Barlaam and Josaphat: A Christian Tale of the Buddha

by Gui de Cambrai

“One day the king sent for his councilor. He took him on a tour of the city (I believe he did this often), and they rode about together to see if they might see anything new. They wandered through the city until they saw a candle shining brightly in a poor hovel. They stopped and saw a man inside. He was poor and hungry and dressed in rags—he had nothing. Then they saw his wife approaching him, bringing him a glass of wine and singing happily. The goblet was made of clear glass, the red wine was richly colored. Its deep hue could have revived even a man who had languished in illness for ten or fifteen years. The woman seemed more noble than her poverty would admit. Singing joyfully, she offered the wine to the man whom the king considered a pauper. The king watched him for a while, and he and his retinue wondered how there could be such wealth in poverty.

  “The man did not complain of his poverty—in fact he rejoiced when he should have mourned. The man and his wife covered their poverty in joy, and the sound of their festive singing showed the king and his men that the couple was rich in happiness. The king and his wealthy princes tried to understand, and the king called his councilor to him. ‘Friend,’ he said, ‘I wonder how these people can believe that there is delight in poverty and pleasure in drinking wine. They are paupers, but they are happy in their misery. They sing when they should weep, and they live when they are close to death. They are free in their prison, and in death they hold to life. They find laughter in their tears and life in death. I cannot help but marvel at it. We are noble and richly dressed, and we take pleasure in whatever our hearts desire, but we do not live as happily as this pauper. He lives joyfully in his misery, and he makes something base into a treasure. He is rich despite his need and turns the truth of his poverty into a lie. He is generous though penniless, and his pleasure belies his misery. He laughs despite his tears, and his household is rich without being wealthy. He is well advised though he has no councilor, he is well supported without receiving help, and he is rich with no belongings, and strong with no power. He is wise yet knows nothing. He has enough yet possesses nothing. He lives while dying. He is impoverished and does not see it. We have never loved our lives as much as this man does.’

  “The councilor asked the king, ‘Sire, what do you think their life is like?’ The king answered, ‘It seems to me that it must be very poor and bitter, and full of resentment and misery.’ ‘Sire,’ the councilor explained, ‘whoever leaves this world without doing good has, according to those who reject this world, a worse life than theirs and indeed lives in peril. Rich clothing and adornments are worth nothing compared to the glory they anticipate. Just as you suggest that these people seem deluded when they find joy in their sorrow, so these men tell us that the time we spend rejoicing in our good fortune would be better spent in lamentation. Worldly pleasures are deceptive and full of suffering when compared to the sweet rewards that await those who keep their minds on the heavenly glory that will crown them and who seek that glory by doing good deeds.’

  “The king was very surprised and responded, ‘Friend, tell me, then, who are these people who have a better life than we do? Tell me how they live.’

  “His councilor answered, ‘I will tell you as much as I know. Without doubt, those who despise this vile world and care only for the heavenly kingdom live a much better life than we do.’

  “The king asked, ‘Good friend, what is the kingdom you describe?’ ‘My friend,’ the councilor answered, ‘the kingdom on high is worth more than anything here below. It is filled with wealth—no poverty is found there—and it holds reward, not punishment. There is happiness without sorrow, wealth without fear, love without blame, and honor without challenge. There is sovereignty without oppression, wealth without inheritance, life without fear of death, freedom without imprisonment, wisdom without foolishness, and possession without loss. He who can win this place will have joy and honor forever, and he will have the eternity that is promised to those who know and love God. Those who call on him will lose only this bitter world, and they will be with God above forever in the enduring glory of his court.’

  “The king responded, ‘Tell me truly, who is worthy of this life?’ ‘By faith,’ said the councilor, ‘this life is easy to enter for those who desire it sincerely.’ ‘Now tell me,’ the king said, ‘what must a man do and what path leads him to such great joy?’ ‘He must find true belief,’ said the councilor. ‘Whoever believes wholeheartedly in God and his birth and in the Holy Trinity will be saved. This is what Christians believe.’

