As we strive to maintain a synoptic view of the field of philosophy, so as to neither narrow the scope of our awareness nor limit the expression of our understanding, the Society of Friends of Epicurus pursues a commitment to inter-disciplinary study and cross-cultural analysis. Evaluating of our own beliefs against other wisdom traditions helps contextualize personal practice, and further illuminates a larger spectrum of spirituality. In particular, we have found it profitable to compare and contrast Epicurean Philosophy against the various traditions of बौद्ध धर्म (Buddha Dhamma), the “Law of the Awakened One”, represented to us in English as “Buddhism“. In particular, SoFE has explored the Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition as preserved by the famous Lotus Sutra. Other essays include reflections on Nichiren and Japanese Buddhism, as well as an essay on the Epicurean-like tradition of Charvaka, a hedonistic school of Indian materialism that outright rejected reincarnation and dismissed mystical practices.

As a supplement to our explorations on the Mahāyāna traditions, I wish to explore the Indian Theravāda tradition as preserved by an ancient text called the DHAMMAPADA:

“If all of the New Testament had been lost, it has been said, and only the Sermon on the Mount had managed to survive these two thousand years of history, we would still have all that is necessary for following the teachings of Jesus the Christ. The body of Buddhist scripture is much more voluminous than the Bible, but I would not hesitate to make a similar claim: if everything else were lost, we would need nothing more than the Dhammapada to follow the way of the Buddha.” (Eknath Easwaran, The Dhammapada 13).

The ancient धम्मपद (Dhammapada) is a collection of sayings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, the बौद्ध (Buddha) or “Awakened One”. “Dhammapada means something like ‘the path of dharma’— of truth, of righteousness, of the central law that all of life is one” (Ibid. 14). The Dhammapada, itself is the second book of the Khuddaka Nikāya, the “Minor Collection”, the last of five nikāyas (or “volumes”) of the Sutta Piṭaka, the “Basket of Discourse”, the second of three divisions of the Tipiṭaka, the “Triple Basket”, the scriptural canon of Theravāda (“school of elders”).

The Theravāda school, founded in the 3rd-century BCE and found today in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia, represents an earlier tradition that proposed a “Middle Way” between the “Eternalism” of the Brahmin religion that proposes the existence of an eternal आत्मन् (ātman) or “self”, versus the “Annihilationism” of Ajita Kesakambalī’s hedonistic school of Chārvāka (which is much more similar to Epicurean Philosophy). Buddha rejected (almost) all metaphysical propositions and described the true nature of one’s being as anattā, the “non-self”, lacking permanency. All knowledge is validated by two paramana or “proofs”, [1] pratyakṣa or “perception” and [2] anumāna or “inference”. Perception and inference are due to the six āyatana or “sense objects” of sight, sound, odor, taste, touch, and thought.

The criteria Buddha accepted lead him to conclude that reality is a changing, experiential aggregate, composed of [1] the elemental forms (rūpa), solid earth, cohesive water, mobile gas, warm fire, and empty space, [2] sensuous feeling (vedanā), [3] mental cognition (saṃjñā), [4] willful determination (saṅkhāra), and [5] consciousness (vijñāna). Natural patterns are observed, but propositions about them are are dismissed as meaningless speculations. Beings migrate through numerous planes of existence (ascending to heavens and descending to hells). One’s directionality at death reflects their कम्म (kamma) or moral causality. As they refine their kamma or “moral causality”, they get closer to the goal of निब्बान (Nibbāna). The goal of life is Nibbāna the end of दुक्ख (dukkhā) or “suffering” and release from संसार (saṃsāra), the cycle of rebirths caused due to one’s avijjā or “ignorance” of अनिच्चा (anicca) or “impermanence”. To achieve the goal of life, one must follow the Noble Eightfold Path according to the dhamma or “law” taught by Buddha to achieve the “extinguishment” of suffering: [1] Right Resolve, [2] Right Speech, [3] Right Conduct, [4] Right Livelihood, [5] Right Effort [6] Right Mindfulness, [7] Right Meditation, and [8] Right view that death is not the end. There are also a variety of blissful entities called Devas, who inhabit emotional “planes of existence”. Each realm is defined by the disposition of its inhabitant. The devas, themselves, are also working toward the goal of Nibbāna.

