads

reflects

on

its

surfaces not only every

other bead in the net but every reflection of every other bead, thus creating numberless, endless reflections of each other while form-

ing one complete and total whole.

30. I

The Five Precepts

undertake to observe the precept to abstain from killing living be-

ings ... to abstain

from taking things not given ...

sexual misconduct

9 .

.

.

to abstain

from

false

to abstain

from

speech ... to abstain

from intoxicating drinks and drugs causing heedlessness.

31.

The Nature of Right Speech

Right speech covers more than abstention front

what we speak influence the way we essential to transforming

9.

lying.

Because how and

think, attention to

how we speak

what we speak.

The meaning of sexual misconduct

is

subject to interpretation.

An

canonical gloss prescribes "no intercourse with such persons as are protection of father, mother, brother, sister or relatives,

nor female convicts, nor

lastly,

with betrothed

girls."

ancient

still

under the

nor with married women,

Anguttara Ntkdya 10.176.

is

CORE DOCTRINES He avoids tale-bearing.

.

.

.

What he

has heard here, he does not re-

peat there so as to cause dissension;

gladdens him

.

.

.

and

it is

soothing to the

discipline: his

thus he unites those that

He speaks such words as are gen-

such words as go to the heart, and

He

speaks what

speech

.

and agreeable

avoids vain talk. ... facts,

.

.

ear, loving,

are courteous, friendly,

dance with

.

concord that he spreads by his words.

He avoids harsh language.

He

.

and those that are united, he encourages. Concord

are divided;

tle,

.

is like

to many.

speaks at the right time, in accor-

and the

useful, speaks of the law

is

a treasure, uttered at the right

ment, accompanied by arguments, moderate and

full

mo-

of sense.

Right Mindfulness and the Transformation of Consciousness

32.

The Satipatthdna Sutta (The Foundations of Mindfulness)

Buddhism 's most important teachings on difficult to appreciate as

text

a

text,

the practice

it yields its

for

a computer manual: hard

to

to

Buddha

is

a Buddhist text that claims

of meditation.

It

is

teacher. It

may

be

read for pleasure but indis-

pensable when coping with a complex circuitry. sutraj

one of

treasures only in the con-

of sustained practice under the guidance of a

compared

is

A

sutta (Sanskrit,

have been uttered by the

to

himself.

The Four Foundations of Mindfulness The

only way that leads to the

tering of the right path

.

.

and the

.

end of pain and

realization of

grief, to the

Nibbana,

is

en-

by the

Four Foundations of Mindfulness. And which are these four? Herein the disciple dwells in sustained

the

10.

Mind,

in sustained

awareness 10 of the Body,

awareness of Sensation, 11 in sustained awareness of

in sustained awareness of the

Throughout

this passage

I

am

Mind-Objects; ardent,

using sustained awareness where

my

source uses

contemplation. 1 1.

1

have substituted the word sensation where

my

source used the word feeling, in

order to underscore the bodily basis of this exercise. Feeling qua emotion can be

misconstrued as a purely mental phenomenon.

71

72

BUDDHISM comprehending them and mindful,

clearly

away

after putting

worldly greed and grief 1.

Sustained Awareness of the

But how does the body? [There are

Body

disciple dwell in sustained awareness of the

five basic ways:]

Watching over in-and-out-breathing. Herein the disciple retires to

body

a solitary place, seats himself with legs crossed,

mindfully he breathes

And

The four postures.

mindfully he breathes out.

in,

.

.

.

and

.

further, while [walking], standing, sitting,

or lying down, the disciple body.

.

erect,

clearly

[is

aware

of]

any position of the

.

Mindfulness and clear comprehension of bodily

acts.

And

further,

the disciple acts with clear comprehension in going and coming; eating, drinking, chewing,

and

tasting; in discharging

and urine; acts with clear comprehension ting, falling asleep,

in walking, standing, sit-

awakening; in speaking and keeping

Contemplation of loathsomeness.

And

excrement

silent.

further, the disciple con-

templates this body from the sole of the foot upward, and from the top of the hair downward, with a skin stretched over

it,

and

filled

with manifold impurities: "This body has hairs of the head and of the body, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones, marrow, kidneys, heart, liver, diaphragm, spleen, lungs, stomach, bowels, mesentery,

and excrement;

bile,

grease, saliva, nasal

Just as

if

phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, lymph,

mucous,

.

.

joints,

and urine."

there were a sack, with openings at both ends, filled

with various kinds of grain, this body.

of the

oil

tears, skin-

.

.

just so

.

does the disciple investigate

.

Cemetery meditations.

And

further, just as if the disciple

were

looking at a corpse thrown on a charnel-ground, eaten by crows,

hawks, or vultures, by dogs or jackals, or devoured by

worms, so he regards

his

all

kinds of

own body: "This body of mine

also has

this nature, has this destiny, 2.

and cannot escape

it.

." .

.

Sustained Awareness of Sensations

But how does the

disciple dwell in contemplation of the sensa-

tions? ... In experiencing sensation, the disciple knows: "I have an

agreeable sensation"; or "I have a disagreeable sensation"; or "I

have an indifferent sensation.

.

." .

CORE DOCTRINES 3.

Sustained Awareness of the

One attempts

Mind

sustained awareness of one's changing moods or states of

mind.

Herein the disciple knows the greedy mind

mind

not greedy

as not greedy;

and the not hating mind

as greedy,

knows the hating mind

as not hating;

knows the concentrated mind 4.

He knows

cramped, and the scattered mind

as

as hating,

knows the deluded mind

deluded and the undeluded mind as undeluded.

cramped mind

and the

as concentrated.

.

.

as

the

as scattered,

.

Sustained Awareness of the Mind-Objects

One attempts the lens

sustained awareness offluxing mental experience through

of basic Buddhist formulae.

The Five Hindrances.

knows when there in him;

.

worry

him;

.

in

.

.

anger in him;

is

and sloth

.

He knows when

.

.

.

.

there

him;

lust in

is

knows when there

knows when there

knows when there

is

is

.

.

.

torpor

and mental

restlessness

are doubts in him; ... he

when these hindrances are not in him. ... She knows how they come to arise; knows how, once arisen, they are overcome; and she knows how they do not rise again in the future.

knows

[too]

The Five Groups of Existence [Skandhas]. ciple

And

dwells in sustained awareness of the

Existence.

.

.

.

.

.

further: the dis.

groups of

five

[See no. 27, above.]

The Six Sense-Bases.

And

tained awareness of the six visual objects, ear

.

.

further: the disciple dwells in sus.

sense-bases.

He knows

the eye and

and sound, nose and odours, tongue and

body and bodily impressions, mind and mind-objects. The Seven Factors of Enlightenment.

him "Mindfulness,"

.

He knows when

.

tastes,

.

there

"Investigation of the Law," "Energy,"

is

in

"En-

thusiasm," "Tranquility," "Concentration," and "Equanimity."

He knows when arise,

[these are] not in him,

and how [they

The Four Noble

knows how [they come]

are] fully developed.

Truths.

And

further: the disciple dwells in sus-

tained awareness of the Four Noble Truths. [See no. 21, above.]

[Conclusion]

to

73

:

"4

BUDDHISM The

only way that leads to the attainment of purity, to the over-

coming of sorrow and lamentation,

end of pain and

to the

the entering

upon

[Nirvana],

by these four foundations of mindfulness

33.

is

the right path, and the realization ot

The Cultivation of Lovins-Kindness

BuJJh ts:

c

r \

ncludes the cult nation of the mtnd.

vine con.

They win:

.;

scriptural passage on

METTA SUTTA In safety and in bliss creatures be of a blissful heart.

Whatever breathing beings there may

No

matter whether they are

frail

or

With none excepted, be they long

Or middle-sized,

Or thick, as well Or whether they

be.

hrm.

or big

or be they short or small as

those seen or unseen.

are far or near.

Existing or yet seeking to exist.

May

all

creatures be of a blissful heart.

Let no one work another one's undoing

Or even

And

slight

never

let

him

at all

Through provocation

And

just as

anywhere;

them wish each other

might

a

ill

or resentful thought.

mother with her

life

Protect the son that was her only child.

So

let

him then

for every living thing

Maintain unbounded consciousness .And

let

him

too with love for

all

Above, below, and

all

round

in

Untroubled, with no enemv or

in being,

the world

Maintain unbounded consciousness

in

being

between. foe.

(Metta)

mpassum, lovtng-ktndness,

i

lovrng-kindr: ess

all

Xibbana

I

sympathetic joy. and equanimity. Her-

May

grief, to

CORE DOCTRINES And while he stands or walks, or while he sits Or while he lies down, free from drowsiness, Let him resolve upon

This

34.

y

a.

is

this mindfulness:

Divine Abiding here, they

Nibbana (Nirvana)

say.

Qd^v

End of Karma

This, truly,

Peace, this

is

is

the Highest, namely the end of

all

karma formations, the forsaking of every substratum of rebirth, the fading away of craving, detachment.

b.

The

is

called Nibbana.

Deliverance of the Heart

honour,

of the Holy Life does not consist in acquiring alms .

.

.

nor in gaining morality

That unshakeable deliverance of the ject

d.

of the Holy Life, that

is its

proclaim the

Isle ...

heart: that indeed,

essence, that

is its

is

.

.

.

the ob-

goal.

It Is

There

is

stay, in

great peril in the flood, ... do

of No-beyond. Nirvana do

utter extinction of ageing

e.

[or] concentration.

End of Old Age and Death

For those who in mid-stream I

.

extinction of greed, the extinction of hate, the extinction of

The purpose [or]

.

Eradication of the Three Poisons

delusion: this indeed

c.

.

I

call it

—

the

and dying.

Real an Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated, Unformed. If

there were not [then] escape from the world of the born, the originated, the created, the formed,

would not be

possible.

75

76

BUDDHISM But since there

Unformed,

an

is

Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated,

therefore, escape

possible from the world of the

is

born, the originated, the created, the formed.

35.

The Arahant (Arhat)

77?£

Arahant

Buddhist path cally there ter title

is

the help

is

"noble person ")

(literally, to its

is

one who has traversed the

end and realized Nibbana. Sapientially and

ethi-

no difference between an Arahant and a Buddha; the lat-

simply reserved for one who has rediscovered the path without

of another.

Finished

a.

And

for a disciple thus freed, in

whose heart dwells peace, there

is

nothing to be added to what has been done, and naught more re-

mains

for

him

to do. Just as a rock of

shaken by the wind, even

so,

.

.

.

one

solid

mass remains un-

neither the desired nor the

undesired can cause such a one to waver. Steadfast gained

is

is

his

mind,

deliverance.

Happy Indeed

b.

Ah, happy indeed the Arahants! In them no craving's found. The "I

am"

conceit

is

rooted out; confusion's net

they have attained; translucent the world are they,

.

.

.

is

.

.

in

!\They roar the lion's

in the world."

[

The Three Jewels

36.

The Buddha (the Awakened One), Dharma taught),

and Sangha

(the

ing) are called the Triple value.

act

burst. Lust-free

mind of them. Unspotted

with outflows none.

"Incomparable are Buddhas

roar:

the

is

A

triple recitation

(the

community of those who

Gem

way of

live

because of their purity

of the following formula

is

truth he

by that teach-

and

inestimable

a basic Buddhist

ofpiety. I

go for refuge to the Buddha. (Buddham saranam gacchami)

MAHAYANA BUDDHISM (Dhammam saranam gacchami)

I

go for refuge to the Dharma.

I

go for refuge to the Sangha. (Sangham saranam gacchami)

The Buddha Summarizes Awakened

37.

To To To

refrain

from

the Teaching of the

evil,

achieve the good, purify one's

This

is

own mind

the teaching of all

Awakened Ones.

MAHAYANA BUDDHISM Religions, like organisms, mutate

and evolve. Buddhist innovation was

fueled by disagreements over the spirit and

and by

sage,

the adaptive pressures

letter

of the master's mes-

of new environments.

second century C.E. a family of sects calling itself the

"Greater Vehicle "

had appeared. While affirming

By

the first or

Mahayana

the core doctrines

Buddhism, Mahayanists claimed that these teachings were

ways preliminary. They undertook

to write

eyes, not only represented the ultimate

also allowed wider

key

Mahayana

popular access

dhism, which

is

some

scriptures that, in their

message of the

to the

of

Buddha

but that

Buddha saving power. Three 's

innovations are singled out for attention below: (1) the

of emptiness; (2)

idea

new

in

or

the bodhisattva ideal;

based on the belief that the

and (3) devotional Budterm Buddha names not

only the historical Indian sage but also a grace-bestowing cosmic principle,

a divine being who responds to the prayers and devotions of the

faithful.

38.

Emptiness

The idea ofemptiness can be viewed as the lation trine arises

result

of the doctrine of dependent origination

of a

(no.

relentless extrapo-

29 above). The doc-

of dependent origination teaches that because every thing or event

from

the interplay

of countless factors, no thing or event can be

77

78

BUDDHISM said to bring

itself into being,

Mahayana

of own-being. The

and

originated, even the

less; it

all

therefore every thing/ event

Buddha,

the four noble truths,

empty of own-being.

This does not

that

we are

the eightfold

mean they

are worth-

is

inalienable;

samsara and nirvana

Suchness

not somewhere else; it ts

— and

(like all else) are empty, these

it is

what we are! We are

realize

of emptiness. But

and now, all-embracing, and

here

it is

two

unimpeded Total Tield of Enlightenment or

a perfect,

we would

ultimate?

enlightened who

to the

relative realities "collapse " into the ultimate reality

emptiness

is

cir-

samsara and that we must strug-

lost in

win nirvana. But, says the Mahayanist,

see that both

ing,

and

emptiness itself To those of inferior understanding

is:

Buddha taught

if only

Buddha

means that because they have been conditioned by various

The answer

gle to

empty

itself iras dependent ly

cumstances, they are not truly ultimate. What, then,

the

is

applied this insight even to the

Because the Buddha's career

his teachings.

path are

and

it.

There

is

all already

Buddha-Xature.

ultimately no problem (suffer-

samsara j and no solution (nircanaj, because "everything" and

A

"everyone"

is

always-already enlightened.

empty. It

is

not an ultimately "correct" concept but rather a lever to

is

extricate

from

ourselves

delusion

the

final twist: emptiness too

any

that

including

concept,

Buddhist concepts, are ultimate. The really Real can be known only by intuitive realization, never

a.

"Those

Who

by discursive conceptualizing.

Seek Nirvana Are to Be Laughed At"

That which the Lord revealed

in his perfect

[any of the five skandhas] for

none of these

into being, neither does the

And how

come

components come

supreme wisdom come

into being.

into being? Since nothing can be grasped,

the Buddha, what

revelation? All the tion, just

five

.

.

.

can that which does not come into being know that which

also does not is

enlightenment was not

is

wisdom, what

components

is

what

the bodhisattva, what

empty

are by nature

names, agreed tokens, coverings.

.

.

.

—

Thus

just

all

is

conven-

things are

the perfection of being, infinite perfection, unobscured perfection,

unconditioned perfection. All things are enlightenment,

for they

—even

the five

no

essential

must be recognized

as

without essential nature

greatest sins are enlightenment, for enlightenment has

nature and neither have the five greatest for

Nirvana are

to

be lauehed

at.

.

.

.

sins.

Thus

those

who

seek

MAHAYANA BUDDHISM The Heart Sutra

b.

This sutra,

Wisdom,

the full

title

of which

is

The Great Heart of Perfect

perhaps the densest expression of the

is

Mahayana

idea

of

emptiness.

Homage

to the Perfection of Wisdom, the lovely, the holy!

Lord and Bodhisattva, was moving

Avalokita, the holy

deep course of the wisdom that has gone beyond.

from on high, he beheld but

five [skandhas],

He

in the

down

looked

and he saw that

in

own-being they were empty.

their

Here,

O Sariputra,

form

is

emptiness and the very emptiness

is

form; emptiness does not differ from form, form does not differ

from emptiness; whatever emptiness, that

Here,

O

form.

is

Sariputra,

.

.

is

form, that

is

emptiness, whatever

is

.

dharmas are marked with emptiness;

all

they are not produced or stopped, not defiled or immaculate, not deficient or complete.

O Sariputra, in emptiness there is no form, nor feel-

Therefore, ing,

nor perception, nor impulse, nor consciousness; no eye,

nose, tongue, body, mind; ables or objects of

we come

until

to:

no forms, sounds,

smells, tastes, touch-

mind; no sight-organ element, and so

no mind-consciousness-element; there

norance, no extinction of ignorance, and so forth, until there is

no

is

forth,

no

ig-

we come

to:

is

no decay and death, no extinction of decay and death; there

suffering,

cognition,

no

no stopping, no path; there

origination,

is

no

no attainment, and no non-attainment.

O

Therefore,

Sariputra,

it is

because of his indifference to any

kind of personal attainment that a Bodhisattva thought-coverings All those fully

ear,

awake

.

.

.

and

who appear

in the

as

end he

Buddhas

to the utmost, right

.

.

.

dwells without

attains to Nirvana.

in the three periods

of time

and perfect enlightenment because

they have relied on the perfection of wisdom.

Therefore, one should

Wisdom]

know

as the great mantra,

12.

A

lies

not only in

mantra

is

a

sound or

its

a

12

the Prajnaparamita [Perfection of the mantra of great knowledge, the

word, or a series of these, the sacred import of which

semantic meaning

by resonance, other orders of reality.

(if it

has one), but also in

its

power

to tap, as if

79

80

BUDDHISM utmost mantra, the unequalled mantra, truth .

.

— .

allayer of all suffering, in

what could go wrong?

for

[The] mantra.

.

.

runs

like this:

Gone, Gone, Gone Beyond, Gone Altogether Beyond,

O What

an Awakening! All Hail!

This completes the Heart of Perfect Wisdom.

39.

The Bodhisattva

The bodhisattva

Mahay ana

(literally,

tradition.

"wisdom-being")

A bodhisattva own entry

renounces his or her

into

is

is

the spiritual hero

of

a person who, out of compassion,

nirvana

in order to be reborn re-

peatedly to undertake this infinite work of saving all sentient beings.

Amidst

work, however, the bodhisattva

this

mately no beings

save and no one

to

dom, the bodhisattva

a.

From

the

The Lord

is

.

.

.

aware that there are

do the saving. Without

Someone who

has set out in the vehicle of a

—egg-born, miraculously born—

are in the universe of beings

that

all

Realm of Nirvana which

many beings

at

all

as there

born from a womb,

these must

has been led to Nirvana."

I

lead into

And

leaves nothing behind.

though innumerable beings have thus been led

no being

this wis-

Sutra

Bodhisattva should think in this manner: "As

moisture-born, or

ulti-

not a bodhisattva.

Diamond

said:

to

is

yet, al-

to Nirvana, in fact

And why?

If in a

Bodhisattva the notion of a "being" should take place, he could not

be called a "Wisdom-being."

Wisdom-being

in

whom

And why? He

is

not to be called a

the notion of a self or of a being should

take place, or the notion of a living soul or a person.

b.

The

Infinite

vow

to

save others

consists in is

sionately adopts the illusion

confounded by

it.

.

.

Compassion of the Bodhisattva

The bodhisattva 's wisdom takes a

.

an

knowing that even the "I" who

illusion.

Nevertheless she or he compas-

of selfhood

in order to liberate those still

MAHAYANA BUDDHISM A Bodhisattva resolves: ing. ... I

take

I

upon myself the burden of all

do not turn or run away, do not tremble,

am

suffer-

not terri-

do not turn back or despond.

fied, ...

And why?

...

I

have

made

whole world of living beings

vow

the I

to save

at

my own

gle state of

woe

for

I

am

.

.

.

.

The

.

I

.

My endeavors

must rescue

all

And I must not cheat

resolved to abide in each sin-

numberless aeons; and so

to freedom, in all the states

.

deliverance. ...

these beings from the stream of Samsara.

beings out of my store of merit.

.

.

must rescue, from the terrors of

birth-and-death, from the jungle of false views.

do not merely aim

beings.

all

of woe that

I

will help all beings

may be found

in

any world

system whatsoever.

And why? Because pain than that

all

it is

surely better that

these beings should

fall

I

alone should be in

into states of woe.

The Difference Between Bodhisattvas and Other

c.

(Non-Mahayana) Buddhists It

is

claimed that non-Mahay artists neglect

ment

to others

as a

glowworm trying

because they mistakenly feel that this would he as futile

is

to

illuminate India. Bodhisattvas, however,

of the cosmic implications of their enlightenment

—for

emptiness there are no obstructions in the Infinite Field

ra-

rightly confident since all

to radiate their enlighten-

—

The fol-

diate their enlightenment like the rising sun lights up the earth.

lowing passage also makes the important point that bodhisattvas do not

postpone their enlightenment, only their entry into final nirvana, that is,

death without rebirth.

The Lord

[said]:

to think "after all

.

.

.

Does

it

occur to any of the [non-Mahayanists]

we have known

enlightenment, we should lead

full

beings to Nirvana, into the realm of Nirvana which leaves noth-

ing behind"? Sariputra:

The

No indeed, O Lord.

.

.

.

Lord: But such are the intentions of a bodhisattva.

worm, or some other luminous animal, does not think

A glow-

that its light

could illuminate the Continent of [India] or radiate over

it.

Just so

the [non-Mahayanists] do not think that they should, after win-

ning

full

enlightenment, lead

all

beings to Nirvana. But the sun,

81

8 2

BUDDHISM when

it

has risen, radiates

a bodhisattva., after

light over the

its

whole of

[India]. Just so

he has accomplished the practices which lead

enlightenment of Buddhahood. leads countless

to the full

being's to

Nirvana.

Devotional

40.

BeHevimg

mong

th.

means (upaya) -ead

Buddhism

.nists

produced new scripture

The justified tionforth is p ra eti ce

th-.

be.

M

them.

to setot

beings require a variety of skillful

.:

the ultimate source

:>;

Buddha

torical person but the absolu:

s saving

\int from the Mtter ;jn express

Some of these neu

its

mr

we

:y

a

who could

were

:ons

t

beings

and

accom-

the needs

of a

who

call

and bodhisattvas ready to lend

upon them in prayer

we glimpse

-

faith,

'the immense

nyfra::

t

and devo-

The Buddha

the Lotus Sutra:

Rain Cloud of

as a

Universal Grace ...

refresh this entire world

I

Like

cloud which releases

a

Lqual

is

who

preach the

Be

are

immoral and

Dharma

to beings

inferior or superior,

Setting aside I

rain

rain evenly for

its

enlightenment for noble and mean

For those I

of

nmi literature ot Bus. ;'';;;»>:

From

a.

to those

In the sections below ::

.

Buddha names an ornni; r

counties BuJdhas

there are ac:

del

dharmakaya.

mptmess thinking. Buddhist devotional

literature presupposes that because

tion.

not his his-

zcted to engage in meditation prac-

no:

or master the subtlet:

:elpmg hand

ha~ce seen,

human

:he devotional impulse in

Bu

is

dhisattva. Others, however,

like en

ke\

dharm,

roo ted in the

saving

as

ires,

power

led emptiness or

:.:.

Sin

is

down

all

for

alike.

moral ones

whether

and their

all;

.

.

their intellect

faculties

weak or strong.

tiredness.

the rain of the

Dharma

So the nature of the Dharma always

.

.

.

exists for the weal of the

world.

And

it

.

refreshes bv the

Dharma

the entire world.

MAHAYANA BUDDHISM And then, refreshed, The world will burst

just like the plants,

forth into blossoms.

The Buddha Saves

b.

Salvation in

and They Reach

All Beings

Many Ways

The Buddha himself abides in the Great Vehicle [Maha-Yana], And ... He saves all beings If men turn in faith to the Buddha, [He] will not deceive .

them [Those]

.

.

.

.

.

who have come

into contact with former

[Who] have learned the Law and practiced

Buddhas,

charity.

.

.

All of these people have reached the level of Buddhahood.

Those people who,

for the sake of the

Installed images, or

had them carved,

Have reached the Those who with

Have sung the

level

a

Buddha,

of Buddhahood.

happy frame of mind

glory of the

Buddha, even with

a very small

sound,

Or have worshipped, or have merely folded Or have uttered one "Namo" [Praise be],

their hands,

All have reached the level of Buddhahood. .

.

.

the

Buddhas of the

Their number

will

be

past

.

.

infinite

the

.

.

.

And

Buddha

Rewards

c.

them .

to dwell in the

after

for

Devotion to the Buddha aeons [one]

lar

A

stupa

is

is

not reborn blind or lame

he has decided to win enlightenment, he venerates a

Stupa 13 of the [Buddha].

13.

Pure Wisdom of the

.

Verily, for countless If,

number of suitable means,

living beings,

all

enable

future,

.

All these Buddhas, with an infinite

Will save

Buddhas of the

a

.

.

Buddhist reliquary mound,

a

dome

built

on

a

low square or circu-

base and containing relics of the Buddha. Clockwise circumambulation of a

stupa

is

a traditional act of Buddhist piety.

83

84

BUDDHISM One who

does worship to [the Buddha] has the best and

unequalled reward.

Deceased here ... he goes

And And

made of jewels

there he obtains a brilliant palace

there he gets a celestial lotus-pond

With

a floor of golden sand

.

In hundreds of thousands of

Be honored d.

Heavens of the Thirty-Three,

to the

.

.

.

.

.

he has placed

after

The Pure Land

.

.

.

.

.

.

births he will everywhere

a garland

on

a shrine.

(Sukhavati) of Amitabha, the

Buddha

of Infinite Light For

name of a Buddha

called

in the following words: A'-mi-t'o-fo (in Chinese) or

Namo

millions,

Amitabha

Buddhism means invoking

Amida Butsu

the

They can thereby be confident of their sal-

(in Japanese).

vation into Amitabha's Pure Land, a paradise to which the faithful go after death

This

.

.

and from which

the final journey to nirvana

world system of the Lord Amitabha

.

And

ous, comfortable, fertile, delightful.

there are no hells birth.

.

.

And

.

.

.

in this

that world system

.

.

.

.

many

emits

.

of flowers and

and prosper-

world system

.

.

.

re-

it is

adorned with jewel

fruits,

flocks

fragrant odors,

rich

trees,

of various birds with sweet

.

sides

all

it is

surrounded with golden

covered with lotus flowers

made of all

nets,

and

And from

sand kotis

all

the precious things.

the lotus flowers are half a mile in circumference, others miles.

easier.

and none of the unauspicious places of

which are frequented by

On

rich

is

made

.

in a great variety

voices.

is

round

Some up

of

to ten

each jewel lotus issues thirty-six hundred thou-

[a koti is

"a huge number"] of rays.

And

at

the end of

each ray there issue thirty-six hundred thousand kotis of Buddhas,

with golden-colored bodies.

And many fifty

.

.

.

kinds of rivers flow along in this world system, up to

miles broad and twelve miles deep.

And

.

.

.

golden sand of,

.

.

both the banks of those great rivers are lined with vari-

ously scented jewel trees.

think

.

at

they

.

the bottom.

all will

be

And And all

.

.

fulfilled, as

those rivers flow along with the wishes those beings

long as they are rightful.

may

MAHAYANA BUDDHISM And

.

.

everyone hears the pleasant sound he wishes to hear,

.

he hears of the Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha.

i.e.,

hearing this

.

.

brings about the state of

.

accomplishment of enlightenment.

And

that ...

is

why

the reason

.

.

mind which

.

.

And,

.

leads to the

.

world-system

this

is

called the

"Happy Land.".

And the beings

do not

...

may wish

but whatever food they

and they become

eat gross food, like

soup or raw sugar;

that they perceive as eaten,

for,

body and mind, without there being

gratified in

any further need to throw the food into the body. .

And

.

.

the beings

who

by the winds, which are

are touched

pervaded with various perfumes, are

filled

with a happiness as great

as that of a

monk who

has achieved the cessation of suffering.

And

the beings

who have been

all

be born in

this Buddha-field,

of salvation, beings

.

.

have

they

until

they

all

are born,

on the

are fixed

won

Nirvana.

.

.

.

who

right

.

.

.

Amitabha

hosts of monks.

will

method

And

any

if

and

if

they vow to be reborn

.

.

.

them, surrounded by

will stand before

Then, having seen

and having died with

that Lord,

hearts serene, they will be reborn in just that world-system.

.

.

.

Honen's Teaching on the Nembutsu

e.

Honen (1133-1212) was a Japanese Buddhist who preached

am

delighted to

the

know

that

you are invoking the sacred name.

Indeed the practice of the Nembutsu us to

the sav-

name of Amida (Amitabha) Buddha, a called nembutsu. Here he counsels one of his followers:

power of invoking

practice I

.

world system, then, when the hour of their death ap-

proaches,

ing

.

plant a large and immeasurable root of good, having

.

raised their hearts to enlightenment, in that

who

born,

.

qjo [rebirth in

the Pure Land].

the endorsement of all the

the best of all for bringing

is .

.

.

This Nembutsu

Buddhas of the

.

.

.

has

six quarters; and, while

the disciples of [other] schools ... are indeed most excellent, the

Buddhas do not are all.

give

them

many kinds of religious .

tices,

.

.

And

so

do

it

exercise, the

Nembutsu

alone,

And

so,

Nembutsu

you should now cease from

apply yourself to

tant to

final approval.

all

and

although there far excels

them

other religious prac-

in this

with undivided attention. ...

Is

it is

all-impor-

there anything

85

86

BUDDHISM \

anywhere that or the future

f.

is

superior to

it

for bringing happiness in the present

life?

Nichiren on Faith in the Buddha and the Lotus Sutra

Nichiren (1222-1282) was a Japanese Buddhist prophet who held that

one particular scripture, the Lotus Sutra, represents the final and

supreme teaching of the Buddha. For him, Sutra, not the

the

it is

name of the Lotus

name of Amida Buddha, which should

be on the lips

of

every Buddhist.

When you fall into an abyss and someone has lowered a rope to pull you out, should you hesitate to grasp the rope because you doubt

Has not the Buddha declared, "I alone am the protector and saviour"? There is the power! Is it not taught that faith is the only entrance [to salvation]? There is the rope! Our the power of the helper?

.

hearts ache and our sleeves are wet [with tears], until face the tender figure of the Father.".

.

One, who says to

we

.

.

see face to

us, "I

am

thy

Should any season be passed without thinking of the

.

compassionate promise, "Constantly

I

am

thinking of you"?

Should any month or day be spent without revering the teaching that there

is

none who cannot

attain

Buddhahood?

.

.

.

Devote

yourself wholeheartedly to the "Adoration to the Lotus of the Perfect Truth," and utter

do the same. Such

A.

is

it

yourself as well as admonish others to

your task in

this

human

life.

TIBETAN BUDDHISM

Tibetan Buddhism accepts the cardinal notions of Buddhism and, in

Mahayana and the

its

way, embraces not only the strategic concept of emptiness

ideal

sibilities

of the bodhisattva, but

also honors the transformative pos-

ofdevotionalism. Its uniqueness

doctrine, in

ulties in the

its

its

lies

more

in

its

methods than

in

ways of deploying the full complement of human fac-

work of enlightenment.

Its spiritual repertoire includes:

mantra, the ritual and meditative use of sacred sounds or phrases;

mudra,

ritual gestures

and

postures for worship or meditation; the

painting and contemplation

0/mandala

and the

eidetic or visual imagination in meditative

disciplined use

of the

or sacred, symbolic diagrams;

TIBETAN BUDDHISM visualization. Other unique threads in Tibet's otherwise traditional

Buddhist quilt derive from

its

The northern- Indian Buddhism

history.

had already been

that reached Tibet in about the eighth century C.E.

influenced by an outlook called Tantrism that involved secret initiatic teachings, ritual cultivation

counterparts to

ofmagical powers, the invocation offemale

Buddhas and bodhisattvas

called Taras, and, in certain

of ritualized sex as a yoga. Also sewn

lineages, the use

into this

complex

fabric was the indigenous shamanic tradition, Bon.

In an anthology such as

impossible even to hint at the full

this, it is

range of a subtradition such as Tibetan Buddhism. In the four selec-

below I have included only an excerpt from the well-known

tions

Tibetan

Book of the Dead

(41), examples

of Tantric teachings that

are not necessarily representative of the Tibetan tradition as a whole

(42 and 43), and a description and short interpretation of the Wheel

of Life (44).

The Tibetan Book of the Dead:

41.

Instructions to the

Dying This

is

how

the

Lama [monk]

instructs the dying person:

Preamble

now

I

transmit to you the profound teachings which

self received

from

my

Teacher.

.

.

Pay attention to

.

it

have my-

I

now, and do

not allow yourself to be distracted by other thoughts! Remain lucid

and calm, and bear

mind what you

in

give in to the pain! If restful

hear! If

you

numbness overtakes you,

surrender yourself to that! Remain watchful and

The

factors

Rouse your energy so

that

do not

as [you] are

activities are separating

from your body, and they are about

...

do not

alert!

which made up the person known

about to disperse. Your mental

and

suffer,

themselves

to enter the intermediary state.

you may enter

this state self-possessed

in full consciousness!

/.

The Moment of Death, and the Clear Light of Pure Reality

First of

all

there will appear to you, swifter than lightning, the

luminous splendor of the colorless surround you on

all sides.

radiance, and you

may

light

Terrified,

of Emptiness, and that will

you

will

want

well lose consciousness.

to flee

Try

to

from the

submerge

87

88

BUDDHISM yourself in that light, giving

tachment

to

up

all

belief in a separate self,

all at-

your illusory ego. Recognize that the boundless Light

of this true Reality

your own true

is

and you

self,

shall

be saved!

Few, however, are those who, having missed salvation during

on

their life

earth, can attain

it

The overwhelming majority are shocked

passes so quickly.

consciousness by the terror they

The emergence of a ment, you

will

during this brief instant which

you miss salvation

Even they

emerges a subtle

after death there

impregnated with the

endowed with

all

peded motion.

It

and

an instant

in

at that

mo-

be forced to have a number of further dreams, both

you a chance to gain un-

offer

derstanding, as long as you remain vigilant and

It is

un-

feel.

subtle body. If

pleasant and unpleasant.

body."

into

illusory

alert.

dream-body,

after-effects

A

few days

[or]

"mental

of your past desires,

sense and faculties, and has the power of unim-

can go right through it

.

.

hills,

.

boulders, and walls,

can traverse any distance. Even after the physical

sense-organs are dissolved, sights, sounds, smells, tastes and touches will

be perceived and ideas will be formed. These are

effects

.

.

the after-

.

of what you did with your body and mind in the

you must know that

all

you perceive

is

a

.

.

.

mere

past.

illusion,

But

and does

not reflect any really existing objects. Have no fear and form no at-

tachment! View

it all

evenmindedly, without

The Experience of the Spiritual

//.

Three and

a half days after

that

you

Their

light will shine

will scarcely

though they

are, the

or dislike!

Realities

your death, Buddhas and Bodhi-

sattvas will for seven days appear to ful aspect.

like

you in their benign and peace-

upon you, but

be able to look

at

it.

it

will

be so radiant

Wonderful and delightful

Buddhas may nevertheless

not give in to your fright!

Do

the spectacle before you!

Overcome your

frighten you.

not run away! Serenely contemplate fear,

and

feel

no

desire!

Realize that these are the rays of the grace of the Buddhas,

come

to receive

Do

you into their Buddha-realms. Pray

to

who

them with

intense faith and humility, and, in a halo of rainbow light, you will

merge

into the heart of the divine Father-Mother,

abode

in

at this

moment win your

But

if

and take up your

one of the realms of the Buddhas. Thereby you may you miss

it,

you

still

salvation. will next, for

another seven days, be con-

fronted with the angry deities, and the Guardians of the Faith, sur-

TIBETAN BUDDHISM rounded by

tumultuous

their followers in

many of them

array,

the form of animals which you have never seen in the

Bathed

life

you

in

left.

in multicolored light they stand before you, threatening

you and barring your passage. Loud are their voices, with which they shout, "Hit him! Hit him! Kill him! Kill him!" This

you have

because you turned a deaf ear to the saving truths

to hear,

of religion! All these forms are strange to you, you,

.

your

.

.

and

yet

it is

fright, resist

you who have created them.

your mental confusion! All

self.

All these terrifying deities, witches

fear

them

not, flee

them

own mind

in the

manage

understand

They

not!

.

Do

they terrify

not give in to

is

unreal,

and

in conflict with it-

and demons around you

are but

mirror of the Void. If

.

.

.

the contents of your

at this

point you should

shock of this insight

that, the

.

.

this

what you see are the contents of your own mind

to

what

is

will stun you,

your subtle body will disperse into a rainbow, and you will find

among

yourself in a paradise 77/.

Seeking Rebirth

But

if

you are

still

you

fail

to grasp the

continue to

now doomed

the angels.

meaning of what you were taught,

feel a desire to exist as

to again re-enter the

if

an individual, then you

wheel of becoming.

The judgment. You are now before Yama, King of the Dead. In vain will you try to

done.

The Judge

wherein

all

.

.

your deeds are reflected. to read

judgement

your own.

is

judgement, which in

God

evil

deeds you have

holds up before you the shining mirror of Karma,

Yama seems

rible

deny or conceal the

.

your past It is

its

.

.

.

The

mirror in which

your own memory, and also his

is

you yourself who pronounce your own

turn determines your next rebirth.

pushes you into

it.

.

.

.

The

No ter-

shapes of the frightening

monsters who take hold of you, place a rope round your neck and drag you along, are just an illusion which you create from the forces within you.

Know

that apart

from these karmic forces there

no Judge of the Dead, no gods, and no demons. Knowing you will be free! is

The dead.

desire for rebirth.

You

feel as

will think, "I

At

this juncture

am

dead!

What

you

shall

will realize I

that,

you are

do?" and you

will

miserable as a fish out of water on red-hot embers. Your

consciousness, having no object on which to rest, will be like a feather tossed about by the wind, riding

on the horse of breath. At

89

90

BUDDHISM about that time the will drive

wind of karma,

fierce

you onwards, from behind,

while the thought will occur to you,

you

to bear,

in dreadful gusts.

And

"O what would

not give to

possess a body!" But because you can at to enter into,

and hard

terrific

no place

find

first

I

after a

for

you

be dissatisfied and have the sensation of

will

being squeezed into cracks and crevices amidst rocks and boulders.

The dawning of the

upon you

will shine

lights

and

the six places

of rebirth. Then there

The

the lights of the six places of rebirth.

light

of the place in which you will be reborn will shine most prominently, but

your choice. If

your own karmic disposition which decides about

it is .

.

.

you have deserved

by your good deeds,

it

a white light will

guide you into one of the heavens, and for a while you will have

some happiness among attract like

you

the gods. Habits of envy and ambition will

to the red light,

which leads

among

to rebirth

the war-

Asuras, forever agitated by anger and envy. If you feel drawn to

a blue light,

you

you remember how

little

being, and well

happiness that brought you! If you had a

heavy and dull mind, you

you

human

will find yourself again a

will

choose the green

light,

which leads

world of animals, unhappy because insecure and ex-

to the

A

cluded from the knowledge which brings salvation. yellow will lead you to the world of the ghosts, and, the color of darkish

smoke

Try

into the hells.

Think of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas!

ray of dull

you can!

to desist, if

Recall that

all

these vi-

sions are unreal, control your mind, feel amity towards

And do

lives!

not be afraid! You alone are the source of

different rays. In

which they

you alone they

exist,

ray of

finally, a

all

that

these

all

and so do the worlds

to

remain even-

lead. Feel not attracted or repelled, but

minded and calm! Reincarnation. If so far you have been deaf to the teaching, listen to

it

now!

An

overpowering craving

sense-experiences which you

will

come over you

remember having had

for the

in the past,

and which through your lack of sense-organs you cannot now have.

Your desire desire is,

but

now feel

for rebirth

racks you; you do not, however, experience it

as a

along, harassed, ious,

you

becomes more and more urgent.

deep

among

thirst

which parches you

deserts of burning sands.

will look for a safe place

of refuge.

.

as .

.

it

.

for

.

.

This

what

it

you wander Greatly anx-

TIBETAN BUDDHISM Everywhere around you, you the act of sexual intercourse.

will see

animals and

You envy them, and the

you. If your karmic coefficients destine you to

and hatred see,

do not

become

you

a female,

for the females

you

sight attracts

become

a male,

will feel love for the

between them, do not

males

try to

one of them! The feeling which you would then

experience would make you faint away, just

at

the

moment when

And afterwards you will find a human being or as an animal.

egg and sperm are about to unite.

you have been conceived

42.

you

Do not go near the couples you

see.

try to interpose yourself

take the place of

in

females and you hate the males you see. If you

feel attracted to the

are destined to

humans

as

that

With Impurity the Wise Make Themselves Pure

Seeming to the

to echo

William Blake 's dictum that

i(

the road

of excess

leads

palace of wisdom" Tibetan Tantrism, grounded in the philosophy

of emptiness, sometimes teaches that

the

way

to freedom lies,

paradoxi-

cally, in total indulgence.

