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Ooreenkomste tussen Jesus en Boeddha

Deur Prof. Neels Moolman op 1 September 2011

Inleiding

In my vorige artikel, My de-bekering (in Julie) het ek my geloofspad beskryf wat uiteindelik gelei het tot my spirituele ontwaking eerder as die navolging van 'n religieuse dogma. In my soeke na my eie waarheid en vrede moes ek tot my eie verbasing ontdek dat daar onvermydelike ooreenkomste bestaan tussen Jesus, die Christelike geloof en ander gode en gelowe. Die verhaal van Jesus was dus nooit so uniek soos wat die Kerk my wou laat glo nie. Eers nou, met die kennis ontploffing en die toegang deur middle van die internet tot ander bronne van inligting, wat voorheen nie beskikbaar was nie, kon ek ontdek hoe die Kerk, terwille van eie belang, ons in die duister gehou het.

Die ooreenkomste tussen Boeddha en Jesus sal vervolgens bespreek word t.o.v. hul lewensgeskiedenis en leerstellings. Hierdie bespreking maak geensins aanspraak op volledigheid nie. Die doel daarvan is om mense te laat besin oor dit wat die Kerk ons wou laat glo, en die werklikheid.

Ek hoop om in opvolgende artikels dieselfde ooreenkomste t.o.v. ander geloofsisteme en die Christelike geloof te kan uitlig.

Die lewensgeskiedenis van Buddha en Jesus

Boeddha het ongeveer 500 V.C. geleef. Tog is daar treffende ooreenkomste tussen Boeddha en Jesus. Volgens die antieke Boeddhistiese legende, was sy moeder 'n maagd wat wonderbaarlik deur die toekomstige Boeddha beset is in die vorm van 'n wit olifant wat uit haar regter sy voortgebring is (Hopkins, 1901:129). Die Sanskrit kundige Dr. Edward W. Hopkins beweer dat hierdie wonderbaarlike geboorte verhaal ongetwyfeld minstens dateer vanuit die 3de eeu V.C. en selfs vroeër. Die wonderbaarlike geboorte van Boeddha, sowel as sy versoeking, is uitgegraveer op monumente 150 V.C. en ouer (Hopkins, 1901:137).

Soos Jesus, word geglo dat Boeddha 'n heilige wese was wat voor sy geboorte reeds in die hemel bestaan het (Hopkins, 1901:127-128s). Boeddha is soos Jesus ook uit 'n maagd genaamd Maya gebore wat beskou is as die "koningin van die hemel" (Coomaraswamy, 1972:37). Soos Jesus was Boeddha ook van koninklike afkoms en het as 'n prins bekend gestaan (Thundy, 1993:81). Tydens sy geboorte het 'n wonderbaarlike lig verskyn soos die ster van Bethlehem tydens die geboorte van Jesus (Thundy, 1993:107). Soos Herodes bevel gegee het dat die manlike seuntjies vermoor moes word so ook het die tiran Bimbasara bevel gegee dat seuntjies vermoor moes word in Boeddha se geval (Del Mar, 1900:124). Soos wat Simeon geprofeteer het dat Jesus 'n groot geestelike leier sou word (Luk. 2:25-35) was daar ook 'n heilige wat dieselfde voorspel het vir Boeddha (Hopkins, 1901:28). Beide Jesus en Boeddha het as kinders hul leermeesters onderrig (Carpenter, 1880:973).

Beide het hul bediening op 29 jarige ouderdom begin (Thundy, 1993:54) en het die kop van 'n slang vermorsel (Carpenter, 1880:48). Soos Jesus deur Satan versoek is, is Boeddha deur Mara versoek en beide is die aarde en alles wat daarop is, belowe (Carpenter, 1880:974). Soos Jesus het Boeddha 12 dissipels gehad en het rondgereis en oral gepreek (Thundy, 1993:54). Beide het afgodediens verbied (Dobbins, 1883:212), was die saaier van die woord (Mead, 1902:133) en het gepreek oor die vestiging van 'n regverdige koninkryk (Thundy, 1993:54). Soortgelyk aan Jesus is daar vertel dat Boeddha wonderwerke verrig het, siekes gesond gemaak (Carpenter, 1880:974), 500 mense gevoed vanuit 'n klein mandjie met brood (Carpenter, 1880:89) en het 'n dissipel help loop op water (Whitney, 1908:361). Beide het 'n bergrede gehad (Carpenter, 1880:975) en het kuisheid, matigheid, verdraagsaamheid, medelye, liefde en gelykheid gepredik (Carpenter, 1880:977-978). Soos Jesus in Jerusalem, is Boeddha in sy tuisdorp triomfantlik ontvang (Carpenter, 1880:976). Boeddha is deur 'n dissipel verraai wie ander daartoe gelei het om hom te vermoor soos in die geval van Jesus met Judas (Carpenter, 1880:976). Tydens Boeddha se dood het 'n aardbewing ontstaan. Soos Jesus het Boeddha gesterf aan 'n kruis (Lindner, 2005:87), drie dae in die hel gely (Thundy, 1993:102) en is daarna uit die dode opgewek (Paine, 1981:102). Hy het na Nirvanna (hemel) vertrek (Jaini, 1968:331-332).