  “The king understood and answered, ‘You have hidden this from me for too long. You are my man and I am your lord. You should tell me everything that will benefit me and keep me from danger. If what you have told me is true, why did you hide it from me for so long?’ ‘I did not neglect to instruct you because I was indifferent or because of ill will,’ his companion explained, ‘but for fear of losing your friendship. I did not want to tell you anything you did not wish to learn. The things I tell you are true, and anyone who cares for his own well-being should believe them.’

  “The king responded, ‘I command you not to hide these things from me any longer. You will teach me about them every day, and I will hear you out of love.’ The councilor advised the king willingly, and he converted his lord through his teaching. From that time forward, the king was a wise man, greatly esteemed and of great renown, and he lived a very holy life.”

  Barlaam then explained the lesson of his story. “I tell you, then, that if anyone can show your father the truth and bring him into the right path, he will be baptized. He will leave the false belief that holds his soul in the balance.”

  Josaphat responded, “Good brother, may God’s pleasure and his will be done with my father. But now that I know the things of this world are vain, I wish to leave it. I will go with you to live, for according to what I have heard you say here, anyone who seeks to serve God with a good heart should flee this world.”

  Josaphat learns the value of earthly possessions

  The hermit answered Josaphat with another parable. “By faith, you want to do what a rich and handsome young man once did. He was from a noble lineage, the son of a wise and wealthy man. Another nobleman from an important family also lived in the city. He was wise and brave and had earned many honors, and he lived in great luxury. He had a daughter who was richer and more beautiful than any other young woman in the city. The father of the handsome young man asked for this young woman as a bride for his son, and her father agreed to the marriage, but when the young man learned of the arrangement, he was sorrowful. He did not love the girl, because she did not believe in God, and so he fled. He did not want to live with a woman who did not put her faith in God.

  “The young man left his home and went away. He suffered from the heat of the day, and as he passed through a city, he stopped to rest. The heat prevented him from going any farther. He went into a nearby house where an old man lived in poverty with his daughter, who sat alone, sewing a ragged dress. This young woman worshipped God in her heart and prayed for his grace. She gave thanks to him for the salvation he had bought for her with his life. The young man marveled when he heard this. ‘Maiden,’ he said, ‘may it not offend you, but is this a jest? What sweetness have you found and what rich gift have you received that you should offer thanks in this way? Show it to me, I want to see it. Do not hide it from me. Whom do you praise so wholeheartedly?’ ‘Friend,’ said the young lady, ‘I am God’s servant and handmaiden. My father is poor and aged, but up to now God has been pleased to provide for him and for me too. God has given me everything I have, and I serve him with my whole heart. I am certain that if he wished, he could give me more than I could ever ask for. But God knows that I do not care about possessions in this life, for all the wealth of this world will soon pass away. There is nothing here below that compares to the glory on high. Since I am able to understand reason, I offer thanks to God, who made me and who will take me when he wishes. He will judge my soul and my body. What justification will I
have to offer when the judgment comes if I do not thank him now and worship him with a good heart? I do not know what more I can tell you, I am his handmaid. He is my Lord.’

  “The young man marveled at her wisdom and her words. He went to her father and identified himself. He described his father’s nobility and wealth, and the old man recognized him. The young man asked for his daughter—he loved her and wanted to take her as his wife, for she knew how to understand reason and she was noble, generous, and wise. ‘She is so wise that I would have her as my wife,’ the young man said. The old man replied: ‘Listen to me: it is not fitting for you or for your lineage that you take such a wife, nor would I be happy to have such a rich son-in-law. I am a poor man. I cannot trust a young man who acts so rashly.’

  “‘Sire,’ he said, ‘you misunderstand me. I do not ask for her lightly. I desire her with all my heart. A rich wife was promised to me, one of the most noble in the land, and I fled because I did not wish to marry her. With your permission, I would take your daughter as my wife because she believes in God and because she is so brave and valiant. I would rather have her than any other.’

