Was Jesus a Buddist? (page 4)

Narkissos

About the relationship between Buddhism and the Graeco-Roman world, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greco-Buddhism

bluebell

Does this thread posit that the man actually existed?

Yeah that was going to be my argument initially but then i decided to go the bible argument route accepting he was in eygpt when v young but querying how much influence could the beliefs have had taking into account all his family were jewish?

if he did exist and if he did he end up in india ages 14-29 i dont know, i spose it cant be proved one way or another. maybe ideas could be picked up via trade but surely if he had done travel ages to 14-29 would something have been mentioned? in the bible people from nazareth know him and his family so i dont think he could have been gone for a huge period and still be well known? but then how hugely has the bible been edited to suit those in power?

i think you could argue that many founders of religions have the same kind of basic beliefs of "be nice to each other" that most humans act on anyhow, it being part of how to get on with each other in groups.

Illyrian

Narkissos, thank you very much for your effort in compiling a compelling synthesis. I do appreciate it very much. No I do not evaluate anyone through their academic credentials, the reason I asked Leo to look up the references was because I assume she has access to the network of international research databases. I’d do it myself but my access is limited only to applied and theoretical sciences not to history/archeology or humanities.

But the depth of your knowledge is apparent and I am taking it very seriously what you explained and will take a bit more time to go through details. My intention was not to make any dubious claims but to find some more tangible answers to the whole issue. Of course looking at the problem as an outsider. As I said I was not at all interested in professor Deardorff’s beliefs or claims of reincarnation but in those instances where he refers to other people who claimed the same thing as Nicholas Notovitch did back in 1894.
Yes thank you for pointing me to J.W. Deardorff’s CV. As the matter of fact I did google his name but couldn’t find anything about his credentials other than him being a professor emeritus from Oregon State University , so this was very good, thank you for that.

Leolaia

Hi Illyrian....I hope to have some more resources by Friday after I go to my university library...there are some monographs I recall reading before that gave some critical analysis of Notovitch. Imho the best way to assess the authenticity of Notovitch's text, i.e. to test the theory that Notovitch authored it himself, is to compare the original Russian text provided by Notovitch with existing Russian translations of the NT, to assess whether the text shows special dependence on these translations in terms of phraseology, syntax, etc. Similar analysis shows that the Book of Mormon is dependent on the KJV translation. I don't recall offhand whether the book I saw pursues this analysis. Aside from this, the lack of any textual or photographic witness to the actual manuscript (aside from Notovitch's reportedly on-the-fly verbal translation) most seriously undermines the potential value of Notovitch's publication by usual scholarly standards of evidence... other professed witnesses notwithstanding.

nvrgnbk

Maybe both a righteous dude named Jesus and another known as the Buddha wanted people to be aware of more than the dogma and propaganda of their respective worlds.

We limit our potential far too much.

IMHO.

quietlyleaving

Here's an interesting point from narkissos' link

Several philosophers, such as Pyrrho, Anaxarchus and Onesicritus, are said to have been selected by Alexander to accompany him in his eastern campaigns. During the 18 months they were in India, they were able to interact with Indian religious men, generally described as Gymnosophists ("naked philosophers"). Pyrrho (360-270 BCE), returned to Greece and became the first Skeptic and the founder of the school named Pyrrhonism. The Greek biographer Diogenes Laertius explained that Pyrrho's equanimity and detachment from the world were acquired in India. [

Another point made was that a geographcal passageway was established by Alexander the Great's conquests linking the Himalayan area with central Asia which resulted in trade and religious exchange.

Mysterious

It just points to the commonality in religion and the concepts that human beings hope for a value.

Narkissos

The link with Cynicism is particularly interesting, since several NT scholars (e.g. Downing, Mack) have long pointed to the similarities between some of the teachings ascribed to Jesus (in particular those usually traced back to the "Q" source, i.e. material common to Matthew and Luke and absent from Mark) and cynical schools. Again, we are talking indirect influence, through the mediation of Hellenistic culture, on at least one segment of "early Christianity". Whether this can be related to a "historical Jesus" is another issue entirely.

Was Jesus a Buddist?

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