JESUS–BUDDHA–KRISHNA–LAO TZU–THE PARALLEL SAYINGS
(Excerpts from the great masters on various primary topics)
THE SELF

JESUS

He who sees himself only on the outside, not within, becomes small and makes others small. –The Gospel of Mani

Strive to know yourselves. Become aware that you are children of the living Father; and you will know that you are living in the City of God, and you are that City. –Oxyrhynchus fragment

KRISHNA

The Self is hidden in all beings, but is manifest only to those who have the intuitive abilities to recognize it. –The Upanishads

When one sees the separate existence of beings inherent in the One, be becomes God. –The Bagavad Gita

LAO TZU

He who knows others is wise. He who knows himself is enlightened. –The Tao Te Ching

CUTTING TIES

JESUS

Do not accumulate earthly possessions, which moths and rust can destroy, and which robbers can steal. Rather, store up heavenly treasures which cannot be destroyed or stolen. For wherever your heart is, there is your treasure as well. –The Gospels of Matthew, Luke and Thomas

It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. –The Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke

For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? –The Gospel of the Egyptians, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John

For those who seek those things that this life offers, that is their wealth. But the pleasures of this world are false, and its gold and its silver have no substance. –Dialogue of the Savior

No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and wealth. –The Gospels of Thomas, Matthew and Luke

Woe to you who allow the body to rule over you. Putting your trust in the world, the world has become your god. You are destroying your souls with the desires that burn within you. –The Book of Thomas the Contender

Seek that which is great, and the little things will be give you; seek for heavenly things, and the earthly will be added to you. –Agrapha

KRISHNA

People think that all that they have gained is theirs. They will boast of their wealth, and revel in it. But those who are addicted to the gratification of the senses will fall into a foul hell. –The Bagavad Gita

The desire for wealth can never bring happiness. If wealth is acquired, there is great anxiety in the effort to keep it. If it is lost, the loss is felt as if it were death…Even if one acquires and retains wealth, the person of wealth is not satisfied, but continues to seek more. Wealth only increases one’s desire. –Santiparva Mahabharata

All the wealth one earns is transitory…so those who die without having realized the Self and its right desires finds no permanent happiness in any world to which they go. –Chandogya Upanishad

Eternity will not appear to those who are deluded by the illusion of wealth. –The Upanishads

Filled with insatiable desires, overcome by immense cares, bound by the ties of wealth and lust for sensual pleasure, all such burdens lead to death and the miseries of hell. –The Bagavad Gita

That which more people treasure is transient and fleeting, but eternity cannot be attained through things that are not eternal. –The Upanishads

That person is truly wise who has renounced the world. That person attains the highest good. –Santiparva Mahabharata

The highest good for one who has mastered his senses and acquired wisdom, is a complete disinterest in the things of the world. –Santiparava Mahabharata

The person who is truly wise is the person who has renounced everything having to do with the world. That person attains the highest good. –Santiparava Mahabharata

BUDDHA

People suppose that their wealth and families belong to them. But nothing belongs to us, and having such thought sonly leads to suffering. –The Dhammapada

One buries treasure believing that there will be need of it in the future…But acting with charity and goodness, the self-controlled man stores up hidden treasure no thief can steal. –Khuddaka Patha

One road leads to wealth, the other to Nirvana. Knowing this, the monk will seek to separate himself from the world. –The Dhammapada

The circumstances that set up the conditions for re-birth are those which have to do with cravings for sensual pleasures. –Majjhima-nikaya

Men who are tied to their families and possessions are more helpless than those who are in prison. When there is an occasion for the prisoner to be released, the householder has no desire to leave his burdens. –The Tevigga Sutta

Those who realize that the body is no more substantial than the froth that floats on the waves of the sea, realize that this life is nothing more than a mirage. –The Dhammapada

He in whom the self has become extinct is free from lust. He will desire neither worldly nor heavenly pleasures, and the satisfaction of his natural wants will not defile him. –The Sermon at Benares

One leaves a smaller joy to attain a greater one. Therefore, leave the small and find that which is great. –The Dhammapada

LAO TZU

Jade, gold, wealth, power, pride–these things bestow their own doom. –The Tao Te Ching

The sage moves through life not caring about home or name, living simply. Lacking distinction, others think him a fool. But he judges no one. His feet leave no prints. This is the perfect man. His boat is empty. –Chuang Tzu

No peace comes to a wealthy man, even if he owns mansions filled with gold and jewels. He must then guard his treasure against those who would steal it. Destruction follows such people. –The Tao Te Ching

Those who are so concerned with their lives make life unbearable for themselves. Even when they have what they want, they are not happy. They want to accumulate even more. –Chuang Tzu

The person who lets the things of the world control him, loses possession of his inner self. –Chuang Tzu

With nothing to drive you, and having no conclustions, needing nothing, being attracted to nothing, then you have gained control and are free. –Chuang Tzu

The person who is contented with what they have is richer than the richest. – The Tao Te Ching

LOVE AND COMPASSION

JESUS

Love your neighbor as yourself. – The Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke

