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| {{Short description|Comparison of the belief systems}} | |||
| {{POV}} | |||
| ], 1880]] | |||
| {{Buddhism}} {{Christianity}} | |||
| There were links between Buddhism and the pre-Christian Mediterranean world,<ref name="Bentley 1993">{{cite book |title=Old World Encounters. Cross-cultural contacts and exchanges in pre-modern times |first=Jerry H. |last=Bentley |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1993 |isbn=0-19-507639-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/oldworldencounte00jerr }}</ref> with ] sent by ] of ] to ], ] and ] from 250 BC.<ref name="Durant2011">{{cite book|author=Will Durant|title=Our Oriental Heritage: The Story of Civilization|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ru4LPyMAxxkC&pg=PT711|access-date=27 August 2012|date=7 June 2011|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-1-4516-4668-9|pages=711–}}</ref> Significant differences between the two religions include ] in Christianity and Buddhism's orientation towards ] (the lack of relevancy of the existence of a ]) which runs counter to teachings about ], and ] against the rejection of interference with ] in ] on.<ref name="Numrich10">''The Boundaries of Knowledge in Buddhism, Christianity, and Science'' by Paul D Numrich (Dec 31, 2008) {{ISBN|3525569874}} page 10</ref><ref name=Bromo515/><ref name=Lim34/> | |||
| Some early Christians were aware of Buddhism which was practiced in both the ] and ]s in the pre-Christian period. The majority of modern Christian scholarship rejects any historical basis for the travels of Jesus to India or Tibet and has seen the attempts at parallel symbolism as cases of ] which exaggerate resemblances.<ref name=Voorst17/><ref name=Les140/><ref name=Borg303>''The Historical Jesus in Recent Research'' edited by James D. G. Dunn and Scot McKnight 2006 {{ISBN|1-57506-100-7}} page 303</ref><ref name="Collins">], "The Hidden Story of Jesus" ''New Blackfriars'' Volume 89, Issue 1024, pages 710–714, November 2008</ref> However, in the East, ] between ] and Buddhism was widespread along the ] in Antiquity and the Middle Ages, and was especially pronounced in the medieval ], as evidenced by the ].<ref>In the 13th century, international travelers, such as ] and ], sent back reports of Buddhism to the West and noted the similarities with ] communities. Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism, 2004, page 160</ref> | |||
| ] | |||
| '''Christianity and Buddhism''' are two major religions that are compared and contrasted by scholars, with parallels between the two revolving around perceived similarities in the teachings and in the ] intent and practices. Given these correspondences, questions arise as to their origins, influences, and interaction. It remains unknown whether the religious parallels are coincidental, or arising from separate but similar developments, or the result of a direct or indirect influence of Buddhism on early Christianity. | |||
| ==Origins and early contacts== | |||
| ==Pre-Christian interactions between Greece and Buddhism== | |||
| {{see also|Buddhism and the Roman world|Buddhist influences on Christianity}} | |||
| {{see|History of Buddhism}} | |||
| ] and ]) 3rd century BC by Indian Buddhist King Ashoka, see ], from ]. This edict advocates the adoption of "godliness" using the Greek term ] for ]. ] Museum.]] | |||
| {{seealso|Greco-Buddhism}} | |||
| ]]] | |||
| ], in Greco-Buddhist style, 1st-2nd century CE, ] (Modern Pakistan). (]).]] | |||
| The ] goes back to what is now ], Nepal almost six centuries before Christianity, making it one of the oldest religions still being practiced.<ref name=Leslie140>''Jesus: The Complete Guide by J. L. Houlden (Feb 8, 2006) {{ISBN|082648011X}} pages 140-144</ref> The ] go back to ] in the early first century. The four ]s date from around 70–90 AD, the ] having been written before them around 50–60 AD. | |||
| The philosophical systems of Buddhism and Christianity evolved in different ways, but the moral precepts advocated by Buddhism from the time of Ashoka through his edicts as well as the Pali Canon share some similarities with the Christian moral precepts developed more than two centuries later, particularly: respect for life; respect for the weak and disenfranchised; rejection of violence; confession; and emphasis on charity and good deeds. The prominent historian and writer,], notes that the Buddhist Emperor Ashoka “sent Buddhist missionaries to all parts of India and Ceylon, even to Syria, Egypt and Greece, where, perhaps, they helped prepare for the ethics of Christ.”<ref>1. Will Durant, The Story of Civilization: Our Oriental Heritage, Part One (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1935), vol. 1, p. 449.</ref> One theory is that these similarities indicate the propagation of Buddhist ideals into the ], with the Greeks acting as intermediaries and religious syncretists. | |||
| Starting in the 1930s, authors such as ] suggested that ] representatives of Ashoka the Great who traveled to ancient Syria, Egypt and Greece may have helped prepare the ground for Christian teaching.<ref>Will Durant, ''The Story of Civilization'' Part One (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1935), vol. 1, p. 449.</ref> Buddhism was prominent in the eastern Greek world and became the official religion of the eastern Greek successor kingdoms to ]'s empire (] (250 BC – 125 BC) and ] (180 BC – 10 AD)). Several prominent Greek Buddhist missionaries are known (] and ]) and the Indo-Greek king ] converted to Buddhism, and is regarded as one of the great patrons of Buddhism. (See ].) Some modern historians have suggested that the pre-Christian monastic order in Egypt of the ] is possibly a deformation of the Pāli word "]",<ref>According to the linguist Zacharias P. Thundy</ref> a form of Buddhism, and the movement may have "almost entirely drawn (its) inspiration from the teaching and practices of Buddhist asceticism".<ref name="Grove Press New York 1958">Living Zen by ] (Grove Press New York, 1958) {{ISBN|0-8021-3136-0}}</ref> They may even have been descendants of ]'s emissaries to the West.<ref>"The Original Jesus" (Element Books, Shaftesbury, 1995), Elmar R Gruber, Holger Kersten</ref> | |||
| Early academic research centers around Buddhist influence in Palestine and Greece during the two centuries prior to the birth of Christ. According to American historian ], by the time that Jesus was born, "Buddhism had already spread through much of India and Ceylon and had penetrated into Central Asia and China." <ref>{{cite book |first=Kenneth Scott |last=Latourette |title=A History of Christianity |year=1975}} p. 274 </ref> | |||
| Buddhist gravestones from the ] have been found in Alexandria in Egypt decorated with depictions of the ], showing that Buddhists were living in Hellenistic Egypt at the time Christianity began.<ref>The Greeks in Bactria and India, W.W. Tarn, South Asia Books, {{ISBN|81-215-0220-9}}</ref> The presence of Buddhists in ] has led one author to note: "It was later in this very place that some of the most active centers of Christianity were established."<ref name="Grove Press New York 1958"/> Nevertheless, modern Christian scholars generally hold that there is no direct evidence of any influence of Buddhism on Christianity, and several scholarly theological works do not support these suggestions.<ref name=PaulaF26/><ref name=Eddy53/> However, some historians such as ] suggest that there is a real possibility that Buddhism influenced the early development of Christianity.<ref name=Bentley240/> | |||
| The interaction of Greek and Buddhist cultures operated over several centuries until it ended in the 5th century CE with the invasions of the ], and later, the expansion of ]. | |||
| It is known that prominent early Christians were aware of Buddha and some Buddhist stories. ] (4th century AD) mentions the birth of the Buddha, who he says "was born from the side of a virgin." The early church father ] (died 215 AD) was also aware of Buddha, writing in his Stromata (Bk I, Ch XV): "The Indian ] are also in the number, and the other barbarian philosophers. And of these there are two classes, some of them called ] and others ]s. And those of the Sarmanæ who are called 'Hylobii' neither inhabit cities, nor have roofs over them, but are clothed in the bark of trees, feed on nuts, and drink water in their hands. Like those called ] in the present day, they know not marriage nor begetting of children. Some, too, of the Indians obey the precepts of ] (Βούττα) whom, on account of his extraordinary sanctity, they have raised to divine honours."<ref>Clement of Alexandria Stromata. BkI, Ch XV http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf02.vi.iv.i.xv.html (Accessed 19 Dec 2012)</ref> | |||
| ===Mauryan proselytizing=== | |||
| {{see also|Greco-Buddhist monasticism}} | |||
| ] at the time of king Ashoka (260–218 BCE).]] | |||
| In India, around ], ] ascended the throne. After his conversion to Buddhism, Ashoka sent missionaries around the world to preach the word of the ]. Ashoka left records that indicate that "his missions were favorably received" in countries to the West. | |||
| In the ] there was no trace of Buddhism in the West.<ref>''Indian Buddhism: A Survey with Bibliographical Notes'' by Hajime Nakamura (Apr 11, 2007) {{ISBN|8120802721}} page 95</ref> In the 13th century, international travelers, such as ] and ], sent back reports of Buddhism to the West and noted some similarities with ] communities.<ref name="Buddhism 2004, page 160">Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism, 2004, page 160</ref> Indeed, ] in the East between Nestorian Christianity and Buddhism existed along the ] throughout Antiquity and the Middle Ages,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Stoyanov |first1=Yuri |title=Religious Syncretism and Cultural Pluralism along the Central and East Asian Silk Road – New Discoveries and Venues for Research |url=https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/39978/1/Religious%20Syncretism%20%26%20Cultural%20Pluralism%20along%20the%20Central%20%26%20East%20Asian%20Sections%20of%20the%20Silk%20Road.pdf |website=SOAS Research Online |access-date=November 17, 2024 |date=2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Samoylovskiy |first1=Alexey L. |title=The Great Silk Road and its impact on Cultural exchange and Economic development in Ancient Civilizations |url=https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/the-great-silk-road-and-its-impact-on-cultural-exchange-and-economic-development-in-ancient-civilizations |website=Cyberleninka |publisher=Наука. Общество. Оборона 12.3 (40) |access-date=November 17, 2024 |date=2024}}</ref> and was especially pronounced in the medieval ], as evidenced by the ].{{cn|date=November 2024}} | |||
| ], one of the Kings mentioned by Ashoka in his edicts, is recorded by ] as having sent an ambassador named ] to the ] court at ] in ]: | |||
| :"But has been treated of by several other Greek writers who resided at the courts of Indian kings, such, for instance, as Megasthenes, and by Dionysius, who was sent thither by Philadelphus, expressly for the purpose: all of whom have enlarged upon the power and vast resources of these nations." Pliny the Elder, "The Natural History", Chap. 21 <ref> </ref> | |||
| When European Christians made more direct contact with Buddhism in the early 16th century, Catholic missionaries such as St. ] sent back accounts of Buddhist practices.<ref name="Buddhism 2004, page 160"/> With the arrival of ] studies in European universities in the late 18th century, and the subsequent availability of Buddhist texts, a discussion began of a proper encounter with Buddhism.<ref name="Buddhism 2004, page 160"/> In time, Buddhism gathered Western followers and at the end of the 19th century the first Westerners (e.g. ] and ]) converted to Buddhism. In the beginning of the 20th century the first westerners (e.g. ] and ]) entered the Buddhist monastic life.<ref name="Buddhism 2004, page 160"/> | |||
| There are also records from Alexandria, which was at the crossroads of commerce and ideas, pointing to a steady stream of Buddhist monks and philosophers who influenced the philosophical currents of the time. This is evidenced centuries later in Roman accounts of Buddhist monks traveling to countries in these regions. Roman historical accounts describe an embassy sent by the "]n king Pandion (]?), also named Porus," to ] around ]. The embassy was travelling with a diplomatic letter in ], and one of its members was a ] who burned himself alive in ] to demonstrate his faith. The event made a sensation and was described by ], who met the embassy at ], and related by ] (XV,1,73 {{ref|Strabo}}) and ] (liv, 9). A tomb was made to the sramana, still visible in the time of ], which bore the mention: | |||
| ==Similarities and differences== | |||
| {{quote|"ΖΑΡΜΑΝΟΧΗΓΑΣ ΙΝΔΟΣ ΑΠΟ ΒΑΡΓΟΣΗΣ" | |||
| ===Similarities=== | |||
| <br>("The ] master from ] in ]")}} | |||
| {{Main|Comparison of Buddhism and Christianity}} | |||
| In the 19th century, some scholars began to perceive similarities between Buddhist and Christian practices. In 1878, ] wrote that the earliest missionaries to Tibet observed that similarities have been seen since the first known contact.<ref name=Davids>''Encyclopædia Britannica'', 8 edition, article ''Buddhism'' by T.W. Rhys Davids</ref> In 1880, Ernest De Bunsen made similar observations in that with the exception of the death of Jesus on the cross, and of the Christian doctrine of atonement, the most ancient Buddhist records had similarities with the Christian traditions.<ref>{{cite book|last=De Bunsen|first=Ernest|title=The Angel-Messiah of Buddhists, Essenes, and Christians|url=https://archive.org/details/angelmessiahofbu00bunsrich|year=1880|publisher=Longmans, Green, and Company|page=}}</ref> | |||
| Late in the 20th century, historian ] also wrote of similarities and stated that it is possible "that Buddhism influenced the early development of Christianity" and suggested "attention to many parallels concerning the births, lives, doctrines, and deaths of the Buddha and Jesus".<ref name=Bentley240>{{cite book |title=Cross-Cultural Contacts and Exchanges in Pre-Modern Times |first=Jerry H. |last=Bentley |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-19-507640-0 |page= |url=https://archive.org/details/oldworldencounte00jerr/page/240 }}</ref> Some high level Buddhists have drawn analogies between Jesus and Buddhism, e.g. in 2001 the ] stated that "Jesus Christ also lived previous lives", and added that "So, you see, he reached a high state, either as a Bodhisattva, or an enlightened person, through Buddhist practice or something like that."<ref name=Lama>Beverley, James A., "Hollywood's Idol", '']'' . Retrieved April 20, 2007.</ref> Vietnamese Buddhist monk ] affirmed core Christian beliefs such as the trinity, and the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, in his book ''Living Buddha, Living Christ''. Bokin Kim, similarly, sees Christ as the Buddha ], and Jesus as similar to Gautama who was just a historical manifestation of the transhistorical Buddha.<ref>Kim, Bokin. "Christ as the Truth, the Light, the Life, but a Way?" Buddhist-Christian Studies, vol. 19, 1999, pp. 76-80. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/bcs.1999.0023</ref> In ''The Lotus & The Rose: A Conversation Between Tibetan Buddhism & Mystical Christianity'', ] and ] discuss the interconnections between Buddhism and Christianity. In it, Fox relates the ] to what scholars ] and ] call Paul's original "]" or "metacosmic" view of Christ.<ref name="The Lotus & the Rose">{{cite book|title=The Lotus & The Rose|isbn=978-0999577004|last1=Tsomo|first1=Lama|last2=Fox|first2=Matthew|year=2018}}</ref> | |||
| These accounts at least indicate that Indian religious men (Sramanas, to which the Buddhists belonged, as opposed to ] ]) were circulating in the ] during the time of ]. | |||
