Text Analysis

Text Analysis - Benarespredikan

The Benares sermon was the sermon that the Buddha is said to have given for five ascetics in Sarnath near Benares (Varanasi, India) shortly after his enlightenment. Before his enlightenment, Buddha was called Siddhartha Gautama. Here is an excerpt from the sermon that you will analyze:

“Open Your Eyes; immortality is won (by me); I teach you, I preach the doctrine. If you walk the path I show you, you will soon receive it on your lot, for the sake of which noble youths draw from their homes into homelessness, namely, the highest perfection of the noble endeavor. At school already in this life, experience the truth for yourself and see it face to face. ”

And the Exalted One thus addressed the five monks: “There are two more, you monks, whom it must avoid, as for a spiritual life. What are these two extremes? One is a life of lusts, devoted lusts and pleasures: it is low, base, unspiritual, unworthy, intimate. The other is a life of self-torment: it is full of suffering, unworthy, intimate.

By avoiding these two extremes, In monks, the Perfected has found the way, which lies in the middle, which opens the eye, opens the insight, which leads to peace, to complete knowledge, to enlightenment, to nirvana.

This In monks, is the noble truth about suffering: birth is suffering, aging is suffering, illness is suffering, death is suffering, being with the unfortunate is suffering, absence from the dear is suffering, loss of what one desires is suffering: in short, it fivefold adherence to the elements of (existence) is suffering.

This, in monks, is the noble truth of the origin of suffering: namely, thirst, which leads from rebirth to rebirth, and joy and desire, which find their satisfaction here and there: this thirst is threefold, namely, thirst for pleasure, existence, thirst for transience.

This, in monks, is the noble truth of the abolition of suffering: the abolition of this thirst by the complete annihilation of desire, to allow it danger, to get rid of it, to free itself from it, to leave it no place.

This, you monks, is the noble truth about the way to the end of suffering: it is the noble eightfold way, called the right insight, the right decision, the right speech, the right action, the right life, the right striving, the right consciousness, the right sinking. "

From Jesus' Sermon on the Mount:

"When he [Jesus] saw the multitudes, he went up on the mountain. He sat down, and his disciples came to him. mourn, let them be comforted. Blessed are the humble, they shall inherit the land. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, they shall meet mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, they shall see God. Blessed are the Blessed are the sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, they are partakers of the kingdom of heaven. In the same way the prophets were persecuted before your time. You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its power, how can it be made salty again? A city on a mountain can not is hidden, and when you light a lamp, you do not put it under the grain measure but on the holder, so that it shines for everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. "

Benare's sermon was given about 500 years before our era. There are similarities between the Buddha's Bone Sermon and Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. Use the four different steps of the text analysis template when comparing the two texts.

1. What are the two texts about? What similarities and differences do you find in the ethics of Buddhism and Christianity?

2. What similarities and differences do you find in the description of heaven and nirvana respectively? What can be the reasons for the possible similarities?

3. To whom / who are the texts aimed? What is their purpose? What different perspectives on life do you find in the texts? Discuss what is still relevant in the texts and can be applied in practical action.

4. What are your own thoughts and reflections if you allow them to associate freely in relation to these texts?