Teachings of the Compassionate Buddha and the Parable of the Lost Son - Essay Example

? Comparison of Teachings of the Compassionate Buddha and The Parable of the Lost Son Word Count 040 (4 pages) I. Introduction In The Teachings ofthe Compassionate Buddha, as well as the passage in Luke 15:11-32, there are definitely similarities in the story of the prodigal son, told from both the Buddhist and the Christian perspectives. The similarities are as follows in both stories: the father was rich; the father was compassionate; and the father sought communication or interaction of some type with his own son. II. The Father Was Rich According to both stories, whomever the elusive ‘father’ was, he was very rich and was a man of substantial wealth. In The Teachings, the father’s wealth was greatly focused upon and stressed as an important part of the story. The father had many jewels about him, and acquired many riches, while his son was laboring in a poor hamlet for low wages.1 The Buddhist account is a tale which truly focuses on how the father was living in lavish luxury—while his own son was very poor, as he had left the household in search of adventure and spent much of his own fortune. What is most troubling about the difference between the Buddhist and the Christian accounts is how much the Buddhist teaching focuses on telling the story in such an elaborate fashion—detailing the every luxury of the father’s house, whereas the Christian account is a rather, how shall one say, ‘unvarnished’ tale. The Biblical account, while very similar in terms of talking about the father’s wealth—also mentions the fact that, like in the Buddhist account, the son is poor and working as a hired hand on his own father’s land. In the Biblical account, the prodigal son says, “ ‘I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’”2 Thus, both accounts do focus on the fact that the father was indeed rich and that the young man, the son, was working for his own father while in dire financial straits after having spent everything that was worth something. In this sense, both stories are right on target with regards to their retelling. III. The Father Was Compassionate The father, in both accounts of the story, was very compassionate with regard to how he treated his son. In The Teachings, it says, “The father [was] struck with compassion [for his son, who was working hard in the field as a day-laborer.”3 In the Biblical account, it says, “But while he [the son] was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him...”4 This demonstration of compassion is something that everyone can relate to, as a parent’s compassion for a child is something that is unbelievably generous and tender. This is related well in both accounts of the actual story’s own retelling. IV. The Father Sought Communication With His Son It is natural for any parent to want to have communication with his or her child. This father, in both accounts, was so desperate to have his son back home that not only did he go out of his way to be close to his son—but, that, in the Biblical account, the father slaughters the fatted calf in order to celebrate his homecoming. In The Teachings, The father dressed himself in rough cloth and put dust on himself just to go about into the field where his son was working.5 He just wanted to be near him. It was like a father painfully watching his son be homeless and volunteering at a homeless shelter just to have interaction with him. Similarly, in the Biblical account, the father goes to his son—but in this case the father has physical contact and gets to hug his own son. “[The father] ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.”6 There is something powerful about the relationship of the father and son that is evidenced through both of these very insightful, endearing readings. V. Conclusion Of course, no love can match that of a parent’s love for his or her child—except possibly that of a lover for his or her partner. However, what is amazing is that both of these accounts of the father caring for and loving his son are so similar. Even though the teachings of the Buddha are very old, even older than before the time of the Bible—what shines through in the Biblical account are the bare bones of the story. The Biblical account is not elaborate, nor flashy—but it doesn’t need to be. The simple, unvarnished tale of a father who cares for his son is what is the compelling material here. By today’s standards, if a son asked his father for his share of the family wealth, and then went and squandered it—most likely a father living in today’s era would not be happy, nor welcome him back to the family table again like everything was completely normal. However, one must understand that these were uncertain times that people were living in back then. For example, sons were actually much more highly valued than daughters, mainly because they could do farming work and other valuable work that was prized in agrarian societies. Meanwhile, daughters were less valued because all they could do was housework in the eyes of the male species back then. Therefore, the bond between a father and a son was very strong—because it was assumed that once the father was no longer living, he would have an heir to pass down knowledge, wisdom, his legacy, and his possessions to his sons. In many cases, this meant dividing the wealth, as the Biblical account tells of the father dividing the wealth to give the young son his own portion. Having said that, the father-son relationship was vital to the security of the estate which the father owned. The father usually depended on his sons, his heirs, to take care of the estate and so forth. So, it became the duty of the sons to take care of their inheritances. The Biblical account showed the young son squandering his wealth on a variety of fleeting pleasures, and then returning home empty-handed. When the older son asks why the father is treating his younger son so well after having squandered his fortune, the father says that everything he has is “yours,” but that he had to realize that his young son was once “dead” to him but now he was “alive” (found). Both accounts of the tale of the prodigal son are moving stories which serve to enlighten us about the father’s riches, the father’s compassion, and a father’s wish to reach out to his own flesh and blood. WORKS CITED Burtt, E.A. “The Prodigal Son and the Seeking Father.” In The Teachings of the Compassionate Buddha. US: NAL Trade, 2000. Pp. 128, 129. Luke 15:11-32. The Holy Bible. NIV Version. Retrieved 28 Sept 2011. Available: . Read More