The Eightfold Beatitudes: part 1
A surprising religious discovery and why you should care
“You are like a withered leaf, waiting for the messenger of death. You are about to go on a long journey, but you are so unprepared.” ~Buddha (Dhammapada 18:235)
In late 2014, I made a surprising spiritual discovery. The Beatitudes taught by Jesus and the Noble Eightfold Path taught by the Buddha are equivalent in number, form, and content.
In early 2015, I attempted to share the discovery, but a variety of obstacles and a series of distractions prevented me from doing so until now, Easter 2017. This publication, Love God, is part of my effort to spread the truth and beauty of the Beatitudes, the Noble Eightfold Path, and the way to heaven.
In a series of posts in this section, I will provide a brief description of how the Beatitudes and the Noble Eightfold Path are equivalent and why their equivalence is important, beginning with a primer on these two vital teachings.
What are the Beatitudes and The Noble Eightfold Path, and why should anyone care about them?
The Noble Eightfold Path is the fourth of the Four Noble Truths taught by Siddhartha Gautama, aka the Buddha. It appears in the Buddha’s first discourse, Setting in Motion the Wheel of Truth, and is mentioned in many other discourses of the Buddha. The Noble Eightfold Path is the set of practices for achieving liberation from all suffering.
The Beatitudes are practices for blessedness taught by Jesus of Nazareth, aka Yeshua and Christ (or the Christ). The teaching appears in the Gospel of Matthew and in the Gospel of Luke. In Matthew, the Beatitudes are the first and most important part of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus’s central teaching.
Everyone should care about the Beatitudes and the Noble Eightfold Path because they promise freedom from the endless cycle of birth, aging, sickness, and death. In other words, these two teachings illuminate the way to everlasting life beyond all suffering.
Lord Irwin, leader of the British Raj in India, once asked Mahatma Gandhi, “Man to man, tell me what you consider to be the solution to the problems of your country and mine.” Gandhi picked up a Bible and opened it to the fifth chapter of Matthew and said, “When your country and mine shall get together on the teachings laid down by Christ in this Sermon on the Mount, we shall have solved the problems not only of our countries but those of the whole world.”(Wikiquote)
The Beatitudes and the Noble Eightfold Path teach the way to heaven
So the Beatitudes, which form the foundation of the Sermon on the Mount, are a teaching tool for individual and collective liberation. And they are equivalent to the Noble Eightfold Path in number, form, and content. Thus, the Noble Eightfold Path is also a teaching tool for individual and collective liberation. Is there anything more important than liberation from the cycle of birth and death?
To ignore the study and practice of the Beatitudes and the Noble Eightfold Path is a great risk. To study and practice the Beatitudes and the Noble Eightfold Path is the most important thing we can do, the most valuable action we can take, on any given day.
You can enter heaven only through the narrow gate. The road that leads to destruction is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. ~Christ (Matthew 7:13)