They who do not

see the truth

Think of birth-and-death

as distinct

This discrimination

demon

is

the

from Nirvana

Who produces the ocean of transmigration. Freed from

From

it

the great ones are released

the bonds of becoming

The mystics, pure Dally with lovely

.

.

.

of mind,

girls,

Infatuated with the poisonous flames of passion,

That they may be

He

is

set free

not Buddha, he

If he does not see the

As

is

from desire

not set

.

.

free,

world

originally pure, unoriginated,

Impersonal and immaculate

Water

in the ear

is

.

.

.

removed by more

water,

A thorn [in the skin] by another thorn. So wise men

By

.

yet

more

rid

themselves of passion

passion.

.

.

.

91

9 2

BUDDHISM As

a

washerman uses

To wash

dirt

clean a garment.

So, with impurity.

The

wise

man makes

Of What Use

43.

Perhaps

wisdom of emptiness

wisdom and orthodox

.

.

.

.

.

.

Meditation?

Is

free listeners from spiritual greed, the author of the text

to

he low chooses the

though,

himself pure.

to

debunk traditional

religious practice. This author's ultimate message,

that the heart of the spiritual

is

order

in

life is

the service

of others.

Will one gain release, abiding in meditation:

What's

What What

done by

to be

reliance

on mantras?

is

the use of austerities?

is

the use of going on pilgrimage?.

Abandon such illusion!

.

.

false

.

.

attachments and renounce such

.

Without meditating, without renouncing the world.

One may Can If

.

.

.

are

company of one's .

.

wife.

.

tantras, meditation

all a

and concentration.

cause of self-deception.

Eat, drink, indulge the senses.

Fill the

By

in the

not released while enjoying the pleasures of sense?

is

Mantras and

They

home

be called perfect knowledge

[it]

one

stay at

mandala (with offerings) again and

again,

things like these you'll gain the world beyond.

Tread upon the head of the foolish worldling and proceed!

As

is

Nirvana, so

Do

not think there

Do

not

sit at

Samsara.

is

is

any distinction.

home, do not go

to the forest.

But recognize mind wherever you

When Where

one abides is

in

are.

complete and perfect enlightenment.

Samsara and where

is

Nirvana?

TIBETAN BUDDHISM

Do not err in this matter of self and other. Everything

The

is

fair tree

Buddha without exception

.

triple world.

bears the flower and fruit of compassion,

And .

.

of thought that knows no duality,

Spreads through the It

.

.

.

its

name

is

service of others.

He who clings to the void

And

neglects Compassion,

Does not reach the highest

stage.

But he who practices only Compassion,

Does not

gain release from toils of existence.

He, however, who

Remains neither

is

in

strong in practice of both,

Samsara nor

in Nirvana.

The Wheel of Life

44.

The following

The

description refers to the figure on

page

94.

demon holding a large circle divided wedge-shaped sections. The demon is Yama, the judge of

picture shows a hideous

into six

the dead, and each section represents a different realm of life

—

the

realm of gods [who are blissful but dangerously complacent], the realm of titans or demigods [who are powerful and wealthy but infected with envy, jealousy,

human

beings, the realm of animals

and have bellies

little

for more], the

[who are driven by

realm of instincts

freedom], the realm of hungry ghosts [whose huge

but pinpoint mouths and eyes suggest insatiable craving],

and the realm of rage].

and greed

hell

beings [who are consumed with relentless

At the center or hub of the

circle is a smaller circle contain-

ing a rooster, a pig, and a snake, chasing one another around and

around.

They symbolize

the forces that keep people caught

up

in

the samsaric round of existence: the rooster stands for greed, the

pig for ignorance, and the snake for hatred.

You can read the wheel's symbols different kinds of existence into less

round of reincarnation.

.

.

.

exoterically, as a

which one

You can

my

diagram of six

be born in the end-

also read the

symbolism

93

94

BUDDHISM

TIBETAN WHEEL OF LIFE (Tracing of a Tibetan temple-fresco of Sankar

esoterically (on at least is

to

tence

two different

Gompa, Leh)

view each of the realms as a different type of .

.

.

lived out

One way human exis-

levels) as psychology.

by certain kinds of people according to their

karmic fortunes of personality type and socioeconomic [Another way to view

it is]

status.

.

.

.

as a description of situations or states of

consciousness that everybody passes through again and again in the

course of a day.

ZEN BUDDHISM B.

ZEN BUDDHISM

Some

thirteen centuries ago in

China the commingling of Mahayana

Buddhism and Taoism produced a Chinese progenitors and

its

Zen by

contemporary Buddhism had

of Buddhism

species its

Japanese

in their eyes

Ch'an by

called

Because

inheritors.

become overscholasticized

and largely a matter ofscriptural mastery, they reemphasized the pracof meditation (which

tice

indispensable heart

is

roughly what Ch'an and

of the Buddha's way. According

Zen mean) to the

Zen

as the

school,

every being has Buddha-nature. Sitting meditation actualizes our inalienable Buddha-nature; the insight

Though Zen claimed sophical roots

lie

in

it

fosters bestows true freedom.

a teaching "outside the scriptures "

to be

Mahayana

emptiness

and scriptures

its

philo-

like the

Heart

and Diamond sutras.

Bodhidharma Defines Zen

45.

The following description of Zen Buddhism

dharma

(ca.

from India nasty when

to

500

C.E.), the sage reputed to

China. Actually

Zen was

at

its

it

apogee

is

attributed to Bodhi-

have brought Zen mind

was formulated during the (ca.

700-800

Tang dy-

C.E.).

A special tradition outside the scriptures; No dependence upon words and letters; Direct pointing at the mind;

Seeing into one's

own

nature, and the attainment of

Buddhahood.

The

46.

Secret of the Flower

Zen Buddhists

believe that their tradition stretches back to the

who himself initiated ters "

the

and

the practice

"direct pointing to

Buddha,

of "no dependence on words and

mind" as

let-

related in the following story

of

monk Kashapa.

One day when

a large

Buddha

to begin

maining

silent.

assembly of his monks was waiting for the

an address, the Buddha surprised them

all

by re-

Smiling, he then turned a flower in his fingers and

95

96

BUDDHISM held

silently before his listeners.

it

smiled in

full

eye which

mind

is

recognition.

The Buddha

said: "I

have the Dharma-

not expressed in words, but specially transmitted from

mind. This teaching

to

Only one monk, Kashapa,

have given to the great Kashapa."

I

The Marrow of Zen

47.

Toward the end of his

life

Bodhidharma addressed

his

most advanced

disciples:

"Let each of you say what you have attained.". replied: "As

nor

is it

I

see

it

[the truth] neither adheres to

separate from them. Yet

it

.

Tao-fu

words or

letters,

functions as the Way."

The Master said: "You have attained my skin." Then a nun, Tsung-chih spoke: "As I understand is like

.

the auspicious glimpse of the

Buddha Land.

it,

[the truth]

... It

is

seen

once, but not a second time."

The Master

replied:

Tao-yii said:

"The

five

"You have

attained

my flesh."

four great elements are originally empty; the

skandhas have no existence. According to

my belief there

is

no

[truth] to be grasped."

To him

the Master replied:

"You have

attained

He bowed

Finally there was Hui-k'o.

my bones."

respectfully

and stood

silent.

The Master

said:

"You have

attained

my marrow."

On Trust in the Heart

48.

This brief excerpt arch,

is

from a writing

attributed to the third Chinese patri-

Seng-Ts'an (died 606 C.E.). The Chinese word hsin, translated

as "heart" in the

The

Perfect

title

Way

above, could just as well be translated "mind." is

difficult

only for those

who

pick and

choose;

Do not like, Make

do not

dislike; all will

a hairbreadth difference,

then be

clear.

and Heaven and Earth are

set

apart; If you

want the truth

against.

to stand clear before you, never be for or

ZEN BUDDHISM The

struggle between "for" and "against"

disease

.

.

.

The more you

talk

about

the further from

It

It,

and the more you think about

understand

The

is

.

.

is

nothing you will not

.

no need

having views

to seek Truth; only stop

ultimate Truth about both Extremes

Emptiness .

.

.

.

Whether we everywhere

It,

you go;

Stop talking, stop thinking, and there

There

the mind's worst

is

.

is

.

that they are

.

.

One

.

see .

it

or

fail

to see

manifest always and

it, it is

.

Take your stand on

and the

this,

rest will follow of its

own

accord;

To

trust in the

Heart

is

the

Not Two,

the

Not Two

to trust in

is

the Heart. I

have spoken in vain; for what can words

Of things

49.

that have

no

yesterday,

Dharma Combat:

tell

tomorrow or today?

Shen-hsiu and Hui-neng on Zen

Mind The following

verses are the centerpieces in a story

century China the Zen school

split into

of how

in seventh-

northern and southern

which respectively favored gradual and sudden approaches ing.

Wherever the philosophy of emptiness

tension between the

alights, there

is

to

sects,

awaken-

bound

to be

commonsense way of steady practice toward the

goal (the "gradual" approach), on the one hand, and the emptinessgenerated intuition that nothing can separate us from our alwaysalready originally awakened natures (the "sudden" approach), on the other.

In a poetry contest

to

determine who had the greater awakening,

Shen-hsiu and Hui-neng represented these two perspectives: [Shen-hsiu:]

The body is a Bodhi tree, The mind a mirror bright;

97

— 98

BUDDHISM Take care

And

let

to clean

no dust

carefully

it

alight.

[Hui-neng:]

The Bodhi tree does not exist Nor does the mirror bright. Since everything

Where can

50.

is

empty

dust alight?

Ma-tsu and the Polished Tile and

To guard against clinging to meditation

new frames of mind, Zen, practice

to lever practitioners into

the meditation school, sometimes

mocked

of meditation.

Ma-tsu was then residing in meditation.

in the

monastery continuously absorbed

His master, aware of

his outstanding ability,

asked him: "For what purpose are you sitting in meditation?" tsu answered:

"I

Master picked up

"What

asked,

make

are

a mirror,"

want a tile

to

Buddha by

sitting in

.

.

.

Ma-

Buddha." Thereupon the

and started rubbing

exclaimed

W

I

on

it

am

a stone.

Ma-Tsu

polishing this

"How can Ma-tsu. "How

you make

a

tile

to

mirror

can one become a

meditation?" countered the Master.

Zen Koan

A unique aspect of Zen

is its

dents are told to meditate

swers

"

use

and

o/koan, pithy enigmas upon which stuto

which they are required

to

find "an-

however cognitively impossible that may seem.

The Dog

A monk

once asked Master Joshu, "Has

or not?" Joshu said,

b.

a

Huai-jang replied.

a tile?"

a.

become

you doing, Master?"

by rubbing

51.

the

a

dog the Buddha Nature

"Mu!"

Wash Your Bowls

Once tered

a

monk made

the

a request of [Master] Joshu: "I have just en-

monastery," he said,

"please

give

me

instructions,

ZEN BUDDHISM Master." Joshu said: "Have you had your breakfast?" "Yes

monk. "Then,"

replied the

monk had

said Joshu,

I

have,"

"wash your bowls." The

an insight.

The Oak Tree

c.

A monk asked Joshu, "What is the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West?" Joshu answered,

"The oak

tree in the front

garden." I

Three Pounds of Flax

d.

A monk

asked Master Tozan,

"What

the

is

Buddha?" Tozan

said,

"Three pounds of flax."

Why Practice?

e.

Ummon said, "Look! This world is vast and wide. Why do you put on your

priest's

robe

at

the sound of the bell?"

Shit-Stick

f.

A monk asked Ummon, "What is Buddha?" Ummon said:

"A

shit-

stick!"

Master Gutei Raises a Finger

g.

Gutei raised his finger whenever he was asked a question about Zen.

A boy attendant began

one asked the boy what

his

to imitate

him

in this way.

When

any-

master preached about, the boy would

raise his finger.

Gutei heard about the boy's mischief. his finger.

him.

own *

h.

The boy

When

He seized him and

cut off

cried and ran away. Gutei called and stopped

the boy turned his head to Gutei, Gutei raised

finger. In that instant the

up

his

boy was enlightened.

Flapping Mind

Two monks were

arguing about a

one. "No," said the other; "the

went back and told them:

forth.

flag.

wind

"The is

flapping."

The Master happened

"Not the wind, not the

flag;

flag is flapping," said

to

be

The argument passing by. He

your minds are flapping."

99

100

BUDDHISM 52.

a.

Zen Master Dogen (1200-1253) on the Importance ofZazen (Sitting Meditation) The Merit Lies

in Sitting

Way the prime one may perhaps

In the pursuit of the flecting

on koan

.

.

.

essential

is

By

zazen. ...

get a sense of them but

only result in one's being led astray from the way.

.

.

.

it

rewill

Just to pass

the time in sitting straight, without any thought of acquisition,

without any sense of achieving enlightenment the patriarchs.

It is

true that our predecessors

the koan and sitting, but sisted

it

was the

—

this

is

the

way of

recommended both

sitting that they particularly in-

upon. There have been some who attained enlightenment

through the

.

.

.

koan, but the true cause of their enlightenment

was the merit and effectiveness of

sitting.

Truly the merit

lies in

the sitting.

b.

Attainment Through the Body

To do away with mental deliberation and cognition, and simply to go on sitting, is the method by which the Way is made an intiThus the attainment of the Way bemate part of our lives. comes truly attainment through the body. That is why I put exclusive emphasis upon sitting. ...

.

53.

.

.

Zen Master Dogen on the Oneness of Practice and Enlightenment

Though Dogen

stressed the importance

of practice, he

also understood

that enlightenment was an inalienable possession, always already here

and now. This

is

Dogen s stunning doctrine of the oneness ofpractice and

enlightenment:

In Buddhism, practice and enlightenment are one and the same.

Since practice has

its

basis in enlightenment, the practice of even

the beginner contains the whole of original enlightenment.

while giving directions as to the exercise [the

him not

to await enlightenment apart

Thus

Zen Master] warns

from the

exercise, because

this [the exercise] points directly to the original enlightenment.

ZEN BUDDHISM Since enlightenment

no end ment,

is

already contained in the exercise, there

and since

to enlightenment,

is

the exercise of enlighten-

it is

has no beginning.

it

Hakuin on Zen Enlightenment

54.

Zen Master Hakuin (1686-1769) adopted Buddhism

at the age

of

Buddhist

eight

upon hearing of the

hells.

A period of intense devotion was followed by one of total cynicism

tortures that

when

"staring at Buddhist images

Later,

Hakuin resumed Buddhist

Hakuin s first enlightenment

awaited the faithless

and sutras was

Eiganji [temple]. ...

midst of an icy

Mu.

.

was

.

.

field

heard the striking of a temple

I

came

like

to

my

velous!"

I

which

had

I

though a

senses.

.

.

to escape,

.

.

.

My

bell. All at

14 li.

.

.

is

Holding out

only [the koan]

one night

were smashed.

.

.

.

"How

A

li

is

a

I

Instantly

dissolved,

How

marvelous!

for

which

I

had

mar-

to seek.

in devoting time to the seventeen

pride soared like a mountain.

out on the road to

.

.

.

.

.

.

hun-

Shouldering

Shinano.

in his left

my

insight

hand, say-

what you have understood through your brain."

his right

hand, he said,

"Now show me

your intuitive

insight."

14.

great

could not

I

.

interviewed Master Shoju and presented in verse

"This

A

once a transformation

on enlightenment. The master took the verse ing,

struggling at the

as if frozen to death in the

no enlightenment

this experience, I ... set I

.

Former doubt had completely

There was no point even .

.

for several days until

layer of ice

of

There was no cycle of birth and death from

cried aloud.

dred koan.

.

What remained was

which had melted away.

ice

was

extending thousands of

This condition lasted

as

I felt

tells

their masters.

slept neither day nor night. ...

I

virtually senseless.

came over me,

I

mud."

and provides an amus-

experience (satori)

doubt suddenly possessed me, and

I

The passage below

practice.

In the spring of my twenty-fourth year,

move.

like staring at

of interchanges between Zen students and

ing example

in

Chinese measure of linear distance equivalent to 2.44 miles.

101

102

BUDDHISM "If there

is

anything

vomited away,"

The Master

"What

asked,

"How

replied,

I

The Master

present to the master,

twisted

your hands and legs."

is

your understanding of

I

my

nose and

was about

me he called me One

what he meant, when the

to ask

blows of his

mud

sat cooling

him with my

and

fists

The master was on

my

poor devil attached

himself on the veranda.

verse on enlightenment.

finally

me

threw

me with

is

a

master

twenty or thirty

off the veranda. ...

and bowed

I lay in

and unable to move.

the veranda laughing aloud. After a

senses. I rose

shouted, "Here

The

I

shot back, "Delusions and fan-

I

as if dead, unconscious, breathless

regained

a

on whenever the master saw

Grabbing me, the master showered

cies!"

is

"a poor devil attached to the scriptures."

"Delusions and fancies!"

said,

I

that time

evening the master

again presented

the

From

.

MuV

.

said, "It is still attached to

master burst out laughing and said, "This .

.

.

Mu be attached to the hands and legs?"

can

to the scriptures.".

should be

it

and made a vomiting sound.

said,

I

at all to

to him.

.

.

The

.

while

little

master

poor devil attached to the scriptures!" From

took up serious study

then on

I

Hakuin

then describes, dryly

.

.

not stopping to eat or sleep.

,

.

and briefly, a

series

of other satoris he has

had. After one of them, his master ceases calling him "a poor devil at-

tached to the scriptures," but Hakuin .

.

.

One

night

Immediately

I

I

took up the Lotus Sutra, and read

the

many

all

errors

my I

practice of Zen, one

must

doubts cleared away.

initial

had made

understandings of enlightenment. realize, is

I

in

recog-

I

some of my

found myself

earlier

in tears.

by no means simple.

.

.

The

.

The Wisdom of Zen Masters

55.

Stinking of Zen

a.

On

again.

it

perceived the perfect, true, and ultimate signifi-

cance of the Lotus and nized

story ends like this:

s

his

heir:

death-bed a Master was asked by his disciple and Dharma-

"Master,

is

there anything else that

said the Master, "I

thing that

still

am

I

need

to

know?" "No,"

quite satisfied by and large. But there

worries me."

"What

is it?"

asked the

heir.

is

one

"Please

GRACE NOTES me so I can set it right."

tell

you

still

"Well," said the Master, "the trouble

is

stink of Zen."

What Is Lacking?

b.

Master Rinzai was fond of asking: "What,

moment,

at this

is

lacking?"

Is

c.

That

All?

Master Baso asked Master Hyakujo what truth he taught. Master

Hyakujo raised

his fly-whisk.

Master Hyakujo lowered

Baso

said: "Is that all?

Nothing

else?"

his fly-whisk.

When Hungry, I Eat

d.

Master Rinzai laugh

at

me.

said:

The

"When

hungry,

I eat;

when

tired,

I

sleep. Fools

wise understand."

Sick from the Medicine

e.

The Heart

is

Buddha:

this is

No Heart, No Buddha:

medicine for sick people.

this is for

people

who

are sick because

of the medicine.

Knowing the Buddha

f.

There for

There

Buddha those who don't know what he is

is

is, really.

no Buddha,

for those

who know what he

is,

really.

GRACE NOTES 56.

Selections

The Dhammapada tributed to the

from the Dhammapada is

a collection of some four hundred brief verses

Buddha.

at-

103

— 104

BUDDHISM a.

An Ecology All that

we

of Mind

are

on our thoughts,

is

a result

of what

we have

made up of our

it is

acts with an evil thought, pain follows

foot of the ox that

All that

we

are

on our thoughts, acts with a

thought:

thoughts. If a

it is

man

founded

speaks or

him, as the wheel follows the

draws the wagon.

is

a result

of what

we have thought:

made up of our

it is

thoughts. If a

it is

man

founded

speaks or

shadow

that

to the deathless, inattentiveness the

way

pure thought, happiness follows him,

like a

never leaves him.

Mindfulness to death.

is

the

Those who

way

are diligently attentive

do not

those

die,

who

are thoughtless are as if dead already.

As

fletcher

a

makes

straight his trembling

straight

his

arrow, a wise

and unsteady mind, which

man makes difficult to

is

guard, difficult to hold back.

It is

flighty,

b.

good

to

tame the mind, which

rushing [about];

The

a

is

difficult to

hold in and

tamed mind brings happiness.

Purification of Emotions

"He abused me, he beat me, he defeated me, he robbed me," in those who harbour such thoughts hatred will never cease. "He abused me, he beat me, he defeated me, he robbed me," those who do not harbour such thoughts hatred will cease.

—

in

For never does hatred by hatred cease: hatred ceases by love alone: this

is

an old

law.

The world does not know that we must all come but those who know, their quarrels cease at once. Victory breeds hatred, for the conquered

is

to an

end here;

unhappy.

has given up both victors and defeat, he, the contented,

is

He who happy.

GRACE NOTES c.

The

Intelligent

and the Foolish

When

the learned

man

drives away vanity

by earnestness,

the wise, climbing the terraced heights of wisdom, looks

upon the

fools, free

he,

down

from sorrow he looks upon the sorrowing

crowd, as one that stands upon a mountain looks down upon them that stand

upon the

plain.

Long is the night to him who is restless; long is a league to him who is tired; long is the round of rebirth to the foolish who do not know the true Law If a traveller does not

equal, let

him keep

panionship with a

himself;

his better or his is

no com-

fool.

fool is

how much

If a fool

is

firmly to his solitary journey; there

"These sons belong such thoughts a

meet with one who

less

me, and

to

this wealth

tormented.

He

If an intelligent

himself does not belong to

sons and wealth?

be associated with a wise

perceive the truth as

belongs to me"; with

little

as a

man be

man

even

all

spoon perceives the

his

life,

taste

he

will

of soup.

associated for one minute only with a

wise man, he will soon perceive the truth, as the tongue perceives the taste of the soup.

Fools of little understanding are their

they do

evil

own

deeds which must bear bitter

Those who

are

immersed

desires) as a spider runs

down

in craving

the

greatest enemies, for

fruits.

run down the stream (of

web which he himself has spun;

having cut this (bond), the steadfast retire from the world, with no

backward glance, leaving

He who is

free

Law.

all

sorrow behind.

has tasted the sweetness of solitude and tranquillity,

from

fear

and

sin,

while he drinks in the nectar of the

105

106

BUDDHISM

Human Birth, Hard

d.

Difficult

it is

to

Obtain

to obtain birth as a

mortals, difficult

is

human

being, difficult

the

is

the hearing of the true Law, difficult

life

of

is

the rise

hate us!

Among

of the Awakened Ones.

We

Happily

e.

Let us

men who

hate us,

let

Among men who

are ailing, let us dwell free

Among men who shall

f.

be

live

like

among

the greedy!

nothing our own!

call

to

Freedom

with deep and even-minded awareness one sees only the in-

cessant arising and fading of body- and mind-states, one

The

utter bliss.

57.

We

the bright gods feeding on happiness.

The Doorway

When

we

the ailing!

from greed!

are greedy let us dwell free

happily then, though

among

from ailments!

happily then, free from greed

live

Let us

us dwell free from hatred!

happily then, free from ailments

live

Let us

who

happily then, not hating those

live

Let us

Live

knows

discerning thus apprehend the Deathless.

The Parable of Me and Mine

Some

children were playing beside a

river.

They made

castles of

sand, and each child defended his castle and said, "This one

They

mine."

kept their castles separate and would not allow any

mistakes about which was whose. ished,

The owner

it.

other child's hair, struck spoilt as

my

castle!

he deserves."

ground. saying,

all

.

.

.

him with

Come

along

The

others

Then

"This

my

is

all

else's castle

all

his

fist

all fin-

and completely

and bawled out,

of you and help

came

me

to

ki

He

has

punish him

help They beat the

to his

stamped on him

as

he

lay

on the

they went on playing in their sand-castles, each

mine; no one else

castle!"

the castles were

of the castle flew into a rage, pulled the

child with a stick and then

touch

When

one child kicked over someone's

destroyed

is

may have

But evening came;

thought they ought

to

it

it.

Keep away! Don't

was getting dark and they

be going home.

No

one now cared what

GRACE NOTES became of his

One

castle.

child

over with both his hands.

stamped on

Then

his,

another pushed his

they turned away and went back,

each to his home.

The Bracelets

58.

There was

a king of Benares.

down and many

One summer when

an upper room on a couch adorned with

very hot he lay

in

gold, silver

precious stones, and

him with ointment of sandalwood from the

The

the weather was

servant was wearing a great

many

made

Head Mountain.

Bull's

bracelets

on her arms, and

The sound

they jangled together while she massaged the king.

him and he asked her

tated so,

and there was a

was

less noise

was only one

little less

noise.

He made

still.

left,

to take

one of the bracelets

ought

bines,

to

my

kingdom,

and attendants," he said

From

ness and bother."

that

She did

off.

her go on taking them off

and then there was no jangling

do with

irri-

She took off another, and there

at all.

noise stopped the king had a sudden awakening. "That I

massage

a servant

my

till

there

When

is

just

the

what

ministers, subjects, concu-

to himself. "In fact, with all busi-

moment onward he had no

further

worldly desires, but spent his time meditating in complete seclu-

and became a

sion,

59.

solitary (Pratyeka)

Buddha.

Carrying a Girl

Two monks on saw a

girl

pilgrimage came to the ford of a

dressed in

to do, for the river

all

was high and she did not want her clothes

her across, and put her

mandments

the

monks con-

started complaining:

woman; it is against the comcontact with women; how can you go

not right to touch a to have close

against the rules for

monk who had

monks!" and so on

in a steady stream.

The

carried the girl walked along silently, but finally he

remarked: "I set her down by the her."

monk

spoilt.

his back, carried

down on dry ground. Then

tinued on their way. But the other it is

There they

her finery and obviously not knowing what

Without more ado, one of the monks took her on

"Surely

river.

river.

But you

are

still

carrying

107

108

BUDDHISM Dogen Near Death

60.

To what indeed

The world and Ah, the

When

of man?

life

moon

reflection of the

the beak of the waterfowl.

A Lesson

61.

the

liken

I

dewdrop

In the

On

shall

for

Kisa Gotami

Kisa Gotami grew up, she married, going to the house of

her husband's family to

live.

There, because she was the daughter

of a poverty-stricken house, they treated her with contempt. After a

time she gave birth to a son. .

.

.

But when

that

Then

they accorded her respect.

boy of hers was old enough

up within

about, he died. Inconsolable sorrow sprang

Taking her son on her

hip, she

another, saying: "Give

me

medicine for

slightest idea

Now a certain

wise

her.

.

went about from one house door

Wherever people encountered She had not the

and run

to play

my

her, they

.

.

to

son!" .

.

.

laughed in derision.

what they meant.

man saw

her and thought: this

woman must

have been driven out of her mind by sorrow for her son. But medicine for her, no one else

Buddha and

to the .

.

.

likely to

my

icine for

congregation and

for medicine.

.

Go

at the

.

.

said:

"O Exalted One,

enter the

city,

well,

and

at

it

reverend

the very

"What

if

give

me med-

make

in

coming hither

the rounds of the entire

city,

beginning, and in whatever house no one has ever tiny grains of mustard seed."

sir," said she.

first

house

tiny grains of mustard seed for

not take

Gotami,

well,

Buddha might bring her son back city,

Go

hip, she took her stand in the outer

"You did

said:

from that house fetch

"Very

said to her: "...

son!"

The Buddha beginning

know So he

ask for help."

Taking her son on her

circle of the

died,

is

someone has died

say you,

said:

to

Delighted in heart that the life,

she entered within the

"[The Buddha] bids

medicine herein.".

for .

my

.

.

.

.

.

but

fetch I

can-

.

Gotami!" said the person

have died in this house.".

son,

me

at

the door.

"Many

GRACE NOTES In this same

She

way she went

realized: at every

This the Buddha,

must have city,

to the

second house, and to the

house in the entire

full

city this

third.

must be the

case!

of compassion for the welfare of mankind,

Overcome with emotion, she went outside of the her son to the burning ground, and, holding him in

seen!

carried

her arms, said: "Dear

little

son,

overtaken by this thing which

I

thought that you alone had been

men

call death.

only one death has overtaken. This

mankind." So saying, she

cast her son

is

away

But you are not the

a law in the

common

to all

burning ground.

109

CHAPTER THREE

Confucianism

hatever

W:

relates

nature ofreality to a set ofideas ofhow

man

is

else religion does,

it

a view of the ultimate

well advised.

1

.

.

to live."

Thus reminded by anthropologist Clifford Geertz, we can promptly shelve the old debate about whether the Confucian social ethic amounts

a

to

religion.

For although Confucius

may

spend more time examining

are advised to live " than probing "the ultimate nature

"how we

ity" he nevertheless assumes that the right and good

upon that

its

harmony with

human

affairs

reality's larger patterns.

depends utterly

life

explicit conviction

can prosper only when they are moral derives from

the implicit assumption that the cosmos itself is a

No

His

of real-

moral order.

student of our planetary religious heritage, therefore, can afford

to ignore Confucius.

The great body of thought linked

to his

name has

profoundly and continuously influenced about one-fifth of the world's

1.

Clifford Geertz, "Religion," in Arthur C.

Witchcraft 15.

and

Religion, 2d. ed.

Lehmann and James

E. Myers, Magic,

(Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing, 1985),

112

CONFUCIANISM population for two and a half thousand years. Although the Chinese

mind has

shaped by folk

also been

Buddhism, and

religion, Taoism,

in

century by communism, Confucianism remains, by any historical

this

measure,

its

What

chief mentor.

are the primary sources of this vast influence? The core

Confucian canon Classics,

consists

of ten

four of which

Confucius

5

them from

birth in eclipse

were

The

titles.

already

first six are the

venerable

551 B.C.E. Confucius

is

Ancient

by the time of

credited with having saved

by assiduous redaction. These four are the Book of

History (Shu Ching), the Book of Poetry (Shih Ching), the Book of

Book of Rites (Li Chi). The other two Spring and Autumn Annals (Chun Chiu), a local his-

Change (I Ching), and classics are the

the

tory that Confucius himself wrote,

Ching), attributed

Four other

the

Book of Filial Piety (Hsiao

Confucius.

to

titles,

and

called the

Four Books of Confucius, complete the

Confucian canon. These are The Great Learning (Ta Hsiieh), The Doctrine of the Great

which

Tzu),

Harmony 2 (Chung

records

the

teaching

Yung), 3 the Mencius

of Confucius *s great

(Meng

disciple,

Mencius, born a century after him, and the Analects (Lun Yii), sayings

of and observations about

the master collected posthumously by de-

Most of the selections in this thematically arranged chapter will be from the latter four Confucian books and a few from the above-mentioned Book of Rites and Book of Filial Piety. voted

disciples.

If Confucius

the humanist were alive today Ifeel certain that, despite

his traditionalism,

he would understand that the social transformation

for which he longed depends fundamentally upon speaking

to

both halves

il

of humanity. In

Names"

the spirit

(no. 9, below),

in inclusive

A final

of his own principle of the Rectification of the

I have taken the

language wherever I felt

this

liberty

of recasting

his sayings

was feasible.

introductory word: Confucius

is

a different kind of sage.

Unlike the great spiritual personages of the Western traditions, he

is

not

a prophet crying out in the wilderness, proclaiming the revelation of

God and railing against human

2.

Often translated

3.

These

first

as

indifference.

Nor does

Confucius fit the

"Doctrine of the Mean."

two books of Confucius, however, are collected

above-mentioned Book of Rites.

as chapters in the

CONFUCIUS THE MAN profile

of the

classic spiritual

hero of India, the yogi,

who through

as-

cetic

withdrawal from the world and sustained psychophysical discipline

taps

suprahuman

of wisdom. Rather, Confucius

reservoirs

abashedly, an educator.

He

a learner and a teacher, a person-in-

is

community who encourages nothing

less

than the full moral maturity of

Words once used by a Chinese scholar

the entire body politic.

un-

is,

to intro-

duce the Confucian sayings are well worth keeping in mind for the entirety

of this chapter:

For 2,500 years, they have always exasperated the young inquiring mind, looking for exciting truths and brilliant intel-

and always won over the mind when

lectual sorties,

older and matures ....

and so mellow

There they

stand, so deep in

in tone, a tribute to the nation

it

grows

wisdom

which worships

them. Like mellow old masters, and unlike magazine covers, are for the connoisseurs,

these sayings

.

connoisseurs.

The

the

skill

.

.

i.e.,

gentleness of touch, the softness of tone,

coming from mastery

are best appreciated

who have thought deeply about human This accounts generations.

for

the moral

[their]

classic,

by those

problems.

.

.

.

immortal influence on

4 .

.

.

CONFUCIUS THE MAN 1.

The Learner

a.

Learning as Pleasure

The Master

said,

To

learn

and

at

due times

to repeat

what one has

learnt, is that not after all a pleasure?

b.

Mellowing in the Way

The Master I

4.

said,

had planted

Lin Yutang,

1942), 812-13.

my

ed., 1

At

fifteen

feet firm

I

set

my

heart

upon

learning.

upon the ground. At

The Wisdom of India and China

(New

have rearranged the sentences to suit

forty, I

York:

my

At

thirty,

no longer

Random House,

purposes here.

113

114

CONFUCIANISM suffered from perplexities. At

of Heaven. At

sixty, I

fifty, I

knew what were

heard them with a docile

could follow the dictates of

my own

ear.

what

heart; for

the biddings

At seventy, I

I

desired no

longer overstepped the boundaries of right.

c.

Learning

Still

The Master

spent a whole fairly free

Give

said,

fifty in study,

from

a few

more

and

believe that after

I

I

may have

all I

should be

years, so that

error.

A Lover of the Ancients

2.

Confucian thought

characterized by profound regard for a golden

is

Confucius was shaped by, and in turn helped

past.

renowned Chinese

a.

me

to

the

shape,

respect for age.

A Transmitter, Not an Originator

The Master

said,

me

have transmitted what was taught to

I

out making up anything of

my

own.

I

with-

have been faithful to and

loved the Ancients.

b.

The Great Way of the Past

Once, Confucius was taking part in the winter

ceremony was gate

over,

he went for a

stroll

After the

sacrifice.

along the top of the city

He sighed for the state of Lu. "Why should the gentleman sigh?"

and sighed mournfully.

His disciple

.

.

.

asked:

Confucius replied: "The practice of the Great Way, the ous people of the Three Dynasties

And

person.

yet they inspire

my

—

these

ambition!

was practiced, the world was shared by

I

never

shall

When

all alike.

illustri-

know

the Great

in

Way

The worthy and

the able were promoted to office and people practiced good faith

and

lived in affection. Therefore they did not regard as parents

only their

own

parents, or as children only their

The young were the

Men

.

.

and

children.

.

.

.

provided with an upbringing and the widow and

widower, the orphaned and .

own

women

.

.

.

the

sick,

with

proper

care.

disliked the thought that their energies

CONFUCIUS THE MAN were not Therefore

used them not for private ends.

fully used, yet they all evil

plotting was prevented and thieves and rebels

did not arise, so that people could leave their outer gates unbolted.

This was the age of the Grand Unity.

"Now the Great Way has become hid and sion of private families.

Each regards

ents, as children only his children;

the world

is

as parents only his

in posses-

own

par-

goods and labor are employed

for selfish ends. ..."

3.

The Teacher The Master

knowledge of the

The Master

He who

said,

by reanimating the Old can gain

New is fit to be a teacher.

said,

I

have listened in silence and noted what was

have never grown tired of learning nor wearied of teaching

said, I

others what

have learnt. These

I

at least are

merits which

can

I

confidently claim.

The Master

—

From the very poorest upwards beginning even with the student who could bring no better present than a bundle of dried flesh none has ever come to me without receiving said,

—

instruction.

The Master struct; only

said,

Only one who bursts with eagerness do

one who bubbles with excitement, do

hold up one corner and a student cannot other three,

I

do not continue the

The Duke

of

She

is

come back

in-

enlighten. If to

me with

I

the

lesson.

asked

Tzu-lu

[Confucius]. Tzu-lu did not reply.

not say "This

I

I

about

The Master

Master

K'ung

Why

did you

upon

enlight-

said,

the character of the man: so intent

ening the eager that he forgets his hunger, and so happy in doing so, that

he forgets the bitterness of his

old age

is at

hand. That

is

what he

lot

and does not

realize that

is."

The Master said, As to being a Divine Sage or even a Good Man, far be it from me to make any such claim. As for unwearying effort to learn

merits

I

and unflagging patience

do not

hesitate to claim.

in teaching others, those are

115

116

CONFUCIANISM 4.

Glimpses of His Character

a.

Warmth

That friends should come

one from

to

afar, is this

not after

all

delightful?

Forbearance

b.

To remain unsoured even though others,

is

that not after

all

what

one's merits are unrecognized by

expected of a noble person?

is

Humility and Candor

c.

The Master

said, In vain

ble of seeing his

own

faults

I

have looked for a single person capa-

and bringing the charge home against

himself.

The Master

When

you know

you do not know is

said,

Yu, shall

teach you what knowledge

I

a thing, to recognize that a thing, to recognize that

you know

it,

is?

and when

you do not know

it.

That

knowledge.

The Master said, I would much said, If

our Master did not

talk,

rather not have to talk.

what should we

hand down about him? The Master

said,

d.

its

yet

hundred creatures

Heaven does no speaking!

Earnestness and Perseverance

The Master (te)

kind, are born thereby.

ones have to

Heaven does not speak;

the four seasons run their course thereby, the

each after

little

Tzu-kung

said,

untended,

my

The thought

that "I have left

learning unperfected, that

I

my

moral power

have heard of righ-

teous men, but been unable to go to them; have heard of evil men,

but been unable to reform them

,,

—

it is

these thoughts that dis-

quiet me.

The Master said, If a man does not continually ask "What am I to do about this, what am I to do about this?" no possibility of my doing anything about him.

himself there

is

CONFUCIUS THE MAN In the discharge of the ordinary duties oflife and in the exercise

of care in ordinary conversation, whenever there never

to strive for

fail

said, always say less

e.

improvement, and when there

than what

is

necessary.

.

.

shortcoming,

is

is

much

to

be

.

Integrity

The Master

said,

Those who seek only coarse food

to eat, water to

arm for pillow, will without looking for it find happiness to boot. Any thought of accepting wealth and rank by means that I know to be wrong is as remote from me as the clouds that drink and bent

float above.

f.

Sympathy

If at a

was

meal the Master found himself seated next to someone who

in

mourning, he did not

eat his

fill.

When

he had wailed

at a

funeral, during the rest of the day he did not sing.

g.

Humanism

Tzu-lu asked how one should serve ghosts and said, Till

you have learnt

Master

said, Till

upon

a question

you know about the

living,

The Master

how can you

to serve people,

ghosts? Tzu-lu then ventured

spirits.

serve

about the dead.

how

are you to

The

know

about the dead?

h.

Metaphysical Sensibility

When the Master was very ill, Tzu-lu asked leave to perform the rite of Expiation.

The Master

swered saying, There rites

is.

said, Is there

such a thing? Tzu-lu an-

In one of the Dirges

it

says,

u

We performed

of expiation for you calling upon the sky-spirits above and the

earth-spirits below."

The Master said,

Confucius remarked:

—how

Universe

active

can escape

its

The power

it is

impalpable to the senses, operation.

My expiation began long ago! of spiritual forces in the

everywhere! Invisible to the eyes, and

it is

inherent in

all

things,

and nothing

117

118

CONFUCIANISM 5.

His Demeanor In his leisure hours the Master's

easy,

and

his expression alert

manner was very free-and-

and cheerful.

The Master's manner was affable

yet firm,

commanding but not

harsh, polite but easy.

There were four things

that the

Master wholly eschewed: he

took nothing for granted, he was never over-positive, never obstinate, never egotistic.

The Master he did not aim

fished with a line but not with a net; at a

when fowling

roosting bird.

When in the Master's presence anyone sang a song that he liked, he did not join in joined

at

once, but asked for

it

to

be repeated and then

in.

Once when Tzu-lu, Tseng-Hsi, Jan Ch'iu and Kung-shi Hua were seated in attendance upon him, Confucius said "Now suppose some prince were to recognize your merits, what would be your wishes?" Tzu-lu without hesitation replied: "Take a kingdom [beset with difficulties, and] in three years' time I could make it brave and make it understand the right course to pursue." .

Confucius smiled

at

".

.

.

And how

I

would

could make

its

said:]

people

"Take a

live in

district [and]

abundance. ..."

about you, Tien [Tseng-Hsi]?"

Tseng Hsi paused latter

.

him.

"And how about you, Ch'iu?" [Ch'iu in three years' time

.

days of spring, like to take

in the playing of the zither.

when

[He

said:]

"In the

the light spring garments are made,

I

along five or six grown-ups and six or seven

youths to bathe in the River Yi, and after the bath to go to enjoy the breeze in the woods

home,

loitering

among

the altars of Wu-yi, and then return

and singing on our way."

