Jesus of Nazareth Studied the Bhagavad Gita and buddhist texts

[Subhankar Zac]

It is theorized that Jesus Christ wasn't killed during the crucifixion and he escaped to India (Kashmir valley).
The ahhamadiya Muslim community there believe that the man lived upto 80 and was buried at a shrine in Srinagar.
His grave is believed to have a footprint of him that shows the impact of nails driven through his feet.

The same theory goes further to prescribe the lost years of Jesus, from the ages of 14-29, Jesus spent his time in India learning mainly buddhist teachings, but also a bit about Vedic literature and the Bhagavad Gita.
Which could explain the striking similarities between Buddhist teachings and Jesus'.

The shrine where Jesus is said to be buried is the only tomb that in that region that is placed according to jewsh traditions.

It certainly is an interesting idea... But does any evidence exists to support it?
Was Jesus indeed a Buddhist?

 

[Rival]

I'm pretty sure Roman crucifixion isn't survivable. And if it was I'm not sure he'd live to 80 with gaping holes in his hands and feet and a stab in the abdomen by a Roman spear.

 

[Terese]

Where does this theory come from? It sounds very unlikely.

 

[Rival]

I mean, some folks were already dead by the time they were put on their crosses or trees. It was a nasty, hellish business.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

We don't even have evidence that he actually existed, just unverifiable myths written decades and centuries after the alleged facts. So go ahead and make up whatever you like about Jesus - everyone else already has.

 

[Vouthon]

The Kashmir "theory" is a relatively modern myth.

No competent scholar of antiquity holds that Jesus was influenced by Buddhism or any other Dharmic religion.

All of the teachings attributed to Our Lord in the New Testament have a context in Second Temple Judaism, which blended with elements of Hellenism via Saint Paul. That is the basis of Christianity, not Buddhism.

If one studies the Talmud, the Essene Dead Sea Scrolls and the works of the first century Jewish philosopher Philo, along with Greco-Roman Platonism and Stoicism, one will discover extensive parallels with the New Testament and other early extra-canonical Christian texts, such as the writings of Apostolic Fathers and Church Fathers - who melded Jewish ethics and eschatology with Greco-Roman philosophy, primarily Platonism and Stoicism.

Christianity is the fruit, the child so to speak, of a union between Second Temple Judaism and classical civilization in the Roman Empire IMHO (mainly through Paul's mission to the Gentiles).

The only influence, if any, could be an indirect contribution of Buddhism to the birth of Christian monasticism in the Egyptian desert during the third and fourth centuries AD, but again this would be indirect and not direct.

The Therapeutae were a sect of 'monastic', or at least ascetic, Second Temple Jews described by Philo who are thought to have influenced the earliest Christian monastics. Some scholars think that their monasticism could have been derived from the importation of the institution from Indian Buddhists at the borders of the Roman Empire but that's it, nothing more:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therapeutae

The Therapeutae were a Jewish sect which flourished in Alexandria and other parts of the Diaspora of Hellenistic Judaism in the final years of the Second Temple period...

They lived chastely with utter simplicity; they "first of all laid down temperance as a sort of foundation for the soul to rest upon, proceed to build up other virtues on this foundation" (Philo). They were dedicated to the contemplative life, and their activities for six days of the week consisted of ascetic practices, fasting, solitary prayers and the study of the scriptures in their isolated cells, each with its separate holy sanctuary, and enclosed courtyard...

The 3rd-century Christian writer Eusebius of Caesarea (c. 263–339), in his Ecclesiastical History, identified Philo's Therapeutae as the first Christian monks, identifying their renunciation of property, chastity, fasting, and solitary lives with the cenobitic ideal of the Christian monks.[11]​

 

[Subhankar Zac]

We don't even have evidence that he actually existed, just unverifiable myths written decades and centuries after the alleged facts. So go ahead and make up whatever you like about Jesus - everyone else already has.

If I had to make stuff up on my own, instead of asking for evidence, I'd be posting to a Subramanian SWAMPY page that sees the stones of Hubal in the Kaaba as a Shiva linga.

 

[Knight of Albion]

When people are ready for the truth, they will find it

 

[Lyndon]

Where does this theory come from? It sounds very unlikely.

It comes form a work of fiction; "The Aquarian Gospel" which fictionally accounts for Jesus traveling to India after the resurrection.

 

[Lyndon]

The Kashmir "theory" is a relatively modern myth.

No competent scholar of antiquity holds that Jesus was influenced by Buddhism or any other Dharmic religion.

All of the teachings attributed to Our Lord in the New Testament have a context in Second Temple Judaism, which blended with elements of Hellenism via Saint Paul. That is the basis of Christianity, not Buddhism.

If one studies the Talmud, the Essene Dead Sea Scrolls and the works of the first century Jewish philosopher Philo, along with Greco-Roman Platonism and Stoicism, one will discover extensive parallels with the New Testament and other early extra-canonical Christian texts, such as the writings of Apostolic Fathers and Church Fathers - who melded Jewish ethics and eschatology with Greco-Roman philosophy, primarily Platonism and Stoicism.

Christianity is the fruit, the child so to speak, of a union between Second Temple Judaism and classical civilization in the Roman Empire IMHO (mainly through Paul's mission to the Gentiles).

