9th Issue (September, 2008) The Jesus, Buddha, and Gospel of Luke Indra Sen Before reading the Gospel of Luke, I had never read any passage of the Bible in depth. The Gospel of Luke details Jesus’ birth, life, death and resurrection. It also pays special attention to Jesus’ encounters and treatment of the poor. The Gospel of Luke, and Jesus, view everyone being poor in some capacity—not just the underprivileged, sick, blind and disabled. Even the healthy and rich are poor—some are poor and devoid of virtue and good values. Jesus seeks to help the poor through his healing and teachings, which are all in the name of the Highest Lord. Faith can heal us all. After reading the Gospel, I also found connections to my own religion, Buddhism, and saw parallels to everyday life here in DC. The life of Jesus and the life of the Buddha are very similar—from seeing and understanding suffering, and passing their message on to the Sangha and Disciples. And the poor in the Gospel of Luke remind me of the poor I see here in Washington, DC today. In this essay, I will explore who the poor are in the Gospel of Luke, and Jesus’ reaction to the poor. I will then compare and contrast the Jesus and Buddha, and make applications of their lives and the Gospel of Luke to today’s world. When Jesus arrives to Nazareth, he makes a powerful statement regarding the poor. He states: “The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me; he has sent me to announce good news to the poor, to proclaim release for prisoners and recovery for sight for the blind; to let broken victims go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour” (Luke 4:18-19). In this passage, it seems that the poor are the blind, downtrodden, and prisoners (of disease or other illnesses). Jesus’ delivers his promise to help the poor in the Lord’s name. He heals Simon’s mother of a high fever (Luke 4:39-40). Jesus later meets a man with leprosy, and then cures him. But instead of telling the man to tell other people with leprosy to come to Jesus, Jesus asks him to pray to the priest and make him an offering for cleansing. This is interesting because one would think that Jesus would try to heal as many people as possible. But instead, he asks him to engage in a religious act. Jesus does not heal the poor for the sake of healing the poor; he seeks to invoke something greater into individuals: faith. In the city of Nain, Jesus cures many sufferers from “diseases, plagues, and evil spirits; and on many blind people he bestowed sight” (Luke 7:21-22). Within the Gospel of Luke, Jesus has over a dozen encounters with people who are poor in the physical sense (plagued with physical illnesses, sight problems, possessed by the devil). However, a close read of the Gospel of Luke tells us who really the poor are. In the 6th chapter of Luke, Jesus speaks to his disciples and asks, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eyes, with never a thought for the great plank in your own…First take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s” (Luke 6: 40-42). Jesus’ words teach us that we are all blind in some ways. Poor really means “missing” something, whether it is a value, virtue, experience, or feeling. Jesus tells a story about the time he attended a reception at Levi’s house with tax gatherers and sinners. He tells his disciples: “It is not the healthy that need a doctor, but the sick; I have not come to invite virtuous people, but to call sinners to repentance.” In this situation, the tax gatherers and sinners are poor of virtue, and by calling for their repentance, Jesus can help them fill this deficit. Even a Priest can be poor. In the tenth chapter, Jesus tells the story of a priest who is poor of kindness. A man has been robbed and left for dead. A priest walks down the same road where this man has fallen, but instead of helping the man, the priest crosses the street and ignores him (Luke 10:31-34). Even lawyers, men who endeavor to bring justice, are devoid of sensibility. Jesus states, “Yes, you lawyers, it is no better with you! For you load men with intolerable burdens, and will not put a single finder to the load” (Luke 11:45-47). In some ways, everyone has a deficit in their lives, something missing. Jesus tells us that those who are in need, hungry, weep, and hated will one day be rich, well-fed, happy, and loved. Those who are rich, well fed, laugh, and are loved, will eventually face opposite fortunes. We are all poor in some ways. The majority black poor population living in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina and the rich white population in Malibu suffering from the wildfires are facing similar misfortunes. But through all misfortunes and losses, two things can aid and heal us: each other and our faith. Jesus asks those who are rich to invite the “poor, crippled, lame and blind” to their parties (Luke 14: 21-22). The engagement of these two different types of people, the rich and the poor, enriches all of us. It is the Good Samaritan that saves the man who has fallen on the road, not the priest. We must be good neighbors to one another, and be cognizant of each other’s needs. This is what the Gospel of Luke ultimately tells us, that faith can go a long way. When Jesus healed a women suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years, she was shocked. But Jesus told her, “My daughter, your faith has cured you” (Luke 8: 53-55). A woman who was living an immoral life kissed the feet of Jesus and drenched them in tears. In the end, her sins were forgiven. Jesus said, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace” (Luke 7:48-50). Faith has a tremendous power to heal us all of our deficits. In many ways, the Life of the Jesus and the Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama) are very similar, as well as different. The Virgin Mary and Queen Maya both had pre-birth revelations. The Angel Gabriel visited Mary telling her that she would bear the Son of God. Queen Maya dreamt a white elephant had visited her womb, a sign that the universal emperor was coming. But what’s especially interesting about the