Can the heart expand into greater space and consideration for others? Those in sorrow are not persons sunk in perpetual state of apathy and psychological depression, but those who are anxious about truth being despised and the spirit of humanity denigrated. We all feel sad when this happens as is dramatically revealed in the social behaviour of our day. Hunger and thirst are just about material hunger and thirst we all have to fight against, trying to provide for the basic needs of the poor, and that without conditions. It is not a matter of mere generosity but of justice in the name of human dignity which demands food, shelter, security and safety for all, especially those who have lost these basic amenities.

We live in a world that demands justice for all. The courts and the legal system stand for this important social need. But the gospel of Jesus Christ goes beyond the pound of flesh that features in the Merchant of Venice story. To forgive seventy-times seven as mentioned in Matthew 18:21 requires a magnanimous heart melting with the spirit of mercy and compassion. This is not the culture of the contemporary world. The Christian spirit is an ambitious call for justice and mercy to be combined with emphasis on mercy over crude justice. The purity of heart that is called for by Jesus Christ is the integrity of one’s life in which relationships are rightly maintained (sammaa). Right relationships are not possible if constant tensions, disagreements, infidelities, insincerity, betrayals and conflicts disturb and wreck the persons involved. Christianity sees in SIN, the basic ground for rupture of such relationships. There is the conviction that as long as sin is manifested in disobedience to God’s law, known in a rightly formed conscience with selfishness that dehumanizes man, it would be impossible to experience God. One must also conquer the desires of the flesh with its instincts and live in the spirit with minds that are clean and a heart that is full of love for the things that are right and noble.

Such an interior state in man will mirror the depths of God. An easily understandable beatitude is that of those who are peace-makers; those committed to work and toil for peace among people. They spread the sublimest of values and strive to heal wounds, resolve conflicts and promote mutual understanding. Rifts and misunderstanding can arise from various causes, just or unjust. Some of these may rest on long-standing injustices made bitter through prolonged stubbornness. Yet, peace and reconciliation are possible, if only a modicum of good-will and a sense of humanity are present. That is the reason why, war which is the defeat of peace, is always to be avoided and the promotion of dialogue and the path of negotiations, the humane way of resolution of conflicts are to be pursued. No effort should be seen as futile in furthering these paths of human understanding and reconciliation.

At the end of the declaration of the eight Beatitudes, comes the specifically different feature of Jesus Christ’s teaching. He identifies the ill-treatment of all just and good people as something that is on his account and invites such victims to rejoice and be glad for their compensation is great when the Kingdom of God comes with all its power. Probably, the early Christians suffered only on account of their faith as when pressurized to worship the statue of Caesar or the pagan Roman emperors. They could not in conscience be guilty of such idolatry, since worship is due only to God. The moral strength to stand for their faith came from their belief that Jesus Christ is God. In that name, they were ready to face all persecution and inconvenience and even to face death; not just for any cause. When perusing through the above, we see that the main purpose of the Sermon on the Mount is to portray the personality of Jesus Christ himself as the way (the Magga) of spiritual perfection. He as the Way, the Truth and Life is at the core of the religious life of the Christian believer. All Christians strive to be his disciples and put on his mind and understand his mystery.

It is all a mystery of God’s love written in a human language, the humanity of Jesus of Nazareth. Christ is the fullness of human life. He is the focus of all longings of humanity and the fulfilment of all our aspirations. History of mankind has to be understood in the light of his life. If there is any noble truth at all, the one and only such truth is Him, truth-in-person. In a Christian sense, He is the only Magga and the only Aariyasacca. We experience liberation only to the extent we live as his disciples following the path of his self-emptying, walking along the path of the cross which means renunciation and crucifixion of evil desires and rising with him to a life in the spirit. This is mainly the work of God in us. We can only collaborate willingly and joyfully in God’s work. We can never with human strength work out our own liberation or eternal bliss. We need assistance from above: that is from God and his grace that comes in the mystery of Christ. More accurately, it is the event of the suffering, death and resurrection of Christ, termed as the Paschal Mystery, which is source of liberation from sin. It is the source of grace and true freedom to live as God’s children in accordance with the teachings of the Gospel as true disciples of Christ.

The Eight Beatitudes, the moral/spiritual Attaangika-Magga in the Christian way of living, present a series of positive qualities of life where sorrow and pain of which a person is a victim because of justice and righteousness, are seen as pathways to joy and spiritual well-being. The cross of Christ which is the supreme symbol of pain and the instrument of persecution and injustice is transformed into a sign of hope and liberation. It symbolizes the demand to crucify through detachment and penance our sinful desires and inclinations, so that burying them we can rise to a new life in Christ, one in the spirit directed and inspired by the higher and nobler ideals that are spiritual and eternal. One must recognize the relative value of earthly things and gather treasures, fruits of the mind and spirit that are the eternal treasures to be won. He who walks the Magga of these blessings (the mangalas) is an enlightened person filled with the wisdom of faith and sustained by "agapé" which is love.

Buddhism appears more a wisdom current with its concomitant aspect of love (mettaa) while Christianity appears more in the "agapé" tradition with its concomitant wisdom of knowledge concerning good and evil. Christ-in-person is the personification of the Beatitudes while the Buddha is Dhamma-realized but not identifiable with it since they are two distinct jewels.