| ===Differences=== | |||
| ===Western expansion of Buddhism=== | |||
| {{see also|God in Buddhism|God in Christianity}} | |||
| {{main|Silk Road transmission of Buddhism}} | |||
| ], Germany, late 15th century.]] | |||
| Buddhism expanded to some extent towards the northwest into ] territory. Achaeological remain of Buddhist stupas have been identified as far as ].<ref>"The Silk Road city of Marv (Grk. Margiana), situated in the eastern part of the Parthian Empire, became a major Buddhist center" Foltz, "Religions of the Silk Road", p47</ref> Soviet archeological teams have excavated in Giaur Kala, near Merv, a Buddhist chapel, a gigantic Buddha statue, as well as a monastery. Also Parthian nobles such as ] adopted the faith and were even some of the key actors of its expansion towards China. | |||
| There are inherent and fundamental differences between Buddhism and Christianity, one significant element being that while Christianity is at its core ] and relies on a ], while Buddhism has a mixture of views ranging from non-theistic, to agnostic, and ignostic.<ref>{{Citation |title=Secular Buddhism |date=2024-08-19 |work=Misplaced Pages |url=https://en.m.wikipedia.org/Secular_Buddhism#:~:text=Secular%20Buddhism%E2%80%94sometimes%20also%20referred,lands%20and%20hells),%20etc. |access-date=2025-01-14 |language=en}}</ref> | |||
| The ], currently the most widely used Christian ], states that "We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible".<ref name=Bromo515>''International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: E-J'' by Geoffrey W. Bromiley (Mar 1982) {{ISBN|0802837824}} pages 515-516</ref> However, the notion of theistic creation is generally foreign to Buddhist thought, and the question of the existence of God is perhaps one of the most fundamental barriers between the teachings of Christianity and Buddhism.<ref name=Numrich10/><ref name=Lim34>''Communicating Christ in the Buddhist World'' by Paul De Neui and David Lim (Jan 1, 2006) {{ISBN|0878085106}} page 34</ref> Although ] expresses belief in the saint-like state of a ], this is very different from the notion of Creator God in Christianity.<ref name=Lim34/><ref name=Norman149/> While some variations of Buddhism believe in an impersonal ] or ], in general Buddhism sees empty space as eternal and without a starting point of creation.<ref>Guang Xing, ''The Concept of the Buddha'', RoutledgeCurzon, London, 2005, p. 89</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Hattori | first = Sho-on | title = A Raft from the Other Shore : Honen and the Way of Pure Land Buddhism | publisher = Jodo Shu Press | year = 2001 | isbn = 4-88363-329-2 | pages=25–27}}</ref> According to the Dalai Lama, belief in a Creator could be associated with the understanding of emptiness, but "once a certain degree of realization has been reached, a choice between the two paths will become necessary."<ref name=DL>{{Cite web|url=http://hhdl.dharmakara.net/hhdlquotes2.html|title = Dalai Lama Answers Questions on Various Topics}}</ref> | |||
| ==Christian awareness of Buddhism== | |||
| {{seealso|Buddhism and the Roman world}} | |||
| Evidence suggests that the Church Fathers were acquainted with Buddhist beliefs and practices, but it is unclear as to the extent to which these may have influenced the formation of Christian doctrine, or if there was any influence at all. | |||
| According to the ''Oxford Handbook of Eschatology'', there are inherent differences in the Christian and Buddhist beliefs regarding the End Times and ].<ref name=Walls552>''The Oxford Handbook of Eschatology'' by Jerry L. Walls (Apr 16, 2010) {{ISBN|0199735883}} page 552</ref> ] states that while Buddhism has a notion of "relative eschatology" that refers to specific cycles of life, the term "Buddhist eschatology" does not relate to any "final things", or that the world will end one day – Buddhist scripture routinely referring to the "beginningless ]" as a never ending cycle of birth and death with no starting point.<ref>''The Oxford Handbook of Eschatology'' by Jerry L. Walls (Apr 16, 2010) {{ISBN|0199735883}} page 151</ref> However, Christian eschatology directly involves the concept of "end to all creation" at the ] when the world will reach its conclusion.<ref>''The Oxford Companion to Christian Thought'' by Adrian Hastings, Alistair Mason and Hugh Pyper (Dec 21, 2000) {{ISBN|0198600240}} page 206</ref> | |||
| ] that the ] ] king ] converted to the Buddhist faith and became an ].]] | |||
| ] king ] (r.160-135 BCE) with an ] and a palm.]] | |||
| In the 2nd century CE, the Christian theologian ] recognized Bactrian Buddhists (Sramanas) and Indian Gymnosophists for their influence on Greek thought: | |||
| There are other fundamental incompatibilities, e.g. while ] is part of the very fabric of Christian theology, in ] no deity can interfere with ], and hence the notion of any type of grace is inadmissible within these teachings.<ref name=Norman149>''Encyclopedia of Reincarnation and Karma'' by Norman C. McClelland (Apr 1, 2010) {{ISBN|0786448512}} page 149</ref> ] however, differs on this issue.<ref>Richard K. Payne (ed.), ''Tantric Buddhism in East Asia'', Wisdom Publications, {{ISBN|0861714873}}, 2006, p. 74</ref> | |||
| {{quote|"Thus philosophy, a thing of the highest utility, flourished in antiquity among the barbarians, shedding its light over the nations. And afterwards it came to Greece. First in its ranks were the prophets of the Egyptians; and the Chaldeans among the Assyrians; and the Druids among the Gauls; and the Sramanas among the Bactrians ("Σαρμαναίοι Βάκτρων"); and the philosophers of the Celts; and the Magi of the Persians, who foretold the Saviour's birth, and came into the land of Judaea guided by a star. The Indian gymnosophists are also in the number, and the other barbarian philosophers. And of these there are two classes, some of them called Sramanas ("Σαρμάναι"), and others Brahmins (''Βραφμαναι'')."|Clement of Alexandria "The Stromata, or Miscellanies" Book I, Chapter XV}} | |||
| The ] as a single event in history that acts for the atonement of sins is a central element of Christian belief.<ref name=Leslie140/> This, however, produces a strong difference between Christian and Buddhist teachings.<ref name=Leslie140/><ref name=Abe99>''Buddhism and Interfaith Dialogue'' by ] and Steven Heine (Jun 1, 1995) ISBN pages 99-100</ref> Buddhist scholar ] pointed out that while "the event of the Cross" is central to Christianity, it is not possible for Buddhism to accept its importance.<ref name=Abe99/> Buddhist philosopher ] stated that every time he saw a crucifixion scene it reminded him of the "gap that lies deep" between Christianity and Buddhism.<ref>''Mysticism, Christian and Buddhist'' by Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki ((Aug 4, 2002)) {{ISBN|1605061328}} page 113</ref> | |||
| ==Buddhist influence on Christianity== | |||
| ] from the hip of his mother, Gandhara, 2-3rd century CE.]] | |||
| ===Suggestions of influences=== | |||
| ]: the Virgin Mary being supported by two attendants, wall painting, St Clement, ], ].]] | |||
| {{main|Buddhist influences on Christianity}} | |||
| {{See also|Buddhism and the Roman world|Buddhism and Gnosticism}} | |||
| ], Roman period), and the Buddha (] of ]).]] | |||
| Suggestions have been made that Buddhism may have influenced early Christianity.<ref name="Bentley 1993"/> ], sent by ] of India to ], ], ] and ], may have helped prepare for the ethics of Christ.<ref name="Durant2011"/><ref name="Maguire">{{cite book | last = Maguire | first = Jack | title = Essential Buddhism | publisher = Simon and Schuster | year = 2001 | pages = 159–160 | isbn = 0-671-04188-6}}</ref> ] (a small number of sects) are not considered part of mainstream Christianity and some have been declared heretical. However, ] proposes Buddhist influences on Gnosticism. Pagels suggested that there are parallels with teachings attributed to Jesus Christ and teachings found in Eastern traditions, but concludes that these parallels might be coincidental, since parallel traditions may emerge in different cultures without direct influence.<ref>{{cite book |first=Elaine |last=Pagels |title=The Gnostic Gospels |location=New York |publisher=Random House, repr. 1989 |year=1979| url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/story/pagels.html}}</ref> | |||
| Buddhist Jack Maguire has suggested that in the 4th century, Christian monasticism developed in Egypt, and it emerged with a corresponding structure comparable to the Buddhist monasticism of its time and place.<ref name="Maguire"/> In ], Indian gravestones dating from the ] (c. 305 BC – 30 BC) have been discovered in ].<ref>{{cite book |last=Tarn |title=The Greeks in Bactria and India |page=370 }}</ref> Alexandria served as the ] trading centre between the ],<ref>{{cite book | last = Lindsay | first = W S | title = History of Merchant Shipping and Ancient Commerce | publisher = Adamant Media Corporation | year = 2006 | isbn = 0-543-94253-8}}</ref> later encompassing "some of the most active centers of Christianity" and becoming the third-most important seat of Christianity in the world.<ref name="Linssen_A">{{cite book |last1=Linssen |last2=Robert |title=Living Zen |location=London |publisher=Allen & Unwin |publication-date=1958 |page=208}}</ref> | |||
| About the Buddha, Clement wrote:{{ref|Clement2}} | |||
| After studying ], German philosopher ] states that " ] must be of Indian origin Everything true in Christianity is also to be discovered in ] and Buddhism," theorizing that after the ], Jesus was "brought up by Egyptian priests, whose religion was of Indian origin." Schopenhauer elaborates:<blockquote> this Indian doctrine entered into the ] there arose the task of uniting the knowledge of the corruption and misery of the world, of its need for redemption and of salvation through an ], together with the morality of ] and atonement, with Jewish monotheism and its 'Behold, it was very good'.<ref>{{cite book|title=Essays and Aphorisms|year=2004|publisher=Penguin Classics|isbn=978-0-14-044227-4|author=Arthur Schopenhauer|pages=190–191}}</ref></blockquote> | |||
| {{quote|"Among the Indians are those philosophers also who follow the precepts of Boutta, whom they honour as a god on account of his extraordinary sanctity." | Clement of Alexandria|'']'' (''Miscellanies''), Book I, Chapter XV}} | |||
| The suggestion that an adult Jesus traveled to India and was influenced by Buddhism before starting ] in ] was first made by ] in 1894 in the book ''The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ'' which was widely disseminated and became the basis of other theories.<ref>''The Unknown Life Of Jesus Christ: By The Discoverer Of The Manuscript'' by Nicolas Notovitch (Oct 15, 2007) {{ISBN|1434812839}}</ref><ref name=Ehrm252>''Forged: Writing in the Name of God--Why the Bible's Authors Are Not Who We Think They Are'' by Bart D. Ehrman (Mar 6, 2012) {{ISBN|0062012622}} page 252 "one of the most widely disseminated modern forgeries is called ''The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ''"</ref> Notovitch's theory was controversial from the beginning and was widely criticized.<ref>], "Jesus in India?" '']'' Volume 80, Issue 1 pp. 161-199 "Max Müller suggested that either the Hemis monks had deceived Notovitch or that Notovitch himself was the author of these passages"</ref><ref name=Wil84/> Once his story had been re-examined by historians, Notovitch confessed to having fabricated the evidence.<ref name=Wil84>''New Testament Apocrypha, Vol. 1: Gospels and Related Writings'' by ] and R. Mcl. Wilson (Dec 1, 1990) {{ISBN|066422721X}} page 84 "a particular book by Nicolas Notovich (Di Lucke im Leben Jesus 1894) ... shortly after the publication of the book, the reports of travel experiences were already unmasked as lies. The fantasies about Jesus in India were also soon recognized as invention... down to today, nobody has had a glimpse of the manuscripts with the alleged narratives about Jesus"</ref><ref name="McG">''Indology, Indomania, and Orientalism'' by ] (Jan 1, 2010) Fairleigh Dickinson University Press {{ISBN|083864208X}} page 133 "Faced with this cross-examination, Notovich confessed to fabricating his evidence."</ref> | |||
| Also in the 2nd century CE, ] stated that Buddhists co-existed with ]s in pre-Christian ]: | |||
| ===Rejection of influences=== | |||
| {{quote|"The island (Britain) has long been predisposed to it (Christianity) through the doctrines of the Druids and Buddhists, who had already inculcated the doctrine of the unity of the Godhead" | Origen, Commentary on Ezekiel <ref>Donald A. Mackenzie, ''Buddhism in pre-Christian Britain'', p. 42.</ref>}} | |||
| A number of scholars have stated that suggestions of an influence from Buddhism on Christianity, particularly Jesus's alleged travels to Buddhist India, are fanciful and without any historical basis: | |||
| *] states that modern Christian scholarship has "almost unanimously agreed" that claims of the travels of Jesus to Tibet, Kashmir or India contain "nothing of value".<ref name=Voorst17>Van Voorst, Robert E (2000). Jesus Outside the New Testament: An Introduction to the Ancient Evidence. Eerdmans Publishing. {{ISBN|0-8028-4368-9}} page 17</ref> | |||
| Origen himself was a proponent of the doctrine of ], which seems to have involved reincarnation <ref>"Is it not rational that souls should be introduced into bodies in accordance with their merits and previous deeds, and that those who have used their bodies in doing the utmost possible good should have a right to bodies endowed with qualities superior to the bodies of others?" "The soul, which is immaterial and invisible in its nature, exists in no material place without having a body suited to the nature of that place; accordingly, it at one time puts off one body, which is necessary before, but which is no longer adequate in its changed state, and it exchanges it for a second." (Origen, '']'', also discussed in ''De Principiis''.)</ref> The doctrines of Origen were repeatedly rejected and finally condemned by ] in ]. | |||
| *] states "Scholars have pointed out that Buddhist teachers lived in Alexandria, on the Mediterranean coast, by the first century. Some have posited that Jesus might have traveled there, or that Buddhist teachings may have reached cities of the Jewish homeland, including Sepphoris, a major city in Galilee only four miles from Nazareth. Popular speculation speaks of Jesus having traveled to India during "the missing years", the decades before he emerged on the stage of history. There, it is suggested, he came in to contact with Buddhist teachings. But both explanations are unlikely and unnecessary. The similarities are not of the kind that suggest cultural borrowing".<ref>Borg, M., ''Jesus & Buddha: The parallel sayings'', Ulysses Press, 2004, p.10</ref> | |||
| *] states that although modern parallels between the teachings of Jesus and Buddha have been drawn, these comparisons emerged after missionary contacts in the 19th century and there is no historically reliable evidence of contacts between Buddhism and Jesus.<ref name=Les140>''Jesus: The Complete Guide'' 2006 by Leslie Houlden {{ISBN|082648011X}} page 140</ref> | |||
| * ] states that no serious scholarly work places Jesus outside the backdrop of 1st century Palestinian Judaism.<ref name=PaulaF26>Fredriksen, Paula. ''From Jesus to Christ''. Yale University Press, 2000, p. xxvi.</ref> | |||
| * Eddy and Boyd state that there is no evidence of a historical influence by outside sources on the authors of the New Testament, and most scholars agree that any such historical influence on Christianity is entirely implausible given that first century ] ] Jews would not have been open to what they would have seen as pagan stories.<ref name="Collins"/><ref name=Eddy53>''The Jesus legend: a case for the historical reliability of the synoptic gospels'' by Paul R. Eddy, Gregory A. Boyd 2007 {{ISBN|0-8010-3114-1}} page 53-54</ref> | |||
