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

[joea]

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

[Sunstone]

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

[Father Heathen]

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

[Sunstone]

Originally Posted by Father Heathen

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

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

[Apollonius Zagreus]

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

[Egyptian Phoenix]

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

[footprints]

Originally Posted by joea

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

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

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

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

[Wannabe Yogi]

Originally Posted by joea

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

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

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

[Madhuri]

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

[Egyptian Phoenix]

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