The only influence, if any, could be an indirect contribution of Buddhism to the birth of Christian monasticism in the Egyptian desert during the third and fourth centuries AD, but again this would be indirect and not direct.

The Therapeutae were a sect of 'monastic', or at least ascetic, Second Temple Jews described by Philo who are thought to have influenced the earliest Christian monastics. Some scholars think that their monasticism could have been derived from the importation of the institution from Indian Buddhists at the borders of the Roman Empire but that's it, nothing more:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therapeutae

The Therapeutae were a Jewish sect which flourished in Alexandria and other parts of the Diaspora of Hellenistic Judaism in the final years of the Second Temple period...

They lived chastely with utter simplicity; they "first of all laid down temperance as a sort of foundation for the soul to rest upon, proceed to build up other virtues on this foundation" (Philo). They were dedicated to the contemplative life, and their activities for six days of the week consisted of ascetic practices, fasting, solitary prayers and the study of the scriptures in their isolated cells, each with its separate holy sanctuary, and enclosed courtyard...

The 3rd-century Christian writer Eusebius of Caesarea (c. 263–339), in his Ecclesiastical History, identified Philo's Therapeutae as the first Christian monks, identifying their renunciation of property, chastity, fasting, and solitary lives with the cenobitic ideal of the Christian monks.[11]​

This is wrong, Buddhist missionaries had reached Asia Minor by the time of Christ, so he wouldn't even have to have left Palestine to potentially be exposed to Buddhist Philosophy. The clearest evidence for Buddhist influence on Jesus is when he was asked which of the ten commandments were the most important, he picked 5 which coincidentally are the same as 4 of the 5 Buddhist precepts for lay followers. No lie, No steal, no kill, and No adultery, and Honour you Mother and Father, which is the central tenet of Asian culture, so much so that the Buddha did not have to make a rule for it. To these 5 commandments Jesus added his own, Love you neighbor as yourself, and this shows us that Jesus was both a follower and a leader/innovator. None of this has very much at all to do with Greek or Roman religions. Interestingly the one Buddhist lay precept that Jesus left out is No drugs or Alcohol; Sobriety, evidently not as important to his message as the Buddha's.

 

[Knight of Albion]

It comes form a work of fiction; "The Aquarian Gospel" which fictionally accounts for Jesus traveling to India after the resurrection.

Totally untrue.

 

[Lyndon]

Totally untrue.

What's untrue, you're claiming the Aquarian gospel is not a fraud, I suggest you read Wikipedia's take on the work;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Aquarian_Gospel_of_Jesus_the_Christ

 

[StarryNightshade]

Was Jesus indeed a Buddhist?

Highly unlikely.

It's a nice story, but one that I don't believe to be true.

 

[Knight of Albion]

What's untrue, you're claiming the Aquarian gospel is not a fraud, I suggest you read Wikipedia's take on the work;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Aquarian_Gospel_of_Jesus_the_Christ

I'm not saying anything about 'The Aquarian Gospel', other than the copy I bought went in the bin.

Wisdom has taught me when it comes to spiritual matters never to use a hammer.

 

[Lyndon]

Totally untrue.

So you're admitting my statement might be true after all.

 

[idav]

I'm pretty sure Roman crucifixion isn't survivable. And if it was I'm not sure he'd live to 80 with gaping holes in his hands and feet and a stab in the abdomen by a Roman spear.

Muslims say someone was crucified in place of the actual Jesus.

 

[Lyndon]

That is correct. They also believe Jesus ascended to Heaven and will return some day, at least most or many Muslims do.

 

[crossfire]

It is theorized that Jesus Christ wasn't killed during the crucifixion and he escaped to India (Kashmir valley).
The ahhamadiya Muslim community there believe that the man lived upto 80 and was buried at a shrine in Srinagar.
His grave is believed to have a footprint of him that shows the impact of nails driven through his feet.

The same theory goes further to prescribe the lost years of Jesus, from the ages of 14-29, Jesus spent his time in India learning mainly buddhist teachings, but also a bit about Vedic literature and the Bhagavad Gita.
Which could explain the striking similarities between Buddhist teachings and Jesus'.

The shrine where Jesus is said to be buried is the only tomb that in that region that is placed according to jewsh traditions.

It certainly is an interesting idea... But does any evidence exists to support it?
Was Jesus indeed a Buddhist?

There were Buddhists in Alexandria during that time (established by the missionary efforts of King Ashoka during the third century BC,) as well as a large Jewish population, where the family could have been exposed to Buddhism during their stay in Egypt, possibly from the Therapeutae. Matthew 5:29-30 really makes a lot of sense if you understand it within the context of Buddha's Fire Sermon.

The wise men from the east searching for the young Jesus sounds quite a bit like how the Buddhist monks go out and search for the reincarnated Lamas, as well.

Anyhow, it's fun to speculate. (Which is basically what this post amounts to.)

 

[Subhankar Zac]

I'm pretty sure Roman crucifixion isn't survivable. And if it was I'm not sure he'd live to 80 with gaping holes in his hands and feet and a stab in the abdomen by a Roman spear.

But then again, most people who do not survive crucifixion didn't raise the dead or restore sight to the blind.
He was either man of supernatural powers of just a man.

 

[George-ananda]

There are multiple theories about Jesus and actually this theory has evidence and support of people I do respect. I think it is quite possibly true; about the best theory out there.