Soos Jesus is na Boeddha ook verwys as die goeie herder (69), die skrynwerker (Hardy, 1967:100) die ewige en onsterflike (Mead, 1902:71) en die groot geneesheer (Carpenter, 1880:976), die redder van die wêreld (Thundy, 1993:80) en die Lig van die wêreld (Thundy, 1993:80).

Ooreenkomste tussen die leerstellings van Boeddha en Jesus

In hierdie gedeelte is daar, ter wille van moontlike vertalingsfoute en vergelykbaarheid gehou by die Engelse aanhalings van beide Boeddha en Jesus. Die aanhalings van Boeddha is nie in Afrikaans beskikbaar nie.

1. "Do to others as you would have them do to you." (Luke 6:31)
   "Consider others as yourself." (Dhammapada 10:1)
2. "If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also." (Luke 6:29)
   "If anyone should give you a blow with his hand, with a stick, or with a knife, you should abandon any desires and utter no evil words." (Majjhima Nikaya 21:6)
3. "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. From anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them back." (Luke 6:27-30)
   "Hatreds do not ever cease in this world by hating, but by love: this is an eternal truth. Overcome anger by love, overcome evil by good ... Overcome the miser by giving, overcome the liar by truth." (Dhammapada 1.5 & 17.3)
4. "Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me." (Matt. 25:45)
   "If you do not tend one another, then who is there to tend to you? Whoever would tend me, he should tend the sick." (Vinaya, Mahavagga 8:26:3)
5. "Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take the sword shall perish by the sword." (Matt. 26:52)
   "Abandoning the taking of life, the ascetic Gautama dwells refraining from taking life, without stick or sword." (Digha Nikaya 1:1:8)
6. "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friend." (John 15:12-13)
   "Just as a mother would protect her only child at the risk of her own life, even so, cultivate a boundless heart towards all beings. Let your thoughts of boundless love pervade the whole world." (Sutta Nipata 149-150)
7. "Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." (John 1:17)
   "The body of the Buddha is born of love, patience, gentleness and truth." (Vimalakirtinirdesha Sutra 2)
8. "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches." (Matt. 13:31-32)
   "Do not underestimate good, thinking it will not affect you. Dripping water can fill a pitcher, drop by drop; one who is wise is filled with good, even if one accumulates it little by little." (Dhammapada 9:7)
9. "Why do you see the speck in your neighbor's eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, "Friend, let me take the speck out of your eye," when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor's eye." (Luke 6:41-42)
   "The faults of others are easier to see than one's own; the faults of others are easily seen, for they are sifted like chaff, but one's own faults are hard to see. This is like the cheat who hides his dice and shows the dice of his opponent, calling attention to the other's shortcomings, continually thinking of accusing him." (Undanavarga 27:1)
10. "They said to him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" He said to them, "Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." (John 8:4-7)
    "Do not look at the faults of others, or what others have done or not done; observe what you yourself have done and have not done." (Dhammapada 4:7)
11. "Your eye is the lamp of your body. If your eye is healthy your whole body is full of light; but if it is not healthy, your body is full of darkness. Therefore consider whether the light in you is full of darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, it will be as full of light as when a lamp gives you light with its rays." (Luke 11: 34-36)
    "As a man with eyes who carries a lamp sees all objects, so too with one who has heard the Moral Law. He will become perfectly wise." (Udanavarga 22:4)
12. "Your father in heaven makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous." (Matt. 5:45)
    "That great cloud rains down on all whether their nature is superior or inferior. The light of the sun and the moon illuminates the whole world, both him who does well and him who does ill, both him who stands high and him who stands low." (Sadharmapundarika Sutra 5)
13. "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God." (Luke 6:20)
    "Let us live most happily, possessing nothing; let us feed on joy, like the radiant gods." (Dhammapada 15:4)
14. "If you wish to be perfect, go sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven." (Matt.19:21)
    "The avaricious do not go to heaven, the foolish do not extol charity. The wise one, however, rejoicing in charity, becomes thereby happy in the beyond." (Dhammapada 13:11)
15. "He looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the treasury; he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. He said, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on." (Luke 21:1-4)
    "Giving is the noble expression of the benevolence of the mighty. Even dust, given in childish innocence, is a good gift. No gift that is given in good faith to a worthy recipient can be called small; it effects us so great." (Jatakamala 3:23)
16. "Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die." (John 11:26)
    "Those who have sufficient faith in me, sufficient love for me, are all headed for heaven or beyond." (Majjhima Nikaya 22:47)
17. "Those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it." (Mark 8:35)
    "With the relinquishing of all thought and egotism, the enlightened one is liberated through not clinging." (Majjhima Nikaya 72:15)
18. "Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." (Matt. 8:20)
    "The thoughtful exert themselves; they do not delight in an abode. Like swans who have left their lake they leave their house and home." (Majjhima Nikaya)
19. "When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time." (Luke 4:13)
    "During the six years that the Bodhisattva practiced austerities, the demon followed behind him step by step, seeking an opportunity to harm him. But he found no opportunity whatsoever and went away discouraged and discontent." (Lalitavistara Sutra 18)
20. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." (Matt. 5:8)
    "Anyone who enters into meditation on compassion can see Brahma with his own eyes, talk to him face to face and consult with him." (Digha Nikaya 19:43)
21. "Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them." (John 20:26)
    "He goes unhindered through a wall." (Anugattara Nikaya 3:60)
22. "And after six days Jesus takes with him Peter, and James, and John, and leads them up into a high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them. And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on Earth can white them." (Mark 9:2-3)
    "Ananda, having arranged one set of golden robes on the body of the Lord, observed that against the Lord's body it appeared dulled. And he said, "It is wonderful, Lord, it is marvelous how clear and bright the Lord's skin appears! It looks even brighter than the golden robes in which it is clothed." (Digha Nikaya 16:4:37)

