by
Damien F. Mackey
“At last, in 1937, various expeditions were dispatched from Lhasa to seek out the holy child according to the heavenly omens, in the direction indicated.
Each group included wise and worthy lamas of highly distinguished status in the theocracy.
In addition to their servants, each group took costly gifts with them …”.
The Buddha is, like many other famous holy men and sages - e.g. Socrates, the prophet Mohammed - a non-historical, composite character based primarily on real biblical (Old and New Testament) persons. The chief biblical inspiration for the Buddha, though, was Moses. See my four-part series:
Buddha just a re-working of Moses. Part One: The singular greatness of Moses
In Part Three of the above we read the following:
Now, what do Moses and the Buddha have in common?
That is, in fact, the very question asked by Nadav Caine:
What do Moses and Buddha have in common?
Quite a bit, Nadav Caine will tell you.
"Both grew up as members of the royal court," said Caine. "Both had a life-changing experience that caused them to flee the royal court. Both wandered — Buddha as a yoga practitioner, Moses as a shepherd — not acquiring the skills to lead."
Both men achieved enlightenment — Moses through his encounter with the burning bush and Buddha under a bodhi tree — and both became spiritual leaders.
And the rest, as they say, is history.
On Monday, Feb. 12, Caine, 34, will fill in an audience of eighth-graders and adults on what some of that history is when he lectures on "The Heroes of Spiritual Enlightenment: The Parallel Biographies of Moses and the Buddha" at Or Shalom in San Francisco. The talk, which he also gave at Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos Hills, is part of the annual Feast of Jewish Learning, sponsored by the S.F.-based Bureau of Jewish Education and other Jewish organizations.
…. Caine says Judaism and Buddhism are not as far off from one another as it may appear. Traditional Jewish texts can be quite existential.
"Martin Buber's 'I and Thou' book is the best explanation of Buddhism," says Caine who has taught comparative courses on Judaism and Buddhism using exclusively Jewish texts. "I lecture on the Buddhist concepts, but we only read Jewish texts. It works really well."
[End of quotes]
But we also found in this series that Buddhism has appropriated much from the New Testament (from Christianity) as well. For example:
How are the life stories of Buddha and Jesus similar?
There are many similarities between the mythical elements of Jesus and Buddha. Here are just a few of the most striking similarities.
- Conceived in a miraculous manner
- Similar names of mother (Maya for Buddha, Mary for Jesus)
- Was a bit of a child prodigy
- Underwent a long period of fasting while traveling alone
- Tempted by, but overcame, the devil
- Began an itinerant ministry around the age of 30
- Had disciples who traveled with him.
- Performed miracles, such as curing blindness and walking on water
- Renounced worldly riches and required his disciples to do so also
- Rebelled against the religious elite (Brahmans for Buddha and Pharisees for Jesus)
- Dispatched disciples, shortly before his death, to spread his message
Of course, there are many differences as well.
How are the teachings of Buddha and Jesus similar?
The overall themes of the teachings of Buddha and Jesus are similar. Buddha organized his teachings into the Eightfold Path, while the teachings of Jesus are given sporadically in different books of The Holy Bible.
….
They both advocate what has come to be called “The Golden Rule”—treat others as you would wish to be treated. They both urge followers to live a life of peace and love, returning love for hate and anger. They both promote what Buddha called “right action”—do not kill, steal, slander, etc. they both stress the importance of helping others.
Here are a few examples
The Golden Rule
Buddha
|
Jesus
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"Consider others as yourself." (Dhammapada 10:1)
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"Do to others as you would have them do to you." (Luke 6:31)
|
Love others
Buddha
|
Jesus
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Let your thoughts of boundless love pervade the whole world." (Sutta Nipata 149-150)
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“This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you.” (John 15:12)
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Love your enemies
Buddha
|
Jesus
|
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. (Luke 6.27-30)
|
Turn the other cheek
Buddha
|
Jesus
|
"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)
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"If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also." (Luke 6:29
|
Help others
Buddha
|
Jesus
|
"If you do not tend to one another, then who is there to tend 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." (Matthew 25:45)
|
Do not judge others
Buddha
|
Jesus
|
"The fault of others is easily perceived, but that of oneself is difficult to perceive; a man winnows his neighbour's faults like chaff, but his own fault he hides." (Dhammapada 252.)