| ==Christian influence on Buddhism== | |||
| Early 3rd-4th century Christian writers such as ] and ] wrote about a ], who visited India around 50 CE from where he brought "the doctrine of the Two Principles". According to these writers, Scythianus' pupil ] presented himself as a “Buddha” ("he called himself Buddas" ]) and became well known in ]. According to the same author, his books and knowledge were taken over by ], and became the foundation of the ]<ref> | |||
| Christian influence on Buddhism in the 18th and 19th centuries was primarily by example of modern forms of ].<ref>Theravāda Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benares to ... - Page 130 Richard Francis Gombrich - 2006 "The main Christian influence on Buddhists was by reaction. The missionaries propagated Christianity in three main ways: by education, preaching, and pamphleteering. Every mission station had a primary school, and the Church of England ..."</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=McMahan |first1=David L. |title=The Making of Buddhist Modernism |date=2008 |publisher=Oxford University Press, USA |isbn=978-0-19-518327-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DwASDAAAQBAJ |language=en |page=7 |quote=Richard Gombrich and Gananath Obeyesekere have mapped similar trends specifically in Sinhalese Buddhism in Sri Lanka. Emphasizing the Christian influence on modernizing forms of Sinhalese Buddhism in the late nineteenth and ...}}</ref> During the last centuries, Christian missionaries have influenced many Buddhist groups such as the Buddhist nun ] who, after being inspired by the humanitarian aid done by Catholic nuns, decided that Buddhists need "to do more than simply encourage the private cultivation of people's souls". Her works eventually led to the foundation of ], a non-profit humanitarian group in Asia.<ref name="bio">{{cite web |title=Biography of Dharma Master Cheng Yen |url=http://tw.tzuchi.org/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=159&Itemid=198&lang=en |publisher=Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation |date=22 May 2014 |access-date=19 March 2017 |archive-date=21 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721184449/http://tw.tzuchi.org/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=159&Itemid=198&lang=en |url-status=dead }}</ref> | |||
| Cyril of Jerusalem, Sixth Catechetical Lecture Chapter 22-24 | |||
| :"22. There was in Egypt one Scythianus, a Saracen by birth, having nothing in common either with Judaism or with Christianity. This man, who dwelt at Alexandria and imitated the life of Aristotle, composed four books, one called a Gospel which had not the acts of Christ, but the mere name only, and one other called the book of Chapters, and a third of Mysteries, and a fourth, which they circulate now, the Treasure. This man had a disciple, Terebinthus by name. But when Scythianus purposed to come into Judaea, and make havoc of the land, the Lord smote him with a deadly disease, and stayed the pestilence. | |||
| :23. But Terebinthus, his disciple in this wicked error, inherited his money and books and heresy, and came to Palestine, and becoming known and condemned in Judaea he resolved to pass into Persia: but lest he should be recognised there also by his name he changed it and called himself Buddas. However, he found adversaries there also in the priests of Mithras: and being confuted in the discussion of many arguments and controversies, and at last hard pressed, he took refuge with a certain widow. Then having gone up on the housetop, and summoned the daemons of the air, whom the Manichees to this day invoke over their abominable ceremony of the fig, he was smitten of God, and cast down from the housetop, and expired: and so the second beast was cut off. | |||
| :24. The books, however, which were the records of his impiety, remained; and both these and his money the widow inherited. And having neither kinsman nor any other friend, she determined to buy with the money a boy named Cubricus: him she adopted and educated as a son in the learning of the Persians, and thus sharpened an evil weapon against mankind. So Cubricus, the vile slave, grew up in the midst of philosophers, and on the death of the widow inherited both the books and the money. Then, lest the name of slavery might be a reproach, instead of Cubricus he called himself Manes, which in the language of the Persians signifies discourse. For as he thought himself something of a disputant, he surnamed himself Manes, as it were an excellent master of discourse. But though he contrived for himself an honourable title according to the language of the Persians, yet the providence of God caused him to become a self-accuser even against his will, that through thinking to honour himself in Persia, he might proclaim himself among the Greeks by name a maniac." Catholic Encyclopedia (Public Domain, quoted in ) | |||
| </ref>. | |||
| ==Contemporary Buddhist–Christian exchange== | |||
| {{quote|"Terebinthus, his disciple in this wicked error, inherited his money and books and heresy, and came to Palestine, and becoming known and condemned in Judaea he resolved to pass into Persia: but lest he should be recognised there also by his name he changed it and called himself Buddas."|], Sixth Catechetical Lecture Chapter 22-24 <ref>Catholic Encyclopedia (Public Domain, quoted in )</ref>}} | |||
| {{main|Buddhism in the West|Buddhist modernism}} | |||
| {{Quote box | |||
| Hippolytus, who was a Greek speaking Christian in Rome (c. 225), knew of the Indian Brahmins--and includes their tradition among the sources of heresy: | |||
| |quote = “Ask and it shall be given, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened.”<br>] remarked: “That is excellent. Whoever said that is not far from Buddhahood.” | |||
| |author = ] | |||
| |source = '']'' | |||
| |width = 35% | |||
| |align = right | |||
| }} | |||
| ===Attempts at convergence=== | |||
| :There is ... among the Indians a heresy of those who philosophize among the Brahmins, who live a self-sufficient life, abstaining from (eating) living creatures and all cooked food . . . They say that God is light, not like the light one sees, nor like the sun nor fire, but to them God is discourse, not that which finds expression in articulate sounds, but that of knowledge (gnosis) through which the secret mysteries of nature are perceived by the wise. | |||
| Buddhism has been gaining popularity in the west. Starting with a cultural and academic elite in the 19th century, it is now widespread in western culture, especially since the 1960s.{{sfn|McMahan|2008}} | |||
| In the 20th century ] such as ], ], ] and the former nun ], and ] such as ], ] and the ] have taken part in an ] dialogue about Buddhism and Christianity.<ref>W.L. King, Buddhism and Christianity: Some Bridges of Understanding, Philadelphia, 1963.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2001/03/divine-reticence/303045/|title=Divine Reticence|date=March 21, 2001|website=The Atlantic}}</ref> This dialogue aims to shed light on the common ground between Buddhism and Christianity.<ref>{{cite book |last = Tinker |first = Hugh |title = South Asia: A Short History |url = https://archive.org/details/southasiashorthi00tink |url-access = registration |publisher = Frederick A. Praeger |year = 1966 |page=}}</ref><ref>The Dalai Lama,''The Good Heart: A Buddhist Perspective on the Teachings of Jesus'', {{ISBN|0-86171-138-6}}</ref><ref>Thich Nhat Hahn, ''Going Home: Jesus and Buddha as Brothers'', 1999. {{ISBN|1-57322-830-3}}</ref> The ] (''Dialogue Interreligieux Monastique - Monastic Interreligious Dialogue'') has hosted several encounters between Buddhist and Catholic monks, such as the Gethsemani Encounters at the ] which were attended also by the Dalai Lama, as well as exchange programs in which Buddhist monks and nuns visit Catholic monasteries and vice versa.<ref>{{cite book |last1=de Béthune |first1=Pierre-Francois |editor1-last=Cornille |editor1-first=Catherine |title=The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Inter-Religious Dialogue |date=13 March 2013 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-118-52994-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UHdgFhRKCOsC |access-date=2 February 2024 |language=en |chapter=Monastic Inter-Religious Dialogue}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Borelli |first1=John |title=In Memoriam: Bishop Joseph John Gerry, O.S.B. (1928-2023) |journal=Dilatato Corde |date=2023 |volume=XIII |issue=2 July - December |url=https://dimmid.org/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC=%7b7F171057-4EB9-487F-9E54-5DC835955930%7d |access-date=6 February 2024 |publisher=DIMMID}}</ref> | |||
| In the 3rd century, the Syrian writer and Christian ] theologian ] described his exchanges with the religious missions of holy men from India (Greek: Σαρμαναίοι, Sramanas), passing through ] on their way to ] or another ] ]. His accounts were quoted by ] (De abstin., iv, 17 {{ref|Porphyry}}) and ] (Eccles., iii, 56, 141). | |||
| Although the prevalent romantic view on Buddhism sees it as an authentic and ancient practice, contemporary Buddhism is deeply influenced by the western culture. With the rise of western colonialism in the 19th century, Asian cultures and religions developed strategies to adapt to the western hegemony, without losing their own traditions. Western discourses were taken over, and western polemic styles were applied to defend indigenous traditions.{{sfn|McMahan|2008}} | |||
| ==Barlaam and Josaphat== | |||
| {{main|Barlaam and Josaphat}} | |||
| ] | |||
| The Greek legend of "Barlaam and Ioasaph", sometimes mistakenly attributed to the ] ] but actually written by the ] monk ] in the ], was ultimately derived, through a variety of intermediate versions (] and ]) from the life story of the Buddha. The king-turned-monk Ioasaph (Georgian ''Iodasaph'', Arabic ''Yūdhasaf'' or ''Būdhasaf'') also obtains his name from the Sanskrit ], the name used in Buddhist accounts for Gautama before he became a Buddha. Barlaam and Ioasaph were placed in the Greek calendar of ]s on ], and in the West they were canonized (as "Barlaam and Josaphat") in the Roman Martyrology on the date of ]. | |||
| The story was translated into Hebrew in the Middle Ages as "Ben-Hamelekh Vehanazir" ("The Prince and the ]"). | |||
| ===Rejection of convergence=== | |||
| ==Theories== | |||
| In 1989 the Catholic Church, through the ], rejected attempts at mixing some aspects of Christian and Buddhist practices, in a letter titled "Letter to the Bishops of the ] on some aspects of Christian meditation", generally known as the '']'' letter.<ref>] 82 (1990) 362-379</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/doc_doc_index.htm|title=Complete List of Documents - Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith|website=www.vatican.va}}</ref><ref name=VaticanAspects>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19891015_meditazione-cristiana_en.html|title=Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on some aspects of Christian Meditation – Orationis formas|website=www.vatican.va}}</ref> | |||
| ===Buddhist influence=== | |||
| ], ], ], 6th century. ].]] | |||
| Some scholars believe that Jesus may have been inspired by Buddhism, and that the ] and the ] texts reflect this influence. These theories have been popularized in books such as ]' ''The Gnostic Gospels'' (1979) and ''Beyond Belief'' (2003), and Elmar R. Gruber and Holger Kersten's ''The Original Jesus'' (1995). | |||
| The document issues warnings on differences and potential incompatibilities between ] and the styles of ] used in eastern religions such as ].<ref name=EWTNaspects> on ]</ref><ref>''The meeting of religions and the Trinity'' by Gavin D'Costa 2000 {{ISBN|0-567-08730-1}} page 152</ref> Referring to some elements of Buddhism as "negative theology" the document states: | |||
| One of the earliest and most prominent scholars of early comparative religions,], noted in his book, ''India: What it can teach us'', published from England in 1883, "That there are startling coincidences between Buddhism and Christianity cannot be denied, and it must likewise be admitted that Buddhism existed at least 400 years before Christianity. I go even further, and should feel extremely grateful if anybody would point out to me the historical channels through which Buddhism had influenced early Christianity." A stronger case was made by Rudolf Seydel, Professor in the University of Leipzig (Germany), whose first book, ''The Gospel of Jesus in relation to the Buddha Legend'', published in 1882, was followed by, ''The Buddha Legend and the Life of Jesus'', published in 1897. In his books, he noted atleast 50 analogous parallels between the Buddhist and Christian stories. | |||
| {{blockquote|Still others do not hesitate to place that absolute without image or concepts, which is proper to Buddhist theory, on the same level as the majesty of God revealed in Christ, which towers above finite reality. To this end, they make use of a "negative theology", which ... denies that the things of this world can offer traces of the infinity of God.<ref name=VaticanAspects/>}} | |||
| Similar warnings were issued in 2003 in '']'' which also referred to Buddhism.<ref name=HBook >''Handbook of vocational psychology'' by W. Bruce Walsh, Mark Savickas 2005 {{ISBN|0-8058-4517-8}} page 358</ref><ref name=reflection>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/interelg/documents/rc_pc_interelg_doc_20030203_new-age_en.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131001211733/https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/interelg/documents/rc_pc_interelg_doc_20030203_new-age_en.html|url-status=dead|title=Jesus Christ The Bearer Of The Water Of Life - A Christian reflection on the New Age|archivedate=October 1, 2013|website=www.vatican.va}}</ref> The ] expressed agreement with those views.<ref name=LATimes >{{Cite web |url=http://articles.latimes.com/2003/feb/08/local/me-relignewage8/2 |title=Los Angeles Times, February 8, 2003 ''New Age Beliefs Aren't Christian, Vatican Finds'' |website=] |access-date=December 15, 2012 |archive-date=July 1, 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120701141606/http://articles.latimes.com/2003/feb/08/local/me-relignewage8/2 |url-status=dead }}</ref> | |||
| ] Professor, E. Washburn Hopkins in his book, ''History of Religions'' wrote, "Finally, the life, temptation, miracles, parables, and even the disciples of Jesus have been derived directly from Buddhism." <ref>History of Religions, 1918, E. Washburn Hopkins, Professor of Sanskrit and comparative Philology, p 552,556</ref> | |||
| Historian ] considers "the possibility that Buddhism influenced the early development of Christianity". Bentley observes that scholars "have drawn attention to many parallels concerning the births, lives, doctrines, and deaths of the Buddha and Jesus".<ref>{{cite book |title=Old World Encounters. Cross-cultural contacts and exchanges in pre-modern times |first=Jerry H. |last=Bentley |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1993 |ISBN=0-19-507639-7}} </ref> | |||
| Iqbal Singh in the ''Buddhism Omnibus'' <ref>{{cite book |title=The Buddhism Omnibus: Comprising Gautama Buddha, The Dhammapada, and The Philosophy of Religion |author=Iqbal Singh, S. Radhakrishnan, Arvind Sharma, |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=USA |date=June 24, 2004) |ISBN=0195668987 }}</ref> acknowledges the early historical interactions and influence of Buddhism on the formation of early Christianity. | |||
