Buddhism – A Divine Comedy

Dante’s Inferno – The Divine Comedy
A poem by the 14^th century Italian poet Dante Alighieri
One might think Dante Alighieri was Buddhist!

The Divine Comedy is a poem of a symbolic journey through the three realms of: Inferno (hell), Purgatorio (Purgatory) and Paradiso (heaven). The interesting word here is ‘purgatory‘ – to purge, to purify.

Of course, Dante was Catholic, but in his writing, there are similarities with Buddhism, although the approach to purification is different. It’s a very long poem estimated to be about 15 hours reading; Buddhist texts are pretty lengthy as well 😉

You don’t have to be Buddhist to realise that it is our selfishness that causes us suffering when we cling to the ‘seven deadly sins’ – the emotions – known as the ‘poisons’ in Buddhism.

In the Comedy, we have to atone for our ‘sins’; in Buddhism we have to repay our karmic debt.

In the Comedy, there are 9 circles of hell; in Buddhism, there are 18 hells. Remember that hell is a state of mind; we can either get very ‘hot’ about something (usually regarding others) or ‘frozen’.

Once we recognise that we are suffering, we recognise that we are in hell. In Buddhism, that is the first noble truth. We then have to recognise the cause of that suffering and do something about it. That is atonement/purification. In Buddhism, we only have to be aware of our true nature and not re-enact our emotions, which are the false adornments of our true nature. Gradually, happiness dawns: Gampopa: “May confusion dawn as wisdom.” We don’t engage in guilt because that’s another of the deadly sins, but we do have regret as part of the purification process, by recognising the consequences of our actions.

The uncomfortable truth is that we do live in hell. It may be a cosy hell but, as we are not enlightened, we are suffering – we just haven’t noticed it yet! Once we recognise our suffering and that of others, we want to do something about it. How, will depend on the tradition we follow.

A Comedy

In classical terminology, a comedy is a work that begins in misery or deep confusion and ends in elation or happiness. An ascension from a low state of confusion to one where all people are combined for the greatest happiness.

In Shakespearean comedy, the play often begins in confusion, with couples breaking up or separating, and ends with everyone finding the right partner. In other words, from a relative perspective, a comedy is not something one would laugh about if one was involved in such confusion.

In Buddhism we do laugh about it, as we realise that hell is our teacher. Facing and laughing at the devil/mara is our final teaching. The devil/mara’s ways are very subtle as he knows our false claims. If he does, we do! 😀 😀 😀 The devil/mara is our own, very subtle, clinging to likes and dislikes.