English Term Papers - Sample Literature Analysis

While reading Dante’s Inferno I couldn’t help but draw parallels between the journey of the protagonist and the belief system of the Buddhist religion. Dante believed we must understand sin before we can reject it, and Buddha believed that before we can reject sin, we must suffer also. Examining these two tenets side by side makes the similarities undeniably apparent; they both seem to be purporting the message that there cannot be pain without pleasure, truth without dishonesty or enlightenment with suffering.

Dante’s version of hell is based on that of Medieval Catholicism, which professes to be quite divergent from the Buddhist faith. Yet the similarities are actually quite prevalent when reviewed from an impartial perspective. The first resemblance I noticed between the two faiths was in regards to the Roman epic poet Virgil, who acts as Dante’s mentor and protector while accompanying him on his extraordinary journey through Hell. This immediately made me think of the spirit guides that Buddhists believe channel them towards salvation.

Dante views Virgil as many Christians view God; as a father figure, from whom guidance, information, and forgiveness is actively sought. Dante refers to Virgil as "Master", "Guide", "Teacher", "Poet" in the beginning; yet he eventually begins to refer to Virgil as "Lord", implying that he sees Virgil not as a traditional father figure, but as a spiritually divine one. This is evidenced even further in Canto XXX, line 130 – end, in which Dante needs Virgil’s forgiveness, which suggests that his clemency bears some divine power of atonement.

This Christian tendency to have a spirit guide take on the characteristics of a ruling deity is actually analogous to aspects of the Buddhist religion in many ways. Both Buddhists and Christians believe that a spirit guide is a more highly evolved being who once started out on the lowest, physical plane but has reached a level at which he can be considered a 'God'. Both view the spirit guide as a counselor and a guardian that is far wiser than any mortal being. Both attach the figure of the spirit guide to divine characteristics, and both use the figure pervasively throughout their narratives. However it is important to note that there are also some discrepancies between Dante’s Christian spirit guides and those revered in Buddhism. Buddhists believe that every human being is a spiritual being as well as a physical being, and that by exploring the spiritual sphere of ourselves we can have a guiding hand in our own destiny. In The Dhammapada, one of the best loved of all Buddhist scriptures, Buddha proclaims in verses 116-119:

Make haste in doing good; check your mind from evil; for the mind of him who is slow in doing meritorious actions delights in evil.

Should a person commit evil, he should not do it again and again; he should not find pleasure therein: painful is the accumulation of evil.

Should a person perform a meritorious action, he should do it again and again; he should find pleasure therein: blissful is the accumulation of merit.

Even an evildoer sees good as long as evil ripens not; but when it bears fruits, then he sees the evil results. [1]

On the contrary, Dante’s interpretations of medieval Catholicism purported that the hand we play in our destiny is not based on our actions but on our ability to atone for those actions. This perception is especially apparent at the beginning of Canto V:

I say, that when the spirit evil-born

Cometh before him, wholly it confesses;

And this discriminator of transgressions

Seeth what place in Hell is meet for it;

Girds himself with his tail as many times

As grades he wishes it should be thrust down.

Always before him many of them stand;

They go by turns each one unto the judgment;

They speak, and hear, and then are downward hurled. [2]

The Four Noble Truths that comprise the essence of Buddha's teachings are relevant in this comparison as well, in that they also deal primarily with the role we play in our own suffering. These Noble Truths are: the truth of suffering, the truth of the cause of suffering, the truth of the end of suffering, and the truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering. More simply put, suffering exists; it has a cause; it has an end; and it has a cause to bring about its end. The notion of suffering in Buddhism then, is not intended to convey a negative world view, but rather, to connote a pragmatic perspective that deals with the world as it is, and subsequently attempts to remedy it. The concept of pleasure is not denied, but is rather acknowledged as fleeting in that the pursuit of pleasure can only sustain what is ultimately an unquenchable thirst.

[1] Carter, John Ross and Mahinda Palihawadana, trans. and ed. The Dhammapada. New York: Oxford University Press, 1987, verses 116-119.

[2] Alighieri, Dante. The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri: Inferno. Trans. Allen Mandelbaum. Notes Allen Mandelbaum and Gabriel Marruzzo. New York: Bantam Books, 1980

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