Gevolgtrekkings

Dit wil voorkom asof die skrywers van die Nuwe Testament Boeddha se verhaal gebruik het om die mitologiese Jesus te help skep. Volgens die ooreenkomste in die leerstellings van Jesus en Boeddha, is dit duidelik dat Jesus, in die 18 jaar van sy lewe waarvan ons niks weet nie, onder andere in die Ooste deurgebring en daar in Boeddhiste tempels geleer het. Wat Jesus geleer en verkondig het was dus reeds voorheen deur Boeddha geleer en verkondig.

Bibliografie

Carpenter, Joseph Estlin, "Obligations of the New Testament to Buddhism," The Nineteenth Century, VIII, July-December 1880.
Coomaraswamy, Ananda Kentish, Elements of Buddhist Iconography, Munshiram Manoharlal, New Delhi 1972.
Dameron, James P., Spiritism; the Origin of All Religions, SF, 1885.
Del Mar, Alexander, The Worship of Augustus Caesar, The Cambridge Encyclopedia Co., NY, 1900.
Dobbins, Frank S., Error's Chains: How Forged and Broken, Standard Publishing House, 1883.
Hardy, R. Spence, A Manual of Budhism, Chowkhamba, Sanskrit Series, India, 1967.
Hopkins, Edward Washburn, India Old and New, with a Memorial Address, Charles Scribner's Sons, London, 1901.
Jaini, Padmanabh S., Collected Papers on Buddhist Studies, Motilal Banarsidass Publ., Delhi, 2001.
Kloppenborg, Ria, The Sutra on the Foundation of the Buddhist Order, E.J. Brill, 1973.
Lillie, Arthur, Buddha and Buddhism, T&T Clark, 1900. – Buddhism in Christendom: Or Jesus, the Essene, Kegan Paul, London, 1887.
Lindtner, Christian, "Jesus is Buddha," jesusisbuddha.com – Geheimnisse um Jesus Christus: Das Neue Testament ist Buddhas Testament, Lühe-Verlag, 2005.
Mead, G.R.S., The Gospels and the Gospel, Theosophical Publishing, London, 1902.
Paine, Robert T., The Art and Architecture of Japan, Yale University Press, 1981.
Thundy, Zacharias P., "The Sanskrit Sources of the Gospel Narratives of the Trial and Death", www.jesusisbuddha.com/thundy.html – Buddha and Christ: Nativity Stories and Indian Traditions, E.J. Brill, Leiden, 1993.
Wallbank, Thomas Walter, Civilization Past and Present, I, Scott, Foresman, 1960.
Whitney, Loren Harper, A Question of Miracles: Parallels in the Lives of Buddha and Jesus, The Library Shelf, Chicago, 1908.

Prof. Neels Moolman
Department of Criminology & Criminal Justice
University of Limpopo

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