| Thomas Tweed, Professor of Religious Studies at ], reports that, between 1879 and 1907, there were a "number of impassioned discussions about parallels and possible historical influence between Buddhism and Christianity in ... a variety of periodicals". But by 1906, this interest had waned. In the end, Albert Schweitzer's conclusion was favored: that although some indirect influence through the wider culture was "not inherently impossible", the hypothesis that Jesus' novel ideas were borrowed directly from Buddhism was "unproved, unprovable and unthinkable."<ref>{{cite book |last=Tweed |first=Thomas |title=The American Encounter With Buddhism, 1844-1912: Victorian Culture and the Limits of Dissent |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |year=2000 |ISBN=0807849065 |pages=280}}</ref> | |||
| Burkhard Scherer, Professor of Indo-Tibetan Studies at ] believes that the "massive" Buddhist influence in the gospels has been well known among scholars. Scherer states: "...it is very important to draw attention on the fact that there is (massive) Buddhist influence in the Gospels....Since more than hundred years Buddhist influence in the Gospels has been known and acknowledged by scholars from both sides. Just recently, Duncan McDerret published his excellent The Bible and the Buddhist (Sardini, Bornato 2001). With McDerret, I am convinced that there are many Buddhist narratives in the Gospels."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jesusisbuddha.com/scherer.html |title=The Secrets about Christian Lindtner-a preliminary response to the CLT}}</ref> | |||
| ===Buddhism and Gnosticism=== | |||
| ] with the infant Buddha. Gandhara, 2nd century CE.]] | |||
| ] and ] have suggested that ] blends teachings like those attributed to Jesus Christ with teachings found in Eastern traditions.<ref name=pbs>{{cite web|url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/story/pagels.html| title=Extract from ''The Gnostic Gospels''|author=Elaine Pagels|publisher=pbs.org|accessdate=2007-04-22}}</ref> | |||
| Philip Jenkins writes that, since the mid-nineteenth century, new and fringe religious movements have often created images of Jesus, presenting him as a sage, philosopher and occult teacher, whose teachings are very similar to those of Asian religions. He asserts that the images generated by these religious movements share much in common with the images that increasingly dominate the mainstream critical scholarship of the New Testament, especially following the rediscovery of the Gnostic Gospels found at Nag Hammadi in Egypt in 1945. He alleges that, in modern scholarly writing, Jesus has become more of a Gnostic, Cynic or even a crypto-Buddhist than the traditional notion of the reformist Jewish rabbi. <ref>{{cite journal |title=How Gnostic Jesus Became the Christ of Scholars |first=Philip |last=Jenkins}}</ref> | |||
| Jenkins acknowledges that "the Jesus of the hidden gospels has many points of contact with the great spiritual traditions of Asia." Pagels has written that "one need only listen to the words of the Gospel of Thomas to hear how it resonates with the Buddhist tradition... these ancient gospels tend to point beyond faith toward a path of solitary searching to find understanding, or gnosis." She suggests that there is an explicitly Indian influence in the Gospel of Thomas, perhaps via the Christian communities in southern India, the so-called Thomas Christians. | |||
| Of all of the Nag Hammadi texts, the ] has the most similarities with Pure Land Buddhism within it. Edward Conze has suggested that Hindu or Buddhist tradition may well have influenced Gnosticism. He points out that Buddhists were in contact with the Thomas Christians. <ref>{{cite book |first=Edward |last=Conze |title=Buddism and Gnosis}}</ref> | |||
| Elaine Pagels notes that the similarities between Gnosticism and Buddhism have prompted some scholars to question their interdependence and to wonder whether "...if the names were changed, the 'living Buddha' appropriately could say what the Gospel of Thomas attributes to the living Jesus. " However, she concludes that, although intriguing, the evidence is inconclusive, since parallel traditions may emerge in different cultures without direct influence. <ref>{{cite book |first=Elaine |last=Pagels |title=The Gnostic Gospels |location=New York |publisher=Random House |year=1979, repr. 1989 }}</ref> | |||
| === Baptism and the Trinity=== | |||
| Scholars of ] have remarked on the fact that the word Buddha or ] is not once used in the ]. | |||
| A remarkable similarity is that of all the surviving religions in the world, only Buddhists (SN 55.30 Licchavi Sutta) and Christians (Matthew 28:19) are given initiation in a holy Trinity and both are baptized in conviction in the teachings of Buddha or Jesus, respectively. Buddhists take refuge in the Ratnatraya -- or Three Jewels of ], ] and ]. Christians are baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity-- the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. | |||
| Kersten claims it is no coincidence but rather a Greek translation of the Buddhist Triple Gem: | |||
| <div class="references-small"> | |||
| :The followers of the Buddha in ] during the decades either side of Jesus' birth, if there were any, certainly did not call themselves ]. Instead, they probably would have used the name adopted by their brothers in India: the followers of the Dharma (the Universal Law and the teaching of Buddha). In Greek, the word Dharma may be translated as ''']'''...The most sacred authority in Buddhism is the ] represented by ], ], and ]. Christian theology has the Holy ] of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, of whom the Son, the second Person, is equated with the Logos (that is to say the Dharma), and the third Person, the Holy Spirit, is active in the community of the faithful (the Sangha).<ref>ibid, Kersten</ref> | |||
| </div> | |||
| The Buddhist ] is directly related as father and son in what can be called a far more closer parallel to the Christian ] in the Buddhist text, ''Ittivuttaka'':100 as well as some suttas in the Tipitika contain references to Buddha as having spiritual sons. Major disciples (Sariputta, Ananda, Mahakashyapa) are referred to as "son of Buddha" ("putto Buddhassa" as in Therigata 4.1) or "son of God" ("bhagavato putto" in MN 111) throughout the oldest Pali Canon. These sons are also directly related to being born of the Dhamma or the law from Buddha's speech. Similarly in the Gospel of John, Jesus is the "word". | |||
| In reference to finding equivalence in Buddhism to the "Holy Spirit", Buddha is called "brahmabhūto" where Bhuto is used as "ghost or spirit" or holy spirit in MN18, this is almost always in conjunction "dhammabhūto brahmabhūto" i.e. the holy spirit is directly related to the Dhamma and Buddha. In the Tipitika, the Triple Gem of the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha are directly related to as Father, Son or Holy Spirit in several discourses. | |||
| This relationship of the Trinity and initiation into a Trinity does not have parallels in the Old Testament, a religion which many historians try to draw parallels from for Christianity: | |||
| "Theologians today are in agreement that the Hebrew Bible does not contain a doctrine of the Trinity." <ref>The Encyclopedia of Religion</ref> The New Catholic Encyclopedia concurs "The doctrine of the Holy Trinity is not taught in the Old Testament." | |||
| ===Therapeutae influence=== | |||
| ] symbol, created by combining the Greek letters ΙΧΘΥΣ, ].]] | |||
| ] pendant of Maria, wife of ] (398-407 CE). ].]] | |||
| According to the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus spent his early childhood in Egypt which was at the end of the Silk Road. As a result of its role in trade with the East, Egypt was prosperous and enriched with religious diversity. | |||
| The ] (known only from ]) were mystics and ascetics who lived especially in the area around ], <ref>{{cite book |title=The Ancient Mysteries: A Sourcebook |author=Marvin W. Meyer, Editor }}</ref> ] described the Therapeutae in the beginning of the 1st century CE in De vita contemplativa ("On the contemplative life"), written ca. 10 CE. By that time, the origins of the Therapeutae were already lost in the past, and Philo was even unsure about the etymology of their name. | |||
| Philonian monachism has been seen as the forerunner of and the model for the Christian ascetic life. It has even been considered as the earliest description of Christian monasticism. This view was first espoused by ] in his Ecclesiastical History.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Therapeutae of Philo and the Monks as Therapeutae according to Pseudo-Dionysius |first=Constantine |last=Scouteris |url=http://www.orthodoxresearchinstitute.org/articles/patrology/scouteris_theraputae.htm}} </ref> | |||
| According to the linguist Zacharias P. Thundy the name "Therapeutae" is simply an Hellenisation of the ] term for the traditional Buddhist faith, "]". The similarities between the monastic practices of the Therapeutae and Buddhist monastic practices have led to suggestions that the Therapeutae were in fact Buddhist monks who had reached Alexandria, descendants of Ashoka's emissaries to the West, and who influenced the early formation of Christianity.<ref>"The Original Jesus" (Element Books, Shaftesbury, 1995), Elmar R Gruber, Holger Kersten</ref> The evidence for this argument rests solely on the similarity of practices and the purported derivation of the name. There is no evidence from antiquity that supports this argument. | |||
| In their book ''The Jesus Mysteries'', Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy argue that the Therapeutae are possible candidates for the origin of what they characterize as "the legend of Jesus Christ".{{Fact|date=July 2007}} | |||
| Elmar R. Gruber, a psychologist, and Holger Kersten, a specialist in religious history argue that Buddhism had a substantial influence on the life and teachings of Jesus.<ref>{{cite book |author=Gruber, Elmar and Kersten, Holger. |title=The Original Jesus |publisher=Element Books |location=Shaftesbury |year=1995}}</ref> Gruber and Kersten claim that Jesus was brought up by the ], teachers of the Buddhist ] school then living in the Bible lands. They assert that Jesus lived the life of a Buddhist and taught Buddhist ideals to his disciples; their work follows in the footsteps of the Oxford New Testament scholar' Barnett Hillman Streeter, who established as early as the 1930s that the, moral teaching of the Buddha has four remarkable resemblances to the Sermon on the Mount."<ref>{{cite journal |title=Did Buddhism influence early Christianity? |first=N. S. |last=Chandramouli |publication=The Times of India |date=May 1, 1997}}</ref> | |||
| Ascetism can be seen as a common point between Buddhism and Christianity, and is in contrast to the absence of ]: | |||
| {{quote|"Asceticism is indigenous to the religions which posit as fundamental the wickedness of this life and the corruption under sin of the flesh. ], therefore, as well as ], leads to ascetic practices. Monasteries are institutions of Buddhism no less than of ] Christianity. The assumption, found in the views of the ] and others, that concessions made to the natural appetites may be pardoned in those that are of a lower degree of holiness, while the perfectly holy will refuse to yield in the least to carnal needs and desires, is easily detected also in some of the teachings of ]. The ideal of holiness of both the Buddhist and the Christian saint culminates in poverty and chastity; i.e., celibacy. Fasting and other disciplinary methods are resorted to to curb the flesh"|The Jewish Encyclopedia <ref></ref>}} | |||
| ===The lost years of Jesus=== | |||
| {{main|Lost years of Jesus}} | |||
| Very little is known about the time between Jesus' childhood and the beginning of his ministry as recorded in the New Testament. | |||
| ] Elmar R. Gruber, a psychologist, and Holger Kersten, a specialist in religious history argue that Buddhism had a substantial influence on the life and teachings of Jesus.<ref>{{cite book |author=Gruber, Elmar and Kersten, Holger. |title=The Original Jesus |publisher=Element Books |location=Shaftesbury |year=1995}}</ref> Gruber and Kersten claim that Jesus was brought up by the ], teachers of the Buddhist ] school then living in the Bible lands. They assert that Jesus lived the life of a Buddhist and taught Buddhist ideals to his disciples; their work follows in the footsteps of the Oxford New Testament scholar' Barnett Hillman Streeter, who established as early as the 1930s that the, moral teaching of the Buddha has four remarkable resemblances to the Sermon on the Mount."<ref>{{cite journal |title=Did Buddhism influence early Christianity? |first=N. S. |last=Chandramouli |publication=The Times of India |date=May 1, 1997}}</ref> | |||
| There are local traditions of Jesus' presence in Afghanistan, Iran, and even Pakistan and India. However there is no way to know when these traditions arose. Some stories go so far as to claim that Jesus survived crucifixion and returned to the East, dying in Kashmir many years later. However, all of these stories are based on little or no real evidence. | |||
| One tradition claims that Jesus traveled to India and Tibet during the "lost years" before the beginning of his public ministry. In 1887 a Russian war correspondent, ], visited India and Tibet. He claimed that, at the ] in ], he learned of the "Life of Saint Issa, Best of the Sons of Men." His story, with a translated text of the "Life of Saint Issa," was published in French in 1894 as ''La vie inconnue de Jesus Christ''. It was subsequently translated into English, German, Spanish, and Italian. | |||
| The "Life of Saint Issa, Best of the Sons of Men" purportedly recounts the travels of one known in the East as Saint Issa, whom Notovitch identified as Jesus. After initially doubting Notovitch, a disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Abhedananda, journeyed to Tibet, investigated his claim, helped translate part of the document, and later championed his views.<ref>{{cite book |author=Swami Abhedananda |title=Journey into Kashmir and Tibet (the English translation of Kashmiri 0 Tibbate) |location=Calcutta |publisher=Ramakrishna Vivekananda Math |year=1987}}</ref>. | |||
| Notovitch's writings were immediately controversial. The German orientalist ] corresponded with the Hemis monastery that Notovitch claimed to have visited and ] visited Hemis Monastery. Neither found any evidence that Notovich (much less Jesus) had even been there himself, so they rejected his claims. The head of the Hemis community signed a document that denounced Notovitch as a liar.<ref>{{cite book |title=Famous Biblical Hoaxes or, Modern Apocrypha |first=Edgar J. |last=Goodspeed |publisher=Baker Book House |location=Grand Rapids, Michigan |year=1956 |url=http://www.tentmaker.org/books/FamousBiblicalHoaxes.html}}</ref> | |||
| Despite this contradictory evidence, a number of ] or spiritualist authors have taken this information and have incorporated it into their own works. For example, in her book ''The Lost Years of Jesus: Documentary Evidence of Jesus' 17-Year Journey to the East'', ] asserts that Buddhist manuscripts provide evidence that Jesus traveled to India, Nepal, Ladakh and Tibet.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Lost Years of Jesus: Documentary Evidence of Jesus' 17-Year Journey to the East |last=Prophet |first=Elizabeth Clare |ISBN=0-916766-87-X |pages=468}}</ref> | |||
| The further sayings of Prophet Muhammed mention that Jesus died in Kashmir at the age of one hundred twenty. Muslim and Persia sources purport to trace the sojourn of Jesus, known as Isa, or Yuz Asaf ("leader of the healed") along the old Silk Road to the orient. The books, ''Christ in Kashmir'' by Aziz Kashmiri, and ''Jesus Lived in India'' by Holger Kersten, list scores of documents and articles in support of this view. | |||
| There are also Hindu and Tibetan accounts. According to Kersten, the Bhavishyat Maha Purana asserts that Israelites settled in India, and, in verses 17-32, describes the arrival of Jesus in Ladakh. | |||
