Was Jesus a Buddhist ?. Were his beliefs based in Buddhism ?

[joea]

Is it possible, the metaphors and parables Jesus used, was incorrectly interpreted in the Bible ?

 

[Sunstone]

Different people, living at different times and in different societies and cultures have all experienced the same (or very similar) mystery. It is no more surprising that some of the things Jesus said resemble some of the things Buddhists have said than it would be surprising if two people -- one living in the China of 500 B.C., and the other living in the Spain of 1200 A.D. --- said much the same thing about clouds, having both of them observed clouds. That's to say, you don't need to posit that the Buddha influenced Jesus. It's just that the Buddha and Jesus were looking at similar things.

 

[Father Heathen]

How likely would it have been for anyone from that region during that time period to be intimately familiar with Buddhist teachings and philosophies?

 

[Sunstone]

How likely would it have been for anyone from that region during that time period to be intimately familiar with Buddhist teachings and philosophies?

Joseph Campbell, among others, argues that Buddhism spread to that area and influence not only the gnostics but before the gnostics, Plato. I've never made up my mind about that. What's your guess?

 

[Apollonius Zagreus]

Greeks had been traveling to India via the Silk Road for quite some time thanks to the Persian Empire. Likewise, the Indian emperor, Ashoka had sent out Buddhist missionaries around 250 B.C. and it's reported that among these were certain groups that settled in Egypt and Canaan (Palestine). In fact, some scholars claim that the Essenes were themselves Jewish adherents to Buddhist teachings, although these were reinterpreted according to (or as to agree with) the traditional teachings and writings of the Jewish religious community.

 

[Rainbow Mage]

I believe so. I have been trying to read the NT and put Jesus' words into a Buddhist perspective for some time now. What if Jesus meant the dharma when he said the word of God? What if he meant Brahman when he said Father? The Gnostic Gospels present him as even more Buddhist still, if you want to use that title. Someone got mad at me awhile back for that, saying I was implying Jesus was a Buddhist. I told her to put aside titles for a moment. Buddhist and Christian are titles. Doesn't the NT say let the same mind in Christ be in you, so that you may do the works of your father? How can the mind of Christ be in a person if they don't think like Christ thought? I believe Christ was at least somewhat enlightened, so a person would have to be somewhat enlightened to have the mind of Christ

 

[footprints]

Is it possible, the metaphors and parables Jesus used, was incorrectly interpreted in the Bible ?

Many paths lead to the same destination, all are similar in some respects.

The Australian aboriginal past through the same region some 30,000 years or more before Buddha even existed. They carried the same teachings, is Buddha then really an Australian aboriginal?

Buddha of course, wasn't a Buddhist, Buddha was a Hindu and followed the traditional Hindu path of enlightenment. So where then did Buddhist get their teachings from?

 

[Wannabe Yogi]

Is it possible, the metaphors and parables Jesus used, was incorrectly interpreted in the Bible ?

There was a text found by a Russian in a Buddhist monastery. Both him and a Indian Swami copied it down on two different occasions. The Chinese burn this monastery to the ground in the early 1960's so there is no proof of this text.
I am not saying that i have proof that this is a historical document. It's just a fun story. In it Jesus walked to India and studied Zoroastrianism, Hinduism and Buddhism then returned to the middle east when he was around 30.

The Indian Swami was an well thought of scholar in the west. He was offered the chair of Eastern philosophy at Harvard in the early 1900's and turned it down. So it makes it a fun story.

 

[Madhuri]

I think more likely Hindusm considering how devotional he was to God.

 

[Rainbow Mage]

Speaking of that Madhuri did you see that thread I posted awhile back explaining how some Buddhists are theistic and some are atheistic? Different schools see it differently.

 

[Wannabe Yogi]

Buddha of course, wasn't a Buddhist, Buddha was a Hindu and followed the traditional Hindu path of enlightenment. So where then did Buddhist get their teachings from?

I believe that Buddha did not say anything completely new. He just organized his ideas in to a very practical path. Much of his system you can find in parts of the Vedas. In fact my Hindu belief system is very close to that of some forms of Buddhism. Closer then other forms of Hinduism like that of Madhva. These ideas were peculating around south asia for many 1000's of years.