|
"Judge not, that you be not judged… And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?" (Matthew 7:1–5)
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Disdain wealth
Buddha
|
Jesus
|
"Let us live most happily, possessing nothing." (Dhammapada 15:4)
|
“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God." (Luke 6:20)
|
Do not kill
Buddha
|
Jesus
|
"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 will perish by the sword." (Matthew 26:52)
|
Spread the word
Buddha
|
Jesus
|
"Teach the dharma which is lovely at the beginning, lovely in the middle, lovely at the end. Explain with the spirit and the letter in the fashion of Brahma. In this way you will be completely fulfilled and wholly pure." (Vinaya Mahavagga 1:11.1)
|
"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you." (Matthew 28:19-20)
|
There are many other similarities between Jesus, with his disciples, and the Buddha, with his (same numbers, for instance), that I shall not even include here.
[End of quotes]
Gene D. Matlock has claimed similar striking similarities between Christ and Krishna:
India's God Krishna Was the King of Jerusalem!
….
Religious historians have for hundreds of years struggled to find out how and why the stories about Jesus and Krishna, who were born 2,000 years apart, are so nearly identical.
• Both Christ and Krishna descended from Noah.
• The future births of both messiahs were predicted ahead of time.
• Christ was descended from Abraham
• Krishna was the father of Abraham (Brahma).
• Christ was at once a Koresh, a Hebrew, and a Yehudi.
• Krishna was at once a Kurus, an Abhira, and a Yadava.
• Christ was an incarnation of Yah-Veh.
• Krishna was at once an incarnation of Vishnu and Shiva.
• Christ's first name, Jesus, was Yeshua.
• A title of Krishna, meaning "love; devotion," was Yesu. Even today, many Hindu parents name their sons, Yesu Krishna.
• Both men were born of virgins and in a stable.
• Krishna's mother was named Devaki.
• Jesus mother was called Mary.
• Krishna did not have an earthly father as such, but a protector, named Vasudeva.
• Jesus did not have an earthly father as such, but a mortal protector named Joseph.
• An evil king tried to kill Christ and Krishna when they were both infants.
• To protect the infant Jesus, Joseph and Mary took him to Maturai, Egypt.
• To protect the infant Krishna, his parents, Vasudeva and Devaki, took him to Mathura, India.
• It was predicted that both men would die to atone for the sins of their people.
• As you have probably noticed, they took refuge in places having almost identical names.
• Both men preached to their people.
• Christ was crucified and then resurrected. Krishna was killed by a hunter's arrow and impaled on a tree. Later, he returned to life.
….
• Christ appeared after his "death." Krishna appeared after his "death."
• Both of them have a major holiday dedicated to them on December 25th.
• Christ had a female admirer named Mary Magdalene. Krishna had a female admirer named Marya Maghadalena.
[End of quote]
Whatever about all that (some of it may actually have come from Christian missionaries to India), Holger Kersten (who is amongst those who believe that Jesus had actually lived in India) tells of the fascinating similarity between the Nativity of Jesus and the Magi's star, on the one hand, and the Tibetan practice of locating child reincarnations of deceased Buddhist Dalai Lamas on the other. In his article 'Who Were the Three Wise Men?' (Chapter 4), Kersten firstly concludes on p. 63 that:
"At this distance in time it is well-nigh impossible to prove that the Magi came from either Persia or from India".
Then he introduces his fascinating new twist:
Yet it is absolutely amazing how much the story of the three wise men corresponds with accounts of the methods by which reincarnations of great Buddhist dignitaries are located in Tibet after their demise, even to this day. The way in which such a search is carried out, following ancient and traditional ritual, is described in the present Dalai Lama's own accounts of his 'discovery' as a little boy, and in the book by the Austrian Heinrich Harrer, who spent seven years at the court of the god-king in Lhasa.
And on p. 64, Kersten goes on to write regarding the 1937 search for the child of destiny:
… Most important to these preparations were the pronouncements of the astrologers, without whose calculations no significant moves could be made at all. At last, in 1937, various expeditions were dispatched from Lhasa to seek out the holy child according to the heavenly omens, in the direction indicated. Each group included wise and worthy lamas of highly distinguished status in the theocracy. In addition to their servants, each group took costly gifts with them ….
[End of quotes]
Is this yet another far eastern tradition that has arisen from a biblical prototype, namely the Gospel account of the Magi’s visit to the Christ-child born in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:1-11)?
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