Religious comparisons

basic christian beliefs

• there is one God
• This God cares for all his people
• Jesus Christ is the son of God
• Jesus died to save humanity from sin
• Jesus's death made eternal life possible

Basic buddhist beliefs

• People can achieve perfect peace (Nirvana)
• They do this by detaching themselves from worldly things
• the Buddha found this religion, but he isn't a God
• reincarnation
• to achieve Nirvana, people must also follow the eightfold path

Christian/biblical parable

Parable summary

• a man divides his money among his two sons
• the younger one wasted it on stupid things
• he returned and admitted his mistakes to his father
• Rather than making him a servant, his dad praised him
• His father celebrated his return

parable summary

• the older brother had never done anything wrong
• He was jealous and asked why his brother got praise
• His father explained that it was because:
• His brother was dead and was alive again
• He was lost, and had been found

Buddhist/zen parable

Parable summary

• Shichiri Kojun was reciting sutras one night
• a thief entered and said he'd take his money or his life
• Shichiri showed him where the money was calmly
• He said not to take it all; he needed it for taxes
• The thief took most of it

Parable summary

• Shichiri told him he expected thanks when he gave a gift
• the thief thanked him and fled
• the thief was caught and confessed
• Shichiri was called as a witness
• He said that he gave him the money and was thanked

Parable summary

• the thief finished his last prison term
• He then went to Shichiri again
• He became his disciple

Differences between parables

differences in purpose/context

• In the Biblical parable, the resolution causes another conflict
• This is because of the older brother's jealousy
• In the Buddhist parable, nobody objects that the man is defended
• In the first one, the two central characters are family
• In the second, the two central characters are strangers

The moral of the Biblical parable is that people who make poor decisions can learn and move on

The moral of the Zen parable is that sometimes all tresspassers need is empathy and guidance

Differences in literary structure

• Lots of metaphors are used in the Biblical parable
• "This son was dead and is alive again"
• The Zen parable is much more to the point
• lots of important details are described in the first one
• Whearas the Zen one is consise but just as effective

similarities between parables

Common themes/Morals

• The most beneficial way to resolve conflict is to forgive
• Confessing one's shortcomings is key to being forgiven
• It is best to help people who make bad desisions
• Punishment is often unneeded when people recognize their mistakes

In both of these parables, there is a sinner who is forgiven only after he confesses his wrongs.

In this way, the young son and the thief both have similar lessons to learn:

Untitled Slide

• Not being materialistic
• Valuing relations with people over substance
• Humility/having a will to work and learn
• Confessing/apologizing
• Not being selfish

These men both have mentors by the end of the parables:

The father and Shichiri both indirectly tell the reader about forgiveness, correcting one's wrongs, and patience

The mentors both change and improve the lives and ways of the previous antagonists

Common literary structure

• Both told in third person limited
• Both are narrative
• Both are prose
• Both have pauses between phrases of 10-30 words