By contrast, the younger Mahāyāna school was cultivated by Nāgārjuna (c. 150-250 CE) who developed the highly influential Madhyamaka school of Buddhist philosophy (possibly influenced by Pyrrhonism through the works of Sextus Empiricus; Pyrrhonism, itself, was likely inspired by Sañjaya Belaṭṭhiputta, the founder of Ajñāna, a competitor of early Buddhism). Many other influential Buddhists helped spread the religion, such as Bodhidharma to China and Padmasambhāva to the Tibetan Plateau. The epistemology of Mahāyāna differs from its predecessor. In this school, all objects lack independent existences. Objects only meaningfully exists within the continuum of the mind. Physical phenomena is dismissed as माया (māyā), “magic” or “illusions”, and the appearance of the natural world is understood to be an ephemeral dream. Reality is fundamentally शून्यता (śūnyatā) or “emptiness”. All things lack a स्वभाव (svabhāva) or “independent nature” (as was used by the atheistic Chārvāka to refer to the physical nature of reality). The only “real” existence is consciousness. The energetic activities of nature are simply objects that exist within the mind, including the “body” and the “self”, which are also just temporary illusions within the continuous citta-santāna or “mindstream”.

A variety of mythic beings inhabit the various realms of existence according to Mahāyāna Buddhists, from gods to hungry ghosts. Heavens are idealized as Pure Lands, each of which is inhabited and ruled by its respective बोधिसत्त (bodhisattva). Buddha is treated as a universal deity, and other “Buddhas” are acknowledged to exist besides Shakyamuni (Gautama Buddha). “Buddhahood” is available to everyone and the achievements of Siddhārtha are not as emphasized as is the Buddha-nature, itself. To achieve Nirvāṇa, one must pursue the altruistic path of the bodhisattva, who works for the benefit of all beings by helping others achieve bodhi or “enlightenment”, and not simply one’s own enlightenment. Thus, the path of the Mahāyāna bodhisattva involves going beyond the Eightfold Path of the arhat to devote themselves toward practicing Buddhism for the benefit of all beings before finally achieving a state of Nirvāṇa. This continuous mission is thought to extend beyond an individual’s life into their future lives.

The Epicurean school overwhelmingly inhabits the opposite end of the philosophical spectrum. Our hedonistic school of indeterministic atomism proposes that reality exists independent of the mind. The universe is made of bodies and void. Bodies are either particles that can neither be created nor destroyed, or compounds that are composed of particles. All compound objects are subject to the forces of dissolution. Both space and the particles that move through it are infinite in number and eternal in time. The mind is a compound structure associated with a living animal, and can be located within the body. All knowledge begins with [1] sensation (aisthesis) caused by the interaction of external particles with our sensory organs. We detect pleasurable or painful [2] feelings (pathē) associated with the various sensations. Through repeated stimulation, we form [3] anticipations (prolepsis) about the patterns of nature.

The Earth, Sun, Moon, planets, and other linked objects comprise a kosmos in a spatially-infinite void with infinite kosmoi. All kosmoi are made of atoms. The seeds of life are everywhere. The gods are perfect figures in the mind, natural forms, imagined as indestructible humanoids, apprehended during dream-states, relative to our natural preconception of “blessedness”. Though, as was the case with the Buddhist schools, our Founder is also romanticized as having been god-like. Unlike the otherworldy goal of the Buddhists, we seek to achieve a godlike state of pure pleasure during our singular life, a disposition of imperturbable joy, free from physical pain and mental anguish. The practice of prudence will lead the wise person to the good life. We achieve such a life by calculating the advantages of every situation based on their possibility to provide stable, long-term pleasure. Actions are judged according to their consequences. There are no “eternal” ethical rules. There are, however, Key Doctrines written by Epíkouros that should be studied in order to minimize pain and maximize the pleasure of the good life.

While many of these positions are mutually-exclusive, the behaviors that compliment each traditions are universal. We find correspondence between a number of Buddhist and Epicurean attitudes: both traditions treat life with a sense of urgency, seek to organize healthy priorities, practice choice and avoidance, privilege the pursuit of knowledge, exercise discipline, and acknowledge the emptiness of political reputation. Both traditions warn against the consequences of greed, and caution against the vanity of power. Both encourage us to emulate role models, cultivate confidence, reject dishonesty, pursue study, exercise virtue, practice peace, reject empty ritual, and care for the health of the mind through contemplation. 