Confucius heaved a deep sigh and

my own

heart."

said:

"You

are the

man

after

THE CONFUCIAN PROJECT

THE CONFUCIAN PROJECT The Confucian project

is

nothing

human community. Like

its

than the task of becoming a fully

less

fellow wisdom traditions, Confucianism

understands that authentic humanity evolves to the extent that blind

and mind

egoism erodes. To expand the heart

empathy ily,

in ever-wider circles

so that, starting with oneself those circles

one's

community, one's nation, and finally

the Confucian aim. Yet this great

and social transformation selections

involves

of

embrace one's fam-

all

humanity

—

this is

and never-ending work of personal many constituent efforts. Below are

arranged thematically around key Confucian virtues and

ideals that, taken together, constitute the great work.

6.

Harmony with the Universal Order

What is God-Given 5 is what we call human nature. To fulfill the law of our human nature is what we call the moral law [Tao]. The cultivation of the moral law is what we call culture. The moral law is a law from whose operation we cannot for one instant in cur existence escape.

Our

.

.

.

central self or moral being

and harmony or moral order

is

Confucius remarked: "The plification

is

the great basis of existence,

the universal law in the world.

life

of the moral person

of the universal moral order.

person, on the other hand,

is

.

.

.

The

life

is

.

.

.

an exem-

of the vulgar

a contradiction of the universal moral

order."

Confucius remarked: "To find the central clue to our moral being which unites us to the universal order, that indeed highest

human

attainment.

.

.

is

the

."

Confucius remarked: "There are people who seek for the abstruse and strange

5.

and

live a singular life in

Given by Tien or "heaven."

order that they

may

119

120

CONFUCIANISM leave a

name

to posterity!

again good people

but who, give

who

what

is

try to live in

when they have gone

live a life in entire live

unknown

any concern.

It is

I

conformity with the moral it

law,

up. I never could

moral people who unconsciously

harmony with the to the

never would do. There are

half way, throw

up. Lastly, there are truly

it

who

This

universal moral order and

world and unnoticed by others without

only people of holy, divine natures

who

are capa-

ble of this. .. ."

The Master

said, In the

morning hear the Way;

in the evening,

die content!

7.

Li

Li, is

Proper Comportment

a most important notion for understanding the Confucian way. It

has two overlapping meanings: proper comportment and

ritual. It

was

not lost on sages like Confucius that habits determine character. The re-

peating patterns of what we say, what we

mine what we become and what we

are.

do,

and how we think

As our

deter-

habits go, so go we. In

Confucius 's view, attentive performance of social ritual and everyday etiquette shapes

We

terns.

human

thereby

character in accordance with archetypal pat-

make our own

are also heavens ways. Because

the wise

it is

ways of the

ancients, which

often difficult for the contemporary

student to imagine the meticulous detail with which ancient Chinese society

was choreographed, I begin with passages from the pre-Confucian

Book of Li. If the reader

will pause to consider that this sort

covering the myriad situations of life,

is

of detail,

recorded for hundreds ofpages,

she or he will, in addition to being duly amazed, gain some idea of the tradition on which Confucius ings

a.

make frequent

Li:

draws and

to

li

which the Confucian writ-

reference.

A Miscellany of Specifics

In going to take counsel with an elder, one must carry a stool and a staff (for the elder's use).

When

an elder asks a question, to reply

THE CONFUCIAN PROJECT without acknowledging one's incompetency and (trying to) decline answering,

For

contrary to propriety

is

children

all

and

their parents),

the rule:

it is

to cool

it

[li].

—

in winter to

summer;

in the

just everything (for their repose),

health) in the morning.

.

.

and

warm

(the

bed

for

in the evening to ad-

to inquire (about their

.

A son, when he is going abroad, must inform (his parents where he

when he

going);

is

returns, he

must present himself (before

them). ... In ordinary conversation (with his parents) he does not use the term old (with reference to them).

When

.

.

five are sitting together, the eldest

mat (by himself).

.

.

.

must have

a different

.

A son should not occupy the southwest corner of the apartment, nor

in the

sit

middle of the road, nor stand in the middle of the door-

in the

way.

.

middle of the mat (which he occupies alone), nor walk

.

.

A boy

should never be allowed to see an instance of deceit.

He must

.

.

stand straight and square, and not incline his head in

When

hearing.

.

an elder

holding him with the hand, he should

is

hold the elder's hand with both his hands.

sword

shifted his

to his

back and

When

the elder has

speaking to him with the side of

is

bent down, he should cover his mouth with his hand in an-

his face

swering.

.

.

.

When

he meets his teacher on the road, he should

hasten forward to meet him, and stand with his hands joined across his breast. If the teacher speaks to him, not,

he

will retire

with hasty steps.

he

When,

will answer; if

he does

following an elder, they

ascend a level height, he must keep his face towards the quarter to

which the elder

Whenever

(a

is

looking.

.

.

.

host has received and)

every door he should give place to him. the innermost door

.

.

.

is

entering with a guest,

When

the guest arrives at

the host will ask to be allowed to enter

and arrange the mats. Having done

this,

he

will

at

come out

first

to receive

who will refuse firmly (to enter first). The host having low bow to him, they will enter (together). When they have

the guest,

made

a

entered the door, the host moves to the right, and the guest to the left.

.

.

.

(stairs),

Then

they offer to each other the precedence in going up

but the host commences

first,

followed (immediately) by

121

122

CONFUCIANISM They bring

the other.

their feet" together

He who

cending by successive paces.

move

east should

steps his left foot.

When them

his right foot first, .

.

step,

thus as-

ascends by the steps on the

and the other

the western

at

.

two people are

as a third.

on every

When

do not

sitting or standing together,

join

two are standing together, another should

not pass between them. Male and female should not

sit

together (in

the same apartment), nor have the same stand or rack for their clothes,

nor use the same towel or comb, nor

in giving

and receiving.

A

sister-in-law

and brother-in-law do not

interchange inquiries (about each other).

Do not roll do not

(the soup).

crunch bones with the

teeth;

you want).

When

.

.

.

.

dishes;

Do not make a noise in eating;

do not

do not put back

do not throw the bones

eating;

.

do not bolt down the various

rice into a ball;

down

swill

hands touch

let their

to the dogs;

fish

you have been

do not snatch

(at

what

.

they have done eating, the guests will kneel in front (of

the mat) and (begin to) remove the (dishes) of rice and sauces to give

them

The host will then rise and who will resume their seats.

to the attendants.

service

from the guests,

b. Li:

General Principles

.

.

decline this .

—Always and

The Summary

of the Rules of Propriety

everything

there be reverence; with the deportment grave as

when one inite.

let

is

This

[li]

says:

in

thinking (deeply), and with speech composed and def-

will

make

the people tranquil.

Pride should not be allowed to grow; the desires should not be indulged; the will should not be gratified to the

should not be carried to excess.

When

.

.

full;

pleasure

.

you find wealth within your reach, do not

(try to) get

by improper means; when you meet with calamity, do not escape from

it

by improper means.

contentions; do not seek for positively affirm

.

.

.

(try to)

for victory in small

more than your proper

share.

Do

not

what you have doubts about; and (when you have

no doubts) do not view.

Do not seek

it

let

what you say appear (simply)

as

your own

THE CONFUCIAN PROJECT .

.

One

.

should not (seek

to) please others in

not be lavish of his words. ... one's words

is

To

cultivate one's

good conduct.

called

an improper way,

person and

fulfill

When the conduct is (thus) or-

dered, and the words are accordant with the (right) course,

have the substance of the rules of propriety.

.

.

.

The

we

course (of

duty), virtue, benevolence, and righteousness cannot be fully carried out without the rules of propriety;

.

.

.

nor can the clearing up

of quarrels and discriminating in disputes be accomplished; nor can (the duties between) ruler and minister, high and low, father

and son, elder brother and younger, be determined;

.

.

majesty and dignity be shown in assigning different places in the

government of armies, and

nor can

.

at court,

in discharging the duties of office

so as to secure the operation of the laws; nor can there be the

(proper) sincerity and gravity in presenting the offerings to spiri-

Beings on occasions of supplication, thanksgiving and the var-

tual

ious sacrifices.

The

.

.

.

parrot can speak, and yet

ape can speak, and yet

man who a beast?.

c.

is

is

nothing more than a bird; the

nothing more than a beast. Here now

observes no rules of propriety .

[li]; is

is

a

not his heart that of

.

Confucius on Li Yen Hui asked about Goodness. The Master

other text],

"He who can

ruler could for

one day "submit himself to

Heaven would respond for

.

.

.

more

himself submit to ritual

detail.

.

.

.

to his

Goodness.

The Master

said,

.

said [quoting an[li] is

ritual," .

To

If a

everyone under

Yen_Hiu

.

Good."

•

•

•

askfed]

look at nothing in de-

fiance of ritual, to speak of nothing in defiance of ritual, never to stir

hand or

foot in defiance of ritual.

—— '

The Master ritual

said,

*

Courtesy not bounded by the prescriptions of

becomes tiresome. Caution not bounded by the prescriptions

of ritual becomes timidity, daring becomes turbulence, inflexibility

becomes harshness. If

one only understood the meaning of the

and Earth, and the significance of the services

sacrifices to

Heaven

in ancestral

worship

123

y 124

CONFUCIANISM in

summer and autumn,

point a finger

at

The Master

d.

said. If

what use

possible, of

govern

as easy to

nation as to

a

the palm. it

and yielding, there

ritual

would be

it

is

is

no more

ritual

is

really possible to

to be said.

govern countries by

But

if

it is

:

Hsun-Tzu on Li

Hsun-Tzu,

C

a

philosopher who lived about 200

the rruster, p

Rites

us rrith

s

on three

rest

[li]

source of

all life;

ment.

.

.

Heaven and

bases:

who are and teachers, who

earth,

which are the

the source of the

Should any of the three be missing, either there would

.

Heaven on high and earth

rites are to

below, and to honor the ancestors

and elevate the sovereigns and teachers.

.

.

.

Who holds

to the rites

never confused in the midst of multifarious change;

therefrom

ates

culture .

.

human

are the source of govern-

be no people or people would be without peace. Hence serve

tier

an excellent general description of It.

the ancestors,

race; [and] sovereigns

is

not really

lost.

is

Rites

—

who

devi-

are they not the culmination of

: .

.

.

Pairs of opposites are in the rites equally utilized and alter-

.

nately brought into play. Beautiful adornment, music and rejoicing

on occasions of

are appropriate

felicity;

coarse sackcloth, weeping

and sorrow are appropriate on occasions of

room

for beautiful

adornment but not

ill-fortune. Rites

to the point of

make

being fasci-

nating, for coarse sackcloth but not to the point of deprivation or

music and rejoicing but not

self-injury, for

lewd or indolent,

for

weeping and sorrow but not

being depressing and rites.

.

.

is

longing. ...

fied.

.

.

.

.

injurious.

Such

is

the

being

to the point

of

middle path of

.

Sacrifice

then

to the point of

.

.

to express a person's feeling of

If

remembrance and

such feelings are not given proper expression,

emotions and memories are disappointed and not

Thereupon

the ancient kings instituted

forth the principle of expressing honors to the

the beloved

is

ered the fully

fully realized.

human

having to do with

way;

spirits.

.

.

.

Among

among

rites,

satis-

and hence-

honored and love

the cultivated

the uncultivated

it is

it is

to

consid-

considered

THE CONFUCIAN PROJECT 8.

If

Hsiao li

(Filiality):

Being Good Sons and Daughters

covers all proper comportment, hsiao

is

and profound

Veneration of departed ancestors

a crucial aspect of

li.

ones living

respect for

elders are etched deeply into the Chinese character, so deeply, in fact,

that some say the real religion

of China

is

the family. While Confucius

himself placed more emphasis on this-worldly conduct rather than on the veneration

practice

of the

of ancestral latter as

he certainly saw the traditional

spirits,

an important manifestation of and a way

culcate the former. Hsiao, the virtue

to in-

is foundational for

offiliality,

the

Confucian project.

The Master

said:

.

The

.

.

ancient kings had a perfect virtue and

all-embracing rule of conduct, through which they were in accord

with

under heaven. By the practice of

all

brought

to live in

.

.

inferiors.

.

.

.

is

nothing better than

The Master parents ifest

is

be-

(all

of

moral)

.

The Master said, For teaching people ing there

ill-will

Filial piety [hsiao] is the root

and (the stem) out of which grows

virtue,

teaching.

the people were

peace and harmony, and there was no

tween superiors and (all)

it

said,

as follows:

The

—

be affectionate and lov-

to

Filial Piety.

service

which

.

.

filial

.

children do to their

In their general conduct to them, they

man-

the utmost reverence; in their nourishing of them, their en-

deavor

is

them the utmost

to give

feel the greatest anxiety; in

when they are ill, they them (dead), they exhibit

pleasure;

mourning

for

every demonstration of grief; in sacrificing to them, they display the utmost solemnity.

When

children are complete in these five

may be pronounced) able to serve their parents. They who (thus) serve their parents, in a high situation, will be

things (they

free tion;

from pride;

in a low situation, will

and among

be free from insubordina-

their equals, will not be quarrelsome. ... If those

three things be not put away, though children every day contribute beef,

mutton and pork

The Master

to nourish their parents, they are not

said, In serving his father

gently remonstrate with them.

But

if

and mother

a

filial.

man may

he sees that he has failed to

change their opinion, he should resume an attitude of deference

and not thwart them; may

feel

discouraged, but not resentful.

125

126

CONFUCIANISM ...

To

gather in the same places where our fathers before us

have gathered; to perform the same ceremonies which they before us have performed; to play the same music which they before us

have played; to pay respect to those those

who were

they were living, and is

—

dear to them

The

they honored; to love

in fact, to serve those

now departed

the highest achievement of true

9.

whom

as if they

filial

were

now dead

still

as if

with us: this

piety.

Rectification of Names

Li cannot flourish ifpeople misuse language.

If

terms be not correct, language

truth of things. If language

is

is

not in accordance with the

not in accordance with the truth of

things, affairs cannot be carried out to success.

superior person considers

spoken appropriately. his

it

What

The

Human

.

.

Therefore a

necessary that the names he uses be

the superior person requires

words there be nothing that

10.

.

is

that in

incorrect.

is

Five Constant Relationships

individuals are

cells in

the social organism. Confucius

sized attention to the five relationships

and

empha-

their concomitant duties as a

way of underscoring this fact and ofpromoting shared participation

a.

The

The

in

It.

Five Duties

duties of universal obligation are

by which they are carried out are

five,

three.

and the moral

The

qualities

duties are those be-

tween ruler and subject, between parents and children, between

between elder

sibling

and younger, and those

the intercourse between friends.

These

are the five duties of uni-

husband and

wife,

versal obligation.

Wisdom, compassion and courage

three universally recognized moral qualities of

—

in

these are the

human

beings.

It

THE CONFUCIAN PROJECT matters not in what way people qualities, the result is

b.

come

to the exercise of these

one and the same.

.

.

moral

.

The Master Measures Himself

And with

characteristic candor

and humility about

reach the ideal of behaving with perfect

li

his

own

inability to

within the five relationships,

Confucius says:

There which

are four things in the moral I

life

of a person, not one of

my life. To

have been able to carry out in

serve

my

parents

my children to serve me: that I have not been able to do. To serve my sovereign as I would expect a minister under me to serve me: that I have not been able to do. To act towards my elder siblings as I would expect my younger siblings to act towards as I

would expect

me: that

have not been able to do.

I

wards friends as

I

would expect them

To be to

the

first

to

behave to-

behave towards me: that

I

have not been able to do.

11.

The

Spirit of Li: Reciprocity, Loyalty\

and

the

Golden Rule 2l.

The

Single

The Master through asked,

way

is

.

it.

.

.

Thread Shen!

said, .

.

.

What

simply

When

My Way

has one (thread) that runs right

the Master had gone out the disciples

did he mean? Master Tseng said,

this:

Our

Master's

Loyalty [to superiors], consideration [for the

feelings of others].

b.

Confucius's Golden Rule

Tzu-kung asked saying, Is there any single saying that one can act upon all day and every day? The Master said, Perhaps the saying about consideration: Never do to others what you would not

them

to

do

to you.

like

127

128

CONFUCIANISM

The Master Virtue, Jen: Goodness or Human- He artedness

12.

Jen, here rendered "good" or "goodness" virtue. It

may

is

the master Confucian

be thought of as the end to which

li

and

its

constitutive

virtues are the means.

One who is free to choose, yet does not prefer to the Good how can he be accorded the name wise?

dwell

among

—

The Master

said,

Without Goodness

person

a

Cannot

for long

Cannot

for long enjoy prosperity,

endure adversity,

The Master said, In the presence of a good person, think all the time how you may learn to equal her. In the presence of a bad person, turn your gaze within!

The Master

said,

When

it

comes

Goodness one need not

to

avoid competing with one's teacher.

The Master

said, Is

Goodness indeed so

wanted Goodness, we should find that

it

was

Wealth and rank are what every person only be retained to the detriment of the

away? If we really

far at

our very

side.

desires; but if they can

Way

he professes, he must

relinquish them. Poverty and obscurity are what every person detests;

but

if

they can only be avoided to the detriment of the

she professes, he must accept them. parts for a

company with Goodness does not

moment

my

said, I for

really cared for

sideration

come

first.

.

.

who

really

.

who

.

.

re-

abhorred wickedness.

Goodness would never .

ever

name. Never

that

fulfill

who

part have never yet seen one

cared for Goodness, nor one

One who

noble person

does a noble person quit the way of Goodness.

The Master ally

The

Way

let

any other con-

Has anyone ever managed

to

do Good

with his whole might even as long as the space of a single day? think not. ...

never seen

it.

It

may

well have happened, but

I

for

my

I

part have

THE CONFUCIAN PROJECT

The Chun-Tzu: The Noble Person

13.

or Fully

Human

Being The chun-tzu acter,

is

Confucius

term for the person offully evolved char-

s

one mho manifests human-he arte dness.

The Master

good person] does not grieve

said, [the

people do not recognize her merits. Her only anxiety

should

fail

is lest

she

to recognize theirs.

Tzu-kung asked about the

He

that other

truly

human

does not preach what he practices

till

being.

The Master said,

he has practiced what he

preaches.

The Master cover what

is

said,

A

noble person takes as

much

right as lesser people take to discover

The Master

said,

trouble to dis-

what

will pay.

A noble person covets the reputation of being

slow in word but prompt in deed.

The Master

said,

A noble person does not Accept people because of what they

Nor

say,

because the speaker

reject sayings,

is

what he

is.

The Master said, A noble person who never goes on eating till he is sated, who does not demand comfort in his home, who is diligent in business and cautious in speech, who associates with those that possess the Way and thereby corrects his own faults such a one may indeed by said to have a taste for learning.

—

The Master

said,

A

noble person

is

ashamed

to let her

words

outrun her deeds.

The Master without

one

bias.

said,

A noble mind can see a question from all sides

Small minds are biased and see a question only from

side.

The Master small person

is

The Master

said,

A

fretful

said,

truly

and

The

ill

human being

is

calm and

at ease;

the

who who

are

at ease.

noble person can influence those

above her; the small person can only influence those

below

her.

are

129

CIAMSM

\Fl The

ft

A noble person is distressed by his own lack of

Lister said.

capacity; he

-

rressed at the failu

recognize

:o

his merits.

remands

>ter said.

upon

that a noble person

makes

himself; those that a small person :e

noble person

points in others; he

-rson does

small

a

Onl

not call attention to their defects.

The

dds

When

natural substance prevails over orna-

ornament and substance

you get the truly noWe

I

When ornamenta-

natural substance, you get the pedantry of the

on

Tr

others

good

mentation, you get the boorishness of the rustic tion prevail

upon

Good

er

plexed, he that r

14.

TV.

is

do

n.

Th

d.

are duly blended

:"

the true

human

being are three,

myself have met with success in none of them. For he tha:

ally

are

calls attention to the

ju>:

>ter said.

are

makes

unhap

s

really brave

own Way

is

r

really wise

is

Tzu-kung

rraid.

i

never persaid.

That,

[Tao]!

Mormi f

Confucius believed that the only influence one really has on othersflows directly from the

moral fiber ofones

character. Authority or force can

achieve results but not without a leaving a toxic residue.

by contrast, burns

clean.

In vain have I looked for those

build

up

their

moral power

The B r,

to

Moral encrrj.

[te]

* - m Jong s

whose

as their sexual des:

ho rule by moral force are

which remains

in its place while

all

desire to

like

the pole-

the lesser stars do

homage

it.

vern the peopk

among them by

[

gulanons, keep order

chastisements, and they will

lose all self-respect.

Go\ em them by moral

flee

from you. and

force,

keep order

THE CONFUCIAN PROJECT among them by ritual [li], and they come to you of their own accord.

The Master

said, If the ruler

keep their self-respect and

will

himself is upright,

even though he does not give orders. But

even though he gives orders, they

right,

if

he himself

will not

go well

all will is

not up-

be obeyed.

Chi K'ang-tzu asked Master K'ung about government. Master K'ung replied, ... If you desire what will at

The

once be good.

The Master

said,

grass,

Moral

it

is

.

good, the people

essence of the noble person

wind; the essence of lesser persons

wind passes over the

is

.

.

that of grass.

is

that of the

And when

a

cannot choose but bend.

force never dwells in solitude;

it

will al-

ways bring neighbors.

Tzu-kung asked about government. The Master food, sufficient weapons, and the confidence of the ple.

Tzu-kung

said,

said,

said,

men; but

a

left,

peo-

to dispense

The Master

Suppose you were forced

with one of the two that were

Master

common

Suppose you had no choice but

with one of these three, which would you forgo?

Weapons. Tzu-kung

said, sufficient

said,

to dispense

which would you forgo? The

Food. For from of old death has been the

people that no longer trusts

its

rulers

is lost

lot

of

all

indeed.

Wen, the Arts: Music, Poetry, Literature, and Dance

15.

Long

before Shakespeare, Confucius understood that music soothes the

savage beast. Indeed, for Confucius music and the other arts are not only therapy but essential ingredients in the work of transforming

human

a.

nature toward the good.

Music, Harmony, and Virtue

Music

rises

from the human heart when the human heart

touched by the external world.

.

.

is

.

Therefore the ancient kings were ever careful about things that affected the

human

heart.

They

tried

therefore to guide the

131

132

CONFUCIANISM means of li,

people's ideals and aspirations by

establish

harmony

in

sounds by means of music, regulate conduct by means of government, and prevent immorality by means of punishments. Li,

common

music, punishments and government have a is

about unity

to bring

goal,

which

and carry out the

in the people's hearts

principles of political order. .

li,

.

Who

.

and

if

understands music comes very near

they have mastered both

ous, because virtue

Music expresses

is

fulfillment.

fluenced, and through order rituals

flects

call

them

virtu-

the universe, while rituals ex-

Through harmony

all

things are in-

things have a proper place.

all

.

.

.

and music are well established, we have the Heaven

and Earth functioning

Music

understanding

.

.

harmony of

the

press the order of the universe.

When

and music, we

li

.

to

in perfect order.

illustrates the

.

.

.

primordial forces of nature, while

the products of the creation.

Heaven represents

li

re-

the principle

of eternal motion, while Earth represents the principle of remaining

still,

and these two principles of motion and

between Heaven and Earth. Therefore, the Sage and music.

.

.

tries

heart by a rediscovery of

mote music

talks

permeate

life

about rituals

.

Therefore, the noble person

human

rest

as a

means

to create

human

to the perfection

harmony

in

the

nature, and tries to pro-

human

of

culture.

When

such music prevails and the people's minds are led toward the right ideals

and aspirations, we may see the appearance of a great nation.

Character

is

the flowering of character. heart, the

human nature, and music is The poem gives expression to our

the backbone of our .

.

.

song gives expression

to

our voice, and the dance gives

expression to our movements. These three arts take their rise from the

human

soul,

and then are given further expressions by means

of the musical instruments.

b.

Transformative Music

The Master there

is

said.

For teaching people to be affectionate and loving

nothing better than

Filial

Piety;

.

.

.

for

changing their

THE GREAT LEARNING manners and Music.

.

altering their

customs there

is

nothing better than

.

.

Music and Goodness

c.

The Master

A

said,

person

have to do with ritual?

who

is

not Good, what can she or he

A person who is not Good,

what can she or

he have to do with music?

THE GREAT LEARNING: A Summation The Great Learning

16.

Ta Hsiieh,

"Education for the True Adult " is one of the Four

literally,

Books of Confucius.

may

be read as a

that the

Its brevity allows us to

reproduce

summary of the Confucian

work of transforming the world

it

here in full. It

project. Its core idea

requires one's

own

is

self-

transformation.

[The Great Learning] consists

in manifesting the clear character,

loving the people, and abiding in the highest good.

Only

after

knowing what

to abide in can

one be calm. Only

after

having been calm can one be tranquil. Only after having achieved tranquillity can ful

one have peaceful repose. Only

after

having peace-

repose can one begin to deliberate. Only after deliberation can

the end be attained. Things have their roots and branches. Affairs

have their beginnings and their ends.

what

is last

The

will lead

ancients

the world would

To know what

first

to manifest their clear character to

bring order to their

to bring order to their states

would

states.

first

to regulate their families

their personal lives.

Those who wished

their

minds would

first rectify their first

make

would

first cultivate

to cultivate their personal

who wished to rectify sincere. Those who wished

minds. Those their wills

Those who wished

regulate their families.

Those who wished would

and

one near the Way.

who wished

lives

is first

133

134

CONFUCIANISM to

make

would

their wills sincere

first

extend their knowledge.

The

extension of knowledge consists in the investigation of things.

When

things are investigated, knowledge

knowledge

sonal

life is

ily will

extended, the will becomes sincere;

is

mind

sincere, the

is rectified;

when

mind

the

is

extended;

when

when

the will

is

rectified, the per-

when the personal life is cultivated, the famwhen the family is regulated, the state will be

cultivated;

be regulated;

in order;

is

and when the

state is in order,

there will be peace

throughout the world.

From

Son of Heaven down

the

regard cultivation of the personal

There

is

common

to the life

never a case when the root

tance or what

is

all

must

as the root or foundation. in disorder

is

branches are in order. There has never been treated with great importance

people,

becomes

a

a case

and yet the

when what

is

matter of slight impor-

treated with slight importance

becomes

a matter

of

great importance.

MENCIUS The

last

of the Four Books of Confucius takes

its

name from

most influential philosopher in the Confucian tradition,

Mencius, who flourished about a hundred years after

Meng Tzu

his master.

Confuaus's Analects, the Mencius was probably compiled by

Mencius,

the second

or

Like

disciples.

revered the wisdom of the past, urged the

like his mentor,

cultivation of]en or

human

sisted that wise rulers

govern more by the power of their moral character

goodness, and, in the realm ofpolitics, in-

than by force.

Mencius

also stressed

i,

or "righteousness," an ideal whose meaning

and function was not absolute but the views

of his philosophical

and universal istic

dicta

relative to

rival,

Mo

its

social context. Resisting

Tzu, who preached an equal

love for all humanity, Mencius, following the

of Confucius, argued that

right conduct

more

real-

toward others could

not help but be expressed in varying degrees depending on the degree of

personal relationship involved.

Mencius by

is

well

their nature

known for

his doctrine

toward goodness, and

it

of human nature: people tend is

only the adverse circum-

MENCIUS of their nurture that erode goodness and engender evil. Our

stances

vidual task, then,

is

our collective task discovery

and

and

to discover

is

express our innate goodness, while

to establish the just social

that expression possible for

order that makes that

all.

17.

Our Original Capability Is Goodness

The

disciple

Kung-tu Tzu

said:

"Kao Tzu

Mencius] says that human nature

human

say that

[sage-kings]

when [wicked

Some

lence.

bad.

.

then

all

.

comes

mercy

some natures

virtue;

good and some natures are

are

you say that human nature

"When

replied:

is

good. Are the others

found

is

why

I

say

in all people; the sense of

found

thought. Therefore,

and you

is

it is

it is

—

found in

in all people.

will lose them.'

degree than others

is

said:

.

all .

.

shame

feelings

good. If

be-

it

The sense of

not the fault of our original capability.

evil, it is is

to follow its natural

left

nature will do good. This

and wrong

is

Thus when

were in power the people loved

people; the sense of respect

that

Some

neither good nor bad.

wrong?"

Mencius

human

philosophical rival of

kings] were in power the people indulged in vio-

say that

Now

.

is

[a

nature can be turned to be good or bad.

Wen and Wu

indi-

is

found in

all

people; the sense of right

Only we

give

them no

'Seek and you will find them, neglect

Some

have these virtues to a

twice, five times,

much

greater

and incalculably more

because those others have not developed to the

—and

fullest extent

their original capability."

Our Natural Tendency Is Goodness

18.

Kao Tzu

[a rival] said:

"The

nature of humanity

a swift current of water: you lead east;

you lead

nature

is

it

westward and

it it

eastward and

may be it

likened to

will flow to the

will flow to the west.

neither disposed to good nor to

evil, just as

Human

water

is

nei-

ther disposed to east nor west."

Mencius

replied: "It

east nor west, but

is it

is

true that water

is

neither disposed to

neither disposed to flowing

upward nor

135

136

CONFUCIANISM downward? The tendency of human nature of water to flow downward. There to

do good; there

you may

no water

is

strike water

may even

do good

it

that

is like

no person who does not tend

is

that does not flow

and make

up the

to

downward.

Now

splash over your forehead, or you

But

of water?

It is

of course due to the force of circumstances. Similarly, persons

may

force

it

be brought to do

evil,

hills.

and that

is

this the nature

is

because the same

is

done

to their

nature."

Our Compassionate Core

19.

Mencius I

people have a sense of commiseration.

said: "All

say [this]

about to

Here

is this:

fall

is

who suddenly

a person

.

.

.

Why

notices a child

into a well. Invariably she or he will feel a sense of

alarm and compassion.

And

this is not for the

purpose of gaining

the favor of the child's parents, or seeking the approbation of

neighbors and friends, or for fear of the blame should he

cue

it.

Thus we

no person

see that

sion, or a sense of

is

to res-

without a sense of compas-

shame, or a sense of courtesy, or a sense of right

and wrong. The sense of compassion the sense of

fail

its

shame

is

the beginning of humanity;

the beginning of righteousness; the sense of

is

decorum

the beginning of

the sense of right and

courtesy

is

wrong

the beginning of wisdom. Every person has within him-

is

self these four beginnings; just as

who

son

.

he has four limbs.

himself incapable

considers

destroying himself.

[li];

.

.

spirit

20.

.

The

peris

Let every person but attend to expanding

will issue forth like a conflagration

being opened up.

.

of exercising them

and developing these four beginnings that are and they

.

.

.

in

our very being,

being kindled and a

.

Goodness Does Not Require Repression may be

Kao Tzu

said:

low

whereas righteousness may be likened to wooden cups

tree,

and wicker teousness

baskets.

[i] is

Mencius tree,

and

"The

like

nature of humanity

To turn human nature

into goodness

and righ-

turning a willow tree into cups and baskets."

replied: "Sir, can

[still]

likened to the wil-

make cups and

you follow the nature of the willow

baskets?

Or must you violate its nature

MENCIUS to

make cups and

one

baskets?

.

Your words,

.

.

alas,

would

incite every-

world to regard humanity and righteousness as a curse!"

in the

How Can People Be Good if They Are Hungry?

21.

Mencius

said:

.

"Only the true scholar

.

.

is

capable of maintaining,

without certain means of livelihood, a steadfast heart. As for the multitude,

if

they have no certain means of livelihood, they surely

cannot maintain a steadfast heart. Without a steadfast heart they are likely to ity.

If

abandon themselves and

you wait

punishment, is

till

manner of deprav-

all

they have lapsed into crime and then mete out

like

it is

prey to

fall

placing traps for the people. If a

human

ruler

on the throne how can she permit such a thing as placing traps

the people? Therefore,

when an

intelligent ruler regulates the liveli-

hood of the people, she makes sure serve their parents

for

enough

to

to support their families

on

that they will have

on the one hand and

may eat their fill and in bad years Thus only will she urge them to walk

the other, so that in good years

no one need die of starvation.

all

the path of virtue, and the people will follow her effortlessly."

22.

The

Mencius

Importance of Moral Force (Te)

Political

said: "It

was because Chieh and Chou

they lost the empire, and

people that they

win the people. hearts.

.

.

.

Here

The

was because they

lost the people. .

.

is

.

Here

the

with them what they like.

it

is

way

like,

people turn to a

the

to

Here

is

way

to

win

the

lost the

lost the hearts

way

to

humane

of the

win the empire:

win the people: win

their hearts: give

and do not do

people that

to

their

them and share

them what they do not

ruler as water flows

downward

or beasts take to wilderness."

23.

The Root of Social Transformation Is Self-Transformation

Mencius

said:

"People are in the habit of speaking of the world, the

state.

As

state,

the foundation of the state

a matter of fact, the foundation of the world lies in the lies in

the family, and the founda-

tion of the family lies in the individual."

137

138

CONFUCIANISM 24.

Having Children

Mencius

said:

"There are three things

greatest of them

to have

is

no

that are unfilial,

and the

posterity."

GRACE NOTES Some of the most poignant

indications

influence on the

of Confucian

Chinese mind occur not within explicitly philosophical treatises but in such quotidian sources as family letters or popular proverbs. The first

few

selections

below are from the family

(1693-1765), a scholar and interpreter

of China

to the

artist.

letters

According

to

Lin Yutang, a noted

West who translated these

"better than anything else to

letters,

they serve

show the kindly temper of the Chinese

people and the typical spirit of Chinese culture at

The concluding

of Cheng Panch 'iao

its

best."

selections are proverbs taken from a

6

handbook writ-

ten in the seventeenth century. Again, while not explicitly or exclusively

Confucian, they shed light on the spirit of the Chinese mind.

25.

From

the Letters of Cheng Panch'iao to His

Brother Mo, in the Mid- 1700s a.

.

.

.

Generosity of Spirit: Against Legalism After

whenever

I,

I

your foolish brother, became a government graduate, 7

found

slave sold into

burned

it

6.

Lin Yutang,

ed.,

our

home some deed of

our family in the former generation,

over the

concerned, for

in the old trunks at

oil

lamp.

I felt if I

I

did,

did not even return it

it

to the

would be an obvious

The Wisdom of India and China (New York:

I

act

at

once

person

and

Random House,

1942), 1068. 7.

One who

career.

passed the

civil service

a

examinations, the doorway to a prestigious

in-

GRACE NOTES crease the man's embarrassment. Since

I

began

employ people,

to

I

have never required contracts. If we can get along with the servant,

we keep him; and

if not,

we send him

away.

Why keep

such a piece

of paper to provide a pretext for our next generations to use claim or a means of extortion?

To

consideration for others, which selves. If

we

act with such a heart

shall

as a

to have

to have consideration for our-

is

try always to obtain a legal hold,

meshes of legality, we

is

it

once we get into the

never be able to get out again.

We

shall

only become poor more quickly and disaster will follow immediately.

.

.

.

You

calculations;

just look at the people

do they ever succeed

of the world in

who

are

b.

What

a pity!

Remember

On Tolerance:

this,

is filled

their

own

younger brother.

Don't Blame the Buddha and Confucius

for the Follies of Buddhists

The world

my

at

overcoming others by their

shrewd calculations? They are only calculating toward ruin.

shrewd

and Confucians

with [Buddhist] monks. But they are not sent

who have When we shave, we

here from Tibet, but are fathers and brothers of China

no home

who have entered the faith. become monks, and when they let their hair grow again, they become ourselves. It would be a mistake to look at them with anger, call

to

them

Besides

.

go to or

heretics .

.

and

treat

them with hatred and

Confucianism has come back into

Buddhist religion

is

gradually on the wane.

its

The

disgust.

.

.

.

own, and the

rulers have fol-

lowed the Six Classics and the Four Books as the means of regulating family at this late

life

and governing the Empire. To denounce Buddhism

hour would be

as

meaningless as chewing candle-wax.

The monks are sinners against the Buddha. They rob and kill and seek after women and are greedy and snobbish, for they have not followed the doctrines of purifying their hearts and seeking their original nature.

The government

graduates are also sinners against

Confucius, for they are neither kind nor wise, and devoid of courtesy or justice.

They

are

no longer concerned with the keeping of

the ancient tradition and of Confucian teachings.

monks and the monks love to abuse the The proverb says, "Let each one sweep off

graduates love to abuse the

government graduates.

The government

139

140

CONFUCIANISM the snow at his door-step, and not interfere with frost on the neigh-

What do you think of this? ... I have Monk Wufang and it gave him a good laugh.

bors' roof." to

c.

also

shown

this

Forgiveness and Forbearance

If one loves other people,

he himself becomes worthy of love;

hates other people, he himself deserves hatred. ... criticizing people,

come

particularly the

about

to think

it,

if one

always love

I

government graduates. But

the trouble with the graduates

is

that they

bound up with themselves. On the other hand, if they were not so bound up with themselves, they wouldn't be graduates. But

are so

think

I

are not alone.

—who nowadays

unfair to criticize the graduates alone

it is

bound up with themselves? I am an old man now and living I must watch out for this habit of mine. It is good to love

people, and a bad habit to criticize people.

remind d.

.

.

.

me of this

.

.

.

You must

also often

point, old brother.

Sharing Wealth For several years now

I

have occupied an

any mishap, which means that

and monopolized pitiful

see

to

shrimps

.

.

.

all

it

our

I

myself.

relatives

living in huts

official

post without

have robbed [our] clan of

Can my

heart feel at ease?

the East

at

its

Gate catch

and eating chaffs and wheat

It is

fish

gruel.

pick floating heart, radish and water-bamboo and boil

luck

and

They

them and

if

they have buckwheat cakes to go along with them, they consider

them

delicacies

and the young children

think of them, tears

my

home you should

salary

Although the at

fill

eyes.

When

distribute

six families at the

fight for

it

something friends,

also.

.

.

from house

and we used

to

house.

to

South Gate, the eighteen families at Hsiat'ien are

more

dis-

same blood, and should be given

Hsu Tsungyii and Lu

.

I

my

you bring money from

Chuhuengchiang and the lone family

tant relatives, they are of the

them. Whenever

Poyi are

go about daily together.

discussing ancient literatures with

them

in

I still

my

college

remember

an old temple deep into

the night with the falling leaves flying about.

Sometimes we

the stone lions and discussed ancient warfare and

all

sat

on

topics in the

They have been unfortunate, and must also be given of my money for old friendship's sake. People usually think

universe.

a

share

a

GRACE NOTES own

great deal of their

getting degrees

due

is all

is

to luck.

writings and scholarship and believe that

an easy matter for them, but do not realize that .

.

This

.

conceited toward friends.

among

will

therefore not something to

is

The

principal thing

is

it

make one

cement good-

to

and members of the clan and remember old

relatives

you can do what you think

friends; for the rest,

helping the neighbors and people of the

village.

fit

in the

Spend

way of

it all; I

shall

spare the details.

Nonhuman Beings

Fellow-Feeling Toward

e.

My only

son was born to

love him, but there

my

in

fifty-second year.

way of loving one's

a correct

Of course,

I

Even

children.

he should be taught to show the heart of mercy and gen-

in games, erosity,

is

me

and avoid

cruelty.

What

I

hate most

to have caged birds;

is

we enjoy them while they are shut up in prison. What justification is there that we are entitled to thwart the instincts of animals to please our own nature? As for tying up a dragon-fly by the hair or tying a crab with a piece of string, it affords the children some fun only for a creates

while,

little

and soon the

things and nourishes

all

little

them

thing

all.

is

dead.

Now nature

Even an ant or an

insect

comes from the combination of forces of the yin and yang and the

God

five elements.

are supposed to be the thize with

God's

them dearly

also loves

heart.

crown of

all

in his heart,

and we who

creation cannot even

sympa-

How then is the animal world going to have

a place of refuge? Snakes,

and centipedes,

tigers,

leopards and

wolves are most dangerous animals. But since Heaven has given birth to them, what right have

meant

them not

be

to

life?

harm

killed,

web? Some

kill

moon .

first

place did

Heaven

all

give

them without mercy on the or that they is

may make

fairy-tale that they

the walls crumble down.

such a statement based.

.

.

?

On

Will this do? Will

.

Postscript.

Regarding what

birds in cages,

I

must say

proper way of doing that

then why in the

were

we can do is to drive them far away so that they shall What wrong has the spider committed by spinning its

what authority this do?.

to take their lives? If they

All us.

curse the

we

it.

that

I

I

have just said about not keeping

always love birds, but that there

One who

is

a

loves birds should plant trees, so

the house shall be surrounded

with hundreds of shady

141

142

CONFUCIANISM branches and be a country and a

when we wake up from

home

sleep and are

still

up and

get

gargling our

flitting

about. Before

by another. This

is

dawn,

we harmony. And when

on our gowns or washing our

mouths or sipping the morning

geous plumes are attracted

are putting

at

tossing about in bed,

hear a chorus of chirping voices like a celestial

we

Thus,

for birds.

tea,

we have time

we

faces or

see their gor-

to look at one,

we

a pleasure that far exceeds that of

keeping one bird in a cage. Generally the enjoyment of life should

come from

a view regarding the universe as a park,

and streams their nature.

pond, so that

as a

Great indeed

is

all

beings can

live in

such happiness!

and the

accordance with

How

shall the

ing of a bird in a cage or a fish in a jar be compared with erosity of spirit

26.

and

rivers

it

keep-

in gen-

in kindness?

