Reflections On King Solomon And The Buddha - Section 1
Chapter 4 - Solomon's Discontent
by Ira Rosenberg
The Proverbs of Solomon and the book of Ecclesiastes catch and focus this same awareness. They're the main scriptural sources for the Hebraic sense of dukkha. Like the Buddha, Solomon starts with inherent dissatisfaction. Both of them recognize the persistence of suffering as something woven into the world as lived, not as extrinsic to it. Solomon says:
I saw all the deeds that were done under the sun, and behold, everything is vanity and frustration. what is crooked will not be able to be straightened and what is missing will not be able to be counted.
(Ecc. 1:14-15)
For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge, increases pain
(Ecc. 1:18)
It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for that is the end of every man, and the living shall lay it to heart.
(Ecc. 7:2)
The heart of the wise is in a house of mourning, whereas the heart of the fools is in a house of joy.
(Ecc. 7:4)
And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.
(Ecc. 3:16 )
All things are wearisome; no one can utter it; the eye shall not be sated from seeing, nor shall the ear be filled from hearing.
(Ecc. 1:8)
The weariness that Solomon speaks about is part of the dukkha, an endlessly recurring hunger for sensation that can never be sated. As Mesudath David comments to this verse: "the weariness comes from not ever achieving your goal, therefore toiling endlessly."
Copyright 1998 - Ira Rosenberg
Last Updated 09/17/98 (rge)