The following passages from the Dhammapada exemplify these SHARED points of agreement:

6. There are those who do not realize that one day we all must die. But those who do realize this settle their quarrels. “We have been born once, twice then we will not exist; it was fated for the eon [beyond] that we will no longer be; but you who are not the master-of-tomorrow delay the rejoicing; then a life is consumed by procrastination, and each one of us dies without leisure.” (Vatican Saying 14)

11. Those who mistake the unessential to be essential and the essential to be unessential, dwelling in wrong thoughts, never arrive at the essential. “No one who perceives what is evil prefers it for themself, but they are seduced by a good when a greater evil itself was pursued.” (Vatican Saying 16)

12. Those who know the essential to be essential and the unessential to be unessential, dwelling in right thoughts, do arrive at the essential. “Therefore adapt into a simple and not extravagant lifestyle as it forms an essential part of health and you will exercise the necessary [things] of life [that] make a person resolute and if you approach extravagant things after intervals it makes us stronger and you procure fearlessness against Luck.” (Epistle to Menoikeus 131)

26. The foolish and ignorant indulge in heedlessness, but the wise one keeps his heedfulness as his best treasure. “…you have taken time to devote yourself to thoughts concerning nature against those that are ignorant and [can now] behold an eon ‘both things as they are, things as they will be, and things before they are’ [as the poets say]” (Metródōros, Vatican Saying 10)“A wise [person] combines about the necessities, more knowledge to share than to receive; they have discovered so great a treasure as that of [self-sufficiency].” (Vatican Saying 44)

28. Just as one upon the summit of a mountain beholds the groundlings, even so when the wise man casts away heedlessness by heedfulness and ascends the high tower of wisdom, this sorrowless sage beholds the sorrowing and foolish multitude. “But nothing is more welcome than to hold the lofty and serene positions well fortified by the learning of the wise, from which you may look down upon others and see them wandering all abroad and going astray in their search for the path of life, see the contest among them of intellect, the rivalry of birth, the striving night and day with surpassing effort to struggle up to the summit of power and be masters of the world.” (Lucretius, De Rerum Natura 2.3-13)

41. Ere long, alas! this body will lie upon the earth, unheeded and lifeless, like a useless log. “We have been born once, twice then we will not exist; it was fated for the eon [beyond] that we will no longer be; but you who are not the master-of-tomorrow delay the rejoicing; then a life is consumed by procrastination, and each one of us dies without leisure.” (Vatican Saying 14)

66. Fools of little wit are enemies unto themselves as they move about doing evil deeds, the fruits of which are bitter. “The ungrateful [essence] of the soul produces within a greedy animal an endless [craving] for a lifestyle of varieties.” (Vatican Saying 69)

67. Ill done is that action of doing which one repents later, and the fruit of which one, weeping, reaps with tears. “One cannot escape detection who secretly disturbs the pact one agreed upon with another neither to harm nor to be harmed, nor to trust that one will escape detection, even if ten thousand times the one present escapes detection. For until one’s reduction to nothingness one cannot suppose that one will ever escape detection.” (Key Doctrine 35)

68. Well done is that action of doing which one repents not later, and the fruit of which one, reaps with delight and happiness. “The greatest fruit of justice is tranquility.” (Vatican Saying 80)

73. The fool seeks undeserved reputation, precedence among monks, authority over monasteries, and honor among householders. “The disturbance of the soul cannot be ended nor true joy created either by the possession of the greatest wealth or by honor and respect in the eyes of the mob or by anything else that is associated with or caused by unlimited desire.” (Vatican Saying 81)

76. Should one find a man who points out faults and who reproves, let him follow usch a wise and sagacious person as one would a guide to hidden treasure. It is always better, and never worse, to cultivate such an association. “The worship of the wise is a great good to you who will worship.” (Vatican Saying 32)

81. Just as a solid rock is not shaken by the storm, even so the wise are not affected by praise or blame. “For we practice all of this in order to neither suffer nor dread. When once then this has come to pass because of us, we dispel the whole Storm of the Soul...” (Epistle to Menoikeus 128)

84. He is indeed virtuous, wise and righteous who neither for his own sake nor for the sake of another (does any wrong), who does not crave for son, wealth, or kingdom, and does not desire success by unjust means. “The disturbance of the soul cannot be ended nor true joy created either by the possession of the greatest wealth or by honor and respect in the eyes of the mob or by anything else that is associated with or caused by unlimited desire.” (Vatican Saying 81)

101. Better than a thousand useless words is one useful word, hearing which one attains peace. Better than a thousand useless verses is one useful verse, hearing which one attains peace. (101-102) “One must not pretend to study philosophy, but really study philosophy; for we do not pretend to need health, but in truth [really need] health.” (Vatican Saying 54)