Some Chinese Proverbs

Money sometimes Endure

prevents trouble; too

much money breeds

it.

some

and be

safe

from

small loss and be safe from a big

loss.

Where you miss an advantage

in a deal,

a small insult

you gain an advantage.

The silkworm weaves

its

cocoon and stays

imprisoned; the spider weaves it is

a big insult; suffer

its

web and

inside, therefore

it is

stays outside, therefore

free.

Talk not of your personal success to one not your failures in your

moment

who

has failed; forget

of success.

Avoid the mean person, but do not make him your personal

enemy; get close to the cultivated person, but do not always say yes to him.

All the universe

peace:

all

is

an inn; search not specially for a retreat of

the people are your relatives; expect therefore troubles

from them.

To

see through

through

life

fame and wealth

and death

is

is

to gain a little rest; to see

to gain a big rest.

GRACE NOTES To be

elated at success

and disappointed

how can such

child of circumstances;

a

at failure is to

be the

one be called master of

himself?

Who

narrow of vision cannot be big-hearted; who

is

narrow

is

of spirit cannot take long, easy strides.

Who gives me goods hurts my spirit; who gives me fame injures my life. Be firm self,

your

in

acts,

but easy in your heart; be

strict

with your-

but gentle with your fellowmen.

Who does evil and is afraid of letting it be known has still a seed of good in his has

still

One

who does good and

evil;

is

anxious to have

it

known

a root of evil in his good.

should not miss the flavor of being

sick,

nor miss the expe-

rience of being destitute.

Virtue in a rich person the refusal to beg, in a

is

man

toward fellowmen, and in a see through

Of the

the ability to give, in a poor

of high position

man

it is

of low position

a

man

humble

it is

it is

attitude

the ability to

life.

things that are purely good without accompanying evil

are: study, the love

moon, the breeze,

of mountains and

rivers, taking pleasure in the

flowers and bamboos,

and

sitting in upright pos-

ture in silence.

There

formation in

trees,

no arrangement of rocks, no sumptuousness

the living house, and no contrivance in the

To

stay

up

in the

tachment turns

it

mountains

is

human

a merchant;

in

heart.

a fine thing, but the slightest at-

into a market; the appreciation of old paintings

a refined hobby, but the slightest greed of possession turns

is

one into

wine and poetry provide occasions of pleasure, but the

slightest loss

To go

no

are four rules for living in the mountains: let there be

of freedom turns them into

to see the

prune flowers

chrysanthemums during ten to the swaying

frost,

hell.

after snow,

pay a

visit to

the

tend the orchid during rain, or

lis-

bamboos before the breeze

—such

are the joys of

143

144

CONFUCIANISM leisure of a rustic fellow, but they are also

meaning

When grance,

greatest

to the scholar.

the tea

is

well-brewed and the incense has a pure

a delight if friends drop in;

it's

flowers drop their petals, even solitude

You

moments of the

are reading

when

incense

is

is

when

fra-

birds twitter and

contentment

burning and

all

for the soul.

your

human

obligations are fulfilled, while outside the screen the flower petals are dripping

and the moon has come up

and you suddenly hear the temple

—such

and see the Milky Way

If a person's face does not

a

bell

to the top of the pine trees,

and push open the window

moment is

show

superior to daytime.

a little sadness his thoughts are

not deep.

Whenever you do

a thing, act so that

it

will give

occasion for regret and your foes no cause for

Look

at

beauty as you look

your friends no

joy.

at beautiful clouds,

and your mortal

passions will be milder; listen to the song of lutes as you listen to the flowing water, what

harm

is

there?

— CHAPTER FOUR

Taoism

T

he Chinese mind has long beheld the universe as a living

process governed by the interplay of opposites.

We

—

amid a dynamic dance ofcomplementary forces ifest in

the mysterious cooperation

ophy has its

is

testifies,

man-

yin and yang

life's

cold,

countless contrary

nothing short of cosmic ally fitting, then, that Chinese philos-

also been

shaped by an interplay: between Confucianism, with

emphases on will and rationality, and Taoism, with

intelligent instinctiveness, intuition,

ophy no

China

of light and dark, heat and

male and female, willfulness and receptivity: pairs. It

live,

less

and

its

preference for

creative letting-be.

For philos-

than for flavors in food, the art of living has in China al-

ways been a question of balance. Taoism and Confucianism grew up together, entering Chinese history around the sixth century B.C.E. Taoism's beginnings are linked to the legendary figure

of Lao Tzu, senior

to

Confucius by about fifty

years and credited with writing Taoism's Bible, the Tao Te Ching or

The Book of the Way and

Its

Power. Because this tiny text has proven

an inexhaustible well of inspiration for thinkers of all stripes, the lions share

of attention

it

claims

in this chapter. Selections from the writings

146

TAOISM ofChuang Tzu, a

who

Taoist sage

Tzu, complete the chapter's main

In

long

its

lived some two centuries after

sections.

Taoism has come

life,

Lao

to

stand for much more than the

subtle outlooks proffered by these two sages. There are, in fact, at least

three extant strains

Taoism,

of Taoism: philosophical Taoism, yogic and

and popular or

religious Taoism.

1

Only

tently claimed worldwide attention, however,

tention exclusively to

vitalist

the first has consis-

and we

will limit our at-

it.

THE TAO TE CHING Wise with years but dismayed by the folly of his fellow human beings,

Lao Tzu tude.

—

—

the story goes

Climbing on a water

now known

try

implored him

mountain

the

buffalo,

At

as Tibet.

to record his

fastness.

retired from his archivist post, seeking soli-

the

he rode west, toward the high coun-

Hankao

Pass a prescient gatekeeper

views for posterity before disappearing into

Obligingly,

Lao-tzu hunkered down for three

days, then emerged with a slim sheaf ofJive thousand Chinese characters

arranged in eighty-one brief chapters. The Tao Te Ching has been

translated more times

and into more languages than any book

in history

except the Bible. "A testament to humanity's at-home-ness in the universe," writes time,

Huston Smith,

and remains

to this

day

"it

can be read

the basic text

in

half an hour or a

2 of Taoist thought." There

are but two central topics in the Tao Te Ching, the Tao

power or fulfillment that

life-

results from living in

itself,

harmony with

and

the

it.

Original verse numbers are given above each selection.

1.

The Tao Itself l

The is

1.

Cf.

tao that can be told

not the eternal Tao.

Huston Smith, The

World's Religions (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco,

1991), 199-206. 2.

Smith, The World's Religions, 197.

TAO TE CHING The name

named Name.

that can be

not the eternal

is

The unnameable is the Naming is the origin

eternally real.

of all particular things. Free from desire, you realize the mystery.

Caught

you see only the manifestations

in desire,

2

The Tao

is like

a well:

used but never used up. It is like

filled

It is I

with infinite

possibilities.

hidden but always present.

don't

It is

the eternal void:

know who gave

older than

birth to

it.

God.

4

The Tao empty it

is

called the

Great Mother:

yet inexhaustible,

gives birth to infinite worlds.

It is

always present within you.

You can use

The Tao

it

any way you want.

is infinite,

eternal.

Why is it eternal? It

was never born;

thus

it

can never

die.

Why is it infinite? It

has no desires for

thus

it is

present for

itself; all

beings

.

.

.

25

There was something formless and perfect before the universe was born.

147

148

TAOISM serene.

It is

Solitary.

Empty.

Unchanging.

Infinite. Eternally present.

the mother of the universe.

It is

For lack of a better name, I

call

It

the Tao.

it

flows through

all

things,

and outside, and returns

inside

to the origin

of all things.

The Tao is great. The universe is great. Earth

Man

is

is

These

Man

great.

great.

are the four great powers.

follows the Earth.

Earth follows the universe.

The universe follows Tao. The Tao follows only itself. 34

The

great

Tao flows everywhere.

All things are born yet It

it

itself into its

makes no claim. doesn't hold on to them.

it

Since

it is

merged with

and hidden

all

things

in their hearts,

can be called humble.

Since

all

and

alone endures,

it

work,

nourishes infinite worlds,

yet

it

it,

doesn't create them.

pours

yet It

it

from

it

things vanish into

it

can be called great.

It isn't

thus

aware of its greatness;

it is

truly great.

TAO TE CHING 51

Every being

in the universe

is

an expression of the Tao.

It

springs into existence,

unconscious, perfect, free, takes lets

on a physical body,

circumstances complete

That

is

it.

why every being

spontaneously honors the Tao.

The Tao

gives birth to

all

beings,

nourishes them, maintains them, cares for them, comforts them, protects them, takes

them back

to itself,

creating without possessing, acting without expecting,

guiding without interfering.

That is

is

why

love of the

Tao

in the very nature of things.

41

When

a superior

man

hears of the Tao,

he immediately begins to embody

When

an average

man

he half believes

it,

When

man

a foolish

it.

hears of the Tao,

half doubts

it.

hears of the Tao,

he laughs out loud. If he didn't laugh, it

2.

wouldn't be the Tao.

Living in

Harmony with

the Tao: The Quiet

16

Empty your mind Let your heart be

of all thoughts. at peace.

Watch the turmoil of beings, but contemplate their return.

Mind

149

150

TAOISM Each separate being returns to the

in the universe

common

Returning to the source

source. is

serenity.

If you don't realize the source,

you stumble in confusion and sorrow.

When

you

where you come from,

realize

you naturally become disinterested,

tolerant,

amused,

kindhearted as a grandmother, dignified as a king.

Immersed

wonder of the Tao,

in the

you can deal with whatever

life

and when death comes, you are

brings you, ready.

12

Colors blind the eye.

Sounds deafen the Flavors

numb

ear,

the taste.

Thoughts weaken the mind. Desires wither the heart.

The Master

observes the world

but trusts his inner vision.

He allows His heart

things to is

open

come and

go.

as the sky.

15

The

ancient Masters were profound and subtle.

Their wisdom was unfathomable.

There all

is

no way

we can

describe

They were as

to describe is

it;

their appearance.

careful

someone crossing an iced-over stream.

Alert as a warrior in

enemy

territory.

Courteous as a guest. Fluid as melting

ice.

Shapable as a block of wood.

TAO TE CHING Receptive as a

valley.

Clear as a glass of water.

Do you

have the patience to wait

mud

your

till

and the water

settles

is

clear?

Can you remain unmoving tillfthe

The Master Not she

by

right action arises

itself?

doesn't seek fulfillment.

seeking, not expecting, is

present, and can

welcome

all

things.

23

Express yourself completely, then keep quiet.

Be

like the forces

when when when If you

of nature:

blows, there

it

rains, there is only rain;

is

the clouds pass, the sun shines through.

open yourself to the Tao,

you are

at

one with the Tao

and you can embody If you

at

it

completely.

open yourself to

you are

at

insight,

one with insight

and you can use

one with

and you can accept

Open

completely

it

open yourself to

you are If you

only wind;

it

loss,

loss it

completely.

yourself to the Tao,

then trust your natural responses;

and everything

will fall into place.

50

The Master to

gives himself up

whatever the

moment

He knows that he is and he has nothing

no

illusions in his

brings.

going to left to

mind,

die,

hold on

to:

151

152

TAOISM no

resistances in his body.

He

doesn't think about his actions;

they flow from the core of his being.

He

holds nothing back from

therefore he as a

man

is

is

life;

ready for death,

ready for sleep

good day's work.

after a

56

Those who know don't Those who

talk don't

talk.

know.

Close your mouth, block off your senses, blunt your sharpness, untie your knots, soften your glare, settle

This

3.

your dust. is

the primal identity

.

.

.

Harmony with the Tao:

Creative Letting-Be (Wei

Wu Wei) in Personal Life The

Taoist phrase here rendered "creative letting-be"

literally, the action

of non-action.

It

is

is

wei

wu

Taoism 's key principle ofpracti-

cal living. It encourages going with the flow, cutting with the grain, certainly not spitting against the wind. It torpor; rather

shape

life in

it

is

.

.

one's

own

doing anything

and teaches without saying anything.

Things

arise

not a counsel ofpassivity or to

image. It has also been translated as "creative

Therefore the Master

acts without

and

warns against aggressive, ego-laden action that seeks

quietude" and "actionless activity."

.

wei,

and she

lets

them come;

things disappear and she lets

She has but doesn't

possess,

them

go.

TAO TE CHING acts but doesn't expect.

When her work is That

.

.

.

is

why

it

done, she forgets

it.

lasts forever.

Practice not-doing,

and everything with

fall

into place.

Fill

your bowl to the brim

and

it

will spill.

Keep sharpening your and

knife

will blunt.

it

Chase

after

money and

and your heart

will

security

never unclench.

Care about people's approval

and you

will

Do your

work, then step back.

The

be their prisoner.

only path to serenity. 22

.

.

.

sets

the Master by residing in the Tao,

an example for

all

beings.

Because he doesn't display himself, people can see his

light.

Because he has nothing to prove, people can trust his words.

Because he doesn't know who he

is,

people recognize themselves in him.

Because he has no goal

in

mind,

everything he does succeeds.

When

the ancient Masters said,

"If you want to be given everything, give everything up,"

they weren't using empty phrases.

Only

in

being lived by the Tao

can you be truly yourself.

153

154

TAOISM 24

He who stands on

tiptoe

doesn't stand firm.

He who

rushes ahead

doesn't go

He who dims

shine

tries to

his

He who

far.

own

light.

defines himself

know who he really is. He who has power over others

can't

empower himself. He who clings to his work

can't

will create

If

nothing that endures.

you want

just

do your

to accord job,

with the Tao,

then

let go.

27

A good and

is

traveler has

not intent

no

upon

fixed plans

arriving

.

.

.

43

The

gentlest thing in the world

overcomes the hardest thing

in the world.

That which has no substance enters where there

is

no

space.

This shows the value of non-action. Teaching without words,

performing without actions: that

is

the Master's way. 47

Without opening your door, you can open your heart

to the world.

Without looking out your window, you can see the essence of the Tao.

The more you

know,

the less vou understand.

TAO TE CHING The master

arrives without leaving,

sees the light without looking,

achieves without doing a thing.

48

In pursuit of knowledge,

every day something

is

added.

In the practice of the Tao,

every day something

Less and

less

until finally

When

dropped.

do you need

you arrive

nothing

nothing

is

is left

at

to force things,

non-action.

done,

is

undone.

True mastery can be gained go their own way.

by

letting things

It

can't be gained

by

interfering.

64 .

.

.

The

starts

journey of a thousand miles

from beneath your

Rushing into action, you

feet.

fail.

Trying to grasp things, you lose them. Forcing

a project to

completion,

you ruin what was almost

ripe.

Therefore the Master takes action

by letting things take their course.

He at

remains as calm

the end as at the beginning.

He

has nothing,

thus has nothing to

What he

desires

what he learns

He

is

is

lose.

non-desire;

to unlearn.

simply reminds people

of who they have always been.

He

cares about nothing but the Tao.

Thus he can

care for

all

things.

155

156

TAOISM 76

Men are born soft and supple; dead, they are

stiff

and hard.

Plants are born tender and pliant;

dead, they are brittle and dry.

Thus whoever is

and

inflexible

a disciple of death.

Whoever is

is stiff

soft

is

and yielding

a disciple of life.

The hard and stiff will be broken. The soft and supple will prevail.

4.

Harmony with

the Tao: Creative Letting-Be in

Political Life 17

When

the Master governs, the people

are hardly aware that he exists.

Next best

is

Next, one

who

The

worst

a leader is

who

loved.

feared.

one who

is

is

is

despised.

If you don't trust the people,

you make them untrustworthy.

The Master

When

his

doesn't talk, he acts.

work

is

done,

the people say, "Amazing:

we

did

it, all

by ourselves!"

29

Do I

you want

don't think

The world It can't

If you

is

to it

improve the world?

can be done.

sacred.

be improved.

tamper with

If you treat

it

like

it,

you'll ruin

it.

an object, you'll lose

it

.

.

.

TAO TE CHING The Master

sees things as they are,

without trying to control them.

She

them go

lets

and resides

their

at the

own

way,

center of the circle.

31

Weapons all

are tools of violence;

decent

Weapons

men

are tools of fear;

man

a decent

detest them.

will avoid

them

except in the direst necessity and,

if

compelled, will use them

only with the utmost restraint.

Peace

his highest value.

is

If the peace has

how can he be

been shattered,

content?

His enemies are not demons, but

human

He

doesn't wish

beings like himself.

Nor does he

them personal harm.

rejoice in victory.

How could

he rejoice in victory

and delight

in the slaughter of men?

He enters a battle gravely, with sorrow and with great compassion, as if he

were attending a funeral.

37

The Tao

never does anything,

yet through If powerful

it all

things are done.

men and women

could center themselves in

it,

the whole world would be transformed

by

itself,

in its natural rhythms.

People would be content with their simple, everyday in

lives,

harmony, and free of desire.

157

158

TAOISM

When all

there

is

no

desire,

things are at peace.

57

want

If you

to

be a great leader,

you must learn Stop trying

to follow the Tao.

to control.

Let go of fixed plans and concepts,

and the world

The more

will

govern

itself.

prohibitions you have,

the less virtuous people will be.

The more weapons you

have,

the less secure people will be.

The more

subsidies you have,

the less self-reliant people will be.

Therefore the Master I let

go of the

says:

law,

and people become honest. I let

go of economics,

and people become prosperous. I let

go of religion,

and people become serene. I let

common good, good becomes common as grass.

go of all desire for the

and the

58

If a country

is

governed with tolerance,

the people are comfortable and honest. If a country

is

governed with repression,

the people are depressed and crafty.

When

the will to power

is

in charge,

the higher the ideals, the lower the results.

make people happy, and you lay the groundwork Try

to

for misery.

TAO TE CHING make people moral, and you lay the groundwork

Try

to

Thus

the Master

to serve as an

and not

She

is

content

example

impose her

to

for vice.

will.

pointed, but doesn't pierce.

is

Straightforward, but supple.

Radiant, but easy on the eyes.

59

For governing a country well there

is

nothing better than moderation.

The mark is

of a moderate

freedom from

Tolerant

like

his

own

man ideas.

the sky,

all-pervading like sunlight,

firm like a mountain,

supple

like a tree in

the wind,

he has no destination in view

and makes use of anything life

happens

Nothing

is

to bring his way.

impossible for him.

Because he has

let go,

he can care for the people's welfare as a

mother cares

for her child.

60

Governing is like

a large country

frying a small fish.

with too

much

poking.

Center your country

in the

Tao

You

spoil

it

and

evil will

Not

that

it

have no power.

isn't there,

but you'll be able to step out of its way.

159

160

TAOISM Give and

evil

it

nothing to oppose

by

will disappear

itself.

61

A great nation is like a great man: When he makes a mistake, he realizes ...

Having

realized

it,

Having admitted

He

as the

who

most benevolent

thinks of his

shadow

it.

he corrects

it,

considers those

as his

He

he admits

it.

it.

point out his faults

teachers.

enemy

that he himself casts

.

.

.

All streams flow to the sea

because

it is

lower than they

Humility gives If you

want

to

are.

power.

it its

govern the people,

you must place yourself below them. If

you want

to lead the people,

you must learn how

The Master and no one

is

to follow

them.

above the people,

feels

oppressed.

She goes ahead of the people, and no one

feels

manipulated.

The whole world

is

grateful to her.

Because she competes with no one,

no one can compete with

5.

her.

Water

Water

is

perhaps the

Taoist's favorite

of the "actwnless activity

"

image not only of the Tao

of the sage who

is

in

harmony with

The supreme good

is

which nourishes

things without trying

all

like water, to.

itself but

the Tao.

TAO TE CHING It is

content with the low places that people disdain.

Thus

it is

like the

Tao

.

.

.

78

Nothing is

as soft

in the

world

and yielding

as water.

Yet for dissolving the hard and inflexible,

nothing can surpass

The

soft

it.

overcomes the hard;

the gentle overcomes the rigid.

Everyone knows but few can put

6.

this

it

is

true,

into practice.

The Coinherence of Opposites

Seeing the world as a ceaseless interaction of complementary forces (yin

andyang)

ever,

seem especially adept at seeing

sites

is

a Chinese talent that predates Taoism. Taoists, howmysterious collusion of oppo-

this

and at pointing out how our failure

to

understand

ofproblems.

When people other things

When

see

some things

become

as beautiful,

ugly.

people see some things as good,

other things

become bad.

Being and non-being create each other. Difficult

and easy support each

Long and

other.

short define each other.

High and low depend on each

other.

Before and after follow each other

If you overesteem great

men,

people become powerless. If you overvalue possessions,

people begin to

steal

.

.

.

.

.

.

it

leads to a host

161

162

TAOISM

The Tao it

doesn't take sides;

good and

gives birth to both

evil

.

.

.

11

We

join spokes together in a wheel,

but

it is

the center hole

makes the wagon move.

that

We

shape clay into a pot,

but

it is

the emptiness inside

that holds whatever

We hammer wood but

it is

We

for a house,

the inner space

makes

that

we want.

it

livable.

work with being,

but non-being

is

what we

use.

18

When

the great

Tao

is

forgotten,

goodness and piety appear.

When

the body's intelligence declines,

cleverness and knowledge step forth.

When filial

there

is

no peace

in the family,

piety begins.

When

the country

patriotism

is

falls

into chaos,

born.

19

Throw away and people

will

Throw away and people

holiness and a

hundred times happier.

morality and justice,

will

Throw away

be

wisdom

do the

right thing.

industry and profit,

and there won't be any thieves

.

.

36

If

you want

you must

to shrink

first

allow

it

something, to

expand.

.

TAO TE CHING If you

want

you must If you

first

want

you must This

is

allow

it

to flourish.

to take something,

first

allow

it

to

be given.

called the subtle perception

of the way things

The The

of something,

to get rid

soft

are.

overcomes the hard.

slow overcomes the

fast.

Let your workings remain a mystery. Just

show people the

results.

Self-Knowledge 33

Knowing

others

intelligence;

is

knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others

strength;

is

mastering yourself is true power.

you have enough,

If you realize that

you are truly rich

8.

.

.

.

Contentment 44

Fame

or integrity: which

Money

is

more important?

or happiness: which

Success or

failure:

which

is

is

more

more

valuable?

destructive?

If you look to others for fulfillment,

you If

will

never truly be

fulfilled.

your happiness depends on money

you

will

never be happy with yourself.

Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are.

163

164

TAOISM

When

you

realize there

is

nothing lacking,

the whole world belongs to you.

9.

Simplicity, Patience,

Compassion

67

my

Some

say that

Other

call it lofty

teaching

is

nonsense.

but impractical.

who have

But

to those

this

nonsense makes perfect sense.

And

to those

who put

looked inside themselves,

it

into practice,

this loftiness has roots that I

go deep.

have just three things to teach:

simplicity, patience, compassion.

These three Simple

are your greatest treasures.

and

in actions

you return

in thoughts,

to the source of being.

Patient with both friends and enemies,

you accord with the way thing

are.

Compassionate toward yourself,

you reconcile

beings in the world.

all

CHUANG TZU: Roaming Beyond the Limits of This Dusty World Somewhere

in the writings

ofChuang Tzu, an aged Confucius

description ofsagehood that puzzles him: to

mundane

affairs.

.

.

.

He

"The

true sage

hears a

pays no heed

adheres, without questioning, to the Tao.

Without speaking he can speak; and he can speak and yet say nothing

And

so he

roams beyond the

limits

of

this

Confucius sputters: "These are wild words."

Wild they may

Chuang Tzu, who

be,

dusty world." Shocked,

3

but they are very likely the self-description of

lived about two hundred years after the author

Tao Te Chtng. Rambunctious, irreverent, paradoxical, and,

3.

R. O. Ballou, The Portable World Bible

(New

of the

many

York: Penguin, 1944), 555.

say,

CHUANG TZU exceedingly subtle, his writings are the second most important source for philosophical Taoism.

The Unfathomable Source of Existence

10.

If there

ning.

was

And

a beginning,

then there was a time before that begin-

a time before the time

which was before the time of that

beginning. If there

is

existence, there

must have been non-existence. And

if

when nothing existed, then there must have been when even nothing did not exist. Suddenly, a time before that when nothing came into existence, could one really say whether it belonged to the category of existence or of non-existence? Even the I cannot say whether they very words I have just now uttered, there was a time

—

—

have really been uttered or not.

The Unfathomable Source of Mind

11.

Joy and anger, sorrow and happiness, caution and remorse, come

upon us by

mood. They come

turns, with ever-changing

like

music

mushrooms from damp. Daily and nightly they alternate within us, but we cannot tell whence they spring. Can we then hope in a moment to lay our finger upon their very from hollowness,

like

cause?

But

for these

emotions

have no scope. So brings

them

I

should not be. But for me, they would

we can

far

go; but

we do not know what

Viewed from the standpoint of Tao, cal.

So

that

into play.

The Hidden Unity of Opposites and Monkeys

12.

it is

are ugliness

a

beam and

the

Dumb

a pillar are identi-

and beauty, greatness, wickedness, perverse-

ness and strangeness.

.

.

.

Nothing

is

subject either to construction

or to destruction, for these conditions are brought together into one.

Only the tity

of

all

truly intelligent understand this principle of the iden-

things.

They do

not view things as apprehended by

165

166

TAOISM themselves, subjectively; but transfer themselves into the position

of the things viewed. ... So

it is

that to place oneself in subjective

relation with externals, without consciousness of their objectivity

—

this

But

Tao.

is

to

wear out one's

intellect in

an obstinate ad-

herence to the individuality of things, not recognizing the fact that all

things are one

"What

A

is

—

Three

this is called

in the

Three

in the

Morning.

Morning?" asked Tze Yu.

keeper of monkeys

.

.

.

said with regard to their rations of

monkey was to have three in the morning and But at this the monkeys were very angry, so the

chestnuts that each four at night.

keeper said they might have four in the morning and three

with which arrangement they were

well pleased.

all

Relativity

13.

Chuang Tzu and

a.

Once upon

a time,

I,

the Butterfly

Chuang Tzu, dreamt I was

ing hither and thither, to

all

conscious only of following conscious of there

I lay,

my

man

sleeps in a

about an nerves

And how

eel?

—but

on

flesh,

sight of

a butterfly. I

and was un-

fancies as a butterfly,

man. Suddenly,

I

awoke, and

I

do not know whether whether

was

I

am now

was then

a

a butterfly

living

place,

up

he gets lumbago and

in a tree

about monkeys? is

is

dies.

But how

precarious and trying to the

Of

the man, the eel, and the

the right one, absolutely?

Human

beings

deer on grass, centipedes on snakes, owls and crows

Monkey mates fishes,

and purposes

butterfly, or

damp

on mice. Of these with

I

a butterfly, flutter-

the Good?

monkey, whose habitat feed

my

Now

myself again.

Can We Know

b.

intents

individuality as a

man dreaming I was a dreaming I am a man.

If a

at night,

whose

is

the right taste, absolutely?

with monkey, the buck with the doe, eels consort

while

whom

four,

men admire Mao

fishes

Ch'iang and Li Chi,

plunge deep down

at

the

in the water, birds soar

.

CHUANG TZU high in the

air,

and deer hurry away. Yet who

correct standard of beauty? In virtue,

know

Civilization

it

is

is

it is

human impos-

and the Violation of Instinct

them from wind and

Such

so obscured that

the

is

as such.

Horses have hoofs to carry them over tect

which

opinion, the standard of

and of positive and negative,

sible to actually

14.

my

shall say

cold.

They

and snow;

frost

eat grass

pro-

hair, to

and drink water.

.

.

the real nature of horses. Palatial dwellings are of no use to

them.

One day Poh Loh

appeared, saying, "I understand the manage-

ment of horses." So he branded them, and clipped them, and pared and put halters on them

Then he

every ten died.

.

.

.

their hoofs,

with the result that two or three in

kept them hungry and thirsty, trotting

them and galloping them, and grooming, and trimming

more than Poh Loh

The

half of

managing

horses.

.

.

—

humanity, and

all

.

extols

weave and clothe

to

common

and feed themselves. These are are agreed thereon.

until

.

people have certain natural instincts till

.

them were dead. Nevertheless, every age

for his skill in

themselves, to

.

Such

to

all

instincts are called

"Heaven-sent."

And so in the days when quietly

and gazed

steadily.

natural instincts prevailed,

At

that time, there

and

beasts,

into the raven's nest. For then

and

all

creation was one.

good and bad men. Being

all

were no roads over .

You could climb

man

dwelt with birds

mountains, nor boats, nor bridges over water.

up and peep

men moved

.

.

There were no

distinctions of

equally without knowledge, their

virtue could not go astray. Being

all

equally without evil desires,

they were in a state of natural integrity, the perfection of

human

existence.

But when sages appeared, tripping people over charity and

fet-

way

into

tering [them] with duty to one's neighbor, doubt found

the world.

And

its

then with their gushing over music and fussing

over ceremony, the empire became divided against

itself.

167

168

TAOISM Horses

on dry land,

live

eat grass

and drink water.

.

.

.

Thus

far

only do their natural dispositions carry them. But bridled and bit-

on

ted, with a plate of metal

their foreheads, they learn to cast vi-

cious looks, to turn the head to bite, to resist, to get the bit out of

mouth

the

praved,

—

or the bridle into

the fault of

In the days of Ho rest,

it.

And

thus their natures become de-

Poh Loh.

Hsu

the people did nothing particular

and went nowhere

when

at

when they moved. Having

in particular

food, they rejoiced; having full bellies, they strolled about.

Such

were the capacities of the people. But when the sages came

worry them with ceremonies and music

in order to rectify the

to

form

of government, and dangled charity and duty to one's neighbor before

them

develop

in order to satisfy their hearts

a taste for

knowledge and

their desire for eain.

—then

to struggle

the people began to

one with the other

This was the error of the

sases.

15.

Creative Letting-Be and the Quiet

The

repose of the sage

pose

is

is

in

Mind

not what the world calls repose. His re-

the result of his mental attitude. All creation could not dis-

turb his equilibrium: hence his repose.

When

water

the eyebrows.

.

is still, it is .

how much more

.

And

if

like a

mirror, reflecting the beard and

water thus derives lucidity from

the faculties of the mind?

The mind

stillness,

of the sage

being in repose becomes the mirror of the universe, the speculum of all creation.

Repose, tranquility,

stillness, inaction

—

these were the levels of

the universe, the ultimate perfection of Tao. Therefore wise rulers

and sages

rest therein.

Repose, tranquility,

stillness, inaction

—

these were the source of

when coming forward to pacify a troubled world, and your merit shall be great and your name illustrious, and all

things.

Keep

to this

the empire united into one. In your repose you will be wise; in your

movements, powerful. By inaction you

will gain

honour; and by

confining yourself to the pure and simple, you will hinder the

whole world from struesline with vou

for show.

GRACE NOTES Against the Promotion of Virtue

16.

Confucius visited Lao Tze, and spoke of charity and duty to one's neighbor.

Lao Tzu

"The

said:

eyes so that he cannot

keep a

will

same way

tell

man awake

this talk

chaff from winnowing will blind a man's

all

the points of the compass. Mosquitoes

night with their biting.

Wherefore such undue energy,

The Natural

Chuang Tzu was two high

head

his

original sim-

so let virtue estab-

though searching

for a

Life

fishing in the P'u

when

the prince of

Ch'u sent

him to take charge of the administration of Chuang Tzu went on fishing, and without turning

officials to

the Ch'u State.

as

own

me

drum?"

fugitive with a big

17.

its

And as the wind bloweth where it listeth,

lish itself.

just in the

of charity and duty to one's neighbor drives

nearly crazy. Sir! strive to keep the world to plicity.

And

said, "I

ask

have heard that in Ch'u there

which has been dead now some three thousand

is

a sacred tortoise

And

years.

that the

prince keeps this tortoise carefully enclosed in a chest on the altar

of his ancestral people.

have

its

Now would this tortoise rather be dead and

remains venerated, or be alive and wagging

its tail

in the

mud?" "It

would rather be

alive," replied the

two

"Begone!" cried Chuang Tzu. "I too

officials.

will

.

wag my

.

.

tail

in the

mud."

GRACE NOTES 18.

HuaHuChing

The

Hua Hu

Ching

his oral teachings

is

said to be

Lao Tzu

's

on wisdom and mastery. It

other book is,

temporary poet's experiment with the Taoist

—

a collection of

at the very least, a conspirit.

Of the Hua Hu

Ching's eighty-one chapters, excerpts of eleven are represented here.

169

170

TAOISM Living in the Tao

a.

6

.

.

If you attempt to fix a picture of [the Tao] in your

.

you

This

will lose

is like

mind,

it.

pinning a butterfly: the husk

but the flying

is

captured,

is lost.

22

How can

the divine Oneness be seen?

In beautiful forms, breathtaking wonders, aweinspiring miracles?

The Tao

is

not obliged to present

If you are willing to

be lived by

itself in this way.

you

it,

will see

it

everywhere, even in the most ordinary things. •

75

Would you

yourself from the lower

like to liberate

realms of life?

Would you

like to save the

and destruction

Then

step away

quietly go to

If you all .

.

want

seems destined

for?

from shallow mass movements and

work on your own

awaken

all

self-awareness.

of humanity, then awaken

of yourself.

Truly, the greatest gift you have to give

.

own So

to

it

world from the degradation

.

.

.

extends his light and virtue with equal ease to

those

who

appreciate

Shape yourself in

his

will

come

to

him and those who

mold, bathe

radiance, and reflect

You

that of your

self-transformation.

find a teacher

who

is

it

in his

don't.

nourishing

out to the rest of the world.

understand an eternal truth: there

always a peaceful

home

for a virtuous being.

is

GRACE NOTES Balance

b.

43

In ancient times, people lived holistic

They

didn't overemphasize the intellect, but

body and

integrated mind,

.

.

.

lives.

If you

want

spirit in all things.

to stop being confused, then emulate these

ancient folk: join your body,

you

mind and

spirit in all

do.

Choose food, clothing and

shelter that accords with

nature.

own body

Rely on your

for transportation.

Allow your work and your recreation to be one and the same.

Do exercise that develops your your body.

just .

.

.

whole being and not

Serve others and cultivate yourself simultaneously.

Understand

that true

growth comes from meeting and

solving the problems of life in a

harmonizing

way

that is

to yourself and to others.

If you can follow these simple old ways,

you

be

will

continually renewed.

58

Unless the mind, body and

spirit are equally

developed and fully integrated, no [wisdom]

.

.

.

can be sustained.

This

is

bear

When

why

extremist religions and ideologies do not

fruit.

the

mind and

austerities or

body grows

spirit are forced into

unnatural

adherence to external dogmas, the

sick

and weak and becomes a

traitor to the

whole being.

When

the body

mind and

is

emphasized

spirit,

to the exclusion of the

they become

frantic, explosive,

like

trapped snakes:

poisonous to one's person.

171

172

TAOISM All such imbalances inevitably lead to exhaustion

expiration of the

c.

and

life force.

The Quiet Mind 5

Do Go

you imagine the universe into the desert at night

is

agitated?

and look out

at

the stars.

This practice should answer the question. 44

This

The

is

the nature of the unenlightened mind:

sense organs, which are limited in scope and

ability,

This

randomly gather information.

partial information

is

arranged into judgements,

which are based on previous judgements, which are usually based on someone's

else's foolish

ideas.

These

false

concepts and ideas are then stored in a

highly selective

Distortion

upon

memory

system.

distortion: the mental energy flows

constantly through contorted and inappropriate channels, and the

more one uses

the mind, the

more

confused one becomes.

To

eliminate the vexation of the mind,

it

doesn't help

to do something; this only reinforces the

mind's

mechanics.

mind

Dissolving the

is

instead a matter of not-doing:

Simply avoid becoming attached

to

what you see and

think.

Relinquish the notion that you are separated from the all-knowing mind of the universe.

Then you can

recover your original pure insight and

see through

Knowing

all illusions.

nothing, you will be aware of everything.

Remember: because clarity and enlightenment are within your own nature, they are regained without moving an

inch.

GRACE NOTES Truth

d.

38

Why scurry about looking for the truth? .

.

Can you be

.

and see

still

it

mountain? the pine

in the

tree? yourself?

Don't imagine that

you'll discover

it

by accumulating

more knowledge. Knowledge

creates doubt,

and doubt makes you

ravenous for more knowledge.

You

can't get full eating this way.

The

wise person dines on something

He

eats the

more

subtle:

understanding that the named was born

from the unnamed,

that

all

being flows from non-

being, that the describable world emanates

from an

indescribable source.

He finds this

subtle truth inside his

own

and

self,

becomes completely content.

So who can be

still

and watch the chess game of the

world?

The

foolish are always

making impulsive moves, but

know that victory and defeat are decided by something more subtle. They see that something perfect exists before any move the wise

is

made. 59

Greed

for

enlightenment and immortality

different than greed for material wealth

e.

is .

no .

.

True Teachers 80

.

The world Overly

is full

of half-enlightened masters.

clever, too "sensitive" to live in the real world,

they surround themselves with selfish pleasures and

bestow their grandiose teachings upon the unwary. Prematurely publicizing themselves, intent upon

173

174

TAOISM reaching some spiritual climax, they constantly sacrifice the truth

What

and deviate from the Tao.

they really offer the world

is

their

own

confusion.

The

true master understands that enlightenment

is

not

the end but the means.

Realizing that virtue

is

her goal, she accepts the long

and often arduous cultivation that attain

is

necessary to

it.

She doesn't scheme

to

become

a leader, but quietly

shoulders whatever responsibilities

fall

to her.

Unattached to her accomplishments, taking credit nothing

at all,

for

she guides the whole world by

guiding the individuals

who come

to her.

She shares her divine energy with her students, encouraging them, creating

trials to

strengthen

them, scolding them to awaken them, directing the streams of their

lives

toward the

infinite

ocean of

the Tao.

23

The

highest truth cannot be put into words.

Therefore the greatest teacher has nothing to

He simply

gives himself in service,

say.

and never worries.

CHAPTER FIVE

Judaism

A may

If we date

well be the oldest.

some 3200 years

from

origin to the

is

broadly

it

books

first five

—

Exodus from Egypt

of Hinduism can claim equal

their

catastrophe, the

Book.

N, and K, standing for Torah, Nevi'im,

respectively.

refers to the

Judaism

properly called the Tanakh, a word derived

the three consonants T,

and Ketuvim,

religions,

of time, through triumph and

of the Jewish people has remained

The Jewish Bible

the world's major extant

historical

ago, only certain aspects

antiquity. Across this sea lifeline

its

mong

Torah means "law"

or

"teaching";

whole of the Jewish Bible, more narrowly

Genesis,

to its

Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deu-

teronomy. Nevi'im, or "prophets," refers to the twenty-one books that

and doings of those whose task it was to remind Israel relationship to God when it was in danger of forgetting it.

record the sayings

of

its

Ketuvim,

or "other writings," refers to the thirteen books that

make up

the Bible's balance. These three terms serve as section headings in this

chapter and properly

so,

never be forgotten, however, that in the Jewish view, to

speak

to

human

biblical. It

must

God did not

cease

for most of the selections are

beings

when

the last

page of biblical ink was dry. In

176

JUDAISM addition to the

Torah" there

"written

"oral Torah" or

also the

is

Talmud, a record of the ongoing task of study, commentary, and interpretation through which God's continuing communication to

partners

is

discerned.

Judaism can he viewed

and

primordial!)' creative,

women become fully human

paramount

of the world

ing

the radiance

in

God calls

of its creative

world

Through

ers to

it

then

is

imageless,

nevertheless,

is

moral

intuitions

says, into a sacred

and

the promotion

of

to be found in the heal-

reflect,

for the good of all,

sometimes called ethical monothe-

Jews have found meaning

and Islam

—

source.

do the same. Judaism

Christianity

may

who,

to the

life

concerns. Life's purpose

so that the

—

Judaism

which respect for

The melding of these two ideas ism.

us,

God

of two

of human dignity: men and

the idea

is

in the grip

of One

the idea

only by responding

divinely etched in their hearts.

agreement or covenant

is

utterly transcendent

The second

cares for the creation.

of a people

as the evolution

towcringly great ideas. The first

justice are

human

is

in life

and have helped othfrom which both

the parent tradition

spring.

T01UH: The Teaching 1.

Creation

The Bible opens with an account of the creation of the world. Implicit in its

opening

line

mate source of all

is

priestly editors,

posed

this

The

First

unformed and

literature,

com-

to the rest of the first five books.

Days of Creation

God

created heaven and earth

—

the earth being

void, with darkness over the surface of the deep

wind from God sweeping over the water

be light"; and there was

God

as the ulti-

six centuries old

drawing on other Xear Eastern

account as a prologue

In the beginning

a

Judaism was perhaps five or

being.

when

a.

