Magi, Buddha, and Compassion

Three years ago, in September 2021, during my first Cathedral School Hymn Sing as the new chaplain, the first hymn requested by a student was #128. Unlike many of you, I didn’t know that “We Three Kings” has been a Cathedral School favorite for decades. This holiday season, as we prepare to sing this beloved hymn once again, it’s worth pausing to take a deeper look at who these kings may have been, the significance they add to the story of faith, and the relevance of their gifts for our world today.

 

Saint Matthew’s gospel is the only story of Jesus to include details about the visit of the three kings to the Christ child. We don’t know much about them, but what we know is this: They’re foreigners from regions east of the Holy Land who present Jesus with gifts befitting a king — gold, frankincense, and myrrh. They’re not actually designated as “kings” but are labeled as “magi” who study the stars, which is more like wise and wealthy astrologers of significant status rather than political kings like King Herod, who, by the way, is out to kill baby Jesus because he feels threatened by the prophecy of a coming messiah. The Bible doesn’t even specify if there are three magi or if they’re all male — these are just assumptions we often project onto the story.

 

I, personally, like that so few details are given. It leaves room for a practice in the Jewish tradition called “midrash” where you fill in the blanks of a Bible story.

 

Over the past 2000 years, the Christian tradition has tried to fill in the blanks in ways that I often find very helpful. For example, the magi, or three kings, are almost always depicted as a band of international travelers. They’ve even been given names — Casper, Melchior, and Balthasar. One is usually depicted with very dark skin and appears to be from Africa or Arabia; one appears to be from Persia or India; and the third is from the “Far East,” or what we’d consider East Asia. I hope the symbolism is clear: The birth of Jesus and the entry of God’s love and justice into the world is good news for all people, all cultures, and all religions of the earth. Their diversity is essential to who the three kings are. They are united by the Christmas promise of love and justice that breaks down borders and welcomes strangers and wisdom from all sources.

 

Also essential to the magi is their generosity. They are gift givers. I find it hard to believe that these wise people traveled thousands of miles simply to show up for Jesus’s party and then left after a few hours. More likely, I imagine they would have stayed with Jesus, Mary, and Joseph for a significant amount of days — possibly even a few weeks — and presented Jesus not just with three physical gifts but also shared the wisdom of their specific traditions.

 

In the centuries bracketing Jesus’s birth, Buddhism was a wisdom tradition that was spreading from India and taking root in East Asia. Imagine, along with me, that one of the three kings — the one from the Far East — gave Jesus and his parents the most important teaching of the Buddha.

 

For those of you familiar with Buddhism, this week Buddhists around the world celebrate Bodhi Day — the day commemorating when Prince Siddartha became the Buddha. The story goes like this: After leaving the comforts of wealth, privilege, and family behind, Siddhartha embarked on a spiritual quest to find a solution to the world’s suffering. His journey led him to a bodhi tree, which he sat beneath, meditating for weeks until he finally achieved moksha, or enlightenment. In that moment, he discovered that the answer to life’s suffering was to empty yourself of selfish desires and attachments, and — in place of those — be filled with a divine compassion for all living beings. Bodhi Day reminds us that compassion is key to enlightenment, to freedom, and to truth.

 

I like to speculate that the westward leading wise man — or woman — coming from the East passed this Buddhist wisdom of compassion on to Jesus. For me, this helps explain the uncanny similarities between the teachings of the Buddha and the teachings of Jesus, despite the fact that they were separated by centuries and continents. (Remember: In Jesus’s most famous parable, the Good Samaritan, everything hinges on the moment when the unlikely hero is confronted with his enemy’s suffering, and “looked at him and had compassion.”)

 

The message of compassion is universal. At its core is the idea that we must empty our lives of self-centered concerns and questions like “What do I want?” “What’s in it for me?” and “What can I own or control?” Rather, Buddha teaches, the compassionate person asks, “What do others need?” and “What gifts can I offer the world to alleviate suffering and spread loving kindness?”

 

This message of compassion seems especially important during the holiday season. Endless advertising and our consumerist way of life would have us believe that the purpose of Christmas (and life itself) is getting what’s at the top of your wish list. To keep from getting caught up in this false and shallow way of life, I go out of my way to retell the journey of the magi and remember that compassion is at the heart of following the Buddha and following Christ.

 

As we transition to the Eucharist portion of the service, you are invited to approach the table with Christ as our host and the Buddha as our guest. May the meal that we share together free us from our selfish desires. May it be a sign of our diversity. And may it unite us in compassion.

 

Amen.