110. Better it is to live one day virtuous and meditative than to live a hundred years immoral and uncontrolled. “The same time [satisfies] both [in terms] of generation of the greatest good19 and of deliverance [from evil].” (Vatican Saying 42) “The sensible person profits from one day they would by eternity.” (Philódēmos, On Death)

116. Hasten to do good; restrain your mind from evil. He who is slow in doing good, his mind delights in evil. “… anyone who is capable of restraint can bring that which is blessed in oneself by having preserved reasoning” (Usener fragment 485; Porphyrious, Letter to Marcella 29)
     

123. Just as a trader with a small escort and great wealth would avoid a perilous route, or just as one desiring to live avoids poison, even so should one shun evil. “[The] youthful part of [yourself, in regard to its] salvation, guard the [precious] part of life and preserve all of those things that are sullied by the raging desires.” (Vatican Saying 80)

127. Neither in the sky nor in mid-ocean, nor by entering into mountain clefts, nowhere in the world is there a place where one may escape from the results of evil deeds. “One cannot escape detection who secretly disturbs, that pact one agreed upon with another neither to harm nor to be harmed, nor to trust that one will escape detection, even if ten thousand times the one present escapes detection, for until one’s reduction to nothingness one cannot suppose that one will ever escape detection.” (Key Doctrine 35)

128. Neither in the sky nor in mid-ocean, nor by entering into mountain clefts, nowhere in the world is there a place where one may will not be overcome by death. “Some prepare throughout life for the [good] Life [in spite of the drug of death, yet] indiscriminately we have all been infused with the deadly drug from birth.” (Mētródōros, Vatican Saying 30)

131. One who, while himself seeking happiness, oppresses with violence other beings who also desire happiness, will not attain happiness hereafter. One who, while himself seeking happiness, does not oppress with violence other beings who also desire happiness, will find happiness hereafter. (131-132) “One [who is] untroubled, oneself, [is] also, for another, undisruptive.” (Vatican Saying 79)

141. Neither going about naked, nor matted locks, nor filth, nor fasting, nor lying on the ground, nor smearing oneself with ashes and dust, nor sitting on the heels (in penance) can purify a mortal who has not overcome doubt. “There was no point procuring protection from people if a person starts suspicion of those things from the sky and beneath the earth and generally in the Infinite.” (Key Doctrine 13)“Impious then is not the one who rejects the deities of the masses, but the one who adheres to the masses’ doctrines about the deities. For [their] assertions are not impression but false assumptions of the masses about the deities.” (Epistle to Menoikeus 123-124)

157. If one holds oneself dear, one should diligently watch oneself. Let the wise man keep vigil during any of the three watches of the night. “[The] youthful part of [yourself, in regard to its] salvation, guard the [precious] part of life and preserve all of those things that are sullied by the raging desires.” (Vatican Saying 80)

206. Good is it to see the Noble Ones; to live with them is ever blissful. One will always be happy by not encountering fools. “The worship of the wise is a great good to you who will worship.” (Vatican Saying 32)

280. The idler who does not exert himself when he should, who though young and strong is full of sloth, with a mind full of vain thoughts — such an indolent man does not find the path to wisdom. “Neither should one who is new [to this world] hesitate to love wisdom, nor should an elder begin to grow tired loving wisdom. For no person is either unripe nor too ripe to be healthy throughout the[ir] soul.” (Epistle to Menoikeus 122)

290. If by renouncing a lesser happiness one may realize a greater happiness, let the wise man renounce the lesser, having regard for the greater. “…sometimes we step over many pleasures, since at such times more difficulties follow us from these; and we consider of the pleasures many pains better, whenever our greater pleasure follows many times these pains we endure.” (Epistle to Menoikeus 129)

291. Entangled by the bonds of hate, he who seeks his own happiness by inflicting pain on others, is never delivered from hatred. “One cannot be fearless [if] one causes [others to be] fearful.” (Usener fragment 537)

296. [D]isciples of […] ever awaken happily who day and night delight in the practice… (296-301) “Therefore, these and those things study for yourself, day and night, and with those like yourself, and at no time neither awake nor in a dream will you be confounded, for no living person surrounded by immortal Good seems like a mortal creature.” (Epistle to Menoikeus 135)

309. Four mistfotunes befall the reckless man who consorts with another’s wife… (309-310) “The wise will not have intercourse with a woman so far as the laws forbid so affirms Diogénēs [of Tarsós] in the Epitome of the Ethical Doctrines of Epíkouros” (Diogénēs Laértios, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers 10.118)

