Similarities Between Sherlock Holmes And Buddhism

Perhaps the most widely referenced hero in popular Western culture is Sir Conan Arthur Doyle’s fictional consulting detective, Sherlock Holmes. Holmes is known for using his abilities of deduction in order to derive the truth from details that, while at first glance seem insignificant, are in actuality the most vital. However, while Sherlock is often characterized as being an unemotional, calculating, and purely logical detective, there is literary proof that seems to suggest that he may also be a deeply spiritual man. Through Sir Conan Arthur Doyle s short stories of the man with the â€Å"long grey travelling-cloak† and the â€Å"close-fitting cloth cap,† the reader will be presented with evidence that shows how Holmes both does and does not†¦show more content†¦He even tells Watson that â€Å"[t]here is a danger there—a very real danger to humanity. Consider, Watson, that the material, the sensual, the worldly would all prolong [humanityâ€⠄¢s] worthless lives† (The Adventure of the Crooked Man, 1893). In this statement, Sherlock acknowledges the first and second noble truth, that all of humanity is suffering and that suffering is caused by desire, when he says that the worthlessness and hence eventual suffering comes from the desire of material, sensual, and worldly goods. However, Sherlock in his statement, he also recognizes that this suffering may never cease when he continues by saying, â€Å"[w]hat sort of cesspool may not our poor world become?† (The Adventure of the Crooked Man, 1893). This goes in contrary to the third noble truth which says that desire and craving, and hence suffering, may come to an end because Holmes recognizes that desire and craving are all a part of human life. Therefore, since Sherlock implies that humanity is in a â€Å"cesspool† that cannot get beyond its desire for the material, the physical and the worldly, he is adopting a rather pessimistic view of humanity th at, based on the Buddha’s earliest teachings, would be incompatible with Buddhist beliefs. Nevertheless, the detective may still yet be the Buddha figure that he was earlier claimed to be. While it may be strange to call a fictional character a