| There is a temple in the state of Kashmir that is dedicated to Saint Issa. The priests of this temple assert that Jesus traveled there two thousand years ago. Acccording to Kersten, over twenty-one historical documents bear witness to Jesus having lived in Kashmir. Many places there, as well as along the Silk Road, include versions of his name(s) and also versions of the name of Moses. A tomb bearing the name of Yuz Asaf exists in Srinigar to this day, and eighty kilometers away is a tombstone of Moses, which has been tended by Rishis, according to the grave watchman, for over 2700 years. A tomb called Mai Mari da Asthan, "The Final Resting Place of Mother Mary", is situated in a small town named Mari on the Pakistan-Kashmir border.{{Fact|date=July 2007}} | |||
| ==Parallels== | |||
| According to Jerry Bentley, "Scholars have often considered the possibility that Buddhism influenced the early development of Christianity. They have drawn attention to many parallels concerning the births, lives, doctrines, and deaths of the Buddha and Jesus" <ref>{{cite book |title=Cross-Cultural Contacts and Exchanges in Pre-Modern Times |first=Jerry H. |last=Bentley |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1992 |pages=240 |ISBN=13: 9780195076400}}</ref>. | |||
| ===Administrative structures=== | |||
| The administrative structures formed by Buddhism share the following similarities with those formed by Christianity: | |||
| * initiation into a holy trinity. | |||
| * monasticism and communal living for spiritual adherents which adhered to principals of practicing poverty and chastity.<ref> ''Hinduism and Buddhism, An Historical Sketch, Vol 3''. Charles Eliot | |||
| 20 of 22: Egypt was a most religious country, but it does not appear that asceticism, celibacy or meditation formed part of its older religious life, and their appearance in Hellenistic times may be due to a wave of Asiatic | |||
| influence starting originally from India. </ref> | |||
| * early Christian Councils reminiscent in organization to the ]. | |||
| * missionaries and missions which were first organized and established by Buddhists, all predate the early Christian organizations in the same areas where Christianity was first established (Antioch, etc.). | |||
| ===Buddha and Jesus=== | |||
| It has been asserted that the story of the birth of the Buddha was well known in the West, and possibly influenced the story of the birth of Jesus.<ref>"In reading the particulars of the life of Buddha it is impossible not to feel reminded of many circumstances relating to our Savior's life as sketched by the evangelists. It may be said in favor of Buddhism that no philosophic-religious system has ever upheld to an equal degree the notions of a savior and deliverer, and the necessity of his mission for procuring the salvation of man." '''Catholic Bishop Bigandet'''</ref><ref>"These points of agreement with the Gospel narrative arouse curiosity and require explanation. If we could prove that they were unknown in the East for some centuries after Christ, the explanation would be easy. But all the evidence we have gone to prove the contrary...." (], pp. viii-ix.)</ref> | |||
| ] (4th century CE) mentions the birth of the Buddha, who he says "was born from the side of a virgin"<ref>Jerome-Against-Jovinianus, 815, Online Viewing: http://www.patriarchywebsite.com/bib-patriarchy/Jerome-Against-Jovinianus.txt</ref> (the Buddha was, according to Buddhist tradition, born from the hip of his mother).<ref>Andre Grabar "Christian iconography, a study of its origins", p129</ref> The story of ] was also known: a fragment of '']'' <ref>Latin Sources: Archelaus (Bishop of Cascar in Mesopotamia, d. about 278): Acta Disputationis cum Manete Haeresiarcha; first written in Syriac, and so far belonging to the Oriental Christian Sources (Comp. ]), but extant only in a Latin translation, which seems to have been made from the Greek, edited by Zacagni (Rome, 1698), and Routh (in Reliquiae Sacrae, vol. V. 3-206); Eng. transl. in Clark's Ante-Nicene Library (vol. XX. 272-419). .</ref>(278 CE) mentions the Buddha's virgin-birth. | |||
| ] came to bear the ] after receiving a prophetic dream in which she saw the descent of the Bodhisattva (Buddha-to-be) from the {{unicode|]}} heaven into her womb, in the shape of a small white elephant. This story has some parallels with the story of Jesus being conceived in connection with the visitation of the ] to the ].<ref>Andre Grabar mentions Buddhist iconography of the birth of the Buddha as a possible source for the Christian depiction of the birth of Jesus Christ. Andre Grabar, p129</ref> | |||
| The classical scene of the Virgin Mary being supported by two attendants at her side, may have been influenced by earlier iconography, such as the rather similar Buddhist theme of Queen Maya giving birth.<ref>Andre Grabar, p129</ref> | |||
| The iconography of Mary breastfeeding the child Jesus, unknown in the West until the 5-6th century (probable date of a frieze excavated in ]), has also been connected to the much more ancient iconography of the goddess ], also breastfeeding her child, and wearing Hellenistic clothes in the ] of ].<ref>Foucher, "The beginnings of Buddhist art", p.271</ref> | |||
| ===Teachings=== | |||
| "There are many moral precepts equally commanded and enforced in common by both creeds. It will not be rash to assert that most of the moral truths prescribed in the gospel are to be met with in the Buddhistic scriptures." Paul Ambroise Bigandet, Catholic Bishop of ] | |||
| "He requires humility, disregard of worldly wealth, patience and resignation in adversity, love to enemies ... non-resistance to evil, confession of sins and conversion." Bishop Jean Paul Hilaire | |||
| ====Parallel Lives==== | |||
| Scholars see strong parallels in both the myth and life of Buddha and Jesus. Buddha and his disciples traveling preachers going into homes and preaching gospels to those who hear, is one obvious parallel of a literary motif not found in other traditions. Jesus too pursues this form of preaching and teaching. | |||
| Ernest De Bunsen states, | |||
| "With the remarkable exception of the death of Jesus on the cross, and of the doctrine of atonement by vicarious suffering, which is absolutely excluded by Buddhism, the most ancient of the Buddhistic records known to us contain statements about the life and the doctrines of Gautama Buddha which correspond in a remarkable manner, ''and impossibly by mere chance'', with the traditions recorded in the Gospels about the life and doctrines of Jesus Christ...." <ref>Ernest De Bunsen, The Angel Messiah of Buddhists, Essenes and Christians (London, 1880), p. 50.) </ref> | |||
| <div class="references-small"> | |||
| {|class="wikitable" | |||
| |+ | |||
| |- | |||
| !Buddha | |||
| !Jesus | |||
| |- | |||
| |'''Buddha the new born prince''' is adored and predicted by seer Asita and gods celebrate his birth.(SN 3.11 Nalaka Sutta) | |||
| |'''Jesus the new born prince''' is adored and predicted by seers "from the east" who celebrate his birth. (Matthew 2) | |||
| |- | |||
| |'''Buddhist Trinity (Tiratna) and Baptism:''' | |||
| "I take refuge, Lord, in the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha." (DN 31) | |||
| "Enough, I say, with this external bath. I am satisfied with this internal bath: confidence in the Blessed One." (SN 55.30 Licchavi Sutta) | |||
| |'''Jesus Trinity and Baptism:''' | |||
| "baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19). | |||
| |- | |||
| |'''Buddha is Sinless:''' | |||
| "stainless, you illuminate all the worlds." Sn 2.14 Dhammika Sutta | |||
| |'''Jesus is Sinless:''' | |||
| "And in him is no sin." (1 John 3:5) | |||
| |- | |||
| |'''Buddha: Nirvana is Deathless"''' (Dhammapada 2:21-23) | |||
| |'''Jesus: Everlasting Life: | |||
| that God gave us everlasting life. (1 John 5:11) | |||
| |- | |||
| |'''Buddha holds nothing back''': | |||
| there is nothing, Ananda, with regard to the teachings that the Tathagata holds to the last with the closed fist of a teacher who keeps some things back. (Digha Nikaya, Mahaparinibbana Sutta,32) | |||
| |'''Jesus holds nothing back''': | |||
| because a slave doesn't know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have heard from My Father. (John 15:15) | |||
| |- | |||
| |'''Chosen ones of Buddha''' | |||
| the Blessed One saw beings with little dust in their eyes (Samyutta Nikaya 6.1 Ayacana Sutta) | |||
| He has long had little dust in his eyes. What if I were to teach him the Dhamma first? (MN 26 Ariyapariyesana Sutta) | |||
| |'''Chosen ones of Jesus''' | |||
| You did not choose Me, but I chose you. (John 15:16) (Matthew 9: 35 - 10: 8, Mark 3: 13 - 19, Luke 6: 12 - 18) | |||
| |- | |||
| |'''MARA AND BUDDHA''' Then Mara, the Evil One, knowing with his awareness the train of thought in the Blessed One's awareness, went to him and on arrival said to him: "Exercise rulership, Blessed One! Exercise rulership, O One Well-gone! | |||
| '''Mara leaves''' | |||
| Then Mara the Evil One — sad & dejected at realizing, "The Blessed One knows me; the One Well-gone knows me" — vanished right there. (Samyutta Nikaya 4.20 Rajja Sutta) | |||
| |'''SATAN AND JESUS''': And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, 6 and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 | |||
| '''Satan leaves''' | |||
| 13 And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. (Luke 4:1) | |||
| |- | |||
| |'''Buddha is the Truth and the Law''': "He who sees the Dhamma, he sees me; he who sees me, sees the Dhamma."Kindred Sayings (III, Khandhaa-vagga, Middle Fifty, Ch 4, 87, Vakkali Sutta) | |||
| |'''Jesus is the Truth and the Law''':Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth and the life: no man cometh to the Father, but by me. (John 14:6) | |||
| |- | |||
| |'''Buddha tells us to "come and see" the Dhamma or truth, which is the Buddha'''...In the Six Characteristics of the ] or the "law", the fourth one is "Ehipashyaka" or, "Come and See". | |||
| |'''Jesus tells us "come and see" his true dwelling, Jesus is the truth''': | |||
| "They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou? 39 He saith unto them, '''Come and see'''. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour."John 1:35-39,John 1:43-46. | |||
| |- | |||
| |'''Buddha lectures priest on bloodless sacrifice''': | |||
| "But, Reverend Gotama, is there any sacrifice that is more profitable than these four?" | |||
| "There is, Brahmin." | |||
| "What is it, Reverend Gotama?" "Brahmin, if anyone with a pure heart undertakes the precepts - to refrain from taking life, from taking what is not given, from sexual immorality, from lying speech and from taking strong drink and sloth-producing drugs - that constitutes a sacrifice more profitable than any of these four."(Kutadanta Sutta) | |||
| |'''Jesus lectures priest (Sadducees) on bloodless sacrifice''': | |||
| 33And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." (Mark 12:33) | |||
| |- | |||
| |'''Buddha calls priests blind''' | |||
| O Vasettha, those brahmins who know the three Vedas are just like a line of blind men tied together where the first sees nothing, the middle man nothing, and the last sees nothing (Tevijja-Sutta, Dighanikaya, 13:15). | |||
| |'''Jesus calls priests (Pharisees) blind''' | |||
| Can the blind lead the blind? Won't they both fall into a pit? (Matthew 15:14). | |||
| |- | |||
| |'''Buddha sends missionaries'''"Go forth, o bhikkhus, for the good of the many, for the happiness of the many, out of compassion for the world, for the benefit, for the good, for the happiness of gods and men. Let not two go by one way. Preach the doctrine that is beautiful in its beginning, beautiful in its middle, and beautiful in its ending. Declare the holy life in its purity, completely both in the spirit and the letter." | |||
| |'''Jesus sends missionaries'''Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. (Matthew 28:19). | |||
| |- | |||
| |Buddha helps outcastes (Thag 12.2), lepers (Ud 5.3) and the courtesan like Ambapali (Digha Nikaya 16: Maha-parinibbana Sutta) | |||
| |Jesus helps outcaste lepers (Luke 17:11-19) and "sinful women" like Mary Magdalene or Mary of Bethany (Luke 7:36-50) | |||
| |- | |||
| |'''God appoints Buddha:'''God the creator: "Throw open the door to the Deathless! Let them hear the Dhamma realized by the Stainless One! | |||
| |'''Christ says he has been anointed by God''': 18He hath anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor. He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,21And He began to say unto them, "This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears." (Luke 4:21) | |||
| |- | |||
| |'''Buddha declares''': | |||
| Open are the doors to the Deathless to those with ears. Let them show their conviction. | |||
| |'''Christ declares''' after defeating Satan: | |||
| Repent! for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. —Matthew 4:17 | |||
| Anyone who has ears to hear ought to hear."(Mark 4:23) | |||
| |- | |||
| |'''Buddha can walk on water and walk through walls''': | |||
| He goes unimpeded through walls, ramparts, and mountains as if through space. He walks on water without sinking as if it were dry land. (Digha Nikaya 11:Kevatta Sutta) | |||
| |'''Jesus can walk on water and walk through walls''': | |||
| And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. Mat 14:25 | |||
| "Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them." (John 20:26) | |||
| |- | |||
| |'''Buddha and the Cross''': | |||
| "This, monks, is called a monk whose cross-bar <ref>this is also found in ] verse 398, the word used in Pali: ukkhittapaligham, Sanskrit: utksiptaparikham </ref>is thrown off, 10 whose moat is filled in, whose pillar is pulled out, whose bolt is withdrawn, a noble one with banner lowered, burden placed down, unfettered. (Majjhima Nikaya 22:Alagaddupama Sutta I 139-140) | |||
| |'''Jesus and the Cross''': | |||
| And whosoever doth not bear his cross<ref>The Greek word used is "stauros," which does not mean cross, but rather stake. Was he crucified on a cross, or an individual stake?A: The cross was never used in early Christianity. The closest was the symbol "chi rho." It was understood that the "stauros" was a stake. The embellishment of the cross came later, and the crucifix after that. FAQ Bible Study New Testament (No. 58) (Edition 1.1 20000630-20011206) http://www.ccg.org/English/s/p058.html </ref>, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:27) | |||
| |- | |||
| |'''Buddha and the Sacrifice''': | |||
| This Purusa is all that yet hath been and all that is to be; (Rig Veda ]) | |||
| ''Buddha is known as the MAHA ]. This Purusha is a human sacrifice or ], from which all creation comes forth. "Maha -Purusha" in the ], the ], in the discourse titled "Sutra of the Marks" (Pali: Lakkhana Sutta).Griffith (1899)'' | |||
| '':"man, the noblest victim, being actually or symbolically sacrificed ... and men and women of various tribes, figures, complexions, characters, and professions being attached to the sacrificial stakes in place of the tame and wild animals enumerated in Book XXIV . These nominal victims were afterwards released uninjured, and, so far as the text of the White Yajurveda goes, the whole ceremony was merely emblematical."'' | |||
| ''The ceremony evokes the mythical sacrifice of Purusha, the "Cosmic Man", and the officiating Brahman recites the Purusha sukta to the assembled human victims (RV 10.90 = AVS 5.19.6 = VS 31.1–16).'' | |||
| ''From the body of the Purusha all things come forth.'' | |||
| ''In this human sacrifice, the Purusha is tied to a stake and symbolically killed.'' | |||
| |'''Jesus and the Sacrifice''': | |||
| 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. (John 1) | |||
| “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1) | |||
| 12For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. (1cor 12:12) | |||
| |} | |||
| </div> | |||
| more than a fortuitous convergence of universal folkloric motifs simply because nowhere else do we see such a convergence of literary motifs | |||