328. If for company you find a wise and prudent friend who leads a good life, you should, overcoming all impediments, keep his company joyously and mindfully. “Of those things that wisdom prepares for a full life of blessedness, by far the most important is the possession of friendship. The same knowledge that created confidence concerning both the fact that nothing terrible is eternal nor even enduring, and also in the same observations perceives that security is predominately perfected by friendships.” (Key Doctrines 27-28)

333. Good is virtue until life’s end, good is faith that is steadfast, good is the acquisition of wisdom, and good is the avoidance of evil. “For [it is] neither drinking and following festivals nor taking advantage of servants and women nor an expensive multitude of fish nor of however much else fills an extravagant table that makes life pleasant, but sober calculation and examining the cause of each choice and avoidance, and expelling the [masses’] doctrines, from out of these the greatest confusion overtakes our souls.” (Epistle to Menoikeus 132)
     

365. One should not despise what one has received, nor envy the gains of others. The monk who envies the gains of others does not attain to meditative absorption. “One must not spoil the present by yearning for the absent; but consider that also these [present] things were once of the [things for which] we wish.” (Vatican Saying 35)
     

While similarities are abundant, we find many passages that exhibit dissimilar attitudes, illustrating conceptual incompatibility between the systems, particularly in each traditions’ position on ethics and death. Theravāda Buddhism recommends a much more restrictive lifestyle than Epíkouros intended, much more reminiscent of the restrictive laws of the biblical books of Deuteronomy and Leviticus. Compared with Epicurean sensualism, Theravāda Buddhism is positively ascetic. Much of the voluminous Tipiṭaka contain lists of rules for monks (भिक्खु or bhikkus) and nuns (भिक्षुणी or bhikkunīs), supposing that the path to wisdom is necessarily monastic (as though a church were to have prescribed the restrictions of the Desert Fathers for everyone seeking God). Theravāda Buddhism presents a strict path of renunciation that involves the displacement of the self from personal affections and attachments.

The first book of the Pāli Canon is a code of conduct for monastics. To note a few rules:

• Sexual intercourse leads to complete expulsion from the monastic community. (Pārājika 1)
• Masturbating warrants correction. (Saṅghādisesa 1)
• Holding hands with another person warrants correction. (Saṅghādisesa 2)
• Marriage proposals warrant correction. (Saṅghādisesa 5)
• Huts not built to the Buddha’s design specifications warrant correction. (Saṅghādisesa 6)

Epíkouros presents a very dissimilar approach to spirituality from these sexless Jedi: “We must simultaneously laugh and philosophize, and manage a household and administrate the economic affairs and never let go of the language of the forthright philosophy” (VS 41).

Differences are equally abound between Buddhist and Epicurean views on death (thanatology) and the afterlife (or explicit lack thereof). While both traditions acknowledge the inevitability of death, the Buddhist doctrine of कम्म (kamma) necessitates that an ethical component of the human aggregate survives the dissolution of the rest of the human frame. A moral quality of this component, which is cultivated throughout the life of the previous human aggregate, determines the manner in which this component becomes embodied in its next human form. Epíkouros unequivocally opposes this idea: “We have been born once, twice then we will not exist; it was fated for the eon [beyond] that we will no longer be…” (Vatican Saying 14).

Noticeably, the two traditions provide incompatible depictions of pleasure. The Dhammapada describe काम (kāma) (or “sense pleasure”) in the negative, exclusively linking “pleasure” with a state of recklessness and spiritual abandon in which one acts out of ignorance. Early Buddhists did not (as was also the case with Greek Kyrenaics) recognize “mental impassiveness” as a form of “pleasure”, and, instead, framed physical pleasures as being excessive and indulgent. By contrast, Epíkouros explicitly recognizes pleasure as the goal in life. He further acknowledges that the good life cannot be enjoyed after that life has ended. Pleasure is the happy goal in life, and it is categorically opposed to practices that are ignorant, reckless, and indulgent.

Additionally, each tradition provides noticeably different evaluations of friendship. The Epicurean tradition privileges friendship as a natural and necessary desire, as well the principle means of securing a happy life; conversely, the Buddhist tradition treats interpersonal bonds as unnecessary attachments that inevitably lead to suffering. This interpretation is contextualized within a larger paradigm that views desire as being painful (and thus, undesirable). For the atom prophets, the satisfaction of desires is a necessary practice to be enjoyed as we advance upon the path to wisdom. For Theravada monks, it is necessary to vanquish desire. For the sages of the Garden, the good life cannot be enjoyed without cultivating robust friendships and enjoying the fruits of companionship; for the monks of the forest, the best life is lived in total isolation.

