The Lotus and the Cross

This talk was given at a Conference in Sarum College, Salisbury, in September 2006, at which a panel of Christians and Buddhists met in dialogue. The subject matter was the Prologue to the Rule of St Benedict and any writing of the Dalai Lama of similar length, on the subject of moral discipline.

A commentary on the Rule of St Benedict by Brother Christopher Greener

Sarum College, Salisbury 2006

Benedict begins his prologue with an exhortation: “Listen carefully,  my son, to the master’s instructions, and attend to them with the ear of your heart”.  It is most likely that Benedict copied this directly from the book of Proverbs, for we find in this book many similar sayings: For instance, chapter one, verse eight reads, “Hear, my child, your father’s instruction, and do not reject your mother’s teaching”; chapter two, verse two, “my child, if you accept my words and treasure up my commandments within you, making your ear attentive  to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding … then you will learn the fear of the Lord”; chapter three, verse one, “My child, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments”; And chapter twenty-two, verse seventeen, “The words of the wise: Incline your ear and hear my words, and apply your mind to my teaching”.

This insight into how  one becomes wise, has a long history, and is also cross-cultural.  Approximately,  2,400 years ago a collection of sayings were written on to a scroll which became known as the book of Proverbs.  This occurred when the chosen people, the Jews, returned to Israel, having been exiled and imprisoned in Babylon.   Up until then, these sayings had been kept in the memory of the people  as oral instructions for teaching.  And the people of Israel collected their sayings as they travelled in Egypt as slaves as well as during their later captivity in Babylon.   It has been suggested that Proverbs chapter one verse eight was originally an instruction for teaching either at the court of pharaoh or in an Egyptian family.  Subsequently this saying was adopted by the people of  Israel.  So in the opening verse of Benedict’s prologue we have a saying which is both timeless and universal.   And also a saying which has tremendous depth, for it meant something to them amidst their trials of slavery.

If we turn back the clock 1600 years from now,  it seems that St Benedict either consciously or unconsciously felt that the book of Proverbs provided him with the fitting way of opening his short Rule.   Just to remind us it says: “Listen carefully,  my son, to the master’s instructions, and attend to them with the ear of your heart”.  This instruction establishes from the beginning the required disposition that the newcomer, as a novice, is to acquire is the habit of  listening.  This establishes the position of the novice as the one who is to learn, and the senior monks as those who teach.   As a human qualification  St Benedict tells us, later, that the novice should follow what the seniors tell him to do, but he should not always follow what they actually do, for sometimes they do not give a  good example.  In his last chapter  St Benedict  directs those who have gone beyond the entry level  to broaden their horizon especially by reading other writers such as the early Christian monk Cassian , and, of course, Scripture itself. 

The rule then is a rule for beginners, and a beginner needs first to listen, then act.   The prologue continually exhorts this virtue: for instance, we read, “if you hear his voice”;  “listen to what the Spirit says”; “nor listened to slanders against his neighbour”; and “whoever hears these words”. We can easily understand what it means “to listen”; but actually “to listen” is not easy.  St Benedict urges his disciples to listen with “the ear of their heart”.  In other words, in the depths of their interior; their very soul. This listening will mean the newcomer or novice will learn to put aside his own will and obediently follow his master; so long that his master’s will is in harmony with the moral teaching of the church as detailed in Scripture, and  as  interpreted through the councils of the Church.   And that is the same advice that a novice would receive on joining a monastery today. For a Christian, of course, a son who listens to the father is an analogy for how God the Father relates through the holy Spirit to Christ the Son.  The monastic vows of conversion, obedience and stability are learnt through this relationship; first through receiving the Word then by action in giving to others.

Bibliography

J. Barton, J. Muddiman, (Eds.), The Oxford Biblical Commentary (2002)

James L. Crenshaw, Old Testament Wisdom: An Introduction (SCM: London, 1981)

Katherine Dell, Get Wisdom, Get Insight (Dartman, Longman & Todd:London, 2000)

Thomas P. McCreesh, OP, ‘Proverbs’ in Raymond Brown, SS, Joseph Fitzmyer, &

Roland Murphy, O. Carm, (Eds),  (2nd Ed.), The New Jerome Biblical Commentary                                        (Chapman: Avon, 1990)

William Mckane, Proverbs (SCM: London, 1970)

Stuart Weeks, Early Israelite Wisdom (Oxford: 1994)

R. Whybray, Wisdom in Proverbs (SCM: London, 1965)