God

the foundational Jewish belief in

light.

God

—God

saw that the

separated the light from the darkness.

Day, and the darkness there was morning, a

He called

first day.

Night.

And

said,

light

God

and

"Let there

was good, and

called the light

there was evening and

TORAH On

tures

b.

and

successive days, sky

ofsea and air, and creatures of land are brought

The

The

earth, vegetation, the sun

To be "created in the image of God" is

in the following text.

found

is

to be called

a just and merciful world.

And God created humankind in His image; He created them. God blessed them and said and increase,

all

Then:

into being.

of humanity and human dignity

essential biblical doctrine

God

crea-

Humankind

Sixth Day:

to cocreate

and moon,

fill

the earth and master

said, "See,

it.

.

.

.

male and female them, "Be

to

..."

give you every seed-bearing plant that

I

fertile

is

upon

the earth, and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit; they shall

be yours for food.

And

to

all

the animals on land, to

all

the birds of

the sky, and to everything that creeps on earth, in which there the breath of

life, I

give

all

the green plants for food."

And

it

is

was

And God saw all that He had made, and found it very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. so.

c.

The Seventh Day: Rest

Basic

to

below).

Jewish faith

Here ancient

is

the observance

writers record

its

of the Sabbath

(see no. 38,

divine archetype.

The heaven and the earth were finished, and all their array. On the seventh day, God finished the work that He had been doing. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because on it God ceased from all the work of creation that He had done. .

2.

The Garden of Eden and

.

.

the Expulsion

Chapter 2 of Genesis contains a second account of the creation of humanity. It ponders the origins of human awareness, of moral responsibility,

a.

and ofsuffering and death.

The Garden,

The LORD God ground the

the

Two

Trees,

and the Innocent Partners

planted a garden in Eden.

LORD God

.

.

.

And from

the

caused to grow every tree that was pleasing

177

178

JUDAISM to the sight

and good

for food, with the tree of life in the

middle of

the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and bad. .

.

The LORD God

.

of Eden, to

man,

saying,

for the tree

and tend

till it

"Of every

man and placed him in the garden And the LORD God commanded the

took the it.

tree of the garden

The LORD God make

to eat, but as

of knowledge of good and bad, you must not eat of

soon as you eat of it, you

for as

you are free

said, "It is

it;

shall die."

man

not good for

a fitting helper for him.".

.

.

So the

be alone;

to

LORD God

cast a

I

will

deep

He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that spot. And the LORD God fashioned the rib that He had taken from the man into a woman; and He brought her to the man. The two of them were naked, the man and his sleep

upon the man; and while he

.

.

wife, yet they felt

b.

slept,

.

no shame.

The Cost of Consciousness: The Expulsion

Now the serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild beasts that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really You

say:

of any tree of the garden?"

shall not eat

"God

replied to the serpent, it,

lest

die,

you

die.'"

God knows

but

opened and you

When

bad."

and ate.

.

.

And

'You shall not eat of it or touch

the serpent said,

that as soon as

will

the

said:

be

you

like divine

woman saw

.

.

"You

.

are not going to

of it your eyes will be

eat

who know good and

beings

that the tree

was good

desirable as a source of wisdom, she took of

.

She

also gave

some

to her

The woman

husband and he

ate.

for eating

its fruit

Then

and

the eyes

of both of them were opened and they perceived that they were naked.

.

.

.

They heard garden

at

from the and said

the sound of the

you .

to

him,

Then He

".

.

.

And .

man and

his wife hid

The lord God called out to the man "Where are you?" He replied, "I heard the sound

lord God.

asked,

eat of the tree .

about in the

the breezy time of day; and the .

.

.

of You in the garden, and hid."

LORD God moving

to the

I

was afraid because

"Who

told

from which

woman He

I

I

was naked, so

I

you that you were naked? Did

had forbidden you

said,

In pain shall you bear children.

to eat?"

— TO RAH Yet your urge shall be for your husband,

And

he shall rule over you."

To Adam He ".

.

.

By

said,

the sweat of your

brow

you get bread

shall

to eat,

Until you return to the ground

For from

it

you were taken.

For dust you

And .

.

.

to dust

And

the

are,

you

shall return."

LORD God

"Now

said,

that the

like

one of us, knowing good and bad, what

his

hand and take

So the

ever!" to

3.

A

till

also

from the

LORD God

if

has

become

he should stretch out

and

tree of life

man eat,

and

live for-

banished him from the garden of Eden,

the soil from which he was taken.

The Universal Covenant with Noah key biblical theme

is

the tension between

what ought

to be

and what

human failure

to

respond adequately thereto. Using the already ancient flood legend

to

is,

between God's invitation

make

this

to the

moral

moral point, the Noah story

covenant, made here between

life

and

the

also introduces the idea

God and all creatures.

This

is

of the

the first

of

three covenants that figure prominently in the Torah (see 4a, 4b, 10,

and 10a).

But The LORD saw how great was man's wickedness on earth. Noah found favor with the LORD. And when the waters had swelled on the earth one hundred and fifty days, God remembered Noah and the waters subsided. And God said to Noah ... "I now establish My covenant .

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

with you and your offspring to come, and with every living thing with you

never again shall

be cut off by the wa-

that

is

ters

of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the

.

.

.

:

all

flesh

earth."

God between

further said, "This

Me

is

the sign that

and you, and every

I

set for the

living creature with you, for

My bow in the clouds, and a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth." ages to come.

I

have set

covenant

it

all

shall serve as

179

180

JUDAISM

The Origin of the

4.

Scholars refer

Israelites:

The Story of Abraham

eleven chapters of Genesis as "primeval his-

to the first

tory" mythic accounts of cosmic and human

origins.

In chapter 12 the

narrative shifts to the origins of the Israelites as a people. The story of

Abraham

important for a number of reasons.

is

monotheist, he Christianity the

Second,

considered the progenitor not only ofJudaism, but of

is

and Islam

Abrahamic

Tirst, as the original

as well. Indeed, these three are sometimes called

religions.

Abraham

it is to

God promises many

descendants and,

"The notion of the Promised Land

just as importantly, land. to the Israelite religion

that

and for

most important single element

the Israelites

in

it.

.

.

.

Xo

and Jews

is

peculiar

later, it

was the

race has maintained over so

long a period so emotional an attachment to a particular corner of the

Earth's surface."

An

1

Land- begins with

understanding of the significance of the Promised

these biblical passages.

Abraham's story

Third,

reveals the religious origins

of the practice

of circumcision. Fourth, the story ofAbraham

of Sodom and Gomorrah ings are cocreators

from

* a.

destruction

Jewish conviction that human be-

universe.

The human capacity

for

Even God may have something

com-

to learn

The Covenant with Abraham: The Promise of a Nation and a Land

from your I

.

.

.

Abram, "Go

said to

house

father's

make of you

will

And

I

will bless

Abram

Shechem.

2.

special.

God over the

it!

The LORD

1.

is

debate with

reflects the

of the moral

and justice

passion

's

.

.

Paul Johnson,

.

forth

from your native land and

to the land that

I

will

a great nation.

you."

passed through the land as

The

A

a

far

as

Canaanites were then in the land.

History of the Jews

This land has had

show you.

(New

York: Harper

&

the

its

name

Row, 1987),

is

Israel.

of

The LORD

number of names over three millennia: Canaan,

Judah/Israel, and Palestine. Today, and since 1947,

site

9, 4.

TORAH Abram and said, "I will assign this land to your spring." And he built an altar there to the LORD. When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD peared to Abram and said to him, "I am El Shaddai. Walk in appeared to

.

.

.

.

.

.

ways and be blameless.

and you, and

I

will

Abram threw ther. ... "I will

I will

My

establish

off-

ap-

My between Me

covenant

make you exceedingly numerous."

himself on his face; and

maintain

God

spoke to him fur-

My covenant between Me and

you, and

your offspring to come, as an everlasting covenant throughout the be

ages, to

God

to

you and

to

your offspring to come.

I

land you sojourn in to you and your offspring to come,

of Canaan, as an everlasting holding.

b.

I

will

be the covenant between

Me

assign the

all

the land

be their God."

Circumcision

"Such

shall

and you and your

among you

spring to follow which you shall keep: every male

be circumcised. You

shall circumcise the flesh

that shall be the sign of the covenant

offshall

of your foreskin, and

between

Me

and you. And

throughout the generations, every male among you

shall

be

cir-

As for the homeborn slave and the one bought from an outsider who is not of your offspring, they must be circumcised, homeborn, and purchased alike. Thus shall My covenant be marked in your flesh as an everlasting pact." Then Abraham took his son Ishmael, and every male in cumcised

.

.

at

the age of eight days.

.

.

Abraham's household, and he circumcised the skins.

.

.

.

Abraham was

ninety-nine years old

.

.

flesh

of their fore-

when he circumcised

the flesh of his foreskin, and his son Ishmael was thirteen years old.

c.

.

.

.

Abraham

Now

the

Softens God's Heart

LORD

about to do?.

had

said, "Shall

.

Abraham what

I

am

the entire city

ofSodom due

to the

wickedness of

inhabitants.

.

be

hide from

.

God is about to destroy its

I

"

.

.

Abraham came forward and

fifty

innocent within the

said

city; will

.

.

.

"What

if

there should

You then wipe out the place

181

182

JUDAISM and not forgive be

from You

it

it

to

for the sake of the innocent fifty

do such

a thing, to bring death

as well as the guilty, so that innocent

and guilty

who are in

upon the innocent fare alike. Far be

from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal

LORD ones,

answered, "If I find within the city of will forgive the

I

saying

up,

twenty

.

.

.

whole place

Far

it?

And

justly?"

Sodom

fifty

it

the

innocent

Abraham spoke thirty What if

for their sake."

"What if forty What if What if ten should be found there?" And He answered, .

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

"I will not destroy, for the sake of the ten."

d.

God

Some said

.

Tests

time .

afterward,

God

morning, Abraham ... .

and

to the land of Moriah,

ing on one of the heights that

him.

.

put

Abraham

"Take your son, your favored one,

.

and go

Abraham's Faith

set

I

offer

Isaac,

him

will point

the

to

whom

He

test.

you

love,

there as a burnt offer-

out to you." So early next

out for the place of which

God had

told

.

Then

Isaac said to his father

swered, "Yes,

Abraham, "Father!" And he an-

my son." And he said, "Here are the firestone and

wood; but where

is

the sheep for the burnt offering?"

the

And Abraham

"God will see to the sheep for His burnt offering, my son.". Abraham built an altar there; ... he bound his son Isaac; he laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. And Abraham picked up the knife to slay his son. Then an angel of the LORD called to said,

.

.

him from heaven: "Abraham! Abraham! against the boy, or

do anything

to

the thicket by fered

5.

it

up

Jacob

its

as a

Is

horns.

.

him. For

God, since you have not withheld your

Me." When Abraham looked

.

.

Do not raise your hand

now I know

that

you

fear

son, your favored one, from

up, his eye

fell

upon

a ram, caught in

So Abraham went and took the ram and

of-

burnt offering in place of his son.

Named Israel

Of Abraham's

two sons, Ishmael and Isaac, Muslims claim descent

through the former, Jews through the otal figure, for

it is

his

twelve sons

latter.

who become

twelve tribes of Israel. The word Israel has

is

a piv-

the patriarchs

of the

Isaac's son, Jacob,

its

biblical origins in thefol-

TORAH lowing story, wherein Jacob

Jacob was alone ... a

man

is

given

encampment

in his

him

wrestled with

it .

as a

.

new name. One

night, while

.

until the break of

dawn.

When

he

saw that he had not prevailed against him, he wrenched Jacob's hip at its socket.

.

.

.

Then he

But he answered, "I

said,

"Let

will not let

you

me

dawn

go, for

go, unless

is

breaking."

you bless me." Said

"What is your name?" He replied, "Jacob." Said he, "Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with beings divine and human and have prevailed." the other,

6.

The

Israelites in

Egypt

One ofJacob's sons, Joseph, is sold into Egyptian slavery by his jealous brothers. But Joseph prospers in Egypt, impressing the pharaoh with his skill at interpreting

When famine

dreams.

befalls the brothers,

Joseph

ungrudgingly invites them and their clans to share in his prosperity.

Time

passes, however,

and regimes

sympathetic pharaohs come

to

way

and arch-prophet of the

Israelites.

Moses

The

Is

and new,

less

power. In the course of four hundred

years, prosperity gives

7.

change. Joseph dies

to oppression.

Enter Moses, the liberator

Called

The Israelites were groaning under God heard their moaning, and God with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.

king of Egypt [had] died.

the bondage and cried out;

remembered His covenant

Now Moses,

.

.

.

tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro

.

.

.

came

An angel of the lord appeared to him in a blazing fire out of a bush. He gazed, and there was a bush all aflame, yet the bush was not consumed. God called to him out of the bush: "Moses! Moses!" He answered, "Here I am." And He said, "Do not come closer. Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground. I am," He said, "the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to

to

Horeb, the mountain of God.

.

look at God.

.

.

183

184

JUDAISM And

the

LORD continued,

people in Egypt.

come down

.

.

Yes,

.

to rescue

out of that land to a

I

"I have

am

mindful of their sufferings.

them from

.

.

.

marked well the plight of My I

the Egyptians and to bring

have

them

land flowing with milk and honey, the re-

gion of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. to

.

.

Come,

.

My

Pharaoh, and you shall free

therefore,

I

will

send you

people, the Israelites, from

Egypt."

God

8.

Moses

Identifies

said to

Himself

God, "When

I

come

to the Israelites

me

'The God of your fathers has sent

'What

His name?' what

is

shall

I

and say

them

and they ask me,

to you,'

them?" And

say to

to

God

said to

He continued, "Thus shall you say 'Ehyeh3 sent me to you.'" And God said further to

Moses, "Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh." to the Israelites,

Moses, "Thus

shall

you speak to the

God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Jacob, has sent me to you:

the

My name forever.

This

shall

This

My appellation for all eternity."

be

The LORD, the God of Isaac, and

Israelites:

Passover and Exodus

9.

The pharaoh

rejects

Moses' demands for emancipation even though

calamities befall his land as a result. However, a final

sudden death of all of Egypt's firstborn Israelites,

in order to ensure that

own firstborn,

—proves

too

calamity— the

much for him. The

death harmlessly passes over their

are instructed in certain observances, including a special

meal (seder) on the eve of their exodus from Egypt.

Every year Jews

the world over gather for a seder in

tion

of this pivotal moment

this

time asks:

reply

3.

is:

"Why

is

in their history.

this night different

One of the

from

as "I \\t

texts recited at

all other nights?"

"Because we were slaves unto the pharaoh

This word has sometimes been translated

commemora-

in

The

Egypt, and the

TORAH God brought us forth thence with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm" What the Passover Seder celebrates, it may be sug-

Eternal our

gested,

is

not only the historical liberation ofa people but also the peren-

of the human soul for spiritual freedom.

nial longing

a.

Passover Instructions

The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: This month shall mark for you the beginning of the months; it shall be the

of the months of the year for you. Speak to the whole com-

first

munity of

them

and say that on the tenth of

Israel

lamb

shall take a

to a family, a

lamb

to a

this

month each of

household

.

.

.

and

the assembled congregation of the Israelites shall slaughter

They

twilight.

shall take

doorposts and the

They

This

fire, is

feet,

riedly:

it is

same

how you

shall eat

and your

staff in

night; they shall eat

it

to all the

your hand; and you shall eat

This day it

ebrate

man and

beast;

gods of Egypt,

I

the

and

I will

mete out punish-

lord. And

the blood

as

no plague

will destroy

shall

lord throughout the ages;

an institution for

all

time.

shall eat

for

whoever

day you shall remove leaven

from the

day to the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from

six

Israelites

.

.

.

The

first

Israel.

journeyed from Raamses to Succoth, about

hundred thousand men [and women] on

dren.

I

Seven days you

eats leavened bread

The

you when

shall cel-

from your houses,

.

see the

you

first

.

I

on the

be to you one of remembrance: you shall cele-

unleavened bread; on the very

.

hur-

it

of Egypt.

as a festival to the it

J

LORD. For that night I will go of Egypt and strike down every first-born in the

will pass over you, so that

strike the land

brate

roasted

your loins girded, your sandals on

it:

houses where you are staying shall be a sign for you: when I

it.

a passover offering to the

land of Egypt, both

blood

at

on the two

with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs. ...

through the land

ments

it

of the houses in which they are to eat

lintel

shall eat the flesh that

over the

your

some of the blood and put

it

all

foot, aside

from

chil-

length of time that the Israelites lived in Egypt was

four hundred and thirty years; at the end of the four hundred and thirtieth year, to the very day, all the ranks of the

from the land of Egypt. vigil for all the

.

.

.

That same night

is

LORD

departed

the lord's, one of

children of Israel throughout the ages.

185

ISO

JUDAISM Deliverance

b.

The LORD

he gave chase to the the sea. .

.

.

.

.

a

the sea into dry ground.

went into the

waters

sea. that the

their chariots

.

.

sea, not

waters were

.

.

ofJewish

his

arm

normal

its

.

.

Thus

.

the

1

ORO

delivered Israel

at Sinai

is,

m

wilderness of'Sinai, Israel pitches

the

ed himself

theology at

it.

.

.

God .

least.

to Israel a final

irtll

first

and

You would expect

God

to

After all

domain.

Thou

so simple.

he

But

had

the tilm

tional series

this

to

decided for the

it's

shall not

was the

give

his

s

lie:

.

lesson:

man was

n

/

if you will he a

words of Nobel laureate Elie Uiesel:

you all kind of commands about

shall not kill:

God

he your

covenant whose

by any measure, one of the greatest moments

history. In the

Think about

From

upon

from the Egyptians.

righteous people. It

4

pur-

in

Pharaoh's entire army that followed them into the

terms are fundamentally moral: I

What

a wall for

the Egyptians and

daybreak the sea returned to

at

Through Moses Cod proposes

oe

Israelites

The Egyptians came

left.

may come back upon

Three months out of Egypt,

all

and the

split,

Moses, "Hold out your arm over the

said to

The Covenant

"//>.

and turned

.

one of them remained.

that d,\\

10.

The

.

that night

all

LORD

and the

and upon their horsemen." Moses held out

over the sea, and state.

sea.

orh

I

The

and on their

of them into the the

strong east wind

sea

on dry ground, the waters forming

sea

their right

Then

arm over the

held out his

drove back the sea with

suit

[He] overtook them encamped by

Israelites.

.

Then Moses

them on

Pharaoh king of Egypt, and

stiffened the heart of the

.

.

time

.

.

to re-

.

give you a lecture on .

.

.

human

Why

God

last

Instead

.

relations:

did he do that

:

.

.

He

Thou //

was

can take care of himself

the dignity

ofman

the British Broadcasting S\ stem's educa-

in

TORAH a.

The Ten Commandments

And Moses went up

to

mountain, saying, "Thus

you say

shall

l

declare to the children of Israel:

Egyptians,

Now you

how I bore you on

then, if you will obey

Indeed, priests

My

be

shall all

and

LORD

God. The

to the

is

Mine, but you

a holy nation.'

These

shall

are the

My

and keep

among

treasured possession

the earth

did to the

I

wings and brought you

faithfully

the

house of Jacob and

You have seen what

eagles'

Me

him from

called to

be to

Me.

to

covenant,

the peoples.

all

Me a kingdom of

words that you

shall

speak

to the children of Israel." .

I

.

God spoke all these words, saying: the LORD am your God who brought you .

out of the land

of Egypt, the house of bondage: You shall have no other gods beside

Me.

You

shall not

ness of what

make

for yourself a sculptured image, or

in the heavens above, or

is

the waters under the earth. serve them. For

I

You

LORD

the

bow down

God am

upon the

visiting the guilt of the parents

children, reject

upon

for the

the third

who

love

Me

My commandments. not swear falsely by the

shall

LORD

will

Remember labor and do

LORD

them or

Me, but show-

ing kindness to the thousandth generation of those

You

to

in

an impassioned God,

and upon the fourth generations of those who

and keep

like-

on the earth below, on

shall not

your

any

who

not clear one

name of the LORD your God; swears falselv bv His name.

the sabbath day and keep

it

holy. Six days

your work, but the seventh day

all

your God: you

shall not

do any work

is

a

you

shall

sabbath of the

— you, your son

or

daughter, your male or female slave, or your cattle, or the stranger

who

is

within vour settlements. For in six davs the

heaven and earth and

sea,

and

the seventh day; therefore the

hallowed

all

that

LORD

is

in

them, and

LORD made He rested on

blessed the sabbath day and

it.

Honor your on the land

father

that the

and your mother, that you may long endure

LORD

You

shall not

murder.

You

shall not

commit

You

shall not steal.

You

shall

your

God

is

assigning you.

adultery.

not bear false witness against your neighbor.

187

188

JUDAISM You

shall not covet

your neighbor's house; you

your neighbor's wife, or

.

.

.

anything that

shall not covet

your neighbor's. \

is

The Promise

b.

Know,

therefore, that only the

God who

fast

if

who

love

Him

made on

is

God, the stead-

and keep His commandments.

you obey these rules and observe them

God

your

God

your

keeps His covenant faithfully to the thousandth gen-

eration of those

And

LORD

oath with your fathers:

and multiply you; produce of your

He

He

will favor

soil ... in

the land that

you and

of your

will bless the issue

He

.

.

LORD that He

carefully, the

maintain faithfully for you the covenant

will

.

bless

womb

you

and the

swore to your fathers

to assign to you.

11.

Other Laws

The terms of the covenant

Commandments

at

Sinai consist not only of the

but of some six hundred

erning various phases of

life.

Jews

and

thirteen other laws gov-

on the matter of how

differ

Ten

many of

remain relevant, hut the following verses from Exodus,

these laws

and Deuteronomy

Leviticus,

suggest

some of the perennially relevant

moral attitudes of Judaism. (For a separate note on Jewish dietary

Grace Notes,

practices see this chapter's

Concern

a.

You them, If

for the

will

act toward

any widow or orphan. If you do mistreat

heed their outcry

you lend money

You

Unfortunate

shall not ill-treat

I

them

shall not

selection 35.)

to

as

soon as they cry out to Me.

My people,

as a creditor: exact

to the

no

poor among you, do not

interest

from them.

oppress a stranger, for you know the feelings of the

stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt.

When the

way

harvest.

you reap the harvest of your land, you

shall not reap all

to the edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your

You

shall not pick

your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen

TO RAH of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the

fruit

stranger:

the

I

LORD am

LORD

For the

your

your God.

God

.

.

.

shows no favor and takes no bribe,

but upholds the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and be-

him with food and

friends the stranger, providing

must befriend the

stranger, for

You

clothing.

you were strangers

too

of

in the land

Egypt.

You

shall not insult the deaf, or place a

You

the blind.

If

.

.

shall fear

there

.

I

am

the

LORD.

needy person among you ... do not harden

a

is

your God:

stumbling block before

your heart and shut your hand against your needy kinsman. Rather,

you must open your hand and lend him

sufficient for

whatever he

needs. For there will never cease to be needy ones in your land,

which

is

why

needy.

.

.

.

When the

I

command

you reap the harvest

do not turn back

field,

of your olive

fruit

you: open your hand to the poor and

trees,

in

to get

your it;

.

field .

.

and overlook

When

do not go over them

again; it

Six years you shall sow your land and gather in

your people eat of

You

b.

shall

and

lie fallow.

and what they leave

it,

When

you

over again;

[all

.

.

.

and the widow.

of] that shall go to the stranger, the fatherless

let it rest

sheaf in

you beat down the

gather the grapes of your vineyard, do not pick

the seventh you shall

a

its yield;

but in

Let the needy among

let

the wild beasts eat.

do the same with your vineyards and your

olive groves.

The Sacredness of Lifeblood For the

life

of

all

flesh

You

the Israelite people: flesh.

.

.

.

And

if

—

its

Do

its

is its life.

shall not partake

Therefore

blood and cover

or a bird that it

who may be

I

am

the

say to

resides

among

eaten, he shall

with earth.

not deal basely with your countrymen.

blood of vour fellow:

I

of the blood of any

any Israelite or any stranger

them hunts down an animal pour out

blood

LORD.

Do

not profit by the

189

190

JUDAISM One who kills a beast shall make restitution kills a human being shall be put to death.

for

it;

but one

who

Stewardship of the Earth

c.

The LORD spoke

Moses on Mount

to

Speak

Sinai:

to the Israelite

people and say to them: .

.

may sow your

Six years you

.

prune your vineyard and gather

field

and

in the yield.

six years

But

you may

in the seventh

year the land shall have a sabbath of complete rest, a sabbath of the

LORD:

...

When regard

be a year of complete

shall

it

rest for the land.

you enter the land and plant any

tree for food,

as forbidden. [For] three years

its fruit

den. ... In the fourth year

all its fruit

shall

be

it

shall

you

shall

be forbid-

set aside for jubila-

lord; and only in the fifth year may you use its yield to you may be increased: I the LORD am your

tion before the fruit

—

that

its

God.

d. Social

When take

it

under

Relations

you encounter your enemy's ox

back to him. its

shall

robbery.

.

.

wandering, you must

When you see the [donkey] of your enemy lying

burden and would refrain from raising

ertheless raise

You

.

it

it,

you must nev-

with him.

not defraud your fellow. You shall not commit

The wages

of a laborer shall not remain with you until

morning.

You

shall

not render an unfair decision: do not favor the poor or

show deference

You

to the rich; judge

shall not hate

kinsman but incur no vengeance or bear fellow as yourself:

a I

your kinsman

fairly.

your kinsfolk in your heart. Reprove your guilt

because of him. You shall not take

grudge against your countrymen. Love your

am

the

LORD.

NEVI'IM

The Death of Moses

12.

was common for ancient cultures

It

to deify their

human

heroes. It

is

monotheism and consequent iconoclasm of

therefore a testament to the

the Jewish tradition that the temptation to deify Moses, the great liber-

and prophet ofprophets, was resisted. As if to preclude a cult in his name, Moses

ator

Promised Land, away from

his people, in

dies before entering the

an unknown grave.

Moses went up from the steppes of Moab to Mount Nebo The LORD said the LORD showed him the whole land. .

"This

is

the land of which

will assign

eyes, but

LORD

it

to

you

I

died there.

.

I

.

command

at the

prophet

let

you see

it

and

.

him,

to

and Jacob,

with your

'I

own

like

Moses

LORD. He buried him

of the

Moab, near Beth-peor; and no one

his burial place to this day.

Israel a

have

Isaac,

.

not cross there." So Moses the servant of the

in the valley in the land of

knows

.

swore to Abraham,

your offspring.'

shall

.

.

.

.

.

—whom

Never again did there the

LORD

arise in

singled out, face to

face.

NEVFIM: The Prophets // has been said that "the overall Israel's successes

and failures

theme of the

—mainly

—

failures

biblical narrative

in fulfilling the divine

demands," and that the unblinking candor with which Israel exposes

own shortcomings makes

As

the Bible a "national epic

its

of self-criticism."

5

such the Bible stands without peer in the literature of the world. In

taking Israel to task for

its failings,

in

measuring

cred ideals, the prophets initiated the tradition

now

its realities

against sa-

of moral critique that we

recognize as the soul of a just society.

The prophets were

the spiritual antennae

delity to the covenant.

They

lapses into idolatry, but still

5.

is

of Israel, monitoring

castigated Israel not only for

more for

its

neglect

its

its fi-

repeated

of social justice and

Robert Seltzer, Jewish People, Jewish Thought (New York: Macmillan, 1980),

108.

10,

191

192

JUDAISM For the prophets, the heart of religion

charity.

ual or

"No

lip-service.

6

The prophets are one

being, simply

action, not rit-

unequivocally and sen-

in their conviction that

by virtue of his or her humanity,

therefore in possession

moral

other sacred scripture contains books that speak

out against social injustice as eloquently, sitively."

is

is

"every

a child of God and

of rights that even kings must

respect."

7

Visions and Callings

13.

Isaiah's Vision

a.

In the year that

King Uzziah

died,

I

my Lord

beheld

high and lofty throne; and the skirts of His robe

Seraphs stood

in attendance

filled

two he would

seated

six wings:

and with

legs,

His presence

the other,

call to

"Holy, holy, holy!

The LORD

fills all

of Hosts!

the earth!"

"Woe is me; I am lost! For I am a man of unclean lips And I live among a people of unclean lips; Yet my own eyes have beheld the King LORD of Hosts. I

cried,

>•>

Isaiah's Calling

b.

Then one

of the seraphs flew over to

had taken from the lips

altar

me

with a

with a pair of tongs.

live coal,

He

which he

touched

it

to

and declared,

"Now Your

And

that this has touched your lips,

guilt shall depart

your sin be purged away."

Walter Kaufmann, Religions

in

Four Dimensions

(New

York: Reader's Digest

Press, 1976), 42. 7.

a

fly.

And one would

...

on

the Temple.

on Him. Each of them had

with two he covered his face, with two he covered his

6.

human

Huston Smith, The

1991), 292.

World's Religions (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco,

my

NEVI'IM

Then I heard

the voice of my

Who will go for us?" And

Lord

said,

I

saying,

"Here am

I;

"Whom shall I send? send me."

Ezekiel's Vision

c.

In the thirtieth year,

was

on the

day of the fourth month, when

fifth

community of exiles by the Chebar Canal, the heavens

in the

opened and

saw visions of God. ...

I

wind came sweeping out of the north gleam

as of amber. In the center of

creatures.

And

They had

this

it

—

lo,

a

stormy

huge cloud and flashing

a

in the center of the fire, a

were also the figures of four

was their appearance:

the figures of

human

beings. However, each

and each of them had four wings.

faces,

looked, and

I

surrounded by a radiance; and ...

fire,

I

.

.

had four

.

Each one's They had human hands below their wings. wings touched those of the other. They did not turn when they moved; each could move in the direction of anv of its faces. Each of them had a human face [at the front] the face of a .

.

.

on the

lion

an eagle

them .

fire .

to go.

.

.

.

.

.

the face of an ox

the back]. .

.

.

.

.

left

phire;

.

and lightning issued from the

.

.

.

and the face of

the spirit impelled

and on

top,

upon

human

this

burning coals of

fire.

creatures was a form: an expanse,

was the semblance of

semblance of a

d.

.

that looked like

with an awe-inspiring gleam as of crystal.

panse

.

.

.

Above the heads of the

.

on the

They went wherever

.

With them was something

.

.

.

[at

right

.

.

a throne, in

.

.

.

Above the ex-

appearance

like

sap-

semblance of a throne, there was the

form.

EzekiePs Calling

Like the appearance of the bow which shines in the clouds on a day of rain, such was the .

.

.

.

.

.

surrounding radiance. That was the

semblance of the Presence of the LORD.

flung myself

down on my

face.

And

I

When

I

beheld

it,

I

heard the voice of someone

speaking.

And He

said to

speak to you." As

me upon my

feet;

me,

He

"O

mortal, stand

spoke to me, a

and

I

up on your

spirit

feet that

entered into

me

I

may

and

heard what was being spoken to me.

set

He

193

— 194

JUDAISM said to

"O

me,

mortal,

that nation of rebels, as their fathers

I

am

sending you to the people of

who have

have defied

rebelled against

Me

I

them: 'Thus said the Lord

thistles

scorpions.

Do

GOD\

.

.

that they

.

.

.

bellious breed; but speak

may

fear their words,

and thorns press against you, and you

not be

as well

send you to them, and you

know that there was a prophet among them. "And you, mortal, do not fear them and do not though

—They

to this very day; for the sons are

brazen of face and stubborn of heart. shall say to

Me.

Israel,

sit

upon

dismayed by them, though they are a re-

My words to them, whether they listen or

not, for they are rebellious."

Isaiah Chastises Israel for Ignoring the Covenant

14.

Isaiah prophesied in Jerusalem between 742

and 701

B.C.E.

During

time the Israelite kingdoms were victims ofAssyrian might. Isaiah

this

interprets this misfortune as the result

ofIsraels immorality and lack of

fidelity to the covenant.

Hear,

O heavens, and give ear, O earth,

For the

LORD

has spoken:

"I reared children

and brought them up

And they have rebelled against Me! An ox knows its owner, An ass its master's crib: Israel

does not know,

My people take no thought." Ah,

sinful nation!

People laden with iniquity!

Brood of evildoers! Depraved children!

They have

forsaken the

LORD,

Spurned the Holy One of Israel,

Turned .

.

.

their backs.

Your land

Your

cities

is

a waste,

burnt down;

Before your eyes, the yield of your

soil

— NEVI'IM consumed by

Is

strangers

A wasteland as overthrown by strangers!

Kings Are Not Above the Moral Law: The Prophet Nathan Chastises King David

15.

After King David has Uriah the Hittite killed so that he can sleep with Uriah's wife, Bathsheba,

man

rich

Nathan

visits

who, rather than select one of his

and butchers

guest, steals

the

LORD

the

lives,

tells

him about a

own many sheep

to

feed a

beloved sheep of a poor neighbor.

sole,

David flew into a rage against the "As the

David and

man who

[rich]

man, and

said to

did this deserves to die!

Nathan,

He

shall

pay for the lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and

showed no

Thus

said the

king over

And Nathan said to David, "That man is you! LORD, the God of Israel: 'It was I who anointed you

pity."

gave you your master's house and possession

Israel. ... I

of your master's wives; and Judah.

.

.

Why

.

I

gave you the

then have you flouted the

and done what displeases Him?.

House of

command

Israel

of the

and

LORD

." .

Hosea: Against Idolatry

16.

Hosea

lived a generation before Isaiah in the first half of the eighth

and was a contemporary of Isaiah's father, the prophet Amos. Here Hosea decries idolatry, the chronic human tendency to century B.C.E.

make gods

out of things that are not God.

My People Obey Their Lusts

a.

Hear the word of the LORD,

O people of Israel! For the

LORD

has a case

Against the inhabitants of this land,

Because there

And no .

.

.

is

no honesty and no goodness

obedience to

My people

consults

.

.

its stick,

.

God

in the land.

195

— 196

JUDAISM rod directs

Its

it!

A lecherous impulse has made them And

go wrong,

they have strayed from submission to their God.

They

And

on the mountaintops

sacrifice

offer

on the

hills,

Under oaks, poplars, and terebinths Whose shade is so pleasant .

.

Sow

b.

the Wind,

They have made But not with

Reap the Whirlwind

kings,

My sanction;

They have made But not of My

officers,

choice.

Of their silver and gold They have made themselves To

.

.

their

.

.

.

images,

own undoing.

They sow wind,

And .

.

they shall reap whirlwind

Israel

is

bewildered;

They have now become among Like an unwanted vessel

17.

Against

Empty

.

.

the nations

.

Ritual: True Religion Is

Righteousness and Justice a.

Hosea For

I

desire goodness, not sacrifice;

Obedience

b.

to

God, rather than burnt

offerings.

Isaiah

"What need have Savs the lord.

I

of all your sacrifices?"

— NEVI'IM

am sated with burnt offerings And suet of fadings, And blood of bulls; "I

.

.

Your new moons and

.

Fill

are

become

a

burden

to

Me,

cannot endure them.

And when you turn

I will

not

will

up your hands,

lift

My eyes away from you;

Though you pray I

fixed seasons

Me with loathing;

They I

of rams,

at length,

listen.

Your hands are stained with crime

Wash

yourselves clean;

Put your

evil

Away from Cease to do

Learn

to

doings

My sight. evil;

do good.

Devote yourselves

to justice;

Aid the wronged.

Uphold the rights of the orphan; Defend the cause of the widow"

Isaiah

c.

The LORD

will

bring this charge

Against the elders and officers of his people: .

.

.

"It

is

you who have ravaged the vineyard;

That which was robbed from the poor

is

in

your houses.

How dare you crush My people And

grind the faces of the poor?"

Amos

d.

Spare I

me

the sound of your songs,

cannot endure the music of your

But

And

let justice roll

on

lutes.

like a river,

righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

197

198

JUDAISM Micah

e.

With what

approach the

shall I

approach

Him

I

With

calves a year old?

He has told you, And what the LORD .

.

Only

And And

do

to

.

.

.

?

with burnt offerings,

Shall

.

LORD

O man, what is good, requires of you:

justice

to love goodness, to

walk modestly with your God.

Awaiting the Messiah

18.

The prophets did not only look down

in righteous indignation; they

looked forward in hope for a time when peace and justice would reign

and people would

cognizance of their sacred birthright.

live in full

Hope was sometimes personified in sometimes

it

was linked

to the

the figure

of a coming Messiah, and

dawning of a messianic

age, alternately

conceived as either continuous with present history or as an apocalyptic

end of the world resulting

in

a new order of things. If any themes can be

said to be persistent in the long tation, they are Israel's

times, for a

Thus He

And And And

own

of messianic expec-

spiritual restoration and, "in

own land and also for

some-

which there would be bliss

the entire

for [both] the

human

8

race.''

The Messiah Will Usher In Universal Peace will

among the nations the many people,

judge

arbitrate for

they shall beat their swords into plowshares their spears into

Nation

8.

its

moral perfection and earthly

people of Israel in their

Isaiah:

hope for

history

more universal transformation

political freedom,

a.

and complex

shall not take

pruning hooks:

up

Joseph Klausner, The Messianu Idea

tn Israel

(New

York: Macmillan, 1955),

9.

NEVI'IM Sword

They

against nation;

Isaiah:

b.

never again know war.

shall

The Messiah

Will Bring Order, Justice, and

Peace But

a shoot shall

A twig shall The

sprout from his stock.

of the

spirit

grow out of the stump of Jesse,

LORD

A spirit of wisdom and insight, A spirit of counsel and valor, A spirit of devotion and reverence .

.

.

Integrity

is

upon him:

shall alight

for the

LORD.

the loincloth round his waist,

Faithfulness the belt about his hips.

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, The leopard lie down with the kid; The calf, the beast of prey, and the fatling With ...

a

boy

to herd

And

a viper's hole,

an infant pass his hand over an adder's den.

all

of My sacred

Nothing

mount

evil or vile shall

For the land shall be

As water covers the

c.

them.

A babe shall play

Over In

little

Isaiah:

be done;

filled

with devotion to the

An Image of the Dawning of the Messianic Age

A voice rings out: "Clear in the desert road for the

lord!

Level in the wilderness

A

highway

for

our God!

Let every valley be raised,

Every

hill

and mount made

low.

Let the rugged ground become

And

LORD

sea.

and the Restoration of Israel

A

together,

the ridges

become

a plain.

level

199

— 200

JUDAISM The Presence of the LORD shall appear, And all flesh, as one, shall behold For the .

.

.

.

.

.

LORD

But you,

Himself has spoken.

Fear not, for

Be not

My servant,

Israel, I

am

with you,

frightened, for

am

I

your God;

I

strengthen you and

I

uphold you with

.

.

I

have singled you out by name,

Fear not, for

.

You ...

I

I

help you,

My victorious right hand. will

redeem you;

are Mine. I

will

bring your folk from the East,

Will gather you out of the West; I

will say to the

And

North, "Give back!"

"Do

to the South,

not withhold!

My sons from afar, And My daughters from the end of the earth. Bring

d. Ezekiel:

End So

Suffering and Dispersion Will

upon

.

One Day

in Restoration

poured out

I

." .

their land,

scattered

My wrath on them for the blood which they shed and

for the fetishes with

them among the

through the countries:

I

nations,

which they

defiled

it.

I

and they were dispersed

punished them in accordance with their

ways and their deeds. .

.

.

But you,

and bear your For

I

mountains of

fruit for

will care for you:

sown.

I

I

My

towns

will multiply fertile,

shall

men and

and

I

Israel, shall yield

people

Israel, for their

will turn to you,

will settle a large

Israel; the

be

O

be

and you

all

I

will take

return

shall

be

near.

is

tilled

and

population on you, the whole House of resettled,

beasts

and the ruined

upon you, and they

will resettle

sites rebuilt.

shall increase

you as you were formerly, and

make you more prosperous than you were know that I am the LORD. ...

your produce

at first.

And you

I

and will

shall

you from among the nations and gather you from

the countries, and

I

will

bring you back to your

own

land.

I

will

KETUVIM sprinkle clean water

you from

new

heart and put a

the heart of stone from your I

put

will

shall

your uncleanness and from

all

give you a

upon you, and you

My

new

all

be clean:

your

Thus

will cleanse

fetishes.

And

spirit into you: I will

I

will

I

will

remove

a heart of flesh;

and

cause you to follow

My

body and give you

spirit into you.

I

My rules. Then you shall dwell in the gave to your fathers, and you shall be My people and

laws and faithfully to observe

land which I

will

I

be your God.

KETUVIM: Other Writings The third category of the Tanakh contains a wide variety of literary works from different periods of early Jewish tions from four: Psalms, Proverbs, Job,

history.

Below are

selec-

and Ecclesiastes.

Psalms

19.

The book of Psalms in the Bible.

is

the principal collection

Selections

of religious

lyrical poetry

from Psalms figure prominently

in

Jewish

prayer books. Unlike the prophetic books, the psalms do not protest social justice or interpret Israel's defeats as consequences

the covenant.