You have heard it said that, “You should love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you might be children of your Father who is in heaven. –The Gospels of Matthew and Luke

Love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you. You will then become children of your Father in heaven. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. –The Gospels of Matthew and Luke

It is no benefit to you in loving only those who love you. Great benefit comes by loving those who hate you. –The Gospel of the Egyptians

And the righteous answered him, “Lord when did we see you hungry and fed, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?” And the King will answer them, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.” –The Gospel of Matthew

Where love does not flow with abundance, all actions are flawed. –The Manichean Psalter

I give you a new commandment: Love one another as I have loved you. –The Gospel of John

BUDDHA

Being immersed in the highest state of consciousness, the disciple’s heart is connected to compassion. He sees himself in all beings, and is free from negative feelings toward others. –Doctronal formulas

With generosity and kind words, always doing to others what is good, he treats all people as the same. His compassion for the world is like the hub that makes the wheel turn round. –Anguttara Nikyaya

Everyone fears violence, just as they fear death. Likewise, all people love life. So see yourself in others. Then it is not possible to hurt anyone. Then you can do no harm. –The Buddha

You will only become free by loving those who hate you. –The Dhammapada

Never in this world has hate ever cast out hate. Love alone wins over hate…with this and the knowledge that we will all die, how can you argue with each other? –The Buddha

LAO TZU

If we sacrifice this body for the world’s benefit, then all things will come to that person who loves others as he loves himself. –The Tao Te Ching

Since the sage is in need of nothing, he gives his attention to those who are in need. He is compassionate to the caring and uncaring alike. –The Tao Te Ching

Do not dismiss those who are evil as unworthy. If you are wise, you will save all men. –The Tao Te Ching

KARMA AND REINCARNATION

JESUS

Judge not, that you not be judged. For with the judgment you pronounce, you will be judged. –The Gospels of Matthew and Luke

Strive now to gain the mysteries of the Light -–that the sufferings of this life may end, and you may enter the Light-kingdom. Do not wait, day after day, or one life after another, thinking you will gain the mysteries after you have come into another body. –The Pistis Sophis

The rulers (of fate) give the old soul a cup of forgetfulness, and the old soul will drink of this cup and forget all the regions to which it has gone, and all the punishments through which it has traveled. And the cup of forgetfulness becomes the body which surrounds the soul. And it resembles the soul in all of its shapes, and makes itself like it. This is a false spirit. –The Pistis Sophia

(For the disembodied soul that has become perfected), Let the Virgin of Light cast him into a body which will be righteous and good, so that it flies high and inherits the kingdom of Light. –The Pistis Sophia

KRISHNA

If one does not attain God before death in this life, he must again take the body of a mortal. –Katha Upanishad

Many are the births that have been passed through by Me and you. I know them all, while you do not. –The Bagavad Gita

The Yogi who strives diligently, and is purified of defilements, and who gains perfection through many births, then achieves the highest goal. –The Bagavad Gita

BUDDHA

If you harm one who is innocent, the harm comes back to you like dust thrown into the wind. –The Dhammapada

Everything that we are is the result of our former thoughts and actions. If we speak evil, or act with evil intention, then suffering follows us. If we speak and act with good intentions, happiness will follow us like a shadow. –The Buddha

DEATH AND IMMORTALITY

JESUS

Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. –The Gospels of Luke, Mark, Matthew, and John

Anyone who understands these words will never experience death. –The Gospel of Thomas

KRISHNA

Of that which is born, death is certain; of that which is dead, birth is certain. One should not grieve over the unavoidable. –The Bagavad Gita

All beings are unmanifested in their beginning, manifested in their middle state, and unmanifest again in their end. What is there to grieve about? –The Bagavad Gita

The embodied one having gone beyond the three natures, out of which the body is evolved, is freed from birth, death, decay, and pain, and attains to immortality. –The Bagavad Gita

The unreal never is, and the Real never is not. Those who understand this have found truth. Everything that is pervaded in this way is certain to be indestructible. No one has the power to destroy the Absolute. –The Bagavad Gita

BUDDHA

Not in the sky, nor in the midst of the ocean, nor deep in the mountain, nowhere can you hide from your own death. –The Dhammapada

Death is not to be feared so much by one who has lived wisely. –The Buddha

The master found his disciple crying, and said, “For whom do you cry? For whom are you sorry? If you are weeping because I do not know where I am going, then you are mistaken. If I did not know where I was going, I would not leave you. Your tears are because you do not know where I’m going. If you did, you would not be weeping. The essence of Dharma knows no birth, no death, no coming or going. –The Manual of Zen Discipline

When a person dies, he lets go of thoughts about what is “mine”. The wise have already done so. –The Jara Sutta

LAO TZU

A living person is soft and flexible, but upon dying becomes stiff and rigid. Thus the soft belongs to the living, and the hard to the dead. –The Tao Te Ching

For one who has found peace in life cannot be touched by the weapons of war. Thu buffalo finds no place in him to place its horns. The tiger finds no place to sink its claws. Thus, there is no room for death in such a person. –The Tao Te Ching