These DIFFERENCES are illustrated with the following passages.

7. Just as a storm throws down a weak tree, so does Mara overpower the man who lives for the pursuit of pleasures… “…we [Epicureans] say the goal is Pleasure…” (Epistle to Menoikeus 131)

14. Just as rain does not break through a well-thatched house, so passion never penetrates a well-developed mind. “[A wise person] will be more affected by passions, but [this] will not be an impediment toward their wisdom” (Diogénēs Laértios, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers 10.117)

27. Do not give way to heedlessness. Do not indulge in sensual pleasures. Only the heedful and meditative attain great happiness. “Neither can I, for one, possess what I know to be The Good by diminishing the pleasures of flavor, nor by diminishing the [pleasures] of Aphrodisian [intercourse], nor by diminishing the pleasures of hearing, nor even by diminishing the [pleasures] of appearance as far as the sight of sweet motions.” (Diogénēs Laértios, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers 10.6)

48. The Destroyer brings under his sway the person of distracted mind who, insatiate in sense desires, only plucks the flowers (of pleasure). “[W]e say Pleasure is the beginning and ending of living blessedly” (Epistle to Menoikeus 128)

49. As a bee gathers honey from the flower without inuring its color or fragrance, even so the sage goes on his alms-round in the village. “The greatest fruit of self-sufficiency is freedom.” (Vatican Saying 77)

50. Let none find fault with others; let none see the omissions and comissions of others. But let one see one’s own acts, done and undone. “For all {wise men} both love {their students} alike in accord with the worth of each and see their faults alike” (Philódēmos, On Frankness Col. Mb)

55. Of all the fragrances — sandal, tagara, blue lotus and jasmine — the fragrance of virtue is the sweetest. “I spit upon pleasures that come from extravagance not because of them, but because of the difficulties that follow them.” (Epíkouros, Usener fragment 181)

83. The good renounce (attachment for) everything. The virtuous do not prattle with a yearning for pleasures. The wise show no elation or depression when touched by happiness or sorrow. “Furthermore, for the sake of pleasure we choose the virtues, not for their own sake, [but] just as medicine, for the sake of health.” (Diogénēs Laértios, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers 138) “One must value what is beautiful, and the virtues, and such manners if they produce pleasure; but if they do not produce pleasure, one must bid them farewell” (Usener fragment 70)

86. But those who act according to the perfectly taught Dhamma will cross the realm of Death, so difficult to cross. “The [cessation called] death, in no way [does it exist] for us; for that which has dissolved lacks perception; but what lacks perception in no way [exists] for us.” (Key Doctrine 2)

88. Giving up sensual pleasures, with no attachment, let the wise man cleanse himself of defilements of the mind. “Nevertheless it will always be beneficial to offer friendship just as [it will always be beneficial]  for us to plant seeds in the earth, thus [friendship] itself cultivates those communities that [work together to] perfect the pleasures.” (Diogénēs Laértios, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers 10.120)

99. Inspiring are the forests in which worldlings find no pleasure. There the passionless will rejoice, for they seek no sensual pleasures. “Great stresses draw [life] short, and such times [provide] no great abundance.” (Usener fragment 447)”The peak of pleasure is the excision of all pain; and wherever pleasure is, for the time that it is, there is neither discomfort, nor distress, nor both” (Key Doctrine 3)
    

126. Some are born in the womb; the wicked are born in hell; the devout go to heaven the stainless pass into Nibbana. “We have been born once, twice then we will not exist; it was fated for the eon [beyond] that we will no longer be…” (Vatican Saying 14)

140. … upon dissolution of the body that ignorant man is born in hell.“…in the [clutches of ignorance], we were forever expecting some, perpetual terror [waiting for our souls after death], as if also to heed [some persuasive illusion] to the myths.” (Epistle to Herodotos 81)

163. Easy to do are things that are bad and harmful to oneself. But exceedingly difficult to do are things that are good and beneficial.“Thanks [to] the blessed nature that has made the necessities obtainable, but the unobtainable, unnecessary.” (Usener fragment 469)

169. … The righteous live happily both in this world and the next.“And truly also, of the whole amalgamation that is being dissolved, it is being removed [as] the soul is being dispersed and no longer possess the dynamics [of the sensations] themselves, just as [a] sensation has not been procured.” (Epistle to Herodotos 65)