  “The old man responded, ‘You cannot have her, if you will not stay to live with me. She is my only companion and I would suffer if you took her away from me. I am alone and have no friends. If another joins us, he cannot take her as a companion if he would separate us. She will never be parted from me to take another companion. She is my constant company, and I have a share in her. I do not wish to lose my share to another, and if she were taken away, I would lose her. You must become my companion as well if you would take her as yours.’

  “‘I willingly agree to do as you wish,’ the young man responded wisely.

  “The old man tested him. He spoke kindly to the young man, then harshly. He sifted his conscience and his heart through the winnow of his good intentions and separated the chaff from the grain. He questioned him until he was certain the young man was not caught up in some kind of rash love. He saw that his request for his daughter was not impetuous and that he sought the marriage in good faith and prized it more than his own nobility and lineage. The wise old man tested the noble youth until he was certain that he did not wish to marry his daughter to gain wealth but because of her tenderness and moderation. The young man was enriched by poverty, for the father understood his honesty. He led the young man into his chamber and showed him a great abundance of riches. He gave him his daughter and his treasure and everything he had, and the young man received the wealth as an inheritance. He became a lord and the equal of his neighbors, and with time he became even richer and surpassed them in wealth.”

  “By God,” said the king’s son, “you told this parable for me. But did you mean that I am like the young man? You have searched my thoughts and I have allowed it. You have wandered through them as if in a wood or along a river. You have gone through my forest, I believe, and you and I have sought to learn whether any wild animal remains there that has not yet been tamed. You waded into my river, and there were no birds that did not belong there. All the strange animals have been driven away by your presence, I believe. Now show me with a true heart whether you know how my river runs. You have searched all my country—my body, my heart, and my thoughts. Do not have pity on me. Pull out the brush and prune the hedge.”

  Barlaam said, “I see that you have a true heart and I have found firm resolve there, for you are a wise young man. You have made a good start, but you must ensure that a good beginning has a good end. Pray to God, who knows us both, as will I, that he will be a merciful guardian of your soul and your body, and that in answer to my prayer he will send you the true light of the Holy Spirit so your heart will be illuminated and seek to receive the Christian truth and faith. Let his divinity and his strength and his goodness be a shield for you, and let him give you understanding so you can truly believe.”

  “Master, you must tell me about the glory of God and his strength.”

  “I pray to God that he will pardon your sins and grant you wisdom,” Barlaam responded. “I pray that he will show his power over you and give you the wisdom to understand all that I teach you. The Gospels tell us that the power of God has no limit, for his majesty is infinite.

  “Know truly that no one can see God, nor will any man see him before Judgment Day. Then we will see the Creator in his substance and glory, and in his majesty and power. I will show you that God is greater than I can say, for there are not enough tongues in the world to describe his strength.

  “Consider the grandeur of his creation. Look at the sky, it never loses its beauty, nor does the earth ever grow old or lose its strength, and they were created long ago. See the springs and the sea whose boundary you cannot perceive. The sea gives and receives each day, and it never loses any part of itself. The sun follows its course each day, and it helps the moon, for it shares its light and illuminates it. You can perceive God’s power in the things he has made.”

  “Good master, you give me answers to difficult questions, and I see that reason can lead to an understanding of God’s power.”

  “This is true,” the old man responded, “but his divinity is so great that human intelligence cannot fully understand or measure the extent of God’s power.”

  “I believe this,” said Josaphat. “But now tell me in truth: How many years have passed since you were born? Where is your home? Do you have companions in your faith?”

  “I am sixty years old, I believe. I live in the wilderness, and I spend every day and every night in repentance. I have companions who share my belief, and they too dwell in the wilderness and wander through its woods. They have no lodging or home, for they put their minds on higher things.”

  The king’s son replied, “Explain this to me: you tell me that you are sixty years old, but when I look at you, this does not seem right. I do not think that anyone would take you to be younger than one hundred.”

