Family and Renunciation

Comparing the family (oikos) in the Bible with renunciation (出家, pravrajyā) in Buddhist sutras. The two traditions illuminate the relationship between blood family and spiritual community from different perspectives.

The Meaning of Family

Bible

עַל־כֵּן יַעֲזָב־אִישׁ אֶת־אָבִיו וְאֶת־אִמּוֹ וְדָבַק בְּאִשְׁתּוֹ וְהָיוּ לְבָשָׂר אֶחָד

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”

Sutra

無子何愁，無牛何憂。人之生死，但有患苦

“Without children, what is there to grieve? Without cattle, what is there to worry about? In the birth and death of a person, there is only suffering.”

Comparison

While Genesis sees the family as God's blessing, the Dhammapada warns that attachment to family can become a cause of suffering. Yet this difference is only on the surface. The Bible also guards against the idolization of family (Matthew 10:37), and Buddhism also respects the path of the lay practitioner (在家). Both traditions lead us to reflect on the boundary between attachment and love within family relationships.

Leaving and Remaining

Bible

Εἴ τις ἔρχεται πρός με καὶ οὐ μισεῖ τὸν πατέρα ἑαυτοῦ καὶ τὴν μητέρα καὶ τὴν γυναῖκα καὶ τὰ τέκνα καὶ τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς καὶ τὰς ἀδελφάς, ἔτι τε καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν ἑαυτοῦ, οὐ δύναταί μου εἶναι μαθητής

“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.”

Sutra

夜半踰城去，白馬載悉達。捨俗塵勞苦，求道度衆生

“In the middle of the night he crossed the city wall and left; the white horse carried Siddhartha. Abandoning the dust and toil of the world, he sought the Way to save all beings.”

Comparison

Jesus's paradox of 'hate your parents' and Siddhartha's great renunciation both teach that one must transcend the closest relationships for the sake of ultimate truth. In both cases it is not selfish escape but a process of moving toward a wider love. Jesus for the Kingdom of God, Siddhartha for all sentient beings — both transcended the narrow fence of family, and paradoxically that departure became the completion of a deeper love.

Spiritual Family

Bible

ὃς ἂν ποιήσῃ τὸ θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ, οὗτος ἀδελφός μου καὶ ἀδελφὴ καὶ μήτηρ ἐστίν

“For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.”

Sutra

衆生之類，是菩薩佛土。所以者何？菩薩隨所化衆生而取佛土

“The multitude of beings is the bodhisattva's Buddha-land; for the bodhisattva takes the Buddha-land according to the beings to be transformed.”

Comparison

Mark's 'whoever does God's will is my family' and the Vimalakirti Sutra's 'beings are the bodhisattva's Buddha-land' both present a concept of spiritual family that transcends bloodline. In Jesus's community the criterion of family is God's will; in the bodhisattva community the scope of family is all sentient beings. Both traditions invite us to break through the narrow fence of blood relations and move toward a broader, universal family.