| ====Aphorisms==== | |||
| One approach has used the theologically derived ] of the possible original words of ] as a basis of comparison with the supposed earliest words of the Buddha{{Fact|date=February 2007}}. The process is useful insofar as it highlights direct parallels in words, albeit in modern languages. Other studies of parallels include learned analyses, most of them recent although some date back to the time of the early ], which may have suppressed historical linkages between the ancient ]/] and India. | |||
| {{Fact|date=February 2007}} | |||
| <div class="references-small"> | |||
| {|class="wikitable" | |||
| |+ | |||
| |- | |||
| !Buddha | |||
| !Jesus | |||
| |- | |||
| |"Consider others as yourself." (Dhammapada 10:1) | |||
| |"Do to others as you would have them do to you." (] 6:31) | |||
| |- | |||
| |"If anyone should give you a blow with his hand, with a stick, or with a knife, you should abandon any desires and utter no evil words." (Majjhima Nikaya 21:6) | |||
| |"If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also." (Luke 6:29) | |||
| |- | |||
| |"Hatreds do not ever cease in this world by hating, but by love: this is an eternal truth. Overcome anger by love, overcome evil by good ... Overcome the miser by giving, overcome the liar by truth." (Dhammapada 1.5 & 17.3) | |||
| |"Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. From anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them back." (Luke 6:27-30) | |||
| |- | |||
| | | |||
| "If you do not tend one another, then who is there to tend to you? Whoever would tend me, he should tend the sick." (Vinaya, Mahavagga 8:26:3) | |||
| |"Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me." (] 25:45) | |||
| |- | |||
| |"Abandoning the taking of life, the ascetic Gautama dwells refraining from taking life, without stick or sword." (Digha Nikaya 1:1:8) | |||
| |"Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take the sword shall perish by the sword." (Matt. 26:52) | |||
| |- | |||
| |... all these do not equal a sixteenth part of the liberation of mind by loving kindness. The liberation of mind by loving kindness surpasses them all and shines forth, bright and brilliant. (Itivuttaka 27;19-2) | |||
| Just as a mother would protect her only child at the risk of her own life, even so, cultivate a boundless heart towards all beings. Let your thoughts of boundless love pervade the whole world." (Metta Sutta) | |||
| |"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friend." (John 15:12-13) | |||
| |- | |||
| |Just as rain penetrates a badly-covered house, so passion enters a dispersed mind. Just as rain does not penetrate a well-covered house, so too does passion not enter a well-developed mind (Dh 1:13-14). | |||
| |Everyone who hears my words and does them is like a man who built a house on rock. The rain fell, a torrent broke against the house, and it did not fall, for it had a rock foundation. | |||
| But everyone who hears my words and does not do them is like a man who built a house on sand. The rain came, the torrent broke against it, and it collapsed. The ruin of that house was great (QS 14). | |||
| |- | |||
| |It's easy to see the errors of others, but hard to see your own. You winnow like chaff the errors of others, but conceal your own — like a cheat, an unlucky throw. If you focus on the errors of others, | |||
| constantly finding fault, your effluents flourish. You're far from their ending. (Dhammapada Mahavagga 252-253) | |||
| |"Why do you see the speck in your neighbor's eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, "Friend, let me take the speck out of your eye," when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor's eye." (Luke 6:41-42) | |||
| |- | |||
| | | |||
| "Do not look at the faults of others, or what others have done or not done; observe what you yourself have done and have not done." (Dhammapada 4:7) | |||
| |He said to them, "Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." (John 8:4-7) | |||
| |- | |||
| |But these three things, monks, shine openly, not in secret. What three? The moon, the sun, and the Dhamma and Discipline... (Anguttara Nikaya 3:129) | |||
| "That great cloud rains down on all whether their nature is superior or inferior. The light of the sun and the moon illuminates the whole world, both him who does well and him who does ill, both him who stands high and him who stands low." (Sadharmapundarika Sutra 5) | |||
| |"Your father in heaven makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous." (Matt. 5:45) | |||
| |- | |||
| |"Let us live most happily, possessing nothing; let us feed on joy, like the radiant gods." (Dhammapada 15:4)) | |||
| |"Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God." (Luke 6:20) | |||
| |- | |||
| |"The avaricious do not go to heaven, the foolish do not extol charity. The wise one, however, rejoicing in charity, becomes thereby happy in the beyond." (Dhammapada 13:11) | |||
| |"If you wish to be perfect, go sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven." (Matt.19:21) | |||
| |- | |||
| |...when a tathagatha arises in the world,.. then there is the manifestation of great light and radiance: then no blinding darkness prevails. (Samyutta Nikaya 56:38; V442) | |||
| |Jesus is the light of the world - John 8:12 | |||
| Those who do the truth come to the light - John 3:17-21 | |||
| |- | |||
| |Plucking out her lovely eye, with mind unattached she felt no regret. | |||
| 'Here, take this eye. It's yours.' | |||
| Straightaway she gave it to him. Straightaway his passion faded right there, and he begged her forgiveness. (Therigata 14.1 | |||
| Subha and the Libertine) | |||
| |"And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. (Matt. 5:29–30). | |||
| |} | |||
| </div> | |||
| sources:<ref>*Elmar R. Gruber & Holger Kersten. ''The Original Jesus: The Buddhist Sources of Christianity''</ref> <ref>Suns of God: Krishna, Buddha and Christ Unveiled, Acharya S.</ref><ref>Jesus and Buddha: The Parallel Sayings (Seastone Series) (Paperback) | |||
| by Marcus J. Borg (Editor), Ray Riegert (Editor), Jack Kornfield (Introduction)</ref><ref>Blavatsky Collected Writings Volume 14 introduction by Boris DeZirkoff Excerpt- http://www.blavatsky.net/blavatsky/bcw/vol14/mystery-about-buddha.htm</ref><ref>Holger Kersten, ''Jesus Lived in India. His Unknown Life Before and After the Crucifixion'', Element, Reprint 1999</ref> | |||
| <ref>Holger Kersten, 'Buddhist Thought in the Teachings of Jesus' </ref> | |||
| ===Religious symbolism=== | |||
| ] (30 BCE-60 CE).]] | |||
| ], 3rd century.]] | |||
| "] with its ], its bells and rosaries, its images and ], its popes and bishops, its abbots and monks of many grades, its processions and feast days, its ] and ], and its worship of the double Virgin, so strongly resembles ] that the first Catholic missionaries thought it must be an imitation by the ] of the religion of Christ." <ref>'''The Encyclopedia Britannica'''</ref> | |||
| The use of ] spread from India to Europe during the ]s through the Islamic versions. <ref>{{cite book |last=Crooke |first=William |url=http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC02556689&id=o6UCAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA5-PA407&lpg=RA5-PA407&dq=rosary+india+crusades#PPP12,M1 |title=Things Indian: Being Discursive Notes on Various Subjects Connected with India |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons |location=New York |date=1904 |accessdate=2007-01-14}}</ref> | |||
| According to Sir ] in ''Hinduism and Buddhism, An Historical Sketch'' Vol 3, " Yet when all allowance is made for similar causes and coincidences, it is hard to believe that a collection of such practices as clerical celibacy, confession, the veneration of relics, the use of the rosary and bells | |||
| can have originated independently in both religions." | |||
| Prayer with both the palms touching one another is called the "Anjali Mudra" in Indian spiritual traditions, and is a common greeting and prayer posture in all Indian spiritual traditions, including Buddhism, but is absent in ] traditions, whose scriptures mention raised or clasped hands.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ciaravino |first=Helene |url=http://www.christiangateway.com/community/prayer/articles/f_lib_article_hc_christian.html |title=How to Pray |publisher=Square One |location=Garden City Park, NY}}</ref> However, we find this prayer position found in Christian art from the Middle Ages, considered a common prayer posture of Christianity<ref> | |||
| Ibid</ref> | |||
| ] only emerged relatively late, and the first known Christian images are known from about 200 CE.<ref>"The earliest Christian images appeared somewhere about the year 200." Andre Grabar, p.7</ref> This early rejection of images, although never proclaimed by theologians, leaves us with little archaological records regarding early Christianity and its evolution.<ref>Andre Grabar, p7</ref> The oldest Christian painting are from the Roman ], dated to about 200, and the oldest Christian sculptures are from ], dating to the beginning of the ].<ref>Andre Grabar, p7</ref> ] predates ] by about 400 years. | |||
| ==Criticism== | |||
| {{Catholic}} | |||
| There are a number of resemblances between Buddhism and Christianity... | |||
| *The Buddhist order of monks and nuns offers points of similarity with Christian monastic systems, particularly the mendicant orders. | |||
| *There are moral aphorisms ascribed to Buddha that are not unlike some of the sayings of Christ. | |||
| *Most of all, in the legendary life of Buddha, which in its complete form is the outcome of many centuries of accretion, there are many parallelisms, some more, some less striking, to the Gospel stories of Christ. | |||
| ] frieze (1st-2nd century CE). ].]] | |||
| A few scholars, taking for granted that resemblance indicates contact, or even dependence, have tried to show that Christian monasticism is of Buddhist origin, and that Buddhist thought and legend have been freely incorporated into the Gospels. To support this theory they point to the common ground held by Buddhism and Christianity, but do so without adequately accounting for instances of disparity between the two traditions. They ignore, for instance, the utter lack of atheist themes in Jesus' teachings. Were he truly schooled by Buddhists, there would likely be at least some indication of an awareness of atheism of the Buddhist type in Jesus' sayings. Furthermore, atheism and the associated Buddhist sensibilities would no doubt have been found by Jesus to be both incomprehensible and repellent. These scholars also fail to note Jesus' indebtedness to Jewish mysticism, and by championing a theory with virtually no historical evidence, fail to account for actual identifiable commonality between Jesus and those Jewish mystics of his own culture, of whom he would certainly be aware. | |||
| According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, there is little historical basis for the assertion that Buddhist influence was a factor in the formation of Christianity and of the Christian Gospels. The ] of ] may bear witness to the spread of Buddhism over the Greek-speaking world as early as the third century BCE, since they mention the flourishing existence of Buddhism among the ], i.e. Greeks within the dominion of Antiochus. The Yavanas who received such Buddhist emissaries may only be the Greek-speaking peoples on the extreme frontier next to India, namely, Bactria and the Kabul valley, although Greek rulers as far as the Mediterranean are mentioned in the inscriptions. Also, the statement in the late Buddhist chronicle, ], that among the Buddhists who came to the dedication of a great Stupa in ] in the second century BCE, "were over thirty thousand monks from the vicinity of Alassada, the capital of the Yona country" is sometimes taken to suggest that long before the time of Christ, ] in ] was the centre of flourishing Buddhist communities. It is true that Alassada is the Pali for Alexandria; but it is usually thought that the city here meant is not the ancient capital of Egypt, but as the text indicates, the chief city of the Yona country, the Yavana country of the rock-inscriptions, namely, ] and vicinity. And so, the city referred to is most likely ]. | |||
| According to The Catholic Encyclopedia there is nothing in Buddhist records that may be taken as reliable evidence for the spread of Buddhism westward to the Greek world as early as the foundation of the Christian religion. That Buddhist institutions were at that time unknown in the West may be safely inferred from the fact that Buddhism is absolutely ignored in the literary and archaeological remains of Palestine, Egypt, and Greece. There are no ruins of Buddhist monastery or stupa in any of these countries; not a single Greek translation of a Buddhist book; not a single reference in all Greek literature to the existence of a Buddhist community in the Greek world with the possible exception of the ]. The very name of Buddha is mentioned for the first time only in the second century writings of ]. | |||
| ===Barlaam and Josaphat=== | |||
| The exception is the story of Buddha's conversion from the worldly life of a prince to the life of an ascetic, which was transformed by some Oriental Christian of the seventh century into the popular medieval tale of "]". Here is historic evidence of the turning of a Buddhist into a Christian legend just as, on the other hand, the fifth-century sculptures of Gospel scenes on the ruined Buddhist monasteries of Jamalgiri, in Northern Panjab, described in the scholarly work of Fergusson and Burgess, "The Cave Temples of India", offer reliable evidence that the Buddhists of that time did not scruple to embellish the Buddha legend with adaptations from Christian sources. | |||
| ==Buddhist views of Jesus== | |||
| Buddhist views of Jesus differ, since Jesus is not mentioned in any Buddhist text. Some ], including ]<ref>Beverley, James A., , Christianity Today, "Jesus Christ also lived previous lives," he said. "So, you see, he reached a high state, either as a Bodhisattva, or an enlightened person, through Buddhist practice or something like that," Retrieved April 20, 2007</ref> regard Jesus as a ] who dedicated his life to the welfare of human beings. Both Jesus and Buddha advocated radical alterations in the common religious practices of the day. There are occasional similarities in language, such as the use of the common metaphor of a line of blind men to refer to religious authorities with whom they disagreed (] 13.15, ] 15:14). Some believe there is a particularly close affinity between Buddhism (or Eastern spiritual thought generally) and the doctrine of ] texts such as ]<ref> Retrieved ], ].</ref> | |||
| ==Christian influences on Buddhism== | |||
| ===Thomas the Apostle=== | |||
| ] | |||
| ] (''Historia Ecclesiastica'', III.1) quotes ] (died mid-3rd century) as having stated that ] was the apostle to the ]ns, but Thomas is better known as the missionary to ] through the '']'', written ''ca'' 200. In ], where his remains were venerated, the poet ] (died 373) wrote a hymn in which the Devil cries, | |||
| ::''...Into what land shall I fly from the just? | |||
| :''I stirred up Death the Apostles to slay, that by their death I might escape their blows. | |||
| :''But harder still am I now stricken: the Apostle I slew in India has overtaken me in Edessa; here and there he is all himself. | |||
| :''There went I, and there was he: here and there to my grief I find him.'' —quoted in Medlycott 1905, ch. ii. | |||
| A long public tradition in the church at Edessa honoring Thomas as the Apostle of India resulted in several surviving hymns that are attributed to Ephrem, copied in codices of the 8th and 9th centuries. References in the hymns preserve the tradition that Thomas' bones were brought from India to Edessa by a merchant, and that the relics worked miracles both in India and at Edessa. A pontiff assigned his feast day and a king erected his shrine. The Thomas traditions became embodied in Syriac liturgy, thus they were universally credited by the Christian community there. There is also a legend that Thomas had met the ] on his way to India. | |||