  “By faith, friend, you are right. I was born a hundred years ago, but I do not count the first forty years because during that time my body was seduced by worldly pleasures. The man who lived like that is dead. I foolishly spent forty years in this world’s pursuits, and that is why I say those years are dead to me. The following sixty are years of life, my good friend, and I do not count the years of death along with the years of life. I have lived for as long as I have done good deeds, and I was dead while I sinned. I live in God, and God in me, as long as I love him in good faith.

  “The life of my body is dead, and I kill my flesh to give life to my soul and to free myself from the prison of my body. Whoever loves the pleasures of the world destroys himself. He believes that he lives, but he dies without knowing it, for the sins that he commits kill him. This is why I say that he dies while he lives. Whoever sins constantly dies in life and lives in death, and sin is a death that will never end. Whoever is intoxicated with sin dies from death, for he knows not how to live. But whoever lives in good faith, without corruption and without injustice, does not die, but rather he leaves this life, and in leaving it he comes back to a life that cannot die, and he can no longer feel death.”

  “Master, all this seems true to me, but allow me to say this: when you say that this life is not properly called life, then I reply that neither is temporal death really death, and I want to know why.”

  Barlaam said, “These words are entirely true. Those who live in this world and give themselves over to its pleasures are impoverished in their wealth, and they kill themselves by the lives they lead. The present life is not really life, but those who would gain heavenly glory gather true wealth in the tithes of charity, penitence, and peace, with which they purchase the paradise that God promises to his friends. This paradise is enduring joy and eternal life, a life that does not fear death and into which death cannot enter. But those who live in sin are marked with death, and they will be judged and die an eternal death.”

  The king’s son replied: “Good master, I
believe what you say. You are fortunate to know this and to live deep in the wilderness where the pure servants of God the Creator worship him day and night. Master, what do you live on in the wilderness? Where do you get your clothes when you are so far from people?”

  “Good friend, we live on the fruit of the trees and the herbs that we gather, for we find wild fruit, herbs, roots, and nuts growing near the hermitage. We do not plant in the earth. We live only on what the sun, the dew, and the earth wish to give us. We are not tempted by avarice or greed. We enjoy our lives without dispute and envy. This is how we live in the wilderness. We do not break the earth to sow or harvest, and we do not eat bread unless God sends it to us.

  “Now I will tell you about our clothing, which is very harsh and coarse. Each of us has a hair shirt made from hard wool. We wear them for a long time, in both summer and winter, and we have no other clothing. These clothes cover us as long as they last. Once we put them on, they will not be removed before they rot. That is the order of our life.”

  “Who dressed you so well, then?” Josaphat asked.

  “I borrowed these clothes when I came here to find you, for I did not want anyone here to see the clothing I wear in the wilderness hermitage.

  “Now I have revealed to you why I came here and I have shown you how to win your salvation. I do not know how much you have understood. If you understand my words and hold to them well enough to become a Christian, you can free your soul from the prison of death. I have explained to you the meanings and the figures of the scriptures, and I have revealed to you what was hidden in your heart. That is what I came for, and now I must return.”

  “Show me the clothing that you wear when you live in the wilderness.”

  The saintly hermit took off the robe that he had put over his hair shirt. Josaphat saw that his flesh was blackened and ugly, and the hair shirt was torn, for he had worn it a long time and in all kinds of weather. The rough, hard garment covered his flanks from his waist to his knees. He was nothing but skin and bones. His stiff coat was not made of ermine, nor did it have sable borders. There was no luxury to the garment: it was not adorned with valuable decoration, it was not made of rich cloth, nor was it beautifully colored. It was so rough to handle that it could not be lifted or put on without pain. It was cut from coarse wool and was so rough and sharp that it pierced the holy hermit’s flesh. The coat suited the holy man who wore it, and he was comforted by its roughness. He put it on more willingly than another man would don a coat of ermine. The roughness seemed soft to him, and he rejoiced in the coarse fabric that irritated and tormented his body. He disciplined his body by wearing rough clothes and kept it thin by fasting. He fought against the devil by living a harsh life. Ah, God! How could he bear such suffering?