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What Do Buddhists Believe About Jesus' "Lost Years" In His Youth?
Dakini
Veteran
The Bible is silent about Jesus during his teens and early adulthood. There are those who say he went East and studied with holy people in India, bringing some of those teachings back with him to Palestine. Are there any beliefs, oral history, or other record among Asian Buddhists regarding Jesus' "lost years"?
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Comments
I strongly believe this.
It could be plausible, though. Although it could just as easily be conjectured that he might have gone into Nile Valley to study there instead, since Alexandria and the major cities at that time would already have libraries which stored the knowledge brought by traders and travelers from India and beyond through the Silk Route. Greek and Roman philosophy would also be widely available due to the Mediterranean Sea.
It's also possible that he travelled further down into Europe or something.
and no one can own consciousness, nor seek it. thus truth can be realized by anyone and anywhere.
he probably one day realized what he was. or he sought out teachers to find out what he was.
It is well known that some of his disciples went to India. There are still Christians in South West India, so I don't see a reason for him not having gone. That is, unless he went to Greece, which at that time was likewise inhabited by the various faiths of the time.
Now that we have established that he went to India (or Greece).
Is this satisfying our need for gossip?
You know, we could dismiss half the threads on this forum with the argument that answering this or that question doesn't help our practice. I'm really getting tired of that. If there's a requirement that thread topics be justified by relating them to how they help our practice, I'm not aware of it. Why, then, do anything in life that isn't aimed at helping our practice? Why read books on non-Buddhist topics? Why indulge in leisure-time activities? Why waste time online, haha! Does participating on this forum advance your practice, cap? Better quit, then; your time would best be spent practicing.
I find the topic interesting because before about a month ago, I had never heard of this idea before of him studying in India.
I read about Notovich's book (see film clip Hawkins posted) years ago, and it deals mainly with Jesus' life in India after the crucifixion, not much info about his life there in young adulthood. But I just checked Amazon, and there's a book devoted to examining the question of his "lost years" and study in India. "Jesus Lived in India". One review said it details the "convergence in teachings and life of Jesus and the Buddha", among other points. As far as I could tell, the "evidence" is based mainly on the Tibetan text in Hemis Monastery, Ladakh, that documents Jesus' activities in Kashmir.
Here's another book on the subject, that looks quite good:
"The Fifth Gospel: New Evidence From the Tibetan, Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian and Urdu Sources About the Historical Life of Jesus Christ After the Crucifixion."
http://urantiabook.org/newbook/bioindx.html
about the urantia book:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Urantia_Book
believe what you will about the urantia book, but imo, it seems just as likely credible as the bible.
I think some good book recommendations have been made here. I guess the Buddhist traditions don't have any info on Jesus "lost years", other than that one text in Hemis Monastery. I did speak to some Muslims once about it, and they knew all about Yuz Assaf (Jesus' name when he was in the East). They said he was a well-known prophet, that's as far as the conversaton went.
There's a good film out about oral traditions about Jesus in India, and it includes an interview with an American who had permission to enter his tomb in Kashmir and take DNA from the body interred there, but 9/11 happened just before she was scheduled to open the tomb, and since the tomb is in an Arab quarter, that was the end of her project. She also had permission to take DNA from Mary's burial in Meri, India. I'm not sure why that was cancelled.
Interesting way to commemmorate Easter, by attempting to examine the facts of Jesus life before and after the crucifixion! I think keeping an open mind on these questions is imortant. Did Jesus teach Buddhist principles in the Mediterranean? Some say he did.
Thank you, Hawkins, for a good film clip.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finding_in_the_Temple
for the rest of his early youth, I do not think its recorded in the bible, tough I may be wrong.
Wit Metta
talking about her family
"We have the historical proof in the direct line, the exact names of every grandparent since almost 2,000 years ago. We have historical fact on our side. We are descended from the first kings of France, Briton, and the Holy Land, and some have traced this lineage back to Cleopatra and the Egyptian dynasties."
"They are my ancient grandfathers and this is well noted in our family Bibles and genealogies. We have had a presence here since its history began as a little outpost over 2,000 years ago. No one can write the history of France or of Renne le Chateau without including the names of our grandfathers. "
She is not a serious scholar at all...
who claims an ancient alien race of Annunaki came to earth and created humans to be their slaves....who live in a planet called Niburu.
case closed
Practically none.
However, imo, Jesus was essentially a Brahmin (rather than a Buddhist)
Whilst the Buddha influenced most Indian religions, like Jesus, most Indian religions had no interest in the Buddha's core teachings
Jesus honored Brahma or God The Father
Ajahn Brahm shares his views on Dakini's questions
:mullet:
I think some good points pro and con have been raised here, pointing out (for me, at least) the need to do more research. Whatever Olsson's reputation, the fact that she was days away from entering Jesus' tomb to get DNA samples, and had permission to take samples from Mary is the important thing. Maybe someday someone will examine Mary's burial at least, if politics still won't allow access to Jesus' tomb.
Notovich is controversial, and according to the bloggers Jason referred us to, the whole text-in-Hemis-Monastery is a myth. And yet, the Roerichs say they went there and translated the text. In discussing research at Hemis, the Roerichs are never mentioned, the focus is always on Notovich. So that's something I'd like to look into further
And thanks, DD; I've come across references that there were Buddhist monks in Alexandria and even around the Eastern Mediterranean somewhere, Palestine, or something. Fascinating, no? So Jesus wouldn't have had to go to India to study Buddhism.
Thanks all for some great contributions. :thumbsup:
This is a Buddhist forum. The question relates to somebody who may well be a fictitious character, who affects our practice not one jot, except by being a distraction. Why should it matter?
The advice, is well-meant and pertinent. Take it or not, as you wish, but it's neither irrelevant, nor rude. The woman is a complete charlatan and her sanity might even be questionable.
http://www.therefinersfire.org/challenging_suzanne_olsson.htm
The reason nobody wants her to examine the DNA evidence, is precisely the same one the Pope harboured for preventing detailed analysis of the Turin Shroud. The results may expose a huge lie.
And how is this relevant to the topic of what went on with the man during the in between years?
I'm moving this to general banter.
We've moved away from "Buddhism and World religions" - if indeed we were ever there in the first place.
Actually, not a rant, really. But the last Buddhist website I was on did pretty much limit discussion to things that were somehow related only to our practice, and the moderators were rather strict about keeping threads directly on topic, or they would simply close them. New people would come, and usually go rather quickly. There were less than 20 "regulars", and the discussions got so "here we go again"-ish that it wasn't a very enlightening or thought-provoking place to be.
Sometimes here I wonder why we're discussing some particular topic, but when I do, I remember that last forum I was in and just decide to skip over the topic that doesn't interest me.
We've had topics that examine the veracity of the suttras, though, and even those get comments that they're not relevant to practice. If practice-relevancy is required on this board, it should be clearly stated somewhere.
I don't see why a thread on Jesus's life and possible interaction with Buddhism doesn't belong on the Buddhism and World Religions thread, though.
(I can't help but notice that Ajahn Brahn isn't worried about whether this question is relevant to one's practice or not.) So a significant percentage of threads on the forum and likewise "distractions". And which "fictitious character" are referring to; several on this forum have said the Buddha may have been one of those. Precisely why science should examine such evidence. Any religious orthodoxies notwithstanding, millions of people would like to know the truth. Science doesn't take a back seat to religion, or are you advocating that it should? The same sources that discuss Jesus' "lost years" also discuss his years after the crucifixion, so it can be difficult to separate the two topics. DD got the discussion back on topic, anyway, with his video post.