| It is believed that St. Thomas had come to Kerala, India to spread Christianity. Even today people flock to the Church at Malayatoor. He further moved towards north by coast and reached a small village called Palayur ,near Guruvayoor which was a priestly class settlement at that time. Here he conversed with priestly class community of Aryan worship system .Convinced by the Divine power possessed by this foreign monk of new faith , four prominent rich and priestly class families accepted the Christian faith and were baptised by St.Thomas himself.The four prominent high class priestly Hindu families who accepted the new faith were Kali , Kalikavu(Kaliyankal) , Pakalomattom & Sankarapuri . | |||
| The various denominations of modern ] ascribe their unwritten tradition to the end of the 2nd century and believe that Thomas landed at ] near ] village in Paravoor Thaluk in ] CE. This village located 5 kilometers from ] in ] (state), ] in ] CE and founded (St. Thomas) the churches popularly known as 'Ezharappallikal', meaning Seven and Half churches. | |||
| These churches are at ], ], ], ] (]), ], ] (]), ] (]) and ] — the half church. (See also ]). | |||
| ====Visit to Gondophares in Northwestern India==== | |||
| ] testifies to the numerous exchanges between East and West at the beginning of our era.]] | |||
| The ''Acts of Thomas'' describes in chapter 17 Thomas' visit to king ] in northern India; chapters 2 and 3 depict him as embarking on a sea voyage to India, thus connecting Thomas to the west coast of India. Though the ''Acts'' are usually considered to be moral entertainments of a legendary nature, the ] is a surviving roughly contemporary guide to the routes commonly being used for navigating the Arabian Sea. At the times the ''Acts'' were being composed, and until the discovery of his coins in the region of Kabul and the Punjab, there was no reason to suppose that a king named "Gondophares" had ever really existed. The reign of Gondophares, established by a votive inscription of his 26th regnal year that was unknown until 1872, commenced in 21 CE, so he was in fact reigning as late as 47 CE. "It is impossible to resist the conclusion that the writer of the ''Acts'' must have had information based on contemporary history. For at no later date could a forger or legendary writer have known the name." (Medlycott 1905). | |||
| ====Return of the relics==== | |||
| In ] the relics of the Apostle Thomas are said to have been returned by an Indian king and brought back from India to the city of ], on which occasion his Syriac ''Acts'' were written. The Indian king is named as "Mazdai" in Syriac sources, "Misdeos" and "Misdeus" in Greek and Latin sources respectively, which has been connected to the "Bazdeo" on the Kushan coinage of ], the transition between "M" and "B" being a current one in Classical sources for Indian names.<ref>Mario Bussagli, "L'Art du Gandhara", p255</ref> The martyrologist ] dedicated a special day to both the Indian king, his family, and St Thomas: | |||
| :''"Coronatio Thomae apostoli et Misdeus rex Indiae, Johannes eus filius huisque mater Tertia"'' ("Coronation of Thomas the Apostole, and Misdeus king of India, together with his son Johannes (thought to be a latinization of ''Vizan'') and his mother Tertia") Rabban Sliba<ref>Mario Bussagli, "L'Art du Gandhara", p255</ref> | |||
| ===Guanyin and the Virgin Mary=== | |||
| ] holding a baby on her lap has been considered as an iconographical source for the Virgin Mary.<ref>Foucher, "The beginnings of Buddhist art", p.271</ref> ], 2-3rd century.]] | |||
| ] | |||
| Some ] observers have commented on the similarity between ] and the ] of ], the mother of ]. The ] Foundation, a Taiwanese Buddhist organization, also noticing the similarity, commissioned a portrait of Guan Yin and a baby that resembles the typical ] painting. | |||
| Some Chinese of the overwhelmingly Roman Catholic ], in an act of ], have identified Guan Yin with the Virgin Mary. | |||
| During the ] in Japan, when Christianity was banned and punishable by death, some underground Christian groups venerated the Virgin Mary disguised as a statue of Kannon; such statues are known as ''Maria Kannon''. Many had a cross hidden in an inconspicuous location. | |||
| ==In literature== | |||
| ] in his '']'' draws strong parallels between the essential message of both Buddha and Jesus main:love thy neignbor, and how that message was distorted by followers and the priesthood. ] in his '']'' suggests that Jesus-Buddha is the feminine ideology, Nietzsche the masculine and Plato-Socrates somewhere in between. ]' 1894 '']'' was modeled on the New Testament and told the story of Buddha through parables. | |||
| Christopher Moore also published a fictional book ] which describes a journey by Jesus and his best friend to the east, where they study Taoism, Buddhism, and Hinduism. | |||
| ==See also== | ==See also== | ||
| *] | * ] | ||
| * ] | |||
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| * ] (journal) | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
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| * ] | |||
| ==References== | ==References== | ||
| {{reflist}} | {{reflist|30em}} | ||
| {{Buddhism topics}} | |||
| ==Sources== | |||
| {{Christianity footer}} | |||
| ] (2002) The Buddha’s Gospel: A Buddhist Interpretation of Jesus’ Words. ] Fund, Adelaide. 108pp. http://www.iid.org/publications/buddhasgospel.pdf | |||
| ==References== | |||
| *Allegro, John, The Mystery of the Dead Sea Scrolls Revised, Grammercy Publishing Co., New York, 1981 (first published Penguin Books, 1956). | |||
| *Amore, Roy C., Two Masters, One Message, The Lives and the Teachings of Gautama and Jesus, Parthenon Press, Nashville, 1978. | |||
| *Blavatsky, H. P. ] (1877) | |||
| *de Silva, Lynn, A., The Problem of the Self in Buddhism and Christianity, Macmillan Press, London, 1979. -Reincarnation in Buddhist and Christian Thought, 1968. | |||
| *Duncan, J. and Derrett, M.. The Bible and the Buddhists. Sardini 2000. ISBN 88-7506-174-2 | |||
| *Richard Garbe: Indien und das Christentum | |||
| *Elmar R. Gruber & Holger Kersten. ''The Original Jesus: The Buddhist Sources of Christianity''. | |||
| *Haring, Hermann & Metz, Johann-Baptist, eds., Reincarnation or Resurrection?, SCM Press, Maryknoll, 1993. | |||
| *Head, Joseph, & Cranston, S.L., eds., Reincarnation An East-West Anthology (Including quotations from the world's religions & from over 400 western thinkers), Julian Press, New York, 1961. | |||
| *Howe, Quincy, Jr., Reincarnation for the Christian, Westminster Press, Philadelphia, 1974. | |||
| *Johnston, William, S.J., Christian Zen, Harper & Row, 1971. ISBN 0823218015 | |||
| *Leaney, A.R.C., ed., A Guide to the Scrolls, Nottinham Studies on the Qumran Discoveries, SCM Book Club, Naperville, Ill., 1958. | |||
| *Lefebure, Leo D., ''The Buddha and the Christ, Explorations in Buddhist and Christian Dialogue'' (Faith Meets Faith Series), Orbis Books, Maryknoll, New York, 1993. | |||
| *Lillie, Arthur, Buddhism in Christendom or Jesus, the Essene, Unity Book Service, New Delhi, 1984 (first published in 1887). *India in Primitive Christianity, Kegan House Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., 1909. | |||
| *Lopez, Donald S. & Rockefeller, Steven C., eds., The Christ and the Bodhisattva, State University of New York, 1987. Phan, *Peter, ed., Christianity and the Wider Ecumenism, Paragon House, New York, 1990. | |||
| *Pye, Michael & Morgan, Robert, eds., The Cardinal Meaning, Essays in Comparative Hermeneutics: Buddhism and Christianity, *Mouton & Co., Netherlands, 1973. | |||
| *Radhakrishnan, S., Eastern Religions in Western Thought, Oxford University Press, 1939. | |||
| *Siegmund, Georg, Buddhism and Christianity, A Preface to Dialogue, Sister Mary Frances McCarthy, trans., University of Alabama Press, 1968. | |||
| *Smart, Ninian, Buddhism and Christianity: Rivals and Allies, Macmillan, London, 1993. | |||
| *Streeter, Burnett H., The Buddha and The Christ, an Exploration of the Meaning of the Universe and of the Purpose of Human Life, Macmillan and Co., London, 1932. | |||
| *Tweed, Thomas. The American Encounter With Buddhism, 1844-1912 : Victorian Culture & the Limits of Dissent. University of North Carolina Press. | |||
| *Tambyah, Isaac T., A Comparative Study of Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity, Indian Book Gallery, Delhi, 1983 (first edition 1925). | |||
| *Walker, Susan, Speaking of Silence: Christians and Buddhists on the Contemplative Way, Paulist Press, 1987. ISBN 0-8091-2880-2. | |||
| *Yu, Chai-shin, Early Buddhism and Christianity, A comparative Study of the Founders' Authority, the Community, and the Discipline, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1981. | |||
| * {{cite book | |||
| |last = Grabar|first = André | |||
| |year = 1968 | |||
| |title = Christian iconography, a study of its origins | |||
| |publisher = Princeton University Press | |||
| |id = ISBN 0691018308 | |||
| }} | |||
| * {{cite book | |||
| |last = Foucher|first = Alfred | |||
| |year = 1994 (reprint) | |||
| |title = The beginnings of Buddhist Art | |||
| |publisher = Asian Educational Services | |||
| |id = ISBN 8120609026 | |||
| }} | |||
| {{Authority control}} | |||
| == External links == | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
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| {{Buddhism2}} | |||
| {{DEFAULTSORT:Christianity}} | {{DEFAULTSORT:Christianity}} | ||
| ] | ] | ||
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There were links between Buddhism and the pre-Christian Mediterranean world, with Buddhist missionaries sent by Emperor Ashoka of India to Syria, Egypt and Greece from 250 BC. Significant differences between the two religions include monotheism in Christianity and Buddhism's orientation towards nontheism (the lack of relevancy of the existence of a creator Deity) which runs counter to teachings about God in Christianity, and grace in Christianity against the rejection of interference with karma in Theravada Buddhism on.
Some early Christians were aware of Buddhism which was practiced in both the Greek and Roman Empires in the pre-Christian period. The majority of modern Christian scholarship rejects any historical basis for the travels of Jesus to India or Tibet and has seen the attempts at parallel symbolism as cases of parallelomania which exaggerate resemblances. However, in the East, syncretism between Nestorian Christianity and Buddhism was widespread along the Silk Road in Antiquity and the Middle Ages, and was especially pronounced in the medieval Church of the East in China, as evidenced by the Jesus Sutras.
Origins and early contacts
See also: Buddhism and the Roman world and Buddhist influences on Christianity
The history of Buddhism goes back to what is now Lumbini, Nepal almost six centuries before Christianity, making it one of the oldest religions still being practiced. The origins of Christianity go back to Roman Judea in the early first century. The four canonical gospels date from around 70–90 AD, the Pauline epistles having been written before them around 50–60 AD.
Starting in the 1930s, authors such as Will Durant suggested that Greco-Buddhist representatives of Ashoka the Great who traveled to ancient Syria, Egypt and Greece may have helped prepare the ground for Christian teaching. Buddhism was prominent in the eastern Greek world and became the official religion of the eastern Greek successor kingdoms to Alexander the Great's empire (Greco-Bactrian Kingdom (250 BC – 125 BC) and Indo-Greek Kingdom (180 BC – 10 AD)). Several prominent Greek Buddhist missionaries are known (Mahadharmaraksita and Dharmaraksita) and the Indo-Greek king Menander I converted to Buddhism, and is regarded as one of the great patrons of Buddhism. (See Milinda Panha.) Some modern historians have suggested that the pre-Christian monastic order in Egypt of the Therapeutae is possibly a deformation of the Pāli word "Theravāda", a form of Buddhism, and the movement may have "almost entirely drawn (its) inspiration from the teaching and practices of Buddhist asceticism". They may even have been descendants of Asoka's emissaries to the West.
Buddhist gravestones from the Ptolemaic period have been found in Alexandria in Egypt decorated with depictions of the dharma wheel, showing that Buddhists were living in Hellenistic Egypt at the time Christianity began. The presence of Buddhists in Alexandria has led one author to note: "It was later in this very place that some of the most active centers of Christianity were established." Nevertheless, modern Christian scholars generally hold that there is no direct evidence of any influence of Buddhism on Christianity, and several scholarly theological works do not support these suggestions. However, some historians such as Jerry H. Bentley suggest that there is a real possibility that Buddhism influenced the early development of Christianity.
It is known that prominent early Christians were aware of Buddha and some Buddhist stories. Saint Jerome (4th century AD) mentions the birth of the Buddha, who he says "was born from the side of a virgin." The early church father Clement of Alexandria (died 215 AD) was also aware of Buddha, writing in his Stromata (Bk I, Ch XV): "The Indian gymnosophists are also in the number, and the other barbarian philosophers. And of these there are two classes, some of them called Sarmanæ and others Brahmins. And those of the Sarmanæ who are called 'Hylobii' neither inhabit cities, nor have roofs over them, but are clothed in the bark of trees, feed on nuts, and drink water in their hands. Like those called Encratites in the present day, they know not marriage nor begetting of children. Some, too, of the Indians obey the precepts of Buddha (Βούττα) whom, on account of his extraordinary sanctity, they have raised to divine honours."
In the Middle Ages there was no trace of Buddhism in the West. In the 13th century, international travelers, such as Giovanni de Piano Carpini and William of Ruysbroeck, sent back reports of Buddhism to the West and noted some similarities with Nestorian Christian communities. Indeed, syncretism in the East between Nestorian Christianity and Buddhism existed along the Silk Road throughout Antiquity and the Middle Ages, and was especially pronounced in the medieval Church of the East in China, as evidenced by the Jesus Sutras.
When European Christians made more direct contact with Buddhism in the early 16th century, Catholic missionaries such as St. Francis Xavier sent back accounts of Buddhist practices. With the arrival of Sanskrit studies in European universities in the late 18th century, and the subsequent availability of Buddhist texts, a discussion began of a proper encounter with Buddhism. In time, Buddhism gathered Western followers and at the end of the 19th century the first Westerners (e.g. Sir Edwin Arnold and Henry Olcott) converted to Buddhism. In the beginning of the 20th century the first westerners (e.g. Ananda Metteyya and Nyanatiloka) entered the Buddhist monastic life.
Similarities and differences
Similarities
Main article: Comparison of Buddhism and ChristianityIn the 19th century, some scholars began to perceive similarities between Buddhist and Christian practices. In 1878, T.W. Rhys Davids wrote that the earliest missionaries to Tibet observed that similarities have been seen since the first known contact. In 1880, Ernest De Bunsen made similar observations in that with the exception of the death of Jesus on the cross, and of the Christian doctrine of atonement, the most ancient Buddhist records had similarities with the Christian traditions.
