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Influence of Lord Buddha's Teachings on Lord Jesus Christ
Were the teachings of Lord Jesus Christ influenced by the teachings of Lord Buddha? Did Jesus ever go to Tibet and study with the Buddhist monks of the Monastry? Comments I read in www.ithysaviour.blogspot.com
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Hi there Ramani_subramani. It's a lovely idea, isn't it! And there's a Kasmiri legend of Jesus going there. Of course we, here, in the UK, know that Jesus came to England when he was a boy and that his uncle, Joseph of Arimathea, came back here, to Glastonbury after the first Easter.
http://www.ishipress.com/jesusjap.htm
I laughed until my sides hurt.....!
Man... I bet Christmas was really bitchin' back then.
They had it so good.
-bf
Well, it's an attractive idea, isn't it? Of course, it altogether ignores the fact that Buddhism didn't arrive in Tibet until the 7th Century CE! I personally feel that enlightened mind is enlightened mind, so why wouldn't Jesus' teachings sound like Buddhism? If you actually read what Jesus is quoted as saying in the Bible, he comes across sounding much like a Buddhist master. It's just such a pity that the so-called Christians don't pay much attention to what he actually taught!
Palzang
Palzang
http://library.thinkquest.org/13406/sr/
"The 7000 mile route spanned China, Central Asia, Northern India, and the Parthian and Roman Empires. It connected the Yellow River Valley to the Mediterranean Sea and passed through places such as Chinese cities Kansu and Sinkiang and present-day countries Iran, Iraq and Syria....
Social Consequences of the Silk Road
While the Chinese silk trade played a minor role in the Chinese economy, it did increase the number of foreign merchants present in China under the Han Dynasty, exposing both the Chinese and visitors to their country to different cultures and religions. In fact, Buddhism spread from India to China* because of trade along the Silk Route, similar to the way Islam spread along trans-Saharan routes in medieval West Africa.....
The Silk Road's Decline
By 760 AD, during the T'ang Dynasty, trade along the Silk Road had declined. It revived tremendously under the Sung Dynasty in the eleventh and twelfth centuries when China became largely dependent on its silk trade. In addition, trade to Central and Western Asia as well as Europe recovered for a period of time from 1276-1368 under the Yuan Dynasty when the Mongols controlled China. The Chinese traded silk for medicines, perfumes, and slaves in addition to precious stones. As overland trade became increasingly dangerous, and overseas trade became more popular, trade along the Silk Road declined. While the Chinese did maintain a silk-fur trade with the Russians north of the original Silk Route, by the end of the fourteenth century, trade and travel along the road had decreased. "
So there is a possibility that it was not only mercantile trade and precious objects that passed this way.... the cultural, social and religious & spiritual may well also have spread and expanded...
Palzang
Great trading fleets moved across the Arabian Sea, using the prevailing winds which switch twice a year. Representatives from Britain were present at Alexander the Great's coronation as Great King of Persia. Human beings have always been great travellers.
The Great Library at Alexandria attracted scholars from far and wide. In the light of the well-known wanderings of Buddhist monks eastwards and North from India, why imagine they didn't go West?
One thing I learned when I was in Mongolia is that Buddhism arrived there very early on, much earlier, in fact, than in Tibet, due to the fact that the Silk Road went through it and the contacts the Mongols had with the great Central Asian Buddhist empires, such as Khotan and Kushana, which were later obliterated by conquering armies. However, Buddhism didn't really stick with the Mongolians at that time. It didn't really take hold until the Mongols conquered Tibet in the 13th Century and encountered Tibetan Buddhism.
Palzang
Wow... that is really interesting.
The more I have learned about Buddhism, the more I have heard how ficticious Christianity may be.
I wish I knew the truth about everything. Or could watch history on a big screen somewhere.
-bf
Palzang
If I might actually jump in and quantify that observation....,
The early Christians saw it as their Mission to convert all they met - Pagans, Romans, whoever..... to Christianity, and in order to emphasise the importance of their message, superimposed particular Christian Celebrations onto these 'Ungodly' Rituals. This is why Easter (derived from the word OEstros, which is where we get our word Oestrogen...) heralds the Beginning of the Christian New Year - the Awakening, the Born Anew, the Emergence of the Living form the Dead.... this is why we have Easter Eggs.....
In Italy and France (and other European countries) where Christianity was first established, the word for Easter, is, respectively, Pasqua or Paques. This is derived from the Hebrew word for 'Passover'..... hence our reference to the 'Paschal Lamb'.... all the pretty chicks and lambs frollicking and gambolling together, in a field full of Spring flowers, are therefore a mix of ancient Pagan and ancient Hebrew symbols....!
So Christians borrowed already established festivals and overlaid them with significant Christian milestones. The same goes for Christmas.... When the first missionaries began converting the Germanic peoples to Christianity, they found it easier to simply provide a Christian reinterpretation for popular feasts such as Yule and allow the celebrations themselves to go on largely unchanged, rather than trying to suppress them....
"Yule is the winter solstice Blót (celebration) in Ásatrú, the pagan practices of the Germanic peoples prior to the arrival of Christianity. Today, it is also one of the eight solar holidays, or sabbats, of Neopaganism. In modern Neopaganism, Yule is celebrated on the winter solstice: in the northern hemisphere, circa December 21, and in the southern hemisphere, circa June 21.