Buddha and Jesus is their conception and treatment of the poor. Jesus had come as a savior, and to help the poor. Early in the Gospel he states “The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me; he has sent me to announce good news to the poor, to proclaim release for prisoners and recovery for sight for the blind; to let broken victims go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour” (Luke 4:18-19). The Buddha’s journey was different, as he did not find his purpose immediately. Nonetheless, at a young age, Brahmans revealed that Siddhartha would devote himself to “asceticism if he cast his eyes on age, sickness, or death.” The son of King Suddhodhana, the Buddha lived an incredibly sheltered life. In his mid-twenties, he wandered out of the palace and to his disbelief, met a decrepit man. On another trip, the Buddha saw a maimed man who was not cared for. On his third visit outside the palace, the Buddha saw a dead corpse and witnessed a funeral. Moved by these experiences, he left the palace and dedicated his life to asceticism. Through his journeys, the Buddha met a variety of different characters, and witnessed suffering first-hand. As Jesus vowed to help the “poor,” Buddha vowed to “try to save all beings from such suffering.”[1] Also, just like people prayed for Jesus, people in India were praying for “an enlightened messiah.”[2] However, unlike Jesus, the Buddha did not heal people directly. He did not bring people back to life, heal leprosy, give sight to the blind—the Buddha healed people through his teachings, especially teaching people the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path. If followed correctly, the Eightfold Path allows one to achieve nirvana. The Buddha also stated that "Charity, knowledge and virtue are possessions that cannot be lost.”[3] Jesus healed and gave his teachings. The story of a woman with a lost son best exemplifies differences between Jesus and the Buddha. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus brought back to life a young girl. Once a crying woman came to the Buddha and asked him to bring her dead baby son back to life. The Buddha agreed to, but only if the women first brought back a mustard seed. The mustard seed had to come from a home that had not seen any death. The women searched long and hard, but what she found was people who had lost their sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, and friends. The young women then realized that life was impermanent, and that everyone must face suffering. Jesus probably would have agreed with this, as he said that those who are happy will one day feel sad, those who are well fed will one day feel hungry. But in many cases, Jesus used his god-given powers to undo the pain inflicted on many people. Jesus viewed everyone being poor in some capacity; poorness if you will, is a universal state. In the same manner, the Buddha sees universal suffering. The First Noble Truth (out of the Four Noble Truths), the Truth of Dukkha, tells us that in life there is suffering. Suffering not only means those who are ill, ugly, deformed, or in trouble, but also those who are happy. We all experience suffering in some small form, whether it is the disappointment of a friend canceling a date or missing an important event. Suffering is impermanence or imperfection.[4] Our cravings, passions and desires create this suffering. Jesus would say that even though the rich may be materially wealthy, they are still “poor” of other things, whether it is virtue, altruism, or sensibility. The Buddha sees the rich as suffering as well. These universal tenants guide both Christianity and Buddhism. We can overcome our poverty through Faith (in Christianity) and suffering in Buddhism through the Noble Eightfold Path. Through correct practice, following the Noble Eightfold Path may allow one to achieve Nirvāṇa and thus release from this world. In order to spread his teachings, the Buddha teaches the Saṅgha (monks), much like Jesus did with his twelve disciples. Comparing the lives of these two holy figures is completely fascinating, and I could talk about it more in length, but will end such comparison here for the sake of this paper. The Gospel of Luke makes me think about the poor today in America. In Washington, DC, many of the guest visitors in our class have showed us who the poor are—those who are physically disabled (L’Arche), people in drug rehabilitation (Catholic Charities Transitional Rehabilitation Program), underprivileged K-12 students (Steve de Man and our nation’s greatest injustice.) But the poor are also those politicos on Capitol Hill, people living in the beautiful Georgetown townhouses, and rich investment bankers on Yachts. Many of these people are devoid of sensibility, altruism, and virtue. In my last essay, I wrote a poem about DC being a tale of two cities. But in actuality, DC is really one city. Jesus said that one day the hungry will be fed, and the well fed will go hungry. I feel the same about Washington, DC. These two communities need to engage with one another—just like when Jesus told the rich person to invite the blind, lame, and poor to his house. Such engagement could potentially solve some problems. However, I feel that faith can help heal us all of our poorness. Embracing and practicing faith is a step in the right direction towards overcoming “poorness” and suffering. Reading the Gospel of Luke was a meaningful experience for me. Jesus and the Buddha share more similarities than meets the eye. Their lives inspire me in the work I do, and the way I see the poor (which includes myself). When I tutored prison inmates for their GED exam at Arlington Country Detention Facility in Virginia, I first though they were the poor (criminals who know could a chance to get a GED). I quickly learned that I was the one doing the real learning—learning about their survival stories on the streets, the way they cope with loneliness and love in prison, and their greater appreciation of life. The words and ways of Jesus and the Buddha guide me.    
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