Basic Tenets of Dhamma

The four noble truths in Buddhism which in addition to the sutta listed above containing its first proclamation as the teaching of the Lord  Buddha, is also listed in many other places of the Buddhist Canon. It shows that it is an important Dhamma truth that is at the core of the Canon. Every other teaching is ordained and related to these four noble truths. Even the Vinaya Pitaka for the monks is meant to enable a recluse to attain to the truth of these important truths and realize them in a permanent and irreversible manner in his personal life. The later speculations of the philosophical  inquiries of the Abhidhamma is an effort towards a further systematic reflection on these four truths delving into and further elaborating the speculation process in more profounder concepts and intellectual categories. When reading the "Vissuddhimagga" written by the 5th century analyst Buddhagosa, this philosophical profundity is well seen. A help for the education of the monks in the deeper insights of the Dhamma, it is considered an eminent philosophical work which analyses the three-fold wisdom-concentration-sila components of the eight-fold path, the fourth noble truth of Buddhism.

What is central to the four noble truths is the existential issue of suffering in all its dimensions including that of rebirth till purification from desire (tanhaa) is attained. This requires all the techniques needed to control the mind into serene thinking and reflecting on the impermanence, soul-lessness and sorrow that inflict human existence. The fact of suffering is stated and described pointing to its basic root and cause. That there is a path out of suffering is vindicated and finally presented in detail in its eight interacting and interdependent factors covering the phases of external conduct (sila), mental purification (Samaadhi) and attainment of deeper understanding (Pañña). The emphasis is on the mind since enlightenment is primarily something mental and linked to understanding that impacts on actions. Does everyone need to absolutely realize the eightfold-path to reach nirvana and thus triumph over rebirth and karma? This is an open question because the ordinary laity is also called to pursue the Dhamma, and live a life of renunciation and destruction of greed through the discipline of senses. They too to some degree must seek the heights of contemplation through meditation. They are expected at least to observe the pancha-sila: no stealing, no intoxication, no sexual-misconduct, no lying and no-killing. These have to be observed in their minutest details and modalities. Thus non-violence is a basic trait of Buddhist living: non-violence to oneself, to another’s name and to all living beings in general. Taking the triple refuge in the Buddha, Dhamma, and the Sañgha are also requirements and express devoted Buddhist living.

One clear observation is that liberation is a result of one’s enduring and committed personal effort. Not even the Buddha can help or intercede on behalf of anyone. Each one has to test and experience the Dhamma in his life. The Buddha can be a guide and inspirer since he for the first time discovered this eternal law of the Dhamma that pre-existed before him and then imparted and taught it to others. No Buddha can ever change the four noble truths. They form the law of reality and destiny. We have to study, meditate, pursue and realize them through our own efforts.  All preaching is meant to raise awareness of these four truths and to guide hearers enter the path of liberation. In an enlightened person or one who has reached the state of Buddhahood, there is a personality that is full of loving-kindness and compassion for all.

He is no more inclined to greed and in fact, has acquired an "Upekkha" attitude to all experience of sense and even the mind. He is serene, contemplative and gentle. No worldly spirit ever haunts or seduces him. His mind is tranquil and free from all impurities. This Buddhist path therefore evokes enlightenment from within like the lotus though submerged in the mud, finally rises over the water unsmeared spreading its leaves and basks in the pure light of the sun. Further, there is no more desire that fuels the fire of passion, self or greed. It has died out or being killed like the flame that cannot burn any more since no fuel is available. It is the extinction of desire (tanhaa).

In the light of the above comparative analysis, we see that Christian Beatitudes as well as the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism present a very noble and higher ideal for people to pursue. They contain a pledge of a better state of joy, freedom and contentment. It has to be reached by exploiting the inner and spiritual potential that our higher faculties of mind and heart are endowed with. A person who follows the dictates of a right-thinking mind and the impulses of a heart that is full of loving-kindness is bound to experience higher levels of contentment and serenity. He will never be allured to selfishness and greed for things that are material, of the sense and worldly. He will know how even to see objectively the temporal values and realities in their proper perspective and naturally be empowered to transcend them. It is in the mind, heart and spirit that the higher qualities of life distil. These have to be pursued and experienced.

A Buddhist and Christian Dialogue along these lines will help both interlocutors appreciate the higher and nobler ideals contained in each other’s doctrines. In a society where these two spiritualities command the daily living of individuals, one cannot but expect the dawn of a better humanity. The Sermon on the Mount as well as the path of liberation taught by the four noble truths help human beings to realize their limitations, recognize their tendency towards evil and make them feel the need to overcome such limits. These religious doctrines with spiritual ideals at their helm, not only transform individuals into integral human beings and disciplines them but also in turn influence social life and its structures. All religions lead to social transformation as history of the world has shown. In like manner, evil ideologies have corrupted the world and brought to humanity immense pain, affliction, death and destruction. In a world that is increasingly secular in outlook, consumerist in life-style, materialistic in attitudes and susceptible to illusions of all kinds adduced by popular media, the rediscovery of the vicissitudes of the human spirit launching man to higher ideals will augur well to usher in a better future for all of us. In this noble journey of mankind, only the religions rise in the horizons, as the master-guide and infallible teacher.