The psalms are concerned,

religious emotion. Traditionally,

offaithlessness

rather, with the expression

to

of

psalms have been categorized either as

hymns, laments, or thanksgiving songs. The headings used below are

Lament, Celebration, and Contemplative Gratitude.

Lament

2l.

How Long, O Lord? How long, O LORD; will You ignore me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? Look at me, answer me, O LORD, my God! .

b.

.

.

Why Have You Forsaken Me?

My God, my God, why have You deserted me? How

far

from saving me, the words

I

groan!

201

,

202

JUDAISM c.

My Soul Thirsts for God As

a

doe longs

for

running streams,

my soul you, my God

So longs for

My soul thirsts for God, the

God

of life;

When

shall

I

go to see

the face of

d.

God?

How Can We By

Sing in a Strange Land?

the rivers of Babylon

—

we sat down and there we wept, when we remembered Zion. there

On

the willows there

we hung up our

harps.

For there our captors asked us for songs,

and our tormentors asked

for mirth, saying,

"Sing us one of the songs of Zion!"

How could we

sing the

lord's song

in a foreign land?

Celebration

e.

Happy Are

the

Good

Happy is the man who does not take

the wicked for his guide,

nor walk the road that sinners tread, nor take his seat the law of the

among

LORD

is

the scornful;

his delight,

the law his meditation night and day.

He

is like

a tree

planted beside a watercourse,

which yields and

its

Wicked men they are

its fruit

in season,

leaf never withers

.

.

.

are not like this;

like

chaff driven by the wind.

— KETUVIM f.

The

Silent Eloquence of the

The

heavens declare the glory of God,

World

the sky proclaims His handiwork.

Day

day makes utterance,

to

night to night speaks out.

There

is

no utterance,

there are no words, [Yet] their voice carries

g.

a joyful noise to

God,

.

.

This This

Is is

let

the

the earth;

all

name

sing the glory of his

i.

.

The Joyful Noise Make

h.

throughout the earth

.

.

.

Day the Lord Has Made

the day that the

LORD

us rejoice and be glad

.

has .

made

.

How Good It Is to Be Together! How good

and how pleasant

it is

that kindred dwell together. It is like fine oil

on the head

running down onto the beard, the beard of Aaron, that

comes down over the

collar of his robe.

Contemplative Gratitude

j.

Those

Who Worship Things Become like Them

Why should Our God

is

the nations say: in heaven;

Their idols are

silver

He

"Where

is

their

does whatever

He

God?" wills.

and gold, made by human hands.

They have a mouth and cannot speak, eyes and cannot see. They have ears and cannot hear, a nose and cannot smell. They have hands and cannot feel, feet and cannot walk. They cannot make a sound in their throat.

203

204

JUDAISM Their makers

shall

become

like

them; [and]

all

who

trust in

them.

k.

A Little Lower than God .

.

.

what are human beings that You have been mindful of them, mortals that You have taken note of them, that

You have made them

than divine,

little less

and adorned them with glory and majesty?

1.

If I Lift If I

lift

Up My Eyes to the Hills

up

where

my eyes

shall

I

to the hills,

find help?

Help comes only from the LORD, maker of heaven and

earth.

m. We Are but a Moment Here

O Lord, You have been our refuge in every generation. Before the mountains came into being, before You brought forth the earth and the world,

from eternity

You return man

to eternity

You

are

God.

to dust;

You decreed, "Return you mortals!" For in Your sight a thousand years are like yesterday that has past, like a

watch of the night.

You engulf men at

daybreak they are

at

daybreak

by dusk

n.

in sleep;

it

it

like grass that

renews

itself;

flourishes anew;

withers and dries up.

You Are Always with

Me

O LORD, You have examined me and know me. When

I sit

down

or stand

up You know

You discern my thoughts from

afar.

it;

KETUVIM You observe my walking and and are familiar with

There

not a word on

is

but that You, ... It

is

it is

beyond

my tongue it

well.

I

cannot fathom

it,

I

escape from Your spirit?

I

flee

from Your presence?

You

are there;

descend to Sheol, You are there

too.

wing with the dawn

If I take to

ways,

my knowledge;

If I ascend to heaven, if I

my

all

O LORD, know

a mystery;

Where can Where can

reclining,

come

on the western horizon,

to rest

even there Your hand will be guiding me,

Your right hand

will

me

be holding

If I say, "Surely darkness will conceal

night will provide

darkness night

me

fast.

me,

with cover,"

not dark for You;

is

as light as day;

is

darkness and light are the same. It

You fashioned I

praise You, for

o.

my conscience, me in my mother's womb.

was You who created

I

am

awesomely, wondrously

made

.

.

.

The Lord

Is

My Shepherd, I Shall Not Want

The LORD

is

my shepherd,

I

shall

not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me to water in places of repose; he renews my life; He guides me in right paths as befits

Though I

fear

I

His name.

walk through a valley of deepest darkness,

no harm,

for

Your rod and Your

You spread

a table for

You anoint

You

staff

me;

—they comfort me.

me in

my head

my cup overflows.

are with

with

full oil;

view of my enemies;

205

206

JUDAISM Surely goodness and mercy shall follow the days of my

all

and

I

life,

shall dwell in the

my whole

life

me

house of the

LORD

long.

Proverbs

20.

For the

biblical sages, truth

also in the regularities

world

the concern

is

of daily

With

Go

all

to the larger

Jewish story

life.

of wisdom

at

A briefsampling:

is this:

get

wisdom;

your getting, get insight.

to the ant,

Study

Skill in negotiating the ways of the

we confront maxims and aphorisms aimed

harmony and a happy

The beginning

life.

of Proverbs. References

are absent here; instead social

disclosed not only in divine revelation but

is

its

you sluggard,

ways and

learn.

A gentle response allays wrath; A harsh word provokes anger. He who

satisfies

He who

loves discipline loves knowledge;

stupid

The

is

others shall himself be sated.

the person

who

hates correction.

wise are grateful for a rebuke.

Pride goes before ruin,

Arrogance, before

failure.

A base fellow gives away secrets, But

As

a

So

a fool repeats his folly.

21.

An

a trustworthy soul keeps a confidence.

dog returns

to his vomit,

The Book of Job acknowledged masterpiece of world

literature, the

book ofJob

is

a

sustained reflection on the nature ofgenuine religious faith. It squarely faces the possibility that in the

grand scheme of things God neither

re-

KETUVIM wards persons for their faith and virtue nor punishes them for lack

At

thereof

and

all-good

of the inquiry

the heart

lies

why do bad

all-powerful,

Will the apparent injustices of this

life

the problem things

happen

it

to

good people?

to these questions

—remains a matter of

the virtuous Job suffers the death

of the book,

—

give an answer at all

(See editorial comment preceding selection 21c.)

controversy. outset

can be said

to

is

ultimately be balanced by a cos-

mic justice? The answer that the book ofJob gives or whether

of evil: if God

of his

and the devastation of his property. Faithfully humble

At

the

ten children

at first,

Job

cries

out in resignation:

Naked Came I

2l.

Naked came there; the

I

out of my mother's

LORD

womb, and naked

has given, and the

LORD

shall I return

has taken away; blessed

be the name of the LORD.

But

the limits

ofJob's patience are soon exceeded. When he further suf-

fers the ravages

of a

debilitating disease, he curses the

Three of his friends arrive

to

comfort him, but in

for a lack offaith. Surely God's justice

done something

to

deserve

this,

they

book's omniscient author verifies

God

to

tell

birth.

they rebuke Job

supreme, surely Job must have him.

that Job

is

But Job

insists

blameless.

Job

—and

the

challenges

provide a justification for a good persons undeserved suffering

and defiantly asks how

b.

—

is

effect,

day of his

it is

that evil people can prosper:

Why Do the Wicked Live On? Why should Look

And

at

I

I

my patience?

me and be appalled,

clap your

When

not lose

hand

think of it

I

to your

am

mouth.

terrified;

My body is seized with shuddering. Why do the wicked live on, Prosper and grow wealthy?

Their children are with them always,

And

they see their children's children.

Their homes are secure, without

They do

not

feel the

rod of God.

fear;

207

208

JUDAISM Their bull breeds and does not

fail;

Their cow calves and never miscarries;

They let their infants run loose like sheep, And their children skip about. They sing to the music of timbrel and lute, And revel to the tune of the pipe; They spend their days in happiness, And go down to Sheol in peace. They say to God, "Leave us alone,

We do not want to learn .

.

.

.

.

.

What

we

will

How seldom

Your ways;

does the lamp of the wicked

Does the calamity they deserve Does He apportion The

Him?"

gain by praying to

befall

fail,

them,

[their] lot in anger!

.

.

.

contest between Job's friends' traditional pieties

spair ends in a deadlock.

Toward

to

own de-

God speaks to Job answered? Because God does

out

not

them, some commentators believe that the answer

God's ways are flatly incomprehensible

in ejfect, that

his

the book's end,

of a whirlwind. Are Job's misgivings respond directly

and

to

human

is,

beings.

Rational understanding thereof is impossible. Others believe that Job gets his

answer precisely

ence, not explanation,

in the direct

can resolve Job's questions. In

experience doesn't answer questions, lieve that

and

experience of God; only experithis view,

mystical

swallows them. Still others be-

it

God's words imply that there

is

that authentic religious faith requires

no divine system ofjustice,

human

righteousness in spite

of this fact.

God Responds

c.

to Job:

Where Were You When I Laid

the Foundations of the Earth?

Then

the

LORD

Who is

this

replied to Job out of the tempest and said:

who darkens

counsel,

Speaking without knowledge?

Gird your I

will ask

loins like a

and you

man;

will

Where were you when Speak

if

inform Me. I

laid the earth's

you have understanding.

foundations?

KETUVIM Do

you know who fixed

its

dimensions

Or who measured it with a line? Onto what were its bases sunk?

Who set its cornerstone When And .

.

.

the

all

morning

.

.

sang together

the divine beings shouted for joy?

Have you ever commanded the day

Assigned the dawn .

stars

its

place

Have you penetrated

Or walked Have the

.

.

.

to break,

?

to the sources of the sea,

in the recesses

of the deep?

gates of death been disclosed to you?

Have you surveyed the expanses of the tell Me. If you know of these .

.

.

earth?

—

.

.

.

Who cut a channel

And To

for the torrents

path for the thunderstorms,

a

down on uninhabited land, And make the crop of grass sprout

rain

.

.

.

.

.

.

forth?

Who begot the dewdrops?

Can you tie cords to Pleiades Or undo the reins of Orion? .

.

.

.

.

.

Can you dispatch

And

have

it

the lightning on a mission answer you, U I am ready"?

Who put wisdom in the hidden parts? Who gave understanding to the mind? Who is wise enough to give an account of the heavens? .

.

.

Who provides food

When

his

young cry out

And wander about .

.

.

Do

for the raven

to

God

without food?

you know the season when the mountain goats give

birth?

... Is

it

by your wisdom that the hawk grows pinions,

Spreads his wings to the south?

Does

the eagle soar

at

your command,

Building his nest high, .

.

.

Lodging upon the

fastness of a jutting rock?

209

210

JUDAISM Job's Closing Response

d.

Job said

I

in reply to the

know

that

LORD:

You can do everything,

That nothing you propose .

.

Indeed,

.

is

impossible for You.

spoke without understanding

I

Of things beyond me, which I did ... I had heard You with my ears, But now I see You with my eyes; Therefore,

I

not

know

recant and relent,

Being but dust and ashes.

22. Ecclesiastes //

is

a testament to the breadth ofJewish religious sensibility that the

book of Ecclesiastes

is

given

its

place in the Bible. Its skepticism

and

pessimism stand in sharp contrast to much of the biblical message.

Conspicuously absent are a sense of humanity's high moral experience of repentance

and reconciliation, and

tioned or rediscovered trust in God. "There

is

sun," says the wealthy, world-weary author

And what

B.C.E.

there

is

amounts only

calling, the

the attitude

of unques-

nothing new under the

who

lived

to "emptiness

around 300

and a chasing of

wind."

All

a.

Things Are Wearisome

Generations come and generations go, while the earth endures forever.

The sun

rises

back again

The wind

and the sun goes down; it

returns to

its

place and rises there again.

blows south, the wind blows north,

round and round All streams

it

goes and returns

run into the

sea, yet the sea

full circle.

never overflows;

back to the place from which the streams ran they return to run again. All things are wearisome;

no man can speak of them

all.

KETUVIM What

has happened will happen again,

and what has been done

And

be done again,

nothing new under the sun.

is

there anything of which one can say, "Look, this

Is it

there

will

The

has already existed, long ago before our time.

remembered, and those who follow

are not

by those who follow them. ...

men

given

people of old

not be remembered

will

have seen

I

done here under the sun; they are

are

new"? No,

sorry business that

It is a

busy themselves with.

to

is

all

all

God

has

the deeds that

emptiness and a chasing

of wind.

Hedonism

b.

I

said to myself,

Is

No Solution

"Come,

self"; but this too

will

I

was emptiness. ...

and parks and planted

all

male and female. ...

any of

my

also.

.

.

.

.

to hate

all

.

.

more

.

eyes coveted,

I

cattle

amassed

I

refused

and

I

bought

flocks than

and gold

silver

them nothing, nor

be a wise

my handiwork

its fruits

man

same death!

the fool die the

labour and

of my labor and

all

to

toil

my

.

.

.

.

and

...

So

here under the sun, since

successor.

.

.

.

I

saw

I

I

came

should

Who knows whether he

here under the sun. This too

For Everything There

Is

is

is

emptiness.

a time for every pur-

not the sanguine benediction

melancholy ode

is

a Season

rarely realized that the oft-quoted "there

to he, hut a

.

or a fool? Yet he will be a master of all the fruits

skill

pose under heaven"

.

with You

It

man and

my

have to leave

// is

made myself gardens

was emptiness and chasing the wind.

You Can't Take

Alas, the wise

d.

my

Then I turned and reviewed

.

that everything

will

had

I

deny myself any pleasure.

I

c.

I

predecessors in Jerusalem;

Whatever

I

kinds of fruit trees in them; ...

slaves,

.

undertook great works;

I

myself houses and planted vineyards;

built

did

plunge into pleasures and enjoy my-

to life's

tiresome round.

it is

usually thought

211

212

JUDAISM For everything its

season, and for every activity under heaven

its

time: a

time to be born and a time to

a

time to plant and a time to uproot;

a

time to

a

time to pull down and a time to build up;

a

time to weep and

a

time for mourning and a time for dancing;

a

time to scatter stones and a time to gather them;

a

time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing;

and a time

kill

a time to seek a

and

a

to heal;

time to laugh;

time to

a

die;

lose;

time to keep and a time to throw away;

a time to tear

and

a

time to mend;

a

time for silence and

a

time to love and a time to hate;

a

time for war and a time for peace.

e.

For

Death

man

is

Is

the

a

time for speech;

End

a creature of

chance and the beasts are creatures of

chance, and one mischance awaits them alike.

same f.

.

.

.

Men

place:

all

all:

death comes to both

have no advantage over beasts.

came from

.

.

the dust, and to the dust

.

All go to the

all

return.

Better Not to Have Been Born

Again,

I

considered

all

the acts of oppression here under the sun;

saw the tears of the oppressed, and

I

saw that there was no one

I

to

comfort them. Strength was on the side of their oppressors, and there was no one to avenge them.

I

counted the dead happy be-

who are still in life. man yet unborn who

cause they were dead, happier than the living

More

fortunate than either

I

reckoned the

had not witnessed the wicked deeds done here under the sun. g.

Chance, Not Justice, Governs All

One more

thing

I

have observed here under the sun: Speed does

not win the race, nor strength the battle. Bread does not belong to the wise, nor wealth to the intelligent, nor success to the skilful;

time and chance govern

all.

Moreover, no

man knows when

his

ORAL TORAH hour so

will

men

come;

like fish

are trapped

caught in a net,

like a bird

when bad times come

taken in a snare,

suddenly.

Enjoy Your Lot

h.

What

have seen

I

is this:

that

good and proper

it is

and drink and enjoy himself in return

for his labours here

God

sun, throughout the brief span of life which ...

I

perceived that

be able to discover what hard a

man may

he

try,

he knows, but he

that .

.

.

Go

to

God is

has so ordered

it

under the

has allotted him.

that

man

should not

man may

not find out; the wise

think

be unable to find the truth of it.

then, eat your food and enjoy

it

to eat

happening here under the sun. However

will

will

man

for a

wine with a cheerful heart;

for already

God

it,

and drink your

has accepted what you

have done.

ORAL TORAH: The Talmud Jewish tradition holds that ten

and

oral.

God gave

the Israelites two teachings, writ-

The record of the oral teaching as

debated by Jewish scholars from ancient times

Middle Ages

is

it

to the

The Talmud,

called the Talmud.

was transmitted and beginning of the

then,

nothing

is

than a sacred repository of two thousand years ofJewish

and philosophy. There

great conglomerate of law, legend,

summarize the Talmud's encyclopedic to reveal

holy

something of its essential

act, its faith in the

spirit, its

it is

reflection,

a

way

to

is

no

possible perhaps

recognition

of study as a

profound importance of human interpretive

sponse to the divine. For in Judaism, as passive recipients

content, but

human

less

re-

beings have never been seen

of God's word. Study and interpretation of the

scriptures are understood as sacred acts through which God's will con-

tinues to be revealed.

31, 32, 33,

23.

On

and 34

Talmudic passages

may

also be found in selections

in the next section.

Rabbi Eliezer Debates His Fellow Sages that day,

Rabbi Eliezer used

produced powerful arguments

all

the arguments in the world.

to justify his position.

Sages did not accept his arguments.

.

.

.

.

.

.

He

But the

213

214

JUDAISM After Rabbi Eliezer saw that he was not able to persuade his ten colleagues with logical arguments, he said to them: "If right ... let this carob tree prove

it

by uprooting

am

I

moving

itself and

one hundred cubits away." The carob tree immediately uprooted itself and

The

moved one hundred

cubits.

Sages were unimpressed and

from a carob

by flowing

it

ately flowed

.

.

said:

"Proof cannot be had

tree."

Rabbi Eliezer then said to the prove

.

am right let the river direction." The river immedi-

ten: "If I

in the opposite

backward, against the direction in which

it

usually

flowed.

The

Sages sniffed and

"Proof cannot be had from a

said:

river

either." .

.

.

Rabbi Eliezer then said

to the ten Sages: "If I

am

right let

it

be proved directly from Heaven." Suddenly the divine voice thundered forth and said to the Sages:

Rabbi Eliezer?

He is

right in

all

"Why

are

you disputing with

circumstances!"

Rabbi Yehoshua slowly rose to his

feet

and

said:

"Okay, Eliezer,

ten to two!"

The Inestimable Value of Studying Torah

24.

Turn

[the Torah] over

your eyes riveted to it,

for there is

If

it.

and

over, for

it

Spend yourself in

no better

life

than

study.

Never budge from

that.

you study Torah in order to learn and do God's

whole world lover of

is

Keep

contains everything.

will

.

.

.

the

indebted to you. You will be cherished as a friend, a

God and

people. [Torah study] clothes you with humility

and reverence [and] you benefit humanity with counsel and knowledge,

wisdom and

Once

I

was on

strength. a journey

one another. Then he said

and

to

I

encountered a man.

come from

then said: "Rabbi,

if you are willing to

a

a great city

of sages and scribes."

dwell in our place,

thousand gold dinars and gems and pearls."

"Were you

to give

me

all

greeted

me: "Rabbi, where are you from?"

replied to him: "I

you

We

I

I

I

He

will give

replied to him:

the world's silver and gold and

gems and

ORAL TORAH pearls, I is

would not

live save in a place

neither silver nor gold nor

of Torah.

gems nor

.

.

.

pearls that

When we die it accompany

us,

but Torah and good deeds only."

The Primacy of Deeds

25.

Growing Roots

a.

When

our learning exceeds our deeds we are

whose

like trees

branches are many but whose roots are few: the wind comes and uproots them. like trees

even

.

.

But when our deeds exceed our learning we are

.

whose branches

if all

are few but

whose roots are many, so

the winds of the world were to

come and blow

that

against

them, they would be unable to move them.

A Parable

b.

A man came to the shopkeeper to buy a measure of wine. The shopkeeper said to him: Bring me your But the man opened his bag. .

.

.

Said the shopkeeper to him:

you have no vessel

at

vessel.

How can you buy wine

... if

hand?

Similarly:

God

says to the wicked:

You have no good deeds with you

—how then do you wish

to

learn Torah?

26.

Rabbi

Hillel (ca.

Hillel

60 B.C.E.

to ca.

master whose teachings,

10 C.E.) was an early and great Talmudic

it is

said, could be boiled

down

to

one word:

loving-kindness.

a.

The Rest

Is

Commentary

A certain heathen came to Convert

me

[Hillel]

and said

provided that you teach

me

to

him:

the entire Torah

215

216

JUDAISM while .

.

stand on one foot.

I

Hillel

.

What that

is

is

.

.

said to him:

.

hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor:

the entire Torah;

the rest

commentary;

is

go and learn

it.

When?

If Not Now,

b.

am not for myself, who then will be self, what am I? And if not now, when?

If I

for

me?

If I

am only

for

my-

Prayer

27.

Regular prayer

The Torah exhorts

crucial for an observant Jew.

is

students to ''love the

Lord your God, and

God

to serve

its

with all your

heart. ..."

[And] what

is

the service of the heart?

The Holy One,

It is

prayer.

praised be He, longs for the prayers of the

righteous.

Rabbi Eliezer sacrifices.

.

.

said:

Prayer

is

greater than

.

GRACE NOTES: La Chaim! (To 28.

the offering of

Life!)

The Shema

Shema Judaic

Hear,

literally

means "hear' The Shema

is

the core declaration

spirituality:

O Israel,

the

LORD

is

our God, the

LORD

alone.

of

GRACE NOTES Choose Life

29. I

have put before you

life

...

by loving the

30. All Life Is

Everything

life

and death, blessing and curse. Choose

LORD

your God.

.

.

.

Linked in God down

linked with everything else

is

on the chain, and the true essence of God in the heavens

and on the

earth,

is

to the lowest ring

above as well as below,

and nothing

exists outside

Him.

Do Not Corrupt or Destroy My World

31.

Consider the work of God; who can make straight what

He

has

made crooked 5 When the Holy One, praised be He, created Adam, he showed him all of the trees in the Garden of Eden, telling him

My

"Behold,

which

works are beautiful and glorious; yet everything

have created

I

rupt or destroy

is

for

your

sake.

Take care that you do not cor-

My world."

Why Were We Created on the Sixth Day?

32.

Why was man created

on the

sixth day?

"The

overbearing, he can be told:

So

that,

should he become

gnat was created before you

were."

On the

33. .

.

.

Sanctity of Individual Life

Therefore was a single person

if anyone

destroy a single soul

.

.

.

[first]

created to teach thee that

Scripture charges

him

as

though

he had destroyed a whole world, and whosoever rescues a single soul

.

.

.

Scripture credits

him

as

though he had saved a whole

217

218

JUDAISM world. the

.

The Holy One has stamped all mankind man and yet not one of them is like

.

.

first

Therefore, everyone

is

bound

"For

to say,

with the die of to

my sake was

his

fellow.

the universe

created."

Enjoy

34.

At Judgment Day everyone good thing which he

have to give an account for every

will

[or she]

might have enjoyed and did not

enjoy.

Albert Einstein on Judaism: The Sanctification

35.

of Life There

my

in

is,

opinion, no Jewish view of

Judaism appears

sense.

me

to

be almost exclusively concerned

to

with the moral attitude in and toward .

.

The

.

the philosophic

life in

life.

me

essence of the Jewish concept of life seems to

the affirmation of life for

all

creatures. For the

life

to be

of the individual

has meaning only in the service of enhancing and ennobling the

of every living thing. Life

which

holy;

is

other values depend

all

Judaism perstition

is

not a

and an imaginative

.

.

result of

its

is

it

seems

to

me

but a negation of su-

elimination.

ground morality

discreditable attempt. Yet

the highest worth on

i.e., it is

The Jewish God

faith.

resents an attempt to

.

life

in

fear

—

a

He

also rep-

deplorable,

that the powerful

moral

tradition in the Jewish people has, in great measure, released itself

from

this fear.

Moreover,

it is

clear that "to serve

lent to serving "every living thing." It

among

equiva-

for this that the best

Thus Judaism

is

not a transcendental religion.

concerned only with the tangible experiences of life, and with

nothing it

is

the Jewish people, especially the Prophets including Jesus,

ceaselessly battled. It is

is

God"

else.

Therefore,

may be termed

especially since tification

it

to

me

a "religion" in the

no "creed"

of life in

seems

its

is

to be questionable

whether

customary sense of the word,

demanded of Jews, but only

the sanc-

all-inclusive sense.

There remains, however, something more tion, so gloriously revealed in certain

of drunken joy and surprise

at

in the

Jewish tradi-

of the psalms; namely a kind

the beauty and incomprehensible

GRACE NOTES sublimity of this world, of which tion. It is the feeling

lectual strength, but

of birds.

.

.

man

can attain but a faint intima-

from which genuine research draws which

seems

also

to manifest itself in the

song

.

of Judaism?

Is this, then, characteristic

where under other names? In pure form in

intel-

its

Judaism where too much

But, nevertheless, realizations.

This

I is

exists

it

does

especially true of

its

its

exist else-

it

nowhere, not even

literalism obscures the

Judaism one of

see in

And

most

pure doctrine. vital

and pure

fundamental principle of

the sanctification of life.

Herman Wouk on Dietary Laws:

36.

Herman Wouk

is

Respect for Life

a noted contemporary novelist who grew up in an

Orthodox Jewish household. Here he provides a lucid commentary on traditional dietary practices.

People

may

neglect work, play, prayer, and love-making, but they

seldom forget

to eat. All religions include grace over food.

religions go farther eats.

and

mark on what one

set a

Often such austerities are reserved

priest, the ascetic, the lama.

is

no

limit

on food

that

plines deal only with sentient

kens of the creatures that

.

leaves,

.

The

Of creatures There

are

in the sea,

no

specific

number of proscribed "Kosher"

is

rest

eaten. split

hoof and cud-chewing. In

life.

.

.

live

for birds.

and

scales.

The Torah

lists a

birds of prey or carrion.

all

Hebrew word

The Torah

has

four

.

.

Hebrew

law.

.

.

.

large

.

is "fit,"

in the

.

main

rules

for

preparing

Breaking any one of the four renders the meat "torn" inedible under

.

.

that does not occur in the

Books of Moses. Perhaps the nearest English word sense of proper or suitable.

on grass and

.

eat those with fins

marks

ones,

a late

of animal

Jews

disci-

Bible gives us physical to-

admits a small class of beasts that

and shuts out the

monk, the nun, the

grows from the ground; the

life.

may be

.

For animals, the two marks are a effect this

and how one

Judaism's disciplines are relatively

mild, but they are for everybody.

There

for the

eats

Many

meat. [trefe]

.

.

.

and

219

220

JUDAISM The is

the only law of diet in the Bible for

first rule,

clearly

human

in intent. It bars the eating of flesh cut

—"the limb of

creature

ror at the thought, he

ing practices that

mankind,

from

a live

the living." If the reader shrinks from hor-

is

not familiar with ancient killing and cooksurvive in primitive communities, and in

still

some not considered

The second

all

primitive.

law forbids the drinking of blood, on the ground

that "the blood

is

the

life."

The

use of blood in sophisticated cook-

ery

is

common,

but

it

excludes the meat itself unless most of the circulatory blood

is

removed.

The

.

.

especially for sauces. Jewish law not only bans this,

.

from the bizarre prohibition repeated

third rule stems

three times in the Torah in identical words: kid in the milk of

shall

not boil a

mother. ..." [This] led long ago to complete

its

separation of flesh and dairy food in the

and milk, or

"You

Hebrew

their products, never appear together

diet.

.

.

on the

.

Meat

table.

In

observant homes, there are separate utensils and crockery for the

two types of meals.

The

.

.

.

fourth rule bans suet, the hard fat formed below the di-

aphragm. The regulations separating suet from edible

make butchery of kosher meat

plex and help

learned men.

The bans

.

.

life

work

for skilled

under Hebrew

law.

There

is

pours out; the supply to the brain

method of taking

.

.

.

as oblivious as

once cut

is at

The rest is muscular a man in a coma.

Scientific testimony, gathered

has been under attack, shows that that

humans can

visit

ani-

only one way: a single, instan-

consciousness vanishes. is

and

against drinking blood and against the "limb of the

taneous severance of the carotid arteries in the neck.

beast

com-

.

living" determine the rigid, indeed sacred,

mal

a

fat are

when

it is

on animals, and

off;

The

the animal's

reflexes, to

this

mode

blood

which the

of slaughter

a death as merciful as any

far

more merciful than most.

Stringent conditions to endure a painless death are part of our law. If

one of these precautions

and we cannot

eat

it.

one sawing motion

The

is

omitted, the meat

is

called torn,

death stroke must be a single slash. Even

disqualifies, let alone a

ning blow, or any other inflicting of pain.

second stroke,

The edge

a stun-

of the knife

must be ground razor-sharp and smooth; one detectable nick

GRACE NOTES causes rejection of the meat.

The

animal must be motionless

instant of the death strike, so that the knife

who undergo

professional slaughterers, for dexterity

may

at

the

cut true. Skilled

qualifying examinations

and technical knowledge, do

work. Equally

this

knowledgeable inspectors watch each move.

A God Who Feels

37.

Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972) was a theologian,

.

.

Pathos

.

and mystic. is

noted Jewish scholar,

37 and 38b are from

Selections

his work.

the central category of the prophetic understanding

of God.

To

the prophet,

God

does not reveal himself in an abstract ab-

soluteness, but in a specific

and unique way

timate relation to the world. in

Him

judging

He

.

.

.

Events and

joy or sorrow, pleasure or wrath. facts, so to

—

in a personal

human

He

is

and

in-

actions arouse

not conceived as

speak, "objectively," in detached impassibility.

and subjective manner, and thus deter-

reacts in an intimate

mines the value of events. .

that

.

.

The

God

in the

is

category of divine pathos leads to the basic affirmation interested in

world concerns

acteristic

human

history, that every

deed and event

Him and arouses His reaction. What is char-

of the prophets

is

not foreknowledge of the future but in-

sight into the present pathos of God.

The cance.

idea of divine pathos has also

Man

has his relation to God.

A

its

anthropological signifi-

religion without

impossible as a religion without God. That ously

is

shown by

his

human God can

concern for

deepest expression in the fact that heart of the prophetic affirmation

is

God

takes

man man

is

seri-

existence. It finds actually suffer.

the certainty that

God

as

its

At the is

con-

cerned about the world to the point of suffering.

38.

The Meaning of Shabbat (Sabbath)

//

often said that

is

more than the Jew has preserved the Sabbath, the

Sabbath has preserved the Jew. This weekly, twenty-four-hour contemplative pause, in which

human

beings cease doing in order to enjoy

221

222

JUDAISM remember

being, to cease creating in order to

the creator

of all the Jewish holidays and festivals that

Commandments.

It

is

is

By

desisting from

world

the Universe.

and of their

.

designs.

work on the seventh

God

is

we

day,

testify that the

Lord and creator of

the

.

freedom from servitude

to

human mas-

to

[For] slavery doesn't only consist of doing forced labor for

.

.

.

in-

Freedom

also stresses our

it

.

human

Sabbath on the one hand emphasizes our servitude

If the

ters.

to

not ours; that, not we, but

is

God,

as all

Ten

in the

considered the most important of all holy days,

herent freedom from servitude

The Sabbath

the only one

mentioned

regularly reminding Jews of the larger scheme of things

a.

is

which one doesn't get

paid.

.

.

.

Have you ever stopped

to think

you yourself can be your own crudest taskmaster, that you are

that

capable of driving yourself in a

manner

that

no slavemaster ever

drove his slaves?

You've got to finish the .

.

obligations,

.

.

.

.

job.

You

commitments,

can't stop. .

.

.

There

house

are deadlines,

cleaning,

ping, the need to get ready for an evening out

.

.

.

.

.

shop-

and we think we

.

ar e free!

Even when contemporary man doesn't what does he dor sion

.

.

tem

.

the

.

.

He

He

plays just as hard.

mowing

He may

a

.

.

.

even be having

and emotional and physical soul

—

this

The

b.

The

rest,

.Judaism .

.

.

.

.

but the mental

.

the tranquility of

mind and

Sanctification of Time

decay when we

time.

nervous sys-

he doesn't have.

higher goal of spiritual living

.

ten-

the lawn, and fixing the

good time

is

not to amass

mation, but to face sacred moments.

.

his

same

office to the ball field, the golf course,

the highways of our land, to

house.

transfers the

same frenzy and the same pressure on

from the business

.

actually go to his job,

fail is

to sense the a religion

Judaism teaches us

.

.

.

wealth of infor-

Spiritual

grandeur of what

of time aiming to

a

is

life

eternal in time.

at the sanctification

be attached to holiness

attached to sacred events, to learn

how

begins to

in time, to

of be

to consecrate sanctuaries

GRACE NOTES that

emerge from the magnificent stream of a

may be .

.

word

word which more than any other

tive

of the mystery and majesty of the divine.

first

holy object in the history of the world?

Was

it

an

It is,

time: .

ritual

Now

used for the

first

time ...

extremely significant

"And God

space. Six days a

at

is

Was

the

representa-

what was the mountain?

a

it

the end of the story of cre-

the fact that

it

made

it

blessed the seventh day and

The meaning of the Sabbath week we

on the Sabbath we

try to

live

is

from the

applied to

is

holy"

to celebrate time rather than

under the tyranny of things of space;

become attuned

to holiness in time. It

day on which we are called upon to share in what to turn

is

is

indeed, a unique occasion at which the distinguished word

is

.

.

Jewish

altar?

How

ation.

.

.

of the most distinguished words in the Bible

qadosh, holy; a

qadosh

.

characterized as [an] architecture of time.

One

.

year.

results of creation to the

is

is

a

eternal in time,

mystery of creation; from

the world of creation to the creation of the world. ...

To

set apart

one day a week

for

freedom, a day on which we

would not use the instruments which have been so into

weapons of destruction,

easily

turned

a day for being with ourselves, a day

of detachment from the vulgar, of independence of external obligations, a

day on which we stop worshipping the idols of technical

civilization, a

day on which we use no money, a day of armistice in

the economic struggle with our fellow ture

—

men and

the forces of na-

there any institution that holds out a greater hope for

is

man's progress than the Sabbath?

The found

solution of mankind's

in

renouncing technical

most vexing problem civilization,

will not

be

but in attaining some

degree of independence of it.

39.

The Holocaust:

Elie Wiesel reate.

Sent

family

is

to

Elie Wiesel on the Trial of God

an internationally known Jewish

novelist

and Nobel lau-

Auschwitz as a young boy, he was the only member of his

to escape extermination.

In a film interview he

tells

the follow-

ing story:

During the war,

in

one of the camps one evening, three Jews, who

before the war were heads of academies, sages, learned men, and

223

224

JUDAISM who

knew

all

Talmud by

the

do something about

to

it,

heart, decided that the time

God. And they conducted

to indict

was very young then. But

trial. I

I

remember

on the bed one evening and they began the with

all

the arguments for and against.

was very

days. It

serious, very dramatic.

knew

was

I

the

trial,

And

there.

They

sat

of God,

trial

lasted a couple of

it

There was

a certain grav-

that whatever they say has an impact, whatever they say

And

being heard.

And

came.

remember

I

a

word they uttered because they

a certain solemnity in every

ity,

had come

many days

that after

is

the verdict

the verdict was: "Guilty."

But, then, the head of the tribunal simply said:

"Now

let's

go

and pray." Mr. Wiesel now comments:

would

I

like to

do

a story

on

that

one day

.

.

.

but

I will

intro-

who defends God, the only one who defends God, the only one who says that God's ways are justified even there, even in Auschwitz. And I would say that that charduce

a

acter

is

.

.

.

new

character, a character

Satan.

For a Jew to believe

against

God

is still

in

God

is

good. For a Jew to protest

good. But simply to ignore

God

—

that

is

not

good. Anger, yes. Protest, yes. Affirmation, yes. But indifference?

No. You can be a Jew with God. You can be

a

Jew

against

God. But

not without God.

40.

Martin Luther King, Jr.: Free at Last was a Christian minister and leader of

Dr.

Martin Luther King,

the

nonviolent struggle against racial discrimination

Jr.,

Excerpts from his "I Have a ter because they tice

and

Dream "speech

9

in

America.

are included in this chap-

powerfully echo the Jewish prophets' cry for social jus-

the great

Exodus theme of liberation,

illustrating the universal

reach of these ideas.

9.

Delivered

at

the Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C., August 28, 1963.

GRACE NOTES I

am happy

you today

to join with

as the greatest

in

what

go down in history

will

demonstration for freedom in the history of our

nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic

shadow we stand, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This

momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity.

But one hundred years

Negro

the

Negro

is still

is still

not

face the tragic fact that

years

later,

the

life

meaning of

evident; that

of the

sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the .

.

.

have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and

the true

I

we must

One hundred

free.

chains of discrimination. I

later,

all

men

its

creed:

"We

live

hold these truths to be

out

self-

are created equal."

have a dream that one day on the red

hills

of Georgia the sons

of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit

down

together at the table of brotherhood.

...

have a dream that

I

in a nation

where they

my

will

four

little

children will one day live

not be judged by the color of their skin

but by the content of their character. ...

have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted,

I

and mountain

every

hill

made

plains,

.

.

.

be made

and the crooked places

glory of the together.

shall

Lord

shall

low, the

will

rough places

will

be

be made straight, and the

be revealed, and

all

flesh shall see

it

10

This

will

be the day when

all

of God's children will be able

new meaning "My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pil-

to sing with liberty,

grim's pride, from every mountainside,

And let

if

America

is

to

let

be a great nation

freedom ring."

this

must become

freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of

New

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of

10. Isaiah

40:4-5.

true.

So

Hampshire.

New

York.

225

226

JUDAISM Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

.

.

.

But not only

freedom ring from Stone Mountain of

that; let

Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee! Let freedom ring from every

From

every mountainside,

When we lage

let

freedom

let

hill

freedom

ring,

up

that day

ring.

when we

and every hamlet, from every

able to speed

and molehill of Mississippi.

when

all

state

let it

ring from every vil-

and every

city,

we

will

of God's children, black

and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro tual, last!"

"Free

at last!

Free

at last!

Thank God Almighty, we

be

men will

spiri-

are free at

CHAPTER

SIX

Christianity

T

he term Christ

"Christ," which

and sisters

did,

is

or messiah.

precisely

was

to

lies

the story

became a vast new messiah-ists (that

the

Roman

is,

to

To call Jesus of Nazareth the

claim that Jesus was the messiah long awaited in

of how a religion.

of course, did not see

small, fringe sect

it

that

way; and

ofJudaism eventually

For as that small community of Jewish

Christ-ians) spread Jesus' good news throughout

Empire, non-Jews responded enthusiastically. Within three

hundred years, Christianity had become the dominant

Roman

translate the

what a small number of his Jewish brothers

the Jewish tradition. Other Jews, therein

the English

rendering of the Greek Kristos,

a word used by early, Greek-speaking Christians

Hebrew word mashiah

is

religion

Empire, and in the intervening two thousand years

become the world s most populous

religion, albeit

divided into

of the it

has

many

denominations. Christians everywhere look to the source

of revelation,

contained what

is

inspiration,

commonly

story ever told," the story

New

Testament as a continual

and renewal, for within

its

covers

is

referred to by Christians as "the greatest

ofJesus of Nazareth. The

New

Testament

228

CHRISTIANITY records Jesus' the faith

and

life

and

activity

ministry, his deeds

of the

THE LIFE OF JESUS

and sayings.

It also witnesses

earliest Christians.

1

The Annunciation

1.

God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you. Do not be afraid Mary for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the .

.

The

.

angel Gabriel was sent by

.

Most High .

.

.

.

.

.

and of his kingdom there

And Mary

.

.

be no end."

will

said,

My soul magnifies the Lord, And my

The

2.

Now his

spirit rejoices in

God my

Savior.

.

.

.

Birth of Jesus

the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way.

mother Mary had been engaged

together, she

was found

husband Joseph, being

to

When

to Joseph, but before they lived

be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her

a righteous

man and

unwilling to expose

her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just

when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid

1.

No attempt

has been

made

to

here to refleet the scholarly debate about what parts

of the Gospels reflect historical

and mythic amplification.

to

fact

and what parts comprise symbolic discourse

THE LIFE OF JESUS Mary

take

Holy he

your wife, for the child conceived in her

as

Spirit.

She

will

people from their

will save his

from

bear a son, and you are to sins.".

.

.

is

from the

name him Jesus,

When

for

Joseph awoke

he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he

sleep,

took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she

had borne

And

and he named him Jesus.

a son;

him in was no room at

she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped

bands of cloth, and

laid

him

in a

manger, for there

the inn. In that region there were shepherds living the fields, keep-

ing watch over their flock by night.

