Red Letters/Black Letters: Day 95: And now for a little bit of Buddha

Today is a not a devotion. Well, at least not what you've come to understand as one from my fingers at least. You may recall that back when I started this little endeavor I mentioned that I was working through a journal titled The Sayings of Jesus that I purchased at Half Price Books, for a couple bucks. I came across a copy of this same journal at Barnes and Nobel a couple weeks ago and decided to thumb through the copy. I had a theory as to why my copy was at HPB and wanted to see if I was correct. Now, while I will never absolutely know its the reason, I am fairly certain it is because of 10 pages in my copy that did not appear in the copy found in B & N. You see, in my copy the ten pages following the one with yesterday's verse from the gospel of John contain sayings not from Jesus, but from Buddha.

Now, it is my belief, much like the Apostle Paul, that all truth that exists in this lump of rock we call home comes from God. As such I have decided that for today I will share the twenty sayings of Buddha that are found in my journal. Perhaps they will cause a stirring in you, perhaps not. If they do, let them, there is nothing wrong with that. If they do not, just chuckle at the fact that some guy [or gal] got away with a little religious humor by placing them in some copies. Here we go...

Beware of the anger of the body. Master the body. Let it serve truth. -- Buddha

The wind cannot overturn a mountain. Temptation cannot touch the man who is awake. strong, 

and humble, who masters himself and minds the law. -- Buddha

The greatest impurity is ignorance. Free yourself from it. Be Pure. -- Buddha

For a while the fool's mischief tastes sweet, sweet as honey. But in the end it turns bitter. 

And how bitterly he suffers! -- Buddha

Beware of the anger of the mouth. Master your words. Let them serve truth. -- Buddha

One is not low because of birth nor does birth make one holy. 

Deeds alone make one low, deeds alone make one holy. -- Buddha

Happiness or sorrow - whatever befalls you, walk on untouched, unattached. -- Buddha

A wise man, recognizing that the world is but an illusion, does not act as if it is real, 

so he escapes the suffering. -- Buddha

Beware of the anger of the mind. Master your thoughts. Let them serve truth. -- Buddha

Be quick to do good. If you are slow, the mind, delighting in mischief, will catch you. -- Buddha

Does the spoon taste the soup? A fool may live all his life in the company of a master 

and still miss the way. -- Buddha

Endurance is one of the most difficult disciplines, but it is to the one who endures 

that the final victory comes. -- Buddha

Live joyfully, without desire. -- Buddha

The rain could turn to gold and still your thirst would not be slaked.

Desire is unquenchable or it ends in tears, even in heaven. -- Buddha

If the traveler cannot find a master or friend to go with him, 

let him travel alone rather than with a fool for company. -- Buddha

Follow the way of virtue. Follow the way joyfully through this world and beyond. -- Buddha

Now, I am no Buddhist, so I cannot say that I resonate with each one of them, but some of them speak into my heart and my mind. The three "beware of the anger of" statements I think are very powerful reminders of things that Jesus also taught. In addition Buddha's saying on the greatest impurity being ignorance is probably my favorite, I am a guy who believe in education in its many forms and when I think of negating ignorance I automatically think of education.

I have another book, a book about the parallel sayings of Buddha and Jesus, and if you look at a lot of the leaders of various world religions you start to see a lot of overlap. I believe this harkens back to my previous statement of belief in all truth being God's truth. God works in mysterious ways, through people as messed up as I am, and some worse. Because of that it makes complete sense in my mind that the people who most look for the truth will find the same one.

+ What saying, if any, resonated with you?

+ How does it make you feel that sayings of other religious people may line up with what Jesus said?

Now, there was a body of writing, and it was followed by a couple of questions, I guess this may well have been a devotion after all. Blessings.