Miraculous Births
I have to admit, the story of
Jesus’s birth is a really cool story. This past Sunday I saw a modern retelling
of it set to the music of the Beatles and I’m sure that I enjoyed it as much as
any of the most devout believers in the audience. In the interest of honesty,
however, I must also admit that I could never quite believe that the story
really unfolded as it is purported it to have unfolded. Sure, the part about the
Immaculate Conception had me wondering from a very early age. But even before I
knew much about the biological implications of such a feat I had other questions
about the storyline. Think about it. God rearranged the heavens so that a star marked
the place of birth of his Son – so that everyone would know that the King was
born. Wise men witnessed the appearance of that star and had their hearts moved
to the point of following it and concluding that, yes, Jesus was a newborn
king. But then the story just sort of ends there. Years later we find that Jesus
has grown up to be a carpenter’s son of no particular standing save for his precocious
insight into religious and spiritual matters. Is that what happens to newborn
kings – they just go off and live their ordinary lives? A funny thing happened
on the way to my becoming a Buddhist, though. I stumbled upon the story of the
Buddha’s birth and, lo and behold, it was just as miraculous as that of Jesus!
In fact, the similarities are striking.
The Buddha’s birth story begins
(sort of) with his previous incarnation living out his existence in the
heavenly realm of Tusita and contemplating whether conditions are right for his
rebirth as a bodhisattva in our humble earthly realm. He concludes that they
are and proceeds to die to that world and descend into his mother’s womb in
this one. At that time “this ten-thousandfold world system shook and quaked and
trembled, and there too a great immeasurable light surpassing the splendour of
the gods appeared” (Majjhima Nikaya, Sutta 123.) Now, the future Buddha’s
mother, Queen Mahamaya, is not presumed to have been a virgin at the time, but upon
her realization that she was pregnant “no sensual thought arose in her
concerning men, and she was inaccessible to any man having a lustful mind.” For
the duration of her pregnancy she was blissful and without fatigue or
affliction of any kind. And for the duration of her pregnancy she could see the
future Buddha inside of her, fully formed, as if her flesh were translucent. After
the birth process was complete, two spouts of water seemed to pour forth from
the sky in order to cleanse the future Buddha and his mother. He then stood
upright and proceeded to take seven steps to the north, where he then declared
himself to be “foremost in the world” – the World Honored One.
Think about the similarities
between these two stories:
- Both
involve beings with supreme intelligence and omniscience who survey the
state of humankind on this planet earth and decide that a savior must be
dispatched. In Jesus’s case, God sent him as his own incarnation in order
to save humankind from its wrongful ways. In Buddha’s case, he sent
himself as his own final incarnation in a sequence of many lives spent as
a bodhisattva.
- Each involves
a miraculous conception that bridges heavenly and earthly realms with some
sort of “biological creativity.”
- Each
involves a cosmological event of some kind. In the Buddha’s case “this
ten-thousandfold world shook and quaked.” In Jesus’s case, it was the
somewhat more humble appearance of a star that was not previously in
existence.
- The
mothers of each of these beings either were exceptionally “virtuous” to
begin with or at least became so for the entire time of gestation.
- Both
mothers paid a huge price for their role in bringing their respective
children into this world. Mahamaya died shortly after giving birth to the
Buddha. Mary, of course, was destined to see her son tortured and killed
at a very young age.
- Both
Jesus and Buddha are seen in some sense as having arrived here on earth
fully formed. In the case of the Buddha we are told as much. He is walking
and talking within moments of birth. We see this attitude indirectly in
the paintings of early Christian artists who portray the Christ child as a
tiny man as opposed to an infant.
- Both
stories contain an incongruency between the circumstances of birth and those
of subsequent youth. In the case of Jesus, a king grows up to be “just
another” carpenter’s son. In the case of the Buddha, he grows up as “just
another” prince until worldly events transpire that nudge him to take the
next step in his journey. Contrary to what one might expect given the circumstances
of their respective births, neither seems to have the immediate, perfect
and unshakable knowledge of his divine origin. In other words, without the
respective birth stories each might be seen as “just another” human who
has gone on to receive incredible insight into the workings of humankind
and the entire world.
- Both
Buddha and Jesus go on to provide teachings to the world that profoundly
transform the lives of those who truly take them to heart.
What are we to make of these similarities?
I’d love to know what others think, but here are a few of my thoughts: Jesus
and Buddha are both representative holy figures of the Axial Age, a time of unprecedented spiritual development throughout
the world. Both birth stories seem to be gleaned from the same mythic structure
in the way that Carl Jung or Joseph Campbell might describe our archetypal
myths. Both stories fulfill the same underlying needs of those who believe them.
There is a divine plan, for example, an order of some kind to both the universe
and our lives. Furthermore, knowledge of this plan is imparted to us via some
intercessionary figure that is some combination of human and divine. There also
seems to be some great need for the birth of such figures to be out of the
ordinary, to be extraordinarily different, to be miraculous in some way. Not
everyone has the will, capacity or constitution to think of Jesus or Buddha merely
as wise and enlightened teachers. Some need to think of these figures as beings
that they might pray to or call on to this very day. As such, these stories are
incredibly powerful ones, if not for the sake of one’s soul, then at least for
one’s psychological wellbeing.
Merry Christmas, everyone! And I do
mean that with all sincerity.
Images
The
Visit of the Wise-Men by Heinrich Hofmann via:
References
Acchariya-abbhuta
Sutta – Wonderful and Marvellous (Majjhima Nikaya, Sutta 123) The teachings of
the Buddha: The middle length discourses of the Buddha: A new translation of
the Majjhima Nikaya (Translated from the Pali by Bhikkhu Nanomoli and Bhikkhu
Bodhi). Wisdom Publications, Boston. In association with the Barre Center for
Buddhist Studies.
Copyright 2015 by Mark Frank
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