Common Ground - Islam and Buddhism

c o m m o n g r o u n d between i s l a m a n d b u d d h i s m
ing, letting go, and rejecting of that same craving. This is
called the cessation of suffering.
And what is the way leading to the cessation of suffering?
It is just this Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view,
right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood,
right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. This is
called the way leading to the cessation of suffering. 18
It is to be noted that the Qur’ānic definition of salvation in Islam
is directly connected with the cessation of suffering; it is from the
suffering of hell, precisely, that one is in fact ‘saved’: Truly those
who believe and those who are Jews, and the Christians and the
Sabeans—whoever believes in God and the Last Day and performs
virtuous acts—for such, their reward is with their Lord, no fear or
grief will befall them (2:62; repeated almost verbatim at 5:69). One
might ask whether the two types of suffering are situated on the
same plane: whereas the Muslim idea of avoiding suffering is connected
to the avoidance of perpetual torment in hell, the Buddha’s
message appears to pertain only to the cessation of suffering in this
world. However, there is certainly an ‘eschatological’ aspect to the
Buddha’s message (just as inversely, there is a terrestrial aspect to
the cessation of suffering in Islam), and this is made clear in many
sermons where posthumous existences are referred to in terms identifiable
as ‘heavenly’ and ‘hellish’, depending on the nature of the
deeds performed here on earth. Indeed, the principle of accountability,
and of tasting the fruits hereafter only of one’s actions herebelow,
was central to the Buddha’s own enlightenment. Describing the
various phases of his enlightenment, he speaks as follows:
When my concentrated mind was thus purified, bright, unblemished,
rid of imperfection, malleable, wieldy, steady,
and attained to imperturbability, I directed it to knowledge
of the passing away and reappearance of beings. With the
divine eye, which is purified and surpasses the human, I saw
beings passing away and reappearing, inferior and superior,
fair and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate. I understood how
beings pass on according to their actions thus: ‘These unworthy
beings who were ill conducted in body, speech and
18. Ibid., 9.15–18, pp. 134–135. We have inserted all eight dimensions of the
Ibid., 9.15–18, pp. 134–135. We have inserted all eight dimensions of the
Path, whereas the translators had mentioned only two, separated by an ellipsis,
given the fact that the list had appeared several times in this Sutta already.
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