210. Seek no intimacy with the beloved and also not with the unloved, for not to see the beloved and to see the unloved, both are painful. Therefore hold nothing dear, for separation from the dear is painful. There are no bonds for those who have nothing beloved or unloved. From endearment springs grief, from endearment springs fear. From him who is wholly free from endearment there is no grief, whence then fear? From affection springs grief, from affection springs fear. From him who is wholly free from affection there is no grief, whence then fear? From attachment springs grief, from attachment springs fear. From him who is wholly free from attachment there is no grief, whence then fear? (210-214)“And the most beautiful [feeling] is produced by meeting the earliest of those [friends] who share a like-mind and [also that feeling] is produced with great speed [upon meeting the earliest of those friends].” (Vatican Saying 61)

221. One should give up anger, renounce pride, and overcome all fetters. Suffering never befalls him who clings not to mind and body and is detached. “…one must say that natural [anger] is not an evil, […] it is a good thing to submit to the natural kind of anger.” (Philódēmos, On Anger, Col. 38)

237. Your life has come to an end now; You are setting forth into the presence of Yama, the king of death. No resting place is there for you on the way, yet you have made no provision for the journey!“It might be possible to furnish security against misfortune, but against [that] of death every human lives in a city without walls” (Mētródōros, Vatican Saying 31)

242. Unchastity is the taint in a woman…“…As long as you neither disregard the laws, nor dismiss those reasonably established customs, nor distress any of the neighbors, nor damage your flesh, nor deplete what is necessary, do as you please according to your own preference…” (Mētródōros, Vatican Saying 51)

273. Of all the paths the Eightfold Path is the best; of all the truths the Four Noble Truths are the best; of all things passionlessness is the best: of men the Seeing One (the Buddha) is the best. This is the only path; there is none other for the purification of insight. Tread this path, and you will bewilder Mara.” (273-274) “I shall abide by the words of Epicurus, according to whom I have chosen to live.” (An Epicurean oath as recorded by Cicero in On the Nature of Good and Evil)

285. Cut off your affection in the manner of a man plucks with his hand an autumn lotus… “Of those things that wisdom prepares for a full life of blessedness, by far the most important is the possession of friendship” (Key Doctrine 27).

321. A tamed elephant is led into a crowd, and the king mounts a tamed elephant. Best among men is the subdued one who endures abuse.
     
     “Great stresses draw [life] short, and such times [provide] no great abundance. For the stress that is hyperbolic will bring on to death.” (Usener fragments 448 and 457)

370. Cut off the five, abandon the five, and cultivate the five. The monk who has overcome the five bonds is called one who has crossed the flood. “If you contest every single one of the sense perceptions, you can neither judge the outward appearance nor can you affirm which of the sensations you, yourself say are deceptive according to the way in which the criterion operates.” (Key Doctrine 23)

390. Nothing is better for a holy man than when he holds his mind back from what is endearing. To the extent the intent to harm wears away, to that extent does suffering subside. “And the most beautiful [feeling] is produced by meeting the earliest of those [friends] who share a like-mind and [also that feeling] is produced with great speed [upon meeting the earliest of those friends].” (Vatican Saying 61)

401. Like water on a lotus leaf, or a mustard seed on the point of a needle, he who does not cling to sensual pleasures — him do I call a holy man. “Moreover, in the Kanon, Epíkouros is reckoning [that] the criterion of truth is the sensations and preconceptions and that of feeling” (Diogénēs Laértios, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers 10.31)

415. He who, having abondoned sensual pleasures, has renounced the household life and become a homeless one has destroyed both sensual desire and continued existence — him do I call a holy man. “Nevertheless the wise person will marry and will make children, so Epíkouros [affirms] in Puzzles and On Nature.” (10.119)

417. He who, casting off human bonds and transcending heavenly ties, is wholly delivered of all bondages — him do I call a holy man. “The same knowledge that created confidence concerning both the fact that nothing terrible is eternal nor even enduring, and also in the same observations perceives that security is predominately perfected by friendships.” (Key Doctrine 28)

418. He who, having case off likes and dilikes, has become tranquil, is rid of the substrata of existence and like a hero has conquered all the worlds — him do i call a holy man.
     “[The wise person] will also be opinionated and will not be puzzled” (10.119)

419. He who in every way knows the death and rebirth of all beings, and is totally detached, blessed and enlightened — him do I call a holy man. “We have been born once, twice then we will not exist; it was fated for the eon [beyond] that we will no longer be; but you who are not the master-of-tomorrow delay the rejoicing; then a life is consumed by procrastination, and each one of us dies without leisure.” (Vatican Saying 14)