Then an

angel of the Lord

stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them,

and they were afraid; for see

But the angel

terrified.

—

people: to you

I

them,

u

Do

am bringing you good news of great joy born

is

said to

this

not be

for

the

all

day in the city of David a Savior, who

is

the Messiah, the Lord."

3.

The Growing Boy

in His Father's

House

Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the And when he was

Passover.

for the festival.

When the festival was ended and

boy Jesus stayed behind

turn, the

know

not

twelve years old, they went up as usual

it.

.

.

.

in

Jerusalem, but his parents did

After three days they found

him

among the teachers, listening to them and tions. And all who heard him were amazed at ting

and

answers.

his

tonished;

.

.

.

He

said to

Did you not know

4.

When that

I

his

they started to re-

parents

in the temple, sit-

asking them queshis

understanding

saw him they were as-

"Why were you searching must be in my Father's house?" them,

for

me?

Baptism and the Beginning of His Ministry

In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, pro( laiming, near.".

.

.

"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come

Then

the people of Jerusalem and

all

Judea were going

229

»

230

CHRISTIANITY out to him

.

.

and they were baptized by him

.

confessing their

in the river Jordan,

sins.

Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, tized by him. And when Jesus had been baptized, .

.

.

came up from the

water, suddenly the heavens

he saw the Spirit of him.

And

with

whom I am

5.

God

descending

from heaven

a voice

said,

be bap-

just as

to

he

him and

dove and alighting on

like a

"This

opened

to

is

my

Son, the Beloved,

well pleased."

The Three Temptations

Then

Jesus was led

tempted by the

devil.

up by the

He fasted

Spirit into the wilderness to be

forty days

and forty

nights,

and

af-

The tempter came and said to him, "If Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of

terwards he was famished.

you are the

bread." But he answered, "It

'One does not

live

But by every word

Then

is

written,

by bread alone, that

the devil took

comes from the mouth of God.'"

him

to the holy city

and placed him on the

pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, "If you are the

throw yourself down; for

'He

will

their

command

hands they

it is

written,

his angels concerning you,'

will bear

Son of God,

you up, so that you

and 'On

will

not

>

dash your foot against a stone.'

Jesus said to him, "Again

your

God

to

all

'Do not put the Lord

to a very high

mountain and showed

to the test.'"

Again the devil took him

him

written,

it is

the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said

him, "All these

me." Jesus

will I give you, if

said to him,

you

will fall

"Away with you, Satan!

down and worship for

it is

'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'"

written,

THE LIFE OF JESUS Calling the First Disciples

6.

As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea

—

and

7.

for they will

I

were fishermen.

make you

fish for

And he

said to them, "Follow

me,

people."

Deeds of Power

A conduit for the power of the Spirit, Jesus healed many.

In

doing he

so

challenged traditional notions of ill people as unclean or outcast, signaled the depth of God's love.

The Gospels abound

and he

in reports

of

miraculous healings; here are but a few.

a.

Exorcism

He went down them on the had the voice,

to

Capernaum,

a city in Galilee,

and was teaching

sabbath. ... In the synagogue there was a

spirit

man who

of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud

"Let us alone! What have you to do with

us, Jesus

of

know who you are, the Holy One of God." But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be silent, and come out of him!" When the demon had thrown him down before them, he came out of him without having done him any harm. They were all amazed and kept saying to one another, "What kind of utterance is this? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and out they come!" And a report about him

Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?

began b.

to reach every place in the region.

Healing a Paralyzed Man: "Stand

One

day, while

were

sitting near by.

alyzed

man on

.

a bed.

.

.

Just then

They were

some men came, carrying

trying to bring

way

to bring

crowd, they went up on the roof and

through the

Up and Walk"

he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law

before Jesus; but finding no

When

I

tiles

let

into the middle of the

he saw their

faith,

he

him

him

in

and

said, "Friend,

lay

him

in because of the

him down with crowd

a par-

in front

his

bed

of Jesus.

your sins are forgiven

231

2}

2

CHRISTIANITY Then

you." u

Who

but

this

is

God

the scribes and the Pharisees- began to question,

who

speaking blasphemies?

When Jesus perceived "Why do you raise such

alone?"

swered them,

Which

is

'Stand up and walk? But so that you

Man

their questionings, he an-

questions in your hearts?

may know

has authority on earth to forgive sins"

who was

paralyzed

—

can forgive sins

'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to

easier, to say,

is

Who

"I say to you, stand

—he

up and

say,

Son of

that the

one

said to the

bed and

take your

go to your home." Immediately he stood up before them, took what

he had been lying on, and went to his home, glorifying God.

Healing a Hemorrhaging

c.

Woman: "Your Faith Has

Made You Well" Then suddenly

a

woman who had been

rhages for twelve years

hemor-

suffering from

came up behind him and touched

the fringe

of his cloak, for she said to herself, "If I only touch his cloak,

be made well." Jesus turned, and seeing her he daughter; your faith has

was made

d.

made you

well."

And

said,

I

will

"Take heart,

instantly, the

woman

well.

Giving Sight to a Blind Man: "Your Faith Has Saved You"

As he approached begging.

When

Jericho, a blind

man was

he heard a crowd going

by,

sitting

by the roadside

he asked what was hap-

pening.

They

shouted, "Jesus,

were

Then he David, have mercy on me!" Those who

told him, "Jesus of Nazareth

Son of

in front sternly

is

passing by."

ordered him to be quiet; but he shouted even

"Son of David, have mercy on me!" Jesus stood still and ordered the man to be brought to him; and when he came near,

more

loudly,

he asked him, "What do you want "Lord, your

let

me

to

do

for

you?"

He

said,

see again." Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight;

faith has saved you."

Immediately he regained

followed him, glorifying God; and praised God.

2.

me

Jewish religious scholars and authorities.

all

the people,

his sight

and

when they saw

it,

THE LIFE OF JESUS

Amid Growing Fame.

8.

.

.

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and

proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness

throughout

all

Syria.

.

.

.

among the people. So his fame spread And great crowds followed him from and from beyond the

Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea,

Jordan.

9.

Rejection in Nazareth

.

.

.

He came

to his

hometown and began

to teach the people in their

synagogue, so that they were astounded and said,

man

get this

wisdom and

penter's son? Is not his

"Where did

these deeds of power? Is not this the car-

mother

called

Mary? And

are not his broth-

James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not

ers

sisters

And

with us?"

this

they took offense

at

all

his

him. But Jesus said to

them, "Prophets are not without honor except in their own coun-

and

try

power

in their

did not do

many deeds of

there, because of their unbelief.

An 111 Omen

10.

Herod was to

own house." And he

the

for Jesus: The

Death of the Baptist

Roman- appointed king ofJudea, and part of his job was

Roman

prevent Jewish revolt against

rule.

The Baptist had been

drawing enthusiastic crowds, and Herod knew that the ligious fervor

and political

agitation

was

thin.

line

between re-

Herod's motive for exe-

cuting John might, therefore, be only partly explained in the following selection.

In any

case,

Jesus surely knew that

many saw him

as John

s

successor.

For Herod had arrested John him, "It .

.

.

.

.

.

is

.

.

.

because John had been telling

not lawful for you to have [your sister-in-law]."

The

king

.

.

.

had John beheaded

[Jesus'] disciples

in the prison.

.

.

.

came and took the body and buried

it;

then

they went and told Jesus.

Now when Jesus heard a deserted place

this,

by himself.

he withdrew from there

in a boat to

233

1

234

CHRISTIANITY 1

The Beginning of the End

.

From

that time on, Jesus

began

show

to

his disciples that

go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering

he must

the hands of the el-

at

ders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third

dav be raised.

Jesus'

12.

Conspicuous Arrival

in Jerusalem

The Triumphal Entry

a.

And

after

throwing their cloaks on the

colt,

they set Jesus on

it.

As

he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. As

Mount of Olives, praise God joyfully

he was now approaching the path down from the the whole multitude of the disciples began to

with a loud voice for

all

the deeds of power that they had seen,

saying,

"Blessed

Peace

in

is

the king

who comes

in the

name of the Lord!

heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!"

Cleansing the Temple

b.

Then he

entered the temple and began to drive out those

and he

selling things there;

'My house

written,

a

house of prayer';

made

it

a

den of robbers."

The Last Supper: Jesus

13.

is

be

shall

but you have

said, "It

who were

Celebrates Passover

a Final Time a.

Jesus Washes the Feet of His Disciples

Now

before the festival of the Passover, Jesus

had come

to depart

from

this

tied a towel

and began

to

that his

table,

took off his outer robe,

around himself. Then he poured water into

wash the

disciples' feet

towel that was tied around him.

hour

world and go to the Father. [And

during supper he] got up from the

and

knew

.

.

.

and

to

a basin

wipe them with the

THE LIFE OF JESUS After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had re-

turned to the

done that feet,

to you?

is

what

You

call

am. So

I

you also ought

"Do you know what

he said to them,

table,

me Teacher and Lord wash one another's

an example, that you also should do as

"This

b.

Then he broke

it

Is

and gave

given for you.

it

Do

u

14.

Not

For

feet.

I

have set you

have done to you."

I

the

when he had

them, saying, "This

to

this in

same with the cup is

are right, for

My Body"

took a loaf of bread, and

out for you

have

your Lord and Teacher, have washed your

if I,

to

—and you

I

is

given thanks, he

my

body, which

is

remembrance of me." And he did the

after supper, saying,

new covenant

in

"This cup that

is

poured

my blood."

My Will, But Thine"

[On the Mount of Olives] he withdrew from them about throw, knelt

down and

this

cup from me;

15.

The Trial

yet,

prayed, "Father,

my will but

not

Now Jesus stood before the

if

you are

a stone's

willing,

remove

yours be done."

governor; and the governor asked him,

"Are you the King of the Jews?" Jesus

said,

"You

say so."

But when

he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he did not answer.

Then

Pilate said to

"Do you

him,

not hear

they make against you?" But he gave single charge, so that the governor

Now

at

and

accusations

him no answer, not even

to a

was greatly amazed.

the festival the governor was accustomed to release a

prisoner for the crowd, anyone priests

how many

whom

they wanted.

and the elders persuaded the crowds

to have Jesus killed.

The governor

of the two do you want

me

.

.

.

to ask for

The

Barabbas

again said to them,

to release for

you?"

And

chief

"Which

they said,

"Then what should I do with Messiah?" All of them said, "Let him be

"Barabbas." Pilate said to them, Jesus

who

is

called the

crucified!"

Then he

shouted

the more, "Let

all

asked,

"Why, what

him be

evil

has he done?" But they

crucified!"

235

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CHRISTIANITY 16.

The Outrage

The

soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor's head-

and they gathered the whole cohort around him. They

quarters,

stripped

him and put

thorns into a crown, they put right

hand and knelt before

King of the Jews!" They

him on

the head. After

and put

his

own

on him, and

a scarlet robe

after twisting

some

They put a reed in his him and mocked him, saying, "Hail, it

on

his head.

spat on him,

and took the reed and struck

mocking him, they stripped him of the robe

clothes

on him. They then

led

him away

to crucify

him.

The

17.

ftUPf'S.

Crucifixion

Golgotha

a.

0\

I

|

So they took Jesus; and carrying the cross by himself, he went out

*

to

what

is

called

The

Golgotha. There they crucified

on

either side, with Jesus

between them.

and put on the

tion written

Hebrew is called him, and with him two others, one

Place of the Skull, which in

Pilate also

cross. It read, "Jesus

had an inscrip-

of Nazareth, the

King of the Jews."

b.

"Forgive

Then Jesus

Them"

said, "Father, forgive

them; for they do not know what

they are doing."

c.

One

"You Will Be with of the criminals

saying, "Are

Me in Paradise"

who were hanged

there kept deriding

him and

you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!" But the

other rebuked him, saying,

"Do you

not fear God, since you are

under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have

we deserve for our but this man has done nothing wrong." Then he said, remember me when you come into your kingdom." He

been condemned deeds, "Jesus,

replied, "Truly,

I

justly, for

tell

we

are getting what

you, today you will be with

me

in Paradise."

THE LIFE OF JESUS d.

Mother and Son

Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and Mary,

his mother's sister,

mother and the

.

whom

his

her,

he said to his mother, "Woman, here

disciple

"Here

disciple took her into his

e.

And from

that

Then he hour the

own home.

on, darkness

the afternoon.

And

voice, "Eli, Eli,

why have you

The

came over the whole land

until three in

about three o'clock Jesus cried with a loud

lema sabachthani?" that

forsaken me?".

voice and breathed his

a.

your mother."

your son."

is

"Why Have You Forsaken Me?"

From noon

18.

is

Jesus

he loved standing beside

saw

said to the disciple,

When

and Mary Magdalene.

.

.

.

.

"My God, my God,

is,

Then Jesus

cried again with a loud

last.

Resurrection: Two Accounts

Mark

When

the sabbath was over,

Mary Magdalene, and Mary

mother of James, and Salome bought

spices, so that they

and anoint him. And very early on the up, they saw that the stone, rolled back.

which was very

might go

day of the week, when

first

the sun had risen, they went to the tomb.

the

.

.

.

When

large,

they looked

had already been

As they entered the tomb, they saw

a

young man,

dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were

alarmed. But he said to them, for Jesus of Nazareth,

not here. Look, there ciples

b.

who was is

and Peter that he

will see

him

just as

"Do

not be alarmed; you are looking

crucified.

He

has been raised; he

the place they laid him. But go, is

tell

is

his dis-

going ahead of you to Galilee; there you

he told you."

John

[Now] Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white,

237

238

CHRISTIANITY sitting

where the body of Jesus had been

the other at the

one

at

the head and

They said to her, "Woman, why are you weepthem, "They have taken away my Lord, and I do

feet.

ing?" She said to

know where they have

not

lying,

laid

him."

When

she had said

this,

she

turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know

"Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away." Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew "Rabbouni!" that

it

was Jesus. Jesus said

to her,

(which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, because

not hold on to me,

have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to

and say

ers to

I

"Do

to

them,

4

I

am

ascending to

my Father and

my broth-

your Father,

my God and your God.'" Mary Magdalene went and announced

to the disciples, "I have seen the

had said these things

Lord"; and she told them that he

to her.

Postresurrection Appearances 3

19.

Luke

a.

Now on that same day [as the resurrection] two of them were going to a village called

Emmaus, about seven

talking with each other about

all

miles from Jerusalem, and

these things that had happened.

While they were talking Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. .

.

.

broke

When it,

he was

and gave

it

at table

with them, he took bread, blessed and

to them.

Then

their eyes

were opened, and

they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. .

.

.

That same hour they got up and returned

to Jerusalem;

and

they found the eleven and their companions gathered together.

"The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!" They then told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the

They were

saying,

bread.

3.

See also selection 32, below.

THE SAYINGS OF JESUS While they were talking about

them and and

"Why Look

hearts?

me

and

at

have."

I

and

his feet.

him

see that

startled

He

your

arise in

myself.

it is I

said to

Touch

ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see

And when he had While

said this, he

in their joy they

showed them

a piece of broiled fish,

his

were disbelieving and

"Have you anything here

sidering, he said to them,

gave

and why do doubts

my hands and my feet:

see; for a

that

They were

and thought that they were seeing a ghost. are you frightened,

among

Jesus himself stood

said to them, "Peace be with you."

terrified,

them,

this,

and he took

it

hands

still

to eat?"

and

ate

it

con-

They

in their

presence.

b.

A

John

week

later his disciples

disciple

who doubted

were again

in the house,

and Thomas

[a

Jesus had risen] was with them. Although

came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger

the doors were shut, Jesus

here and see

my

hands. Reach out your hand and put

Do not doubt but believe." Thomas answered

My God!" Jesus said to him, seen me? Blessed are those

him,

it

in

my side.

"My Lord

and

"Have you believed because you have

who have

not seen and yet have

come

to

believe."

THE SAYINGS OF JESUS: "Never Has Anyone Spoken

like This!" 4

Scholars continue attributed to

mouth by flect this

aspects

to

debate which ofJesus' sayings

him and which were

likely to

his faith-inspired followers.

No

John

confidently be

have been placed

attempt has been

made

in his to re-

complex and unresolved controversy. Instead, I have selected

of the Good News that have for nearly two thousand years

onated most deeply in the hearts of believers.

4.

may

7:46.

res-

239

240

CHRISTIANITY

On the Mystery of Himself

20.

The Bread of Life

a.

I

am

the bread of

life.

.

.

.

Whoever

eats of this bread will live

forever.

The Light of the World

b. I

am

Whoever

the light of the world.

follows

me

will

never walk in

darkness but will have the light of life.

c.

I

The Resurrection and

am

the resurrection and the

though they

me

d.

the Life

will

die, will live,

never

life.

Those who

and everyone who

believe in me, even

lives

and believes

in

die.

Come to Me, You Who Are Weary

Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

e.

I

Came to Save the Lost

For the Son of Man came to save the

lost.

What do you

think? If a

shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone

astray,

does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? you, he rejoices over

went

f.

I

more than over

it

if

he finds

it,

truly

I tell

the ninety-nine that never

astray.

Am Among You

Again, truly

you

And

ask,

it

I tell

will

you,

if

two of you agree on earth about anything

be done for you by

two or three are gathered

in

my

Father in heaven. For where

my name, I am

there

among them.

THE SAYINGS OF JESUS

Am the True Vine, Abide in Me

I

g.

am the true me as I abide I

unless I

am

my

and

Father

in you. Just as the

the vinegrower.

branch cannot bear

.

.

fruit

leave with you;

as the

world

them be

let

Will

I

i.

my

gives.

Do

my peace not

let

am

give to you.

I

do not give

Father's house there are

where

I

many I

dwelling places.

come again and you may be also.

will

am, there

you

.

.

.

And

will take

if I

you

the Truth, and the Life

the way, and the truth, and the

Father except through me.

life.

No a)

"j*¥\3\")l

one comes

/ \{

to the

[

Who Do People Say That I Am?

k.

Jesus

Man

.

.

.

is?"

Elijah,

asked his disciples,

And

and

still

they said,

"Who do

"Some

say

people say that the Son of

John the

Baptist, but others

others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."

them, "But who do you say that

I

He said to

am?" Simon Peter answered,

"You are the Messiah, the Son of the

living

God." And Jesus an-

swered him, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For blood has not revealed this to you, but

Love and

21.

Its

focus [ed]

life:

my Father in

flesh

and

heaven."

Expression in Forgiveness

has been said that .

to

Come Again

The Way,

j.

I

afraid.

to myself, so that

.

itself

your hearts be troubled, and do not

go and prepare a place for you,

.

by

in

the vine, you are the branches.

I

It

Abide

.

abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.

it

Peace

I

is

My Peace I Give You

h.

In

vine,

"everything that came from

human awareness on

[Jesus']

lips

the two most important facts about

God's overwhelming love for humanity, and the need for people

to

241

242

CHRISTIANITY and

accept that love

let it

flow through them to others."' The following

utterances help us to understand the extraordinary fellowship of the

early Christians.

a.

Love One Another you

new commandment,

you love one another. Just

I

give

I

have loved you, you also should love one another.

one

will

a

know

that

my

you are

that

disciples, if

By

as

this every-

you have love

for

one

another.

b.

Turn the Other Cheek

You have heard tooth."

But

I

that

it

sav to

was

said,

vou ...

if

•

cheek, turn the other also;

.

.

"An eye

.

anvone -

and

if

for

an eye and

a tooth for a

vou on the risht w

strikes

*

anyone forces you

to

go one

mile, go also the second mile.

c.

Love Your Enemies

You have heard

that

it

hate your enemy." But

those

who

was I

said,

"You

say to you.

your neighbor and

shall love

Love your enemies and pray

persecute you so that you

may be

for

children of your

Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the

evil

and on the

good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.

d.

The Golden Rule

In everything do to others as you would have this

e.

is

I

them do

the law and the prophets.

Was Hungry and You Gave Me Food

Come, you

that are blessed

by

my

Father, inherit the

pared for you from the foundation of the world, for

and you gave drink,

5.

to you; for

I

was

me

food,

a stranger

Huston Smith, The

1991X326-27.

I

was thirsty and you s^ve

and vou welcomed me,

I

me

kingdom preI

was hungry

something

to

was naked and vou

World's Religions (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco,

THE SAYINGS OF JESUS gave

me

clothing,

was

I

prison and you visited me.

one of the to

least

of these

and you took care of me,

sick .

.

who

Truly

.

are

I tell

was

I

you, just as you did

members of my

it

you did

family,

in to it

me.

Before All Else, Be Reconciled

f.

So when you

are offering your gift at the altar, if

that your brother or sister has gift

there at the altar and go;

sister,

and then come and

Then

Peter

church

came and

sins against

something against you, leave your

first

be reconciled to your brother or

offer your gift.

Forgive Seventy-Seven

g.

you remember

Times member of the forgive? As many as

said to him, "Lord, if another

me, how often should

I

seven times?" Jesus said to him, "Not seven times, but

I tell

you,

seventy-seven times."

Let the Sinless Cast the First Stone

h.

.

.

They

.

act of

said to him, "Teacher, this

Now

committing adultery.

to stone

such women.

and wrote with

Now

his finger

what do you

on the ground.

up and

tioning him, he straightened

among you who her.".

.

.

When

is

in

woman was caught in the very the law Moses commanded us

it,

When

"Woman, where

22.

The Kingdom of God

.

Jesus bent

.

down

they kept on ques-

.

"Let anyone

throw a stone

first to

they went away.

her,

.

said to them,

without sin be the

they heard

say?".

.

Jesus

.

.

.

at

said to

Has no one condemned you?" She said, "No one, sir." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again."

Often upon Jesus'

lips,

dered as "reign of

are they?

the phrase

God"

"kingdom of God," alternately ren-

or "kingdom

of heaven," was central

to his

teaching.

He sometimes spoke lections

of it as a near-future apocalyptic event

26a and 26b, below), but he

often implied that the

(see se-

kingdom was

243

244

CHRISTIANITY and now, dawning as a present fact

here

what he meant by

the

kingdom of God, there

triguing guide than the sayings

The Beatitudes

a.

When

address them.

is

to

no better or more inmaster.

M'

his disciples

And

and 22k, below). As

and parables of the

he saw the crowds he went up the

and when

seat,

(see 22j

hill.

There he took

his

had gathered round him he began to

this is the teaching

he gave:

How blest are these who know their need of God; the

kingdom of heaven

is theirs.

How blest are the sorrowful; they shall find consolation.

How blest are those of a gentle spirit; they shall have the earth for their possession.

How blest are those who hunger and

thirst to see right prevail;

they shall be satisfied.

How blest are those who show mercy; mercy

shall

be shown to them.

How blest are those whose hearts are pure; they shall see God.

How blest are the peacemakers; God

shall call

them

his sons.

How blest are those who have suffered persecution

for the

cause of right; the

b.

At

kingdom of heaven

Become as Little Children came

that time the disciples

greatest in the

put

is theirs.

kingdom of heaven?" He

among them, and

and become

to Jesus

said,

like children,

"Truly

you

will

called a

I tell

"Who is the child, whom he

and asked,

you, unless you change

never enter the kingdom of

heaven."

c.

You Must Be Born Again

Very

truly,

I tell

you, no one can see the

being born from above.

.

.

.

The wind

kingdom of God without

blows where

it

chooses, and

THE SAYINGS OF JESUS you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where or where

goes.

it

it is

with everyone

who

comes from

born of the

is

Spirit.

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

d.

And dom

this

another parable that he put before them:

is

of Heaven

in his field; it

So

it

As

has grown

is like

a mustard-seed,

a seed, mustard

it is

is

which

a

man

king-

took and sowed

smaller than any other; but

bigger than any garden-plant;

big enough for the birds to

"The

come and

it

among

roost

becomes its

when

a tree,

branches."

The Parable of the Treasure

e.

The kingdom of Heaven is like treasure lying buried in a field. The man who found it, buried it again; and for sheer joy went and sold everything he had, and bought that

field.

The Parable of the Vineyard Laborers

f.

The kingdom of Heaven is like this. There was once a landowner who went out early one morning to hire labourers for his vineyard; and

after agreeing to

off to work.

pay them the usual day's wage he sent them

Going out three hours

standing idle in the market-place. vineyard," he said, "and

I

will

later

he saw some more

"Go and

pay you a

went. At midday he went out again, and

and made the same arrangement

join the others in the

fair

at

as before.

men

wage"; so off they

three in the afternoon,

An hour

before sunset

he went out and found another group standing there; so he said to

them,

"Why are you standing about like this all day with

nothing to

do?" "Because no one has hired us," they replied; so he told them,

"Go and

join the others in the vineyard."

owner of the vineyard give

them

sunset

first."

evening

fell,

said to his steward, "Call the labourers

their pay, beginning with those

ing with the

When

Those who had

came forward, and were paid

who came

started

last

first,

and

and end-

work an hour before

the full day's wage.

was the turn of the men who had come

the

When

it

they expected some-

amount as the others. As they took it, they grumbled at their employer: "These late-comers have done only one hour's work, yet you have put them on a level with thing extra, but were paid the same

us,

who have sweated

the whole day long in the blazing sun!"

The

245

246

CHRISTIANITY owner turned

to

one of them and

friend,

You agreed on the usual wage

unfair to you.

not? Take your pay and go home.

same

"My

said,

as you. Surely

am

I

free to

I

am

do what

I

like

you

for the day, did

choose to pay the

I

not being

with

last

man

the

my own money.

Why be jealous because I am kind?" The Parable of the Wedding Feast

g.

The kingdom

of Heaven

There was

is like this.

a king

who

pre-

pared a feast for his son's wedding; but when he sent his servants to

summon

others again, telling

them

everything

is

ready;

come

I

have had

wedding

to the

them

others seized the servants, attacked

The

king was furious; he sent troops to

set their

my

town on

feast is ready;

fire.

Then he

but the guests

I

I

sent

have

bullocks slaughtered;

at

one went off to his farm, another

notice;

"See now!

to say to the guests,

prepared this feast for you.

no

He

the guests he had invited, they would not come.

once." But they took

and the

to his business,

brutally, kill

and

killed

them.

those murderers and

said to his servants,

"The wedding

invited did not deserve the honour.

Go out to the main thoroughfares, and invite everyone you can find to the

wedding."

lected

all

The

servants went out into the streets, and col-

they could find, good and bad

alike.

So the

hall

was

packed with guests.

When

the king

served one

dants,

in to see the

man who was

said the king,

clothes?"

came

at the table,

not dressed for a wedding.

"how do you come

He had

company

to

"Bind him hand and

foot;

turn

king then said to his atten-

him out

into the dark, the

many

place of wailing and grinding of teeth." For though vited,

h.

friend,"

be here without your wedding

The

nothing to say

"My

he ob-

are in-

few are chosen.

The Parable of the Prodigal Son man who had two sons; and the younger said to "Father, give me my share of the property." So he di-

There was once his father,

a

vided his estate between them.

A

few days

turned the whole of his share into cash and country, where he squandered

it

later the left

home

in reckless living.

younger son for a distant

He had

spent

it

THE SAYINGS OF JESUS when

all,

feel

a severe famine

and he began

that country

So he went and attached himself to one of the

the pinch.

landowners,

upon

fell

who

him on

sent

would have been glad

to

fill

farm

to his

mind

to

his belly with the

local

the pigs.

He

pods that the pigs

Then he came

were eating; and no one gave him anything.

to

to his

"How many of my father's paid servants have more food than they can eat, and here am I, starving to death! I will set off and go to my father, and say to him, 'Father, I have sinned, against God and against you; I am no longer fit to be called your son; treat me as one of your paid servants.'" So he set out for his senses and said,

But while he was

father's house.

a long

still

He

him, and his heart went out to him.

way

ran to meet him, flung his

arms round him, and kissed him. The son sinned, against

God and

against you;

I

off his father saw

said, "Father, I

am no

longer

fit

to

have

be called

your son." But the father said to his servants, "Quick! fetch a robe,

my on

best one, and put his feet.

it

on him; put a ring on

Bring the fatted calf and

kill it,

celebrate the day. For this son of mine to life;

he was

Now

lost

and

is

found."

the elder son was out

And

and

his finger let

us have a feast to

was dead and has come back the festivities began.

on the farm; and on

his

way back,

he approached the house, he heard music and dancing.

one of the servants and asked what

it

and shoes

The

meant.

He

as

called

servant told him,

"Your brother has come home, and your father has

killed the fatted

calf because

he has him back safe and sound." But he was angry

and refused

to

go

in.

His father came out and pleaded with him;

but he retorted, "You years;

so

I

know how

I

have slaved for you

all

these

never once disobeyed your orders; and you never gave

much

as a kid, for a feast

with

my

But now

friends.

of yours turns up, after running through your

women, you

kill

the fatted calf for him."

"you are always with me, and everything

I

that this son

money with

"My boy," have

me his

said the father, is

yours.

How

we help celebrating this happy day? Your brother was dead and has come back to life, was lost and is found."

could

i.

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

As non-Jews, Samaritans considered

heathens

by

(persons

many

in

from Samaria) would have been Jesus'

audience.

In

casting

a

247

248

CHRISTIANITY Samaritan

as the spiritual hero

story, Jesus underscored the

of this

of the kingdom, and

conditionally of God's

love, the

importance of the

rather than merely the

spirit,

up

Just then a lawyer stood

must

do

I

What do you

And he

•—-y

this

and you

But wanting

all

said to him,

said,

"what

"What is written He answered, u You shall love

your heart, and with

your strength, and with

all

as yourself."

do

all

he

said to him,

read there?"

Lord your God with

with

He

the

of religious faith.

letter,

to test Jesus. "Teacher,"

to inherit eternal life?"

in the law?

the

universality

un-

all

your soul, and

your mind; and your neighbor

"You have given the

right answer;

will live."

to justify himself,

he asked Jesus, "And who

man was

is

my

down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went awav leaving him half dead. Now bv chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the neighbor?" Jesus replied, "A

^

V

\

going

place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan

came near him; and when he saw him, he was

while traveling

moved with poured

oil

He went to him and bandaged

pity.

his

and wine on them. Then he put him on

brought him

to an inn,

wounds, having

own

his

animal,

and took care of him. The next day he took

out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, 'Take care of

him; and when

I

come

spend/ Which of these

back,

I

three,

will

repay you whatever more you

do you think, was

a

neighbor to the

man who fell into the hands of the robbers?" He said, "The one who showed him mercy." Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise." H(\ j.

The Immanence of the Kingdom: Many Have Longed to See What You See

But blessed

are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.

Truly

you,

I tell

what you not hear

k.

see,

many prophets and

but did not see

it,

and

righteous people longed to see to hear

what you

hear, but did

it.

The Kingdom of God

Once Jesus was asked by

Is

Among You

the Pharisees

when

the

was coming, and he answered, "The kingdom of

kingdom of God

God

is

not com-

THE SAYINGS OF JESUS ing with things that can be observed; nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!'

or 'There

kingdom of God

For, in fact, the

it is!'

is

among

you." 6

Putting the Pursuit of Wealth in Perspective

23.

Store Treasures

a.

Where Moths and Rust Do Not

Corrupt

Do not store up rust

on

for yourselves treasures

consume and where

thieves break in

and

steal;

yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither

sumes and where thieves do not break treasure

b.

No

and

but store up for

moth nor

steal.

rust con-

For where your

there your heart will be also.

is,

You Cannot Serve Two Masters one can serve two masters;

for a slave will either hate the

and love the other, or be devoted

You cannot

c.

in

where moth and

earth,

God and

serve

to the

one and despise the

one

other.

wealth.

Consider the Lilies

Therefore

I tell

you, do not worry about your

life,

what you

will eat

or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is

not

more than

life

the birds of the

food, and the

body more than clothing? Look

at

they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns,

air;

and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? to your

span of

Consider the spin, yet like is

lilies

I tell

alive today

can any of you by worrying add a single hour

you,

about clothing?

how they grow; they neither toil nor even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed

of the

if

field,

God

and tomorrow

clothe you

See selection

And why do you worry

life?

one of these. But

much more

6.

And

37f, below.

so clothes the grass of the field, which is

—you of

thrown into the oven, little faith?

will

he not

249

250

CHRISTIANITY

The Eye of the Needle

d.

Then Jesus

said to his disciples, "Truly

a rich person to enter the

I tell

you,

it

will

kingdom of heaven. Again

be hard for

easier for a

camel to go through the eye of a needle than

one who

rich to enter the

heard

is

be saved?" But Jesus looked possible, but for

God

all

at

them and

said,

it is

some-

for

kingdom of God." When the

they were greatly astounded and said,

this,

you

I tell

disciples

"Then who can

"For mortals

it is

im-

things are possible."

What Profit?

e.

For what

will

it

profit

them

if

they gain the whole world but forfeit

their life?

Give to the Poor and

f.

Then someone came

him and

said, "Teacher,

what good deed

And [Jesus] said to him. commandments." The young man said ... "I have

must the

to

Come Follow Me

I

these;

do

to have eternal life?"

what do

I still

24. a.

will

"Keep

kept

all

and give the money

to the poor,

have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."

Against Hypocrisy

The Log in Your Own Eye

Why do you

see the speck in your neighbor's eye, but

the log in your

b.

.

lack?" Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be

perfect, go, sell your possessions,

and you

.

Straining

own

do not notice

eye?

Out a Gnat While Swallowing a Camel

Woe

to you, scribes

dill,

and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the

law: justice

and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you

and mercy and

faith. It is these

you ought

to

tithe mint,

have prac-

THE SAYINGS OF JESUS You blind

ticed without neglecting the others.

guides!

You

strain

out a gnat but swallow a camel!

One Is Corrupted by What One One Eats

c.

Then he

called the

derstand;

but

it is

25. a.

it is

crowd

him and

to

not what goes into the

and un-

that defiles a person,

defiles."

The Conditions of Discipleship: Take Up Your Cross

those

want

who

to

become my

them

followers, let

lose their life for

take

up

their cross it,

and

will find; knock,

and

to save their life will lose

my sake

will find

it.

Ask and You Will Receive

Ask, and

it

will

the door will be

You

mouth

what comes out of the mouth that

and follow me. For those who want

c.

said to them, "Listen

Other Exhortations

If any

b.

Not by What

Says,

be given you; search, and you

opened

for you.

Let Your Light Shine are the light of the world.

A

city built

on

a hill cannot

be hid.

No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and way,

let

it

gives light to

in the house. In the

your light shine before others, so that they

good works and give glory

d.

all

to

may

same

see your

your Father in heaven.

The One Thing Needful

[Jesus] entered a certain village,

welcomed him sat at the

into her

where

a

home. She had a

woman named Martha sister named Mary, who

Lord's feet and listened to what he was saying. But

251

252

CHRISTIANITY Martha was

many

distracted by her

my

asked, "Lord, do you not care that

the

work by myself?

swered

many

tasks; so she sister

has

came left

to

me

him and to

do

all

me." But the Lord an-

Tell her then to help

"Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by

her,

things; there

which

better part,

is

need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the

will

not be taken away from her."

Do Not Throw Pearls Before Swine

e.

Do not give what is holy to dogs; fore swine.

.

.

and do not throw your pearls be-

.

By Their Fruits You Will Know Them

f.

Beware of false prophets, who come

inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will

Pray in This

g.

Pray then in

Our

this

you

to

in sheep's clothing but

know them by

their fruits.

Way

way:

Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come.

Your

will

Give us

And as

be done, on earth as

this

day our daily bread.

we

also have forgiven

For

our debtors.

not bring us to the time of trial,

but rescue us from the

a.

in heaven.

forgive us our debts,

And do

26.

it is

evil one.

The End of the World Its

Signs

at that

time there will be great suffering.

.

.

.

Immediately

the suffering of those days, the sun will be darkened and the will

not give

its light,

the stars will

ers of heaven will be shaken.

.

.

.

fall

Then

after

moon

from heaven, and the pow.

.

.

they will see "the Son

of Man coming on the clouds of heaven" and with power and great glory.

And he

will

send out his angels with a loud trumpet

call,

and

LIFE OF THE EARLY

CHURCH

they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of

heaven to the other.

b. Its

Truly

Time

I tell

you, this generation will not pass away until

all

these

things have taken place.

THE LIFE OF THE EARLY CHURCH 27.

The Keys of the Kingdom "You are Peter and on

[Jesus said,]

Church. against

And

it. I

this

rock

will build

I

my

the gates of the underworld can never hold out

will give

you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: what-

ever you bind

on earth

shall

be considered bound in heaven; what-

ever you loose

on earth

shall

be considered loosed in heaven."

28.

The Mission

[After Jesus' death] the eleven disciples set out for Galilee, to the

mountain where Jesus had arranged

him they

fell

down

up and spoke

to

before him, though

to them.

He

meet them.

some

When

hesitated. Jesus

make

came

heaven and on

said, "All authority in

earth has been given to me. Go, therefore,

they saw

disciples of all the

name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you. And know that I am with you always; yes, to the end of nations; baptize

them

in the

time."

29.

The Ascension of Jesus

[And Jesus Spirit has

said to them:]

come upon

him out of their

will receive

to the

my

witnesses in

ends of the earth."

were watching, he was

sight.

power when the Holy

you; and you will be

Judea and Samaria, and said this, as they

you

lifted up,

When

all

he had

and a cloud took

While he was going and they were gazing up

253

— 254

CHRISTIANITY toward heaven, suddenly two

They

said,

"Men

men

in white robes stood

by them.

of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward

heaven : This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will

come

30.

The Descent of the

in the

same way

you saw him go into heaven.''

as

Spirit

When

the day of Pentecost had come, they were

place.

And

together in one

suddenly from heaven there came a sound

of a violent wind, and

it

filled

Divided tongues,

ting.

all

Spirit

gave them

Now

and began

as of fire,

appeared

all

sit-

among them, and filled

a

with the

speak in other languages, as the Spirit

ability.

there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven

living in Jerusalem.

not

to

rush

the entire house where they were

tongue rested on each of them. All of them were

Holy

like the

these

who

.

.

.

Amazed and

astonished, they asked, "Are

And how

are speaking Galileans?

hear, each of us, in our

own

is it

native language? Parthians,

that

we

Medes,

Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia,

Pontus and Asia in

.

.

.

visitors

from Rome,

.

.

.

Cretans and Arabs

our own languages we hear them speaking about God's deeds of

power." All were amazed and perplexed.

31. a.

The

Early Christian

Possessions in

to the breaking of bread all

.

.

Commune

Common

They devoted themselves together and had

.

to the apostles'

and the prayers.

things in

common;

.

teaching and fellowship, .

.

All

who

they would

sessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to

need.

Day by

day, as they spent

much

believed were sell their

all,

as any

pos-

had

time together in the temple,

home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being they broke bread

saved.

at

LIFE OF THE EARLY b.

One in

And you Christ.

.

Christ Jesus

are,

of you, sons of

all

And

.

.

CHURCH

no more

there are

Greek, slave and

free,

God

through

distinctions

male and female, but

all

faith in Jesus

between Jew and of you are one in

Christ Jesus.

c.

So

Life

Anew

if anyone is in Christ,

there

is

a

new creation: everything old

has

passed away; see, everything has become new!

32. a.

The Mind of the Early Church

Him We Live

In

God.

.

.

not far from each of us. For in

is

him we

live

and move and

have our being.

b.

Incarnation

In the beginning was the Word, and the the

Word was God. He was

came

in the

into being through him,

What

into being.

was the

light

has

come

of all people.

into being in

it.

.

him was

life,

and the

light shines in the darkness, .

.

To

all

name, he gave the power

lieved in his

who were

beginning with God. All things

and without him not one thing came

The

darkness did not overcome

Word was with God, and

life

and the

who received him, who be-

to

become children of God,

born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will

of man, but of God.

And

Word became

among

us,

and we have

seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son,

full

of grace and

the

flesh

and

lived

truth.

Then swered,

they said to him,

".

.

me

is

your Father?" Jesus an-

knew me you would know my Father

If you

that

I

am

Father and

I

are one.

Believe

The

.

"Where

in the Father

and the Father

is

in

also."

me.

255

2

56

CHRISTIANITY Atonement

c.

Here

is

the lamb of

God

For

everyone

God, who

away the

takes

sins of the world.

so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that

who

him may not

believes in

perish but

may have

eternal

life.

human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. For since death came through

For there

is

one God; there

is

a

one mediator between

God and

humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself a ran-

som

for

all.

.

.

.

Since, therefore, the children share in flesh and blood, he

same

self likewise shared the

things, so that

through death he

might destroy the one who has the power of death, that and

devil,

free those

who

all

their lives

him-

were held

in slavery

is,

the

by the

fear of death.

Do

you not know that

who have been

of us

all

Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

with Christ, we believe that that Christ, being raised

we

.

.