Late in the 20th century, historian Jerry H. Bentley also wrote of similarities and stated that it is possible "that Buddhism influenced the early development of Christianity" and suggested "attention to many parallels concerning the births, lives, doctrines, and deaths of the Buddha and Jesus". Some high level Buddhists have drawn analogies between Jesus and Buddhism, e.g. in 2001 the Dalai Lama stated that "Jesus Christ also lived previous lives", and added that "So, you see, he reached a high state, either as a Bodhisattva, or an enlightened person, through Buddhist practice or something like that." Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh affirmed core Christian beliefs such as the trinity, and the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, in his book Living Buddha, Living Christ. Bokin Kim, similarly, sees Christ as the Buddha Dharmakaya, and Jesus as similar to Gautama who was just a historical manifestation of the transhistorical Buddha. In The Lotus & The Rose: A Conversation Between Tibetan Buddhism & Mystical Christianity, Lama Tsomo and Matthew Fox discuss the interconnections between Buddhism and Christianity. In it, Fox relates the Buddha-nature to what scholars John Dominic Crossan and Bruce Chilton call Paul's original "cosmic" or "metacosmic" view of Christ.
Differences
See also: God in Buddhism and God in Christianity
There are inherent and fundamental differences between Buddhism and Christianity, one significant element being that while Christianity is at its core monotheistic and relies on a God as a Creator, while Buddhism has a mixture of views ranging from non-theistic, to agnostic, and ignostic.
The Nicene Creed, currently the most widely used Christian creed, states that "We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible". However, the notion of theistic creation is generally foreign to Buddhist thought, and the question of the existence of God is perhaps one of the most fundamental barriers between the teachings of Christianity and Buddhism. Although Mahayana Buddhism expresses belief in the saint-like state of a Bodhisattva, this is very different from the notion of Creator God in Christianity. While some variations of Buddhism believe in an impersonal eternal Buddha or trikaya, in general Buddhism sees empty space as eternal and without a starting point of creation. According to the Dalai Lama, belief in a Creator could be associated with the understanding of emptiness, but "once a certain degree of realization has been reached, a choice between the two paths will become necessary."
According to the Oxford Handbook of Eschatology, there are inherent differences in the Christian and Buddhist beliefs regarding the End Times and eschatology. Jan Nattier states that while Buddhism has a notion of "relative eschatology" that refers to specific cycles of life, the term "Buddhist eschatology" does not relate to any "final things", or that the world will end one day – Buddhist scripture routinely referring to the "beginningless Saṃsāra" as a never ending cycle of birth and death with no starting point. However, Christian eschatology directly involves the concept of "end to all creation" at the Last Judgement when the world will reach its conclusion.
There are other fundamental incompatibilities, e.g. while grace is part of the very fabric of Christian theology, in Theravada Buddhism no deity can interfere with karma, and hence the notion of any type of grace is inadmissible within these teachings. Mahayana Buddhism however, differs on this issue.
The crucifixion of Jesus as a single event in history that acts for the atonement of sins is a central element of Christian belief. This, however, produces a strong difference between Christian and Buddhist teachings. Buddhist scholar Masao Abe pointed out that while "the event of the Cross" is central to Christianity, it is not possible for Buddhism to accept its importance. Buddhist philosopher D. T. Suzuki stated that every time he saw a crucifixion scene it reminded him of the "gap that lies deep" between Christianity and Buddhism.
Buddhist influence on Christianity
Suggestions of influences
Main article: Buddhist influences on Christianity See also: Buddhism and the Roman world and Buddhism and Gnosticism
Suggestions have been made that Buddhism may have influenced early Christianity. Buddhist missionaries, sent by Emperor Ashoka of India to Sri Lanka, Syria, Egypt and Greece, may have helped prepare for the ethics of Christ. Gnostics (a small number of sects) are not considered part of mainstream Christianity and some have been declared heretical. However, Elaine Pagels proposes Buddhist influences on Gnosticism. Pagels suggested that there are parallels with teachings attributed to Jesus Christ and teachings found in Eastern traditions, but concludes that these parallels might be coincidental, since parallel traditions may emerge in different cultures without direct influence.
Buddhist Jack Maguire has suggested that in the 4th century, Christian monasticism developed in Egypt, and it emerged with a corresponding structure comparable to the Buddhist monasticism of its time and place. In Alexandria, Indian gravestones dating from the Ptolemaic period (c. 305 BC – 30 BC) have been discovered in Alexandria. Alexandria served as the Ptolemaic trading centre between the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian subcontinent, later encompassing "some of the most active centers of Christianity" and becoming the third-most important seat of Christianity in the world.
After studying Eastern philosophy, German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer states that " New Testament must be of Indian origin Everything true in Christianity is also to be discovered in Brahmanism and Buddhism," theorizing that after the flight into Egypt, Jesus was "brought up by Egyptian priests, whose religion was of Indian origin." Schopenhauer elaborates:
this Indian doctrine entered into the Promised Land there arose the task of uniting the knowledge of the corruption and misery of the world, of its need for redemption and of salvation through an avatar, together with the morality of self-denial and atonement, with Jewish monotheism and its 'Behold, it was very good'.
The suggestion that an adult Jesus traveled to India and was influenced by Buddhism before starting his ministry in Galilee was first made by Nicolas Notovitch in 1894 in the book The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ which was widely disseminated and became the basis of other theories. Notovitch's theory was controversial from the beginning and was widely criticized. Once his story had been re-examined by historians, Notovitch confessed to having fabricated the evidence.
Rejection of influences
A number of scholars have stated that suggestions of an influence from Buddhism on Christianity, particularly Jesus's alleged travels to Buddhist India, are fanciful and without any historical basis:
- Robert Van Voorst states that modern Christian scholarship has "almost unanimously agreed" that claims of the travels of Jesus to Tibet, Kashmir or India contain "nothing of value".
- Marcus Borg states "Scholars have pointed out that Buddhist teachers lived in Alexandria, on the Mediterranean coast, by the first century. Some have posited that Jesus might have traveled there, or that Buddhist teachings may have reached cities of the Jewish homeland, including Sepphoris, a major city in Galilee only four miles from Nazareth. Popular speculation speaks of Jesus having traveled to India during "the missing years", the decades before he emerged on the stage of history. There, it is suggested, he came in to contact with Buddhist teachings. But both explanations are unlikely and unnecessary. The similarities are not of the kind that suggest cultural borrowing".
- Leslie Houlden states that although modern parallels between the teachings of Jesus and Buddha have been drawn, these comparisons emerged after missionary contacts in the 19th century and there is no historically reliable evidence of contacts between Buddhism and Jesus.
- Paula Fredriksen states that no serious scholarly work places Jesus outside the backdrop of 1st century Palestinian Judaism.
- Eddy and Boyd state that there is no evidence of a historical influence by outside sources on the authors of the New Testament, and most scholars agree that any such historical influence on Christianity is entirely implausible given that first century monotheistic Galilean Jews would not have been open to what they would have seen as pagan stories.
Christian influence on Buddhism
Christian influence on Buddhism in the 18th and 19th centuries was primarily by example of modern forms of religious education. During the last centuries, Christian missionaries have influenced many Buddhist groups such as the Buddhist nun Cheng Yen who, after being inspired by the humanitarian aid done by Catholic nuns, decided that Buddhists need "to do more than simply encourage the private cultivation of people's souls". Her works eventually led to the foundation of Tzu Chi, a non-profit humanitarian group in Asia.
Contemporary Buddhist–Christian exchange
Main articles: Buddhism in the West and Buddhist modernismPaul Reps, Zen Flesh, Zen Bones“Ask and it shall be given, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened.”
Gasan remarked: “That is excellent. Whoever said that is not far from Buddhahood.”
Attempts at convergence
Buddhism has been gaining popularity in the west. Starting with a cultural and academic elite in the 19th century, it is now widespread in western culture, especially since the 1960s.
In the 20th century Christian monastics such as Thomas Merton, Wayne Teasdale, David Steindl-Rast and the former nun Karen Armstrong, and Buddhist monastics such as Ajahn Buddhadasa, Thich Nhat Hanh and the Dalai Lama have taken part in an interfaith dialogue about Buddhism and Christianity. This dialogue aims to shed light on the common ground between Buddhism and Christianity. The DIMMID (Dialogue Interreligieux Monastique - Monastic Interreligious Dialogue) has hosted several encounters between Buddhist and Catholic monks, such as the Gethsemani Encounters at the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani which were attended also by the Dalai Lama, as well as exchange programs in which Buddhist monks and nuns visit Catholic monasteries and vice versa.
Although the prevalent romantic view on Buddhism sees it as an authentic and ancient practice, contemporary Buddhism is deeply influenced by the western culture. With the rise of western colonialism in the 19th century, Asian cultures and religions developed strategies to adapt to the western hegemony, without losing their own traditions. Western discourses were taken over, and western polemic styles were applied to defend indigenous traditions.
Rejection of convergence
In 1989 the Catholic Church, through the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, rejected attempts at mixing some aspects of Christian and Buddhist practices, in a letter titled "Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on some aspects of Christian meditation", generally known as the Aspects of Christian meditation letter.
The document issues warnings on differences and potential incompatibilities between Christian meditation and the styles of meditation used in eastern religions such as Buddhism. Referring to some elements of Buddhism as "negative theology" the document states:
Still others do not hesitate to place that absolute without image or concepts, which is proper to Buddhist theory, on the same level as the majesty of God revealed in Christ, which towers above finite reality. To this end, they make use of a "negative theology", which ... denies that the things of this world can offer traces of the infinity of God.
Similar warnings were issued in 2003 in A Christian reflection on the New Age which also referred to Buddhism. The Southern Baptist Convention expressed agreement with those views.
See also
- Barlaam and Josaphat
- Buddhism and Western Philosophy
- Buddhist-Christian Studies (journal)
- List of American Buddhists
- Christianity in Asia
- Index of Buddhism-related articles
- Jingjiao Documents
- List of converts to Buddhism from Christianity
- Meister Eckhart
- Nestorian Stele
- Persecution of Buddhists by Christians
- Philipp Mainländer
- Secular Buddhism
References
- ^ Bentley, Jerry H. (1993). Old World Encounters. Cross-cultural contacts and exchanges in pre-modern times. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-507639-7.
- ^ Will Durant (7 June 2011). Our Oriental Heritage: The Story of Civilization. Simon and Schuster. pp. 711–. ISBN 978-1-4516-4668-9. Retrieved 27 August 2012.
- ^ The Boundaries of Knowledge in Buddhism, Christianity, and Science by Paul D Numrich (Dec 31, 2008) ISBN 3525569874 page 10
- ^ International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: E-J by Geoffrey W. Bromiley (Mar 1982) ISBN 0802837824 pages 515-516
- ^ Communicating Christ in the Buddhist World by Paul De Neui and David Lim (Jan 1, 2006) ISBN 0878085106 page 34
- ^ Van Voorst, Robert E (2000). Jesus Outside the New Testament: An Introduction to the Ancient Evidence. Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN 0-8028-4368-9 page 17
- ^ Jesus: The Complete Guide 2006 by Leslie Houlden ISBN 082648011X page 140
- The Historical Jesus in Recent Research edited by James D. G. Dunn and Scot McKnight 2006 ISBN 1-57506-100-7 page 303
- ^ Gerald O'Collins, "The Hidden Story of Jesus" New Blackfriars Volume 89, Issue 1024, pages 710–714, November 2008
- In the 13th century, international travelers, such as Giovanni de Piano Carpini and William of Ruysbroeck, sent back reports of Buddhism to the West and noted the similarities with Nestorian Christian communities. Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism, 2004, page 160
- ^ Jesus: The Complete Guide by J. L. Houlden (Feb 8, 2006) ISBN 082648011X pages 140-144
- Will Durant, The Story of Civilization Part One (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1935), vol. 1, p. 449.
- According to the linguist Zacharias P. Thundy
- ^ Living Zen by Robert Linssen (Grove Press New York, 1958) ISBN 0-8021-3136-0
- "The Original Jesus" (Element Books, Shaftesbury, 1995), Elmar R Gruber, Holger Kersten
- The Greeks in Bactria and India, W.W. Tarn, South Asia Books, ISBN 81-215-0220-9
- ^ Fredriksen, Paula. From Jesus to Christ. Yale University Press, 2000, p. xxvi.
- ^ The Jesus legend: a case for the historical reliability of the synoptic gospels by Paul R. Eddy, Gregory A. Boyd 2007 ISBN 0-8010-3114-1 page 53-54
- ^ Bentley, Jerry H. (1992). Cross-Cultural Contacts and Exchanges in Pre-Modern Times. Oxford University Press. p. 240. ISBN 978-0-19-507640-0.
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- ^ Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism, 2004, page 160
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- ^ Encyclopedia of Reincarnation and Karma by Norman C. McClelland (Apr 1, 2010) ISBN 0786448512 page 149
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- Richard K. Payne (ed.), Tantric Buddhism in East Asia, Wisdom Publications, ISBN 0861714873, 2006, p. 74
- ^ Buddhism and Interfaith Dialogue by Masao Abe and Steven Heine (Jun 1, 1995) ISBN pages 99-100
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- Pagels, Elaine (1979). The Gnostic Gospels. New York: Random House, repr. 1989.
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- The Unknown Life Of Jesus Christ: By The Discoverer Of The Manuscript by Nicolas Notovitch (Oct 15, 2007) ISBN 1434812839
- Forged: Writing in the Name of God--Why the Bible's Authors Are Not Who We Think They Are by Bart D. Ehrman (Mar 6, 2012) ISBN 0062012622 page 252 "one of the most widely disseminated modern forgeries is called The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ"
- Simon J. Joseph, "Jesus in India?" Journal of the American Academy of Religion Volume 80, Issue 1 pp. 161-199 "Max Müller suggested that either the Hemis monks had deceived Notovitch or that Notovitch himself was the author of these passages"
- ^ New Testament Apocrypha, Vol. 1: Gospels and Related Writings by Wilhelm Schneemelcher and R. Mcl. Wilson (Dec 1, 1990) ISBN 066422721X page 84 "a particular book by Nicolas Notovich (Di Lucke im Leben Jesus 1894) ... shortly after the publication of the book, the reports of travel experiences were already unmasked as lies. The fantasies about Jesus in India were also soon recognized as invention... down to today, nobody has had a glimpse of the manuscripts with the alleged narratives about Jesus"
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Richard Gombrich and Gananath Obeyesekere have mapped similar trends specifically in Sinhalese Buddhism in Sri Lanka. Emphasizing the Christian influence on modernizing forms of Sinhalese Buddhism in the late nineteenth and ...
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