423. He who knows his former births, who sees heaven and hell, who has reached the end of births and attained to the perfection of insight, the sage who has reached the summit of spiritual excellence — him do I call a holy man. “There was no dissolving the fear over the most important matters if one does not know the whole of Nature, but who worries about the myths; since without an inquiry-of-origins there was no receiving the pure pleasures.” (Key Doctrine 12)

Though the traditions present conflicting frameworks, the ethical model exemplified by each traditions’ wise person reflects a larger pattern of human piety. As preserved in Chapter Six (“The Wise Person”), the Buddhist arhat and the Epicurean sage share many traits: both are contemplative, steadfast, disciplined, restrained, confident, self-reliant, knowledgable, considerate, patient, and peaceful. They exemplify self-control and exhibit masterful independence from vain desires. They reject wealth and status as unreliable means of achieving happiness. They lead minimalistic lifestyles, and prefer the setting of the natural world.

“Nevertheless the [Epicurean] wise person will marry and will make children”, and pursue pleasure, and feel anger at injustice, and reap the benefits of friendship; by contrast, the Buddhist arhat (in accordance with the example of their founder) abandons their role as a family member, rejects pleasure, and privileges the isolation of a life lived in solitude.

In general, stronger parallels exist between Buddhist ethics and epistemology and the Greek philosophies of Cynicism and Pyrrhonism; the skepticism of Pyrrho, itself, was likely inspired by the philosophy of Ajñana during the Indian campaign. Though an Indian competitor to early Buddhism, Ajñana nevertheless expresses similar attitudes in treating external constructs with suspicion, from Vedic orthodoxy to the possibility of obtaining happiness. “The pessimistic Hēgēsías of Kȳrḗnē, a Kyrenaic, despite his materialism, may also have been influenced by Buddhist missionaries to Kyrene and Alexandria. Each of these philosophers rejected the comfort of external pleasures and treated the proposition of atomism with suspicion.

As is the case with the majority of wisdom traditions originating from the Indian subcontinent, Buddhism shares many of the metaphysical doctrines of the Orphic Mysteries of Greece — those Mysteries heavily influenced Epíkouros’ philosophical opponents, the Pythagoreans and Platonists. The dharmic traditions of India teach that a piece of the human aggregate undergoes a पुनर्भव (punarbhava) or “re-birth” after the dissolution of the human frame; the corresponding goal of life then becomes overcoming the exhausting cycle of re-births. This belief is later echoed by Pythagoras and his teacher Pherekýdes of Syrios, who introduced the idea of μετεμψύχωσις (metempsýkhōsis) or “reincarnation” to Greek philosophy. Plato was heavily inspired by this, and reproduces this narrative as his Myth of Er in the Republic — after his death, Er witnesses the souls of the deceased proceed through a transmigration as they simultaneously lose their memories of the afterlife. These philosophical traditions patronized the Mysteries that mythologized the procession of life and death, the passing of the seasons, and the return of Spring; concurrently, they orchestrate this narrative by inducing a subjective ego death following the ritualistic ingestion of psychedelic chemicals (that helped inspire those Mysteries centuries earlier). The Indian traditions employed methods to induce similar, visionary experiences, thus, again, we see a noticeable contrast against Epicurean mortality.

Nevertheless, each tradition represents a unique expression of a ubiquitous human psychology. We find similarities and dissimilarities anytime we seek coherence between difference expressions of human piety and religious practice. The Epicurean and Theravāda traditions stand in stark contrast when it comes to the behavioral restrictions, evaluating pleasure, managing friendship, and embracing wisdom. At the same time, both traditions share an exercising of virtue, a criticism of popular religion, a commitment to setting healthy priorities, and a devotion to study. The means by which each tradition practices differ, but the behavioral goal of providing a sense of calm to devotees during this life is universally shared.

I hope that this brief evaluation has provided you with useful insight into the larger landscape of human spirituality. May we never become lost the vanity of our own valleys.

(… also, a rather productive thread on this topic can be found on EpicureanFriends. Former Buddhists have weighed-in on the topic, and feedback and personal testimony is very welcome. This essay was produced by a non-Buddhist, and topics contained herein may not be treated with the nuance they deserve. Elsewhere, discussions on this topic are being facilitated by the Society of Friends of Epicurus during monthly Eikas meetings on Discord. Curious minds are always welcome!)

Be well and live earnestly!

Your Friend,
EIKADISTES
Keeper of Twentiers.com
Editor of the Hedonicon