.

will also live

from the dead,

will

baptized into

we have died with him. We know But

if

never die again; death

no longer has dominion over him. The death he died, he died sin,

once

for

all;

but the

also consider yourselves

life

he

dead

lives,

he

to sin

lives to

and

to

God. So you must

alive to

God

in Christ

Jesus.

d. Trinity'

And

I

will ask the Father,

and he

will give

be with you forever. This

is

cannot receive, because

neither sees

know him, because he

The

See

the Spirit of truth,

whom

Holy

to

the world

him nor knows him. You

abides with you and he will be in you.

grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of

fellowship of the

7.

it

you another Helper

Spirit be with

also selection 28, above.

you

all.

God and

the

LIFE OF THE EARLY

CHURCH

The Good News of Grace

e.

me is not a thing to waste words on, provided that when I finish my race I have carried out the mission the Lord Jesus gave me and that was to bear witness to the Good News of God's But

life

to

—

grace.

The

f.

Centrality of the Resurrection: If Christ

Been Raised Your Faith I

Is in

would remind you, brothers and

proclaimed to you.

.

dead? If there

is

if

and

raised;

if

sisters,

Christ

is

of the good news that

I

proclaimed as raised from

say there

is

no resurrection of the

Christ has not been raised, then our proclama-

who have

those also

Vain

no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not and your

tion has been in vain

only

Now

how can some of you

the dead,

been

.

.

Has Not

faith has

been

in vain.

.

.

.

Then

died in Christ have perished. If for this

we have hoped

we

in Christ,

are of

life

people most to be

all

pitied.

Death, Where

g.

Listen,

I

will tell

Is

you

Thy

Sting?

We

a mystery!

will

not

all die,

be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an

but we will

all

eye, at the last

trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and

must put on

this

will

be changed. For this perishable body

imperishability,

When

mortality.

we

and

this perishable

this

mortal body must put on im-

body puts on

imperishability,

mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that

is

and

writ-

ten will be fulfilled:

"Death has been swallowed up

in victory.

O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"

Where

h.

The Depth of God's Love

Nothing.

.

.

can come between us and the love of Christ, even

if

we

are troubled or worried, or being persecuted, or lacking food or clothes, or being threatened or even attacked.

of this: neither death nor ists,

nothing

still

to

life,

.

.

.

For

I

am

certain

no angel, no prince, nothing that ex-

come, not any power, or height or depth, nor

257

258

CHRISTIANITY any created thing, can ever come between us and the love of

made

The

i.

If

visible in Christ Jesus

God

our Lord.

Centrality of Love

speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have

I

am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic

love, I

powers, and understand

have

all faith,

nothing. If

body so

that I

Love

is

way. ... things. .

.

.

.

.

away

may

my

all

boast, but

patient; love

It

all

knowledge, and

so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, give

I

mysteries and

all

bears

is

do not have

.

.

am my

love, I gain nothing.

hopes

.

I

hand over

I

kind. ... It does not insist

things,

all

possessions, and if

if I

all

things,

on

its

own

endures

all

.

When

I

was a

child,

I

spoke

like a child, I

thought

like a

when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and

child,

I

reasoned

like a child;

love abide, these three;

"Let This

j.

and the greatest of these

Mind Be

Let each of you look not

in to

is

love.

You"

your own interests but to the interests

of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

who, though he was in the form of God, .

.

.

emptied himself, taking the form of a slave

human likeness. And being found in human form, being born in

he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death

—even

Therefore

God

death on a cross. also highly exalted

name that name of Jesus

and gave him so that at the

a

is

him

above every name,

every knee should bend, in

heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ to the glory of

is

God

the Lord,

the Father.

CHURCH

LIFE OF THE EARLY Salvation by Faith

k.

Martin Luther's

Fifteen hundred years later,

interpretation

of the fol-

lowing words of Paul will spark the Protestant Reformation.

For

I

am

not ashamed of the gospel;

vation to everyone

Greek. For in for faith; as

it

who

it is

the power of

has faith, to the Jew

first

God

and

for sal-

also to the

the righteousness of God

is

revealed through faith

"The one who

is

righteous will live by

it is

written,

faith."

Must Be Proven by Works

Faith

1.

What good

my

is it,

brothers and

but do not have works?

Can

you say you have

sisters, if

faith save

you? If a brother or

naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says peace; keep

warm and

their bodily needs,

has no works,

your

eat

what

fill,"

sister is

them,

"Go

in

and yet you do not supply

the good of that?

is

to

faith

So

faith

by

itself, if it

dead.

is

Persecution

33.

Tension Between the Jewish Authorities and the

a.

New Jewish Christians The

high priest questioned them, saying,

"We

ders not to teach in this name, yet you have

gave you strict or-

filled

Jerusalem with

your teaching. ..." But Peter and the apostles answered,

obey

God

rather than any

tors raised

..."

tree. kill

up

Jesus,

When

human

whom

authority

you had

killed

The God

"We must

of our ances-

by hanging him on

they heard this they were enraged and wanted to

them. But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel

"... Keep away from these men and plan

is

of human origin,

it

will fail;

be able to overthrow them fighting against

a

—

let

but

[said]:

them

alone; because if this

if it is

of God, you will not

in that case

you may even be found

God!"

They were convinced by him, and when they had called in the apostles, they had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. As they left the council,

they rejoiced that they were considered worthy to suffer dis-

honour

for the sake

of the name.

And

every day in the temple and

259

2

60

CHRISTIANITY at

home

they did not cease to teach and proclaim Jesus as the

Messiah.

Stephen, the First Martyr

b.

[Stephen rebukes the Sanhedrin 8 :] "You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are forever opposing the Holy

your ancestors used to do.

Spirit, just as

.

.

.

Then

him out of the

they dragged

stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats

man named

Saul.

"Lord Jesus,

receive

in a

When

."

.

became enraged and ground

these things, they

Stephen.

.

at

they heard

their teeth at

city

and began

to

the feet of a young

While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed,

my

Then he

down and

cried out

loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them."

When he

had said

c.

And

this,

spirit."

knelt

he died.

Saul the Persecutor Saul was

among

those

who approved of

This was the beginning of

a

church of Jerusalem.

Saul,

.

.

.

[Stephen's] murder.

time of violent persecution for the

meanwhile, was harrying the

church; he entered house after house, seizing

men and women, and

sending them to prison.

34.

Saul Becomes Paul: Conversion on the Road to

Damascus Meanwhile

Saul,

ciples of the to the

still

Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for

synagogues

at

Damascus, so

men

longed to the Way, Jerusalem.

breathing threats and murder against the dis-

or

that if he

found any who be-

women, he might bring them bound

to

Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus,

suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.

ground and heard persecute me?"

8.

letters

He

The Sanhedrin was

tered in Jerusalem.

a voice saying to

asked,

the

"Who

fell

to the

him, "Saul, Saul, why do you

are you,

supreme Jewish

He

Lord?" The reply came,

legislative-judicial assembly,

headquar-

LIFE OF THE EARLY "I

am Jesus, whom you and you

city

will

But

are persecuting.

up and enter the

get

be told what you are to do.".

.

CHURCH

Saul got up from

.

the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led

him by

the hand and brought

him

into

Damascus. For

three days he was without sight and neither ate nor drank.

Now

Damascus named Ananias. [He]

there was a disciple in

went and entered the house.

He

laid his

hands on Saul and

said,

who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus,

some

baptized, and after taking

food, he regained his strength.

Opening the Jesus-Community

35.

to the Gentiles

Jesus said he came "not to abolish hut to fulfill" the Jewish Torah

(Matt. 5:17). His early followers, themselves all Jews, assumed that the

normal requirements ofJewish

—

religious practice

males, Sabbath observance, dietary laws cal

—remained

was Paul's conversion, however, that he

circumcision for

in force.

So

radi-

insisted the gospel be

preached universally, beyond the bounds and requirements of Jewish Life in the early church witnessed a tension between the

tradition.

and

Hebraists or Torah-loyalists to universalize the

Good News.

The Council

a.

But some [that

believers

at Jerusalem .

.

stood up and said, "It

.

new non-Jews]

is,

the Hellenists who, like Paul, wished

to

is

necessary for them

be circumcised and ordered to keep the

law of Moses."

The

apostles

After there had been

ter.

them,

".

.

.

their hearts .

.

.

We

Lord Jesus,

much

by

faith

to consider this

debate, Peter stood

God, who knows the human

them the Holy

giving

us.

and the elders met together

Spirit, just as

up and

heart, testified to

he did to us; and

mat-

said to

them by

in cleansing

he has made no distinction between them and

believe that

we

will

be saved through the grace of the

just as they will."

The whole assembly Paul as they told of

all

kept silence, and listened to Barnabas and the signs and wonders that

God had done

261

262

CHRISTIANITY through them among the Gentiles. After they finished speaking,

James

replied,

"My

brothers, listen to me. ...

I

have reached the

we should not trouble those Gentiles who are turning God, but we should write to them to abstain only from [certain]

decision that to

"

things

Then

the apostles and the elders, with the consent of the whole

church, decided to choose

send them to Antioch lievers

.

.

men from among their members and

with the following

.

of Gentile origin in Antioch and Syria and

Since we have heard that certain persons

ings.

from us

.

.

.

To the be-

"...

letter:

to

Cilicia, greet-

who have gone

out

have said things to disturb you and have unsettled

your minds, we have decided unanimously ... to impose on you

no further burden than these

essentials: that

you abstain from what

has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what

is

stran-

gled and from fornication. If you keep yourselves from these, you will

b.

do

well. Farewell."

The Handshake That Universalized

Then

after fourteen years I

Barnabas.

.

.

.

Then

went up again

before

I laid

Christianity Jerusalem with

to

them (though only

in a private

meeting with the acknowledged leaders) the gospel that

among

the Gentiles, in order to

or had not run, in vain.

.

.

.

make sure

When

that

I

I

proclaim

was not running,

they saw that

I

had been en-

trusted with the gospel for the uncircumcised, just as Peter had

been entrusted with the gospel

circumcised

for the

.

James and Cephas and John, who were acknowledged

.

.

and when

pillars, rec-

ognized the grace that had been given to me, they gave to Barnabas

and

me

the right hand of fellowship, agreeing that

we should go

to

the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.

36.

The Creeds

Those who wished

to enter the Christian

state their beliefs at the time tions

fold were asked to formally

of their baptism. These doctrinal affirma-

were the precursors of the creeds,

Christian faith.

As

the

formal statements of

Christianity spread throughout the

Roman

Empire,

CHURCH

LIFE OF THE EARLY and

variations in the interpretation velop, threatening the unity

practice

of the faith began

of the Church. In response

to de-

to these diver-

gences, particularly with regard to beliefs as to whether Jesus

was

purely divine, purely human, or somehow both, the emperor Constantine called the first great Christian Council at

Out of that council came precise statement

a.

the Nicene Creed, a

Nicaea

in

325

C.E.

nuanced and doctrinally

of Christian orthodoxy.

The Nicene Creed

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty,

maker of heaven and of all that

is,

earth,

seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only son of God, eternally begotten of the Father,

God from God, Light from true God from true God,

Light,

begotten, not made,

of one Being with the Father;

through him

all

things were made.

For us and for our salvation

he came down from heaven,

was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became truly human. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius

Pilate;

he suffered death and was buried.

On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures;

he ascended into heaven

and

is

seated at the right

He

will

and

his

hand of the Father.

come again in glory to judge kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit,

the living and the dead,

the Lord, the giver of life,

who proceeds from the Father [and the Son], who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and who has spoken through the prophets.

glorified,

263

264

CHRISTIANITY

We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the

life

of the world to come.

Amen.

GRACE NOTES 37.

The Gospel of Thomas

The Gospel of Thomas surfaced

in the archaeological discovery

Nag Hammadi Library around 1945. Mark, Luke, and John, lection

it

of the

Unlike the Gospels ofMatthew,

does not narrate Jesus'

of one hundred and fourteen of his

life

but

sayings.

is

solely a col-

Many

echo the

canonical Gospels, but some do not. With the exception of number below, I have chosen those that are largely unique to the Gospel

Thomas and that have a mysticalflavor. be representative of the Gospel

a.

f

of

My selections are not meant to

of Thomas as a

whole.

You

Inside

Jesus said, "If your leaders say to you, 'Look, the kingdom

is

in

heaven,' then the birds of heaven will precede you. If they say to

you,

'It is

kingdom b.

in the sea,'

is

Know

inside you

But

if

and

it is

fish will

precede you. Rather, the

outside you."

Yourselves

"When you know

[Jesus said,]

and you

then the

will

yourselves, then you will be

known,

understand that you are children of the living

you do not know yourselves, then you dwell

father.

in poverty,

and

you are poverty." c.

Wholeness

Jesus said,

".

.

.

If

one

is

[whole] 9 one will be ,

filled

with

if

one

9.

Translator's indication of a correction of a scribal error or omission.

is

divided, one will be filled with darkness."

light,

but

GRACE NOTES

Am There

d. I

Jesus said, "I all I

has

am

come

am

the light that

forth,

and

up the

there. Lift

to

is

me all

stone,

over

all

things.

I

am

all:

From me

has reached. Split a piece of wood;

and you

me there."

will find

Presence

e.

They

said to him, "Tell us

who you

are so that

we may

believe in

you."

He said to them, "You examine the face of heaven and earth, but you have not come to know the one who you do not know how to examine

f.

this

your presence, and

in

moment."

The Kingdom

His followers said to him, "It will not it is,'

"When

come by watching

or 'Look, there

for

will the it, It

be said, 'Look, here

Rather, the father's

it is.'

Clement of Alexandria

An early

kingdom come?"

will not

out upon the earth, and people do not see

38.

is

kingdom

is

spread

it."

(150P-220?)

Christian thinker, Church Father,

and head of the

catechetical

school at Alexandria.

God became

39.

St.

a person, so that persons

Augustine

(ca.

might become God.

354-430)

Bishop of Hippo, philosopher, theologian, and inestimably important shaper of the Christian mind.

a.

For

Our Hearts Are Thou

hast

made

they rest in Thee.

Restless

us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless

till

265

266

CHRISTIANITY b.

Late Have

Late have

Loved Thee!

I

loved Thee,

I

O Beauty so ancient and so new;

loved Thee! For behold

I

Thou

wert within me, and

sought Thee outside and in

I

Thou

lovely things that

not with Thee.

my

hast made.

unloveliness

Thou

was kept from Thee by those

I

not been in Thee, they would not have been

me

outside;

I

fell

wert within

have

late

and

upon those

me and

things, yet

I

was

had they

Thou didst call and Thou didst send

at all.

my deafness: forth Thy beams and shine upon me and chase away my blindness: Thou didst breathe fragrance upon me, and I drew in my breath and cry

to

and break open

and do now pant thirst for

Thee:

Thee:

for

Thou

I

and now hunger and

tasted Thee,

and

didst touch me,

I

have burned for

Thy

peace.

c.

A

When

Real Life once

I

being wholly

40. St.

full

.

.

.

my life shall be a real

life,

of Thee.

Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)

Medieval German

2l.

be united to Thee

shall

and mystic.

abbess, contemplative,

The Fiery Light

In the year 1141 of the incarnation of Jesus Christ the

Son of God,

was forty-two years and seven months of age,

a fiery light,

when

I

flashing intensely,

came from

the open vault of heaven and poured

my whole brain. Like a flame that is hot without burning it And suddenly I could kindled all my heart and all my breast. Old and New Testament understand what such books as the through

.

.

actually set forth.

b.

I,

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

God Speaks Through Hildegard

the highest and fiery power, have kindled every living spark and

have breathed out nothing that can beauty of the the stars,

I

fields, I

die. ...

I

I

flame above the

shine in the waters; in the sun, the

moon and

burn. ... All living things take their radiance from me;

GRACE NOTES and

I

am

the

life

which remains the same through

eternity,

having

neither beginning nor end;

God

c.

The

as

faithful

from her

41. St.

Mother .

.

.

breasts.

thirst for .

.

God's Justice and they suck holiness

.

Francis of Assisi (1182-1226)

Beloved Italian

saint,

founder of the Franciscan

order, dedicated to

serving the needy.

a.

The Canticle of Brother Sun

All praise be yours,

And

first

my

my Lord,

through

all

that

you have made,

lord Brother Sun,

Who brings the day;

and

light

you give to us through him.

How beautiful he is, how radiant in all his splendour! Of you, Most

High, he bears the

All praise be yours,

my Lord,

In the heavens you have

And

precious and

All praise be yours,

likeness.

through Sister

made them,

Moon and

Stars;

bright

fair.

my Lord,

through Brothers

Wind and

Air,

And fair and stormy, all the weather's moods, By which you cherish all that you have made. All praise be yours,

So

my Lord,

useful, lowly, precious

All praise be yours,

through Sister Water,

and pure.

my Lord,

through Brother Fire,

Through whom you brighten up the night. How beautiful he is, how gay! Full of power and All praise be yours,

my Lord,

strength.

thought Sister Earth, our mother,

Who feeds us in her sovereignty and

produces

Various fruits and colored flowers and herbs. All praise be yours,

my

Lord, through Sister Death,

From whose embrace no mortal can

escape.

267

268

CHRISTIANITY Woe

to those

who

die in mortal sin!

Happy those She finds doing your will! The second death 10 can do no harm to them. Praise and bless

And

serve

my

him with

An Instrument

b.

Lord, and give him thanks, great humility.

of Thy Peace 11

Lord make me an instrument of Thy

Where Where Where Where Where

me sow

there

is

hatred, let

there

is

offence, pardon,

there

is

discord, unity,

there

is

doubt,

there

is

error, truth,

hope,

Where

joy,

is

sadness,

W here there is darkness, light. O Divine Master, grant that To be consoled as To be understood

To be

love,

faith,

W here there is despair, there

peace.

I

may

not so

much

seek

to console, as to

understand,

loved as to love.

For:

we

It is in

giving that

It is in

pardoning that we are pardoned.

It is in

dying that we are born to eternal

receive.

life.

Mechthild of Magdeburg (1210-1297)

42.

German

visionary

and

member of

poet,

Beguine order of lay

the

sisters.

a.

Two Lovers That prayer has great power which It

a

person makes with

draws down the great

10.

That

11.

Commonly

is,

the end of our natural

all

God

life.

his

into the

The

ascribed to St. Francis, this

twentieth-century author.

might

first

.

.

little

.

heart,

death (and rebirth)

poem was

written by an

is

baptism.

unknown

GRACE NOTES hungry soul up

into the fullness of God.

It

drives the

It

brings together two lovers,

God and In a

the soul,

wondrous place where they speak much of love.

See and Taste the Flowing Godhead

b.

Wouldst thou know

my meaning?

Lie down in the Fire

See and

taste the

Flowing

Godhead through Feel the

Holy

thy being;

Spirit

Moving and compelling Thee within the Flowing Fire and Light of God.

c.

The Overflow

Great

is

the overflow of Divine

Love which

is

never

ever ceaselessly and tirelessly pours forth, so that our filled

is

to the

channel with

brim and overflows.

self-will,

God's

gifts

If

still

little

but

vessel

we do not choke

the

continue to flow and overflow,

Lord!

43. St.

Bonaventure (1221-1274)

Called the "Seraphic Doctor" Bonaventure was an eminent medieval writer

and contemplative.

God

is

a sphere

ence

is

nowhere.

44. St.

whose center

is

everywhere and whose circumfer-

Thomas Aquinas (1225P-1274)

Called the "Angelic Doctor" Thomas's profound and lasting influence stems

from

his

formidable synthesis of Catholic theology and Greek

philosophical ideas.

a.

A

Knower and Known

thing

knower.

is

known according

to the state of consciousness of the

269

270

CHRISTIANITY

The Way of Negation

b.

The

chief

way

to consider

God

is

the

way of negation,

for

by

its

immensity the divine essence transcends every form attained by our

By knowing what it is not we get some knowledge more things we are able to deny of it, the nearer we

intellect; ...

of it, and the

come

knowing

to

it.

Meister Eckhart (1260-1327)

45.

German priest and one of the greatest

God's Eye

a.

The

eye by which

sees me.

see

I

me, how can

God

always happening.

is

it

help

And

yet if

doesn't happen in

it

me? Everything depends on

that.

Don't imagine that

penter,

who

God

it

finds

he wishes; who can

will to

undone, according to his pleasure.

way with God: where and when God

and overflow into you,

sun must overflow into

it

you

can be compared to an earthly car-

acts or doesn't act, as

something or leave that

moment he

must act and pour himself into you the

ready.

just as

when

and cannot

finds

the air

refrain

is

It is

do not

you ready, he must clear

and pure, the

from doing

that.

The Eternal Now

The Now

in

which the

last

speaking

—

all

which

man

are the

God

created the

will disappear

same

in

first

man and

and the

God, and there

Now is

in

the

Now

which

I

in

am

only one Now.

Be the Son

Scripture says, if

God

the same as the eye by which

The Way It Is

c.

e.

is

My eye and God's eye are one and the same.

Christ's birth

d.

God

The Birth of Christ

b.

act

Christian mystics.

"No one knows the Father but the Son." Therefore,

you want to know God, you must not only be

must

be the Son.

like the

Son, you

GRACE NOTES Julian of Norwich (1342P-1420?)

46.

and contemplative.

English anchoress

God

a.

Suffices

God, of your goodness, me, and I

were

I

give

me

yourself; for

cannot properly ask anything

to ask less,

I

you are

less, to

sufficient for

be worthy of you. If

should always be in want. In you alone do

have

I

all.

True Rest

b.

This

why we have no

the reason

is

seeking our rest in

He

[alone]

is

trivial

true rest.

Body and Soul

c.

in

ease of heart or soul, for

things which cannot .

.

.

Nothing

satisfy.

.

.

we

are

.

less will satisfy us.

God

For [God] does not despise what he made, nor does he disdain to serve us in the simplest function that belongs to our body. as the

body

is

bones in the

flesh,

and the heart

timately, for all these vanish

This it

For

.

in the trunk, so are we, soul

and

more

in-

and waste away; but the goodness of

ever whole and nearer to us, beyond any comparison.

is

God

d.

.

clad in the cloth, and the flesh in the skin, and the

body, clad and enclosed in the goodness of God. Yes, and

God

.

as

Mother

fair lovely

word "mother"

is

so sweet and so kind in itself that

cannot truly be said of anyone or to anyone except of him and to

him who erty of

and

is

the true

Mother of life and of all

motherhood belong nature,

this is

47. St.

love,

things.

To

the prop-

wisdom and knowledge,

God.

Thomas a Kempis (1380-1471)

The author of The Imitation of Christ, possibly the most published book

in

Christendom after the Bible.

He who

is

thus a spiritual lover knows well what that voice means

which

says:

are

mine, and

all

You, Lord God, are I all

my

Yours. Dissolve

whole love and

my

desire.

You

heart into Your love so

271

— 272

CHRISTIANITY that

I

may know how

to praise You,

and

sweet

to

it is

to serve

be as though

love. ... I shall sing to

I

You and how

were

you the song of

all

love.

.

melded .

and

joyful

into

my

it is

Your

soul will

never be weary in praising You with the joyful songs of unconditional love.

48.

Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)

Spanish mystic and cofounder with

St.

John of the Cross of the Order

ofDiscalced Carmelites.

LINES WRITTEN IN HER BREVIARY Let nothing disturb you,

Let nothing frighten you; All things are passing;

God

never changes;

Patient endurance

Obtains

all

Who God In nothing

God

49. St.

things;

possess is

wanting;

alone suffices.

John of the Cross (1542-1 591)

Spanish poet and one of the Catholic traditions greatest mystics.

THE DARK NIGHT One

dark night,

Fired with love's urgent longings

—Ah,

the sheer grace!

— GRACE NOTES I

went out unseen,

My house being now all stilled; .

.

.

With no other

Than

light or guide

the one that burned in

This guided

my heart;

me

More surely than the light of noon To where He waited for me

—Him

I

knew

so well

In a place where no one else appeared.

O guiding night! O night more lovely than the dawn! O night that has united The Lover

with His beloved,

Transforming the beloved in her Lover.

...

I

abandoned and forgot myself,

Laying

my

face

on

All things ceased;

Leaving

St.

went out from myself,

my cares

Forgotten

50.

I

my Beloved;

among

the

lilies.

Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556)

Founder of the Society ofJesus.

ANIMA CHRISTI (SOUL OF CHRIST) Soul of Christ, sanctify

Body of Christ,

save

me

me

Blood of Christ, inebriate

me

Water from the side of Christ, wash Passion of Christ, strengthen

me

me

273

274

CHRISTIANITY

O Good Jesus, hear me Within thy wounds, hide

me not

Permit

From

to

be separated from Thee

me call me And

the wicked foe defend

At the hour of my death

That with Thy For ever and

51.

me

may Amen.

saints

ever.

I

praise

bid

me

come

to

to

Thee

Thee

Jean Pierre de Caussade (1675-1751)

French priest and contemplative.

Abandonment

But what

is

Divine Providence

to

the secret of finding this treasure?

This treasure wherever we

it

it

reaches the very core of our being.

created being.

let its

offered to us

it is

Where

It

wells

and

state,

and submit

to

spirituality,

which

is

it is

fulfill

cheerfully accept

God's

.

.

it

out in

body and soul

God's

activity

runs

goes ahead of

also. It

follows them. All they have to do

it

waves sweep them onward,

religion

pour

up around and penetrates every

they are, there

with them, and

.

isn't one.

the time and

all

flows through every fiber of our

through the universe.

them,

It is

are. All creatures, friends or foes,

abundance, and until

everywhere.

is

—There

will in all they

valid for

all

all

is

the simple duties of their the troubles they meet,

have to do.

.

.

.

This

times and for everyone.

is

true

We

can-

not become truly good in a better, more marvelous, and yet easier

way than by the simple use of the means offered us by God: the ready acceptance of

all

that

comes

to us at

each

moment

of our

lives.

52.

The Russian Pilgrim

(ca. 1850)

Here an anonymous Eastern Orthodox Christian nary

effects

of the "prayer of the heart " or "Jesus prayer"

of silently repeating "Lord Jesus

me " in

reports the extraordi-

one's every

Christ,

waking moment.

the practice

Son of God, have mercy upon

GRACE NOTES By

the grace of

sinner,

and by

God,

am

I

calling a

who roams from

a Christian

my

man, by

actions a great

homeless wanderer of the humblest birth

place to place.

with some dried bread in

on

it

And that is all. And when ... I prayed

My worldly

my

goods are a knapsack

back, and in

my breast-pocket a

Bible.

with

my

heart, everything

seemed delightful and marvelous. The

around

me

trees, the grass, the birds,

me that they existed for man's sake, that they witnessed to the love of God for man, that everything proved the love of God for man, that all things prayed to God and sang His praise. Sometimes my heart would feel as though it were bubbling the earth, the

.

.

with

air,

the light seemed to be telling

.

such lightness, freedom and consolation were in

joy,

Sometimes

I felt

a

burning love for Jesus Christ and for

Sometimes

creatures.

my

eyes

brimmed

all

it.

God's

over with tears of thank-

God who was so merciful to me, a wretched sinner. Sometimes my understanding, which had been so stupid before, was given so much light that I could easily grasp and dwell upon fulness to

now I had not been able even to think at all. Sometimes that sense of a warm gladness in my heart spread throughout my whole being and I was deeply moved as the fact of the presence of God everywhere was brought home to me.

matters of which up to

upon the Name of Jesus I was overwhelmed and now I knew the meaning of the words "The

Sometimes by with

bliss,

calling

Kingdom of God is within you." The prayer of the heart gave me such

consolation that

there was no happier person on earth than

and

.

.

.

I,

I

doubted

I felt

if there

could be greater and fuller happiness in the kingdom of Heaven.

Not only

did

world also seemed to

drew

me

saw them

to love all

as

me

my kinsfolk.

floating happily

Sometimes when der all

at

the

full

I

I

my heart

all

trees, plants, animals. I

of them the magic of the

though

felt as light as

through the

.

.

.

was

had no body

filled

human body is made. wished that God would

the I

I

instead of walking.

air

withdrew into myself I

wisdom with which

whole outside

of charm and delight. Everything

found on

I

such times of happiness,

pour out

soul, but the

and thank God: people,

name of Jesus. Sometimes and was

my own

feel this in

I

in thankfulness at

His

feet.

.' .

.

with won-

And at ... let me

.

.

.

275

276

CHRISTIANITY

Thomas Merton (1915-1968)

53.

monk and

Trappist

widely influential twentieth-century

Catholic

writer.

What Is Contemplation?

a.

Contemplation gratitude for

is

spontaneous awe

is

life,

for

at

the sacredness of

awareness and for being.

ization of the fact that life

It is

life.

... It

a vivid real-

and being proceed from an

invisible,

transcendent and infinitely abundant Source.

The True Joy

b.

The

only true joy on earth

false self,

is

to escape

from the prison of our own

and enter by love into union with the Life

and sings within the essence of every creature and our own

c.

d.

Do

dwells

in the core

of

souls.

One Problem

There and

Who

is

only one problem on which

my happiness

all

my

existence,

my

peace

depend: to discover myself in discovering God.

The Difference Between Pleasure and Joy not look for rest in any pleasure, because you were not created

for pleasure:

you were created

for JOY.

And

if

you do not know the

difference between pleasure and spiritual joy you have not yet

begun

e.

to live.

Grace

So keep

still,

and

let

Him

do some work.

GRACE NOTES Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971)

54.

An

influential Protestant theologian.

THE SERENITY PRAYER God Grant

me

Serenity

To

accept the things

I

cannot change

Courage

To change

Wisdom

the things

to

know

I

can and

the difference.

55.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968): Letter from the Birmingham City Jail

Dr.

King was

the leading spokesman for the

movement and was awarded

the

American

Nobel Peace Prize

some of his fellow clergymen had issued a statement

In jail for that

offense,

that, while

was

to

You express

disobedi-

become the most fa-

mous document of the movement. Only a briefportion .

of civil

sympa-

King, with a smuggled pen and on scraps of

paper, defended his actions in a letter that

My fellow clergymen.

In 1963,

in 1964.

thizing with his civil rights goals, criticized his tactic ence.

civil rights

is

excerpted here.

.

a great deal of anxiety over our willingness to break

laws and obeying others?"

"How can you advocate breaking some The answer is found in the fact that

there are two types of laws:

There zrtjust laws and there

laws.

laws.

law

.

I

.

.

One may

well ask,

would agree with

St.

are unjust

Augustine that "An unjust law

is

no

at all."

Now what is the difference between the two? How does one determine when a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man-made code which squares with the moral law or the law of God. is

a

code that

is

out of harmony with the moral law

An

unjust law

To put

it

in the

277

278

CHRISTIANITY term of St. Thomas Aquinas, an unjust law

is

human

a

law that

is

Any law that uplifts human degrades human personality is un-

not rooted in eternal and natural law personality

Any

is just.

law that

segregation statutes are unjust because segregation dis-

just. All

torts the soul

and damages the personality. ... To use the words of

Martin Buber, the great Jewish philosopher, segregation suban "I— it" relationship for the "I-thou" relationship, and

stitutes

ends up relegating persons to the status of things. ... So

men

can urge

I

to disobey segregation ordinances because they are morally

wrong.

.

.

.

You spoke of our

activity in

was rather disappointed

Birmingham

that fellow

as

I

.

.

first I

my

non-

.

continued to think about the matter

a bit of satisfaction

At

clergymen would see

violent efforts as those of the extremist.

But

as extreme.

I

gradually gained

from being considered an extremist. Was not

— "Love your enemies, them curse pray them use you." Was not Amos — down an "Let waters and righteousness mighty stream." Was not Paul an — bear my body marks of of Jesus —"Here Lord Was not Martin Luther an help me God." Was not John Bunyan an can do no other — make end of my days butchery of my Was not Abraham Lincoln an extrem—"This cannot and Was not — an be Thomas "We hold

Jesus an extremist in love you,

that despitefully

for

extremist for justice

justice roll

like

extremist for

like a

Christ

the gospel

that

bless

"I

the

the

in

extremist

Jesus."

stand;

I

ex-

so

I

tremist

"I will stay in

jail

before

to the

I

a

these truths to

self-

conscience."

nation

ist

Jefferson

evident, that

whether we .

.

.

all

will

men

survive half slave

extremist

are created equal."

half free."

So the question

be extremist but what kind of extremist

Let us hope that the dark clouds of

tomorrow the radiant

stars of love

our great nation with

all

in

will

we be.

be

some not too

and brotherhood

of their scintillating beauty.

Yours for the cause of Peace and Brotherhood,

Martin Luther King, Jr.

not

racial prejudice will

soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding

from our fear-drenched communities and

will

is

lifted

distant

will shine over

GRACE NOTES

Amazing Grace

56.

A renowned Christian hymn. Amazing

That saved I

once was

Was

how sweet

grace!

wretch

a

but

lost,

now

blind, but

grace

my

now am found, I see.

fear,

I first

that grace appear

believed.

Through many dangers, I

my heart to

fears relieved;

How precious did The hour

me!

like

'Twas grace that taught

And

the sound

toils

and snares,

have already come;

'Tis grace hath brought

And

grace will lead

When

me safe

thus

far,

me home.

we've been there ten thousand years,

Bright shining as the sun,

We've no

less

days to sing God's praise

Than when we

first

begun.

279

CHAPTER SEVEN

Islam

T

he first of Islam 's two central affirmations

God" (La ilaha illa'llah). The God referred than the One God of the Jews and the Christians,

but

the universe, revealed his will to

prophets,

Muslims

and say,

God whom

the is

disclose his will for

—

finally

lost in

tively short span

Islam. For

the

is

and Christian

human

static.

humankind once again

—

God

the

sum of the

there

is

Muhammad's

none other

Though Islam ligions, it does

is

created

the Jewish

The problem,

centuries,

role in

God's

therefore resolved to

fully, unambiguously,

and

name was

is

the Qur'an, the holy book

nothing holier on earth. The Qur'an

is

of

for

Word of God, God's presence

conveying the Qur'an

second of Islam's great affirmations:

(Muhammadan

no god

revelation he received over the rela-

of twenty-three years

Muslims

is

God who

Jesus called Father.

them, like Christ for Christians, the living

God "

to here

through a devout Arab of the sixth century C.E. His

Muhammad, and

on earth.

"There

Abraham, Moses, and

that over the Jewish

message was sometimes

is

"Muhammad

is is

honored

in the

the Prophet

of

rasulu'llah).

the youngest

(andfastest growing) of the world's

not think of itself as a

new

re-

tradition, but rather as the

282

ISLAM Nor does

culmination of a very old one.

word me mean a

if by that

of our worldly

rest

set

The two

and of

think of itself as a "religion"

of beliefs and actions sealed ojffrom Islam

business. Rather,

way of life. Contained within for the entire range of human

it

sees itselfas

an all-embracing

teaching of the path to

its

life

—

social, political,

God is guidance

and economic.

basic sources for the Islamic tradition are the

the hadiths or "traditions "

and deeds of

the sayings

the

Qur'an 1

itself

of Muhammad. The

latter are reports

the Prophet by those

who knew him.

Accordingly, most of the selections below belong either to the Qur'an or to the hadiths, spirit

with a final section of Grace Notes paying tribute

of Islamic mysticism or Sufism.

THE QUR'AN:

Suras of Mecca and Medina

Over the twenty-three-year period in which

Muhammad,

he resided first at

Mecca

Medina

bryonic Islam, and then at

The

lished Islamic community.

the

Meccan

as the respected leader

of em-

of an estab-

of the Qur'an are

suras, or chapters,

of revelation. The

earlier

suras are highly oracular utterances concerning the unity,

and power of God,

glory,

Qur'an was revealed to

as the embattled Prophet

often classified according to these two loci

the

to the

the

moral responsibility of human

coming end of the world and judgment of humankind. The

Medinan

suras, while including these themes, are

regarding legal

Unlike

story

Hebrew

Qur'an contains

movement

and

social matters

cousins, the

its

the holy

and

across time

little

Bible

the general conduct

narrative. There

and space

as there

of God's incarnation as we find

The reader should note that

more prosaic

and the Christian

in the

in the

is

is

New

later

dictates

of

life.

Testament,

no story of a people's

in the

New

and

beings,

Hebrew

Bible,

no

Testament.

Qur'an God

refers to

himself in-

terchangeably as "We," "He," and "I." All of the verses of the Qur'an

1

.

Throughout

struct.

One

Qur'an.

Its

this

book

feels that

I

have tried to select passages that edify as well as in-

nowhere

is

this task

power resides not only

latable lyrical

in the

more

difficult

than in the case of the

meanings of its words but

beauty of its Arabic original. Anyone trying to get a

well advised to hear the

Qur'an

recited.

in the untrans-

feel for

Islam

is

QUR'AN are to be understood as the direct speech of God, not of Muhammad.

Muhammad was the Qur'an's conduit,

1.

not

its

author.

Suras of Mecca

Of the titles

headings in this section only numbers a and h reflect the actual

of the suras

in the

Qur'an. The other headings are mine, used for

descriptive purposes.

a.

The Fatihah (Opening)

This sura has been called the very essence of the Qur'an.

In the

Name of God,

Praise be to

the merciful

Lord of mercy.

God, the Lord of all being,

The merciful Lord of mercy, Master of the Day of Judgment. You alone we Guide us

serve and to

You alone we come

for aid.

in the straight path,

whom You have blessed, Not of those against whom there is displeasure,

The

path of those

Nor of those who have gone b.

The First Verses Revealed RECITE, Created Recite,

who c.

astray.

God

in the

Muhammad

Name of your Lord who created,

man from

how

to

a sperm-cell.

altogether gracious

taught by the pen, taught

is

your Lord,

man what

he knows not.

Celebrates the Night of His First Revelation to

Muhammad Truly we revealed the Qur'an on the night of authority.

Would

that

you knew what the night of authority means!

Better than a thousand

months

is

Thereon come the angels and the

By

the night of authority. Spirit

down,

leave of their Lord, for every behest.

It is a

night of peace until the breaking of the day.

283

284

ISLAM

God Begets Not, Nor Is He Begotten

d.

In the

name of the

"He

God, One, God the ever

is

He begets not, None Say:

e.

is like

nor

is

self-sufficing,

begotten.

unto Him."

Take Refuge

I

In the

merciful Lord of mercy. Say:

name of the

in

God

merciful Lord of mercy. Say:

"I take refuge with the

Lord of men,

The King of men, the God of men, From the evil of the whispering insinuator

Who whispers in the hearts of men, From

jinn

2

and men."

God, the Creator, Knows All

f.

Name of your Lord most high, He who created and fashioned, He who measured and guided, who caused the pasture to spring forth and then turned its green to decay. We will cause you to recite: so forget not, except as God wills. For He knows what Praise the

is

uttered and what

.

concealed.

.

.

.

Death and Judgment

g.

.

is

Death

.

to

man! how thankless he

is!

From what

God

did

create

He made him and ordered his being, facilitating his course, and then of God comes his dying and his being laid in the grave. Then, when he wills, He brings him forth him? From a drop of sperm

to life again. .

.

.

When the resurrection trump is heard, on a day when a man

shall flee

from

and children

enough on

2.

Invisible

human

his brother, his mother,

—on

that day every

his hands.

demons and

beings.

The

On

spirits,

and

human

his father,

from

living will have

his wife

more than

that day there will be shining faces, blithe

mainly malevolent but sometimes helpful to

English word genie originates here.

QUR'AN with

and there

joy,

will

—

be faces blackened with dust

the faces of

the faithless and the graceless.

h.

The Earthquake

When Earth is rocked in her last convulsion; when Earth shakes off man

—

"What may this mean?" on that day she will proclaim her tidings, for your Lord will have inspired her. On that day mankind will come in broken bands to be shown their labours. Whoever does an atom's weight of good shall see it, her burdens and

asks,

and whoever does an atom's weight of evil

2.

it

Meccan

suras.

also.

A Sura of Medina

Medinan

suras tend to be

much

selections

from

Medinan

found

the longest

longer than sura,

Other examples of the content

headings.

a.

will see

in selection 10, "Social

Below are

my own subof Medinan suras may be

Sura

2,

with

Matters."

On Eating

Believers! Eat of the

and give thanks

to

good things with which

God

—

if

indeed

it is

We have provided you

His worshippers you

are!

However, carrion, blood, and the meat of swine are prohibited

you

as well as that over

invoked. But if anyone tent

b.

which any other name than God's has been

is

driven by necessity, without deliberate in-

and not going beyond

God

by him.

is

to

his need, there will

be no sin incurred

forgiving and merciful.

On Wills

... It

is

decreed that when death approaches, those of you that

leave property shall bequeath

This

is

a

it

equitably to parents and kindred.

duty incumbent upon the righteous.

after hearing

and knows

it

shall

He

that alters a will

be accountable for his crime.

God

hears

all.

He that suspects an error or an injustice on

the part of a testator

and brings about a settlement among the parties incurs no

God

is

all

forgiving and merciful.

guilt.

285

:>6

ISLAM

On

c.

Fasting

You who have

who came

believed, fasting

before you, with

votion to God.

what

.

.

enjoined that

is

you do good

fast,

When

.

a

decreed for you

is

view

to a

was

it

for th