Mark W. Muesse - Four Wise Men: The Lives And Teachings Of Confucius, The Buddha, Jesus, And Muhammad

I n 1978, astrophysicist Michael H. Hart published a provocative book that ranked the one hundred people who had most influenced world history. Harts book, titled simply The , argued that the five most influential persons who ever lived were the Prophet Muhammad, Sir Isaac Newton, Jesus of Nazareth, the Buddha, and Confuciusin that order. The books appearance caused quite a stir, especially among folk who thought their particular hero was not rated highly enough or did not make the list at all. Much of the controversy was due to the failure of many to understand the authors intention. Hart was not trying to evaluate and rank the best persons who had ever lived. He was merely making judgments about the impact on history of prominent individuals. Certainly he had a point. While we might quibble about the order, any list of, say, a dozen persons who have most affected the course of human events would surely include Muhammad, Jesus, the Buddha, and Confucius.

While the historical influence of these four can hardly be doubted, what prompts this study is not simply an interest in history, although that fact alone certainly merits comparative investigation. My fascination with this quartet of sages derives from another concern, the same interest that led me to the study of religion and philosophy in the first place: the desire to know how to live life well. After over thirty years of studying the worlds religious and philosophical traditions, I am convinced that these four figures represent some of our finest teachers of the art of living. There are others whom I might rank with Confucius, the Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad, but no one who excels them. By their lives they have inspired meand obviously countless otherswith their dedication to living deeply and thoughtfully and with the courage they mustered in the face of adversity.

Because of their dual significanceas persons who decidedly shaped history and as teachers who offered compelling visions of how to livethis book addresses both historical and philosophical interests. We will talk about who these men were and what they said but also about the import of their lives and teachings for us today.

The approach to our study is simple, but it requires a bit of explanation and some justification. The overall structure is twofold. We will first study each figure separately, as an individual situated in his own time and place. Then, after considering each person independently, we will turn to a comparative study of their lives and their teachings.

The study of the four as individuals follows a chronological order. We begin with the most ancient figure, Confucius, followed by the Buddha, then Jesus, and finally Muhammad. This sequence implies nothing other than the passage of time. I am not suggesting any kind of philosophical, moral, or religious advancement or regression; we are merely considering these persons in the order in which they lived. Although there are occasional references to preceding chapters throughout the book, it is not essential that these four figures be studied in the order presented here. One might easily begin with Muhammad and end with Confucius.