"Yule" and "Yuletide" are also archaic terms for Christmas, sometimes invoked in songs to provide atmosphere. Indeed, this is the only meaning of "Yule" accepted by either the full Oxford English Dictionary or the Concise Oxford Dictionary, and people unfamiliar with ancient pagan traditions will not distinguish between Yule and Christmas. This usage survives in the term "Yule log".
'January' is named after the God 'Janus' who had two faces - one looking forward, and one looking back..... So even if Christians would like to think that all things pagan and ungodly are no longer relevant, you've only got to look at the names of the months - and even week-days to know that.....
*.......They're still here..........!*
Sorry Palzang... I hope you don't mind if I added my two cents' worth....
My point is that if we attempt to dissect everything to the Nth degree, there will always be distortions, contradictions, enigmas and distractions..... sometimes we just have to take a step back and say.... "what does it do for me?"
Mithraism, although now long forgotten (perhaps it's practised on the Net), was the prevailing cult in the Roman army and a serious competitor for state religion under Constantine.
Well, yeah, I would think it invalidates them in a way.
If the celebration is thought to be for one thing, but has it's history based upon something else, doesn't that make the act somewhat of a sham?
Almost like a person having a Cancer Walk - but spending the donations on a Tailgate Party.
I don't think that Buddhism would have a problem with this because Buddhism isn't a religion of strict "this or that" - in most cases. Christianity, on the other hand, is a very strict religion especially in regards to worshipping a single god, knowing the truth, and not worshipping other idols or gods. "Earth" celebrations are deifying something other than a single god.
My point, ultimately was, that it is interesting to find out more about Christianity what what it has done, and changed and evolved into throughout the centuries. I also didn't mean to say that Christianity was completely fictitious - just that certain elements of it may be and the causes of why that happened over 2,000 years is interesting.
-bf
And is that a bad thing or a good thing?
It's interesting that the main Buddhist holidays, such as the enlightenment of Shakyamuni, the parinirvana, and so forth, are celebrated on different dates depending on what flavor of Buddhism you follow. Yet I don't see anyone pointing fingers or making accusations because of that. It's more of a cultural thing. Nobody really knows anyway. It's more to commemorate what the event means rather than some particular calendar day. I'd say the same applies to the Christian holidays, like Christmas. Who really cares if it was in December or June? It's the significance of the event itself that's important. Not that anyone, at least in America, really thinks about it anymore... HO HO HO!
Palzang
Are volumes of scholarly treatise and discourse and interpretations necessary to understand and feel the simple message of love and peace?
I quote a comment from the portal: "FOR THOSE WHO DARE TO HEAR THE TRUTH!" ( www.awkwardsocks.blogspot.com ) under the topic 'Leonardo Da Vinci': "Why His simple teachings have been made complicated? Why are all these hierarchies, rituals and rules, sectarian empire building and rivalries, conversions, etc. etc.?
?"
I'm afraid I don't understand where your comment is coming from, Mr. Subramani. I didn't seen any cynicism or rivalry reflected in any of the comments, nor do I know what hierarchies, rituals, rules, sectarian empire building, etc. you're referring to. All I see are comments from people who wished to share their viewpoints on this interesting subject. Are you opposed to that? If so, why did you post it in the first place?
Palzang
I can see Mr. S's point. What he read brought him to the very interesting point that love and peace -- and let me add forgiveness, understanding, kindness, gentleness, and all the rest of what constitutes what I would like to call Truth, sometimes gets entangled in rules and regulations. Some people need them. And some people love them. And some people love to use rules and regulations to bash other people on the head -- what we might call fundamentalism? In reality, the truth is very simple, and regulations can get in the way, and opinions and attachments.
I recently visited a beautiful pagoda and temple site to the southwest of Xian called the Daqin Temple, where Nestorian Christianity arrived in China in the 6-700s. I forget the exact date. It was beautiful. I wish I could post a picture for you but I don't know how. The Nestorians had temples in most of the major cities soon after. There are some interesting websites on this. Just google Nestorian Christianity China. You will see lots of sites.
There is a very interesting book called "The Original Jesus" by two German authors that talks -- for many pages -- about the connections between Buddhism and Christianity, including archeological evidence -- the presence of Buddhist statues in the mediterannean, or pottery fragments from temples, etc. There is another book called the Original Jesus by some other authors, so don't get confused. The authors of the one on Buddhism and Christianity both have very German names.
The truth is like a luminous pearl shining for all of us.
EM
I do thank you for your sensitivity. I realize that that I had reacted in the wrong way too soon and I am sorry for that. May be I shall learn more from this site. I suggest that you read the ebook I, THY SAVIOUR. You will never regret. Thank you again. By the way I am not a Mr. but a Ms.
Ramani
The god born on 25 December was Mithras, Ajani. He was a favourite in the Roman army. We have a beautiful temple of Mithras in Roman London. This might interest you:
This is a beautiful bust of Mithras from the Walbrook site.
I had not seen your thread before. If you are still continuing your interest, I invite you to peruse my thread under Judaism and Christianity.
Thank you,
Steven Feldman