 

[footprints]

I believe so. I have been trying to read the NT and put Jesus' words into a Buddhist perspective for some time now. What if Jesus meant the dharma when he said the word of God? What if he meant Brahman when he said Father? The Gnostic Gospels present him as even more Buddhist still, if you want to use that title. Someone got mad at me awhile back for that, saying I was implying Jesus was a Buddhist. I told her to put aside titles for a moment. Buddhist and Christian are titles. Doesn't the NT say let the same mind in Christ be in you, so that you may do the works of your father? How can the mind of Christ be in a person if they don't think like Christ thought? I believe Christ was at least somewhat enlightened, so a person would have to be somewhat enlightened to have the mind of Christ

My personal perception on this at the moment is: We have to look at the alledged diety figure in the Garden of Eden, this wasn't a deity figure who asked for worship, nor to have temples built in his honour, nor any of the other associative memes which apply to modern day religions. On the surface this appears more of tit for tat game based on human intelligence and a my god is better than your god mentality as it pertained to other beliefs around them at the time. Each one always trying to outdo the other in a might is right game.

We next have to look at base root, ancient cultures, which is getting near impossible these days as modern man intervenes in their natural state of progress. Though fortunately, a lot of knowledge is still there, either in the perceptual view of foreigners such as the English as it pertains to the Australian aboriginal and through random bits of data scattered among the many indigenous communities. The reason we must look at these ancient cultures is a simple one, Adam and Eve were hunters and gatherers, and irrespective of how they actually got here, would have held a hunter and gatherers knowledge.

When we align the base stories together, with all religious hocus pocus and mumbo jumbo taken from it, what we find is, there is very little difference between the Garden of Eden story, the Dreamtime story of the Australian aboriginal and Brahman. From my personal perspective, this leads me to the speculation that it is very possible they were talking about the same thing.

Many scholars of the Hindu "Secret Doctrines," believe the Australian aboriginal is the key to this knowledge. After studying the Australian aboriginal for many years, their knowledge and their teachings, I can only agree with them.

 

[footprints]

I believe that Buddha did not say anything completely new. He just organized his ideas in to a very practical path. Much of his system you can find in parts of the Vedas. In fact my Hindu belief system is very close to that of some forms of Buddhism. Closer then other forms of Hinduism like that of Madhva. These ideas were peculating around south asia for many 1000's of years.

I can only agree with you.

Though I always keep in the back of my mind, the need for some humans to believe they are different. That and the fact, that many these days don't even conceive that Buddhism, Taoism et al are even religious. Many don't even know they are getting spritual guidance, and most of it in the regions which originally promoted them, from Hindu teachings. So the way I see it is, as long as they are getting the teachings and the values, nothing else really matters.

 

[Rainbow Mage]

In fact my Hindu belief system is very close to that of some forms of Buddhism.

Pure Land is certainly very like Hinduism, in our devotion to deities, our belief in a literal being called Brahman, and our belief in the pure land of the gods and saints after death.

 

[Madhuri]

Speaking of that Madhuri did you see that thread I posted awhile back explaining how some Buddhists are theistic and some are atheistic? Different schools see it differently.

Yes, I think I saw that. Do the theistic Buddhists have the same emphasis on devotion to God that Jesus did?

 

[Rainbow Mage]

Yes, I think I saw that. Do the theistic Buddhists have the same emphasis on devotion to God that Jesus did?

We have an emphasis on devotion to Brahman, yes. Also, some of the ways we worship our deities is a lot like Hindus venerate the devas. As for Bodhisattvas and venerating them, that element is very akin to saint veneration in Roman Catholicism, asking the Bodhisattvas for favors or merrits.

 

[Wannabe Yogi]

Pure Land is certainly very like Hinduism, in our devotion to deities, our belief in a literal being called Brahman, and our belief in the pure land of the gods and saints after death.

Even the Buddhist concept (or lack of concept) of no self. We say the self
is Brahman all is One. So some would say that the individual self is an illusion.

 

[Rainbow Mage]

Even the Buddhist concept (or lack of concept) of no self. We say the self
is Brahman all is One. So some would say that the individual self is an illusion.

I do say the individual self is ultimately an illusion, based on sensations of pleasure and pain. The Buddha taught so that the individual self is an illusion to the point that he said an enlightened person cannot claim they are enlightened, otherwise they are bringing a self and concept of self into existence.

 

[Rainbow Mage]

But since this is the "Was Jesus a Buddhist thread" I'd like to point something out. Mahayana believes that the Buddha is a cosmic consciousness that exists in all living things, just like the Hindu views Brahman. What do you think of Paul's statement in the NT? "Christ is all, and in all"

 

[Zadok]

There is a stronger connection between early Christians and early Buddhist than many care to realize. In the Cave of the thousands Buddhas (in the ancient road between India and China) was found much of the New Testament writings that date back in time to as early as any New Testament documents preserved in Western Christianity. According to ancient legend the Apostle Thomas went to preach of Christ to India into the heart of where the teachings of Buddha were at the time.

If we are to look to the fruits in history – it would appear that what has come down through time that is attributed to Buddha and his followers and to Jesus and his followers one would have to conclude that there was more light (love and compassion) with the followers of Buddha through most of history.

Zadok