ok here are a few inputs to get u started: http://www.metahistory.org/FaithIncarnate.php http://www.trumbore.org/sam/sermons/s6c3.htm "was jesus a buddhist?", Rev. Samuel A. Trumbore http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_in_Buddhism http://www.thezensite.com/zen essays/Transcendence_East_West_Loy.htm for a wider overview, and thats without counting tons of animist and naturalist type religious obediences, in africa, aleutian islands etc etc...
It would appear the hubris crew is back at work... Self appointed experts in non faith, self appointed experts in faith, self appointed experts in everything save humility...which most folks know intimately is the requisite to enter into the practice of faith...
extract, from "was jesus a buddhist?": "In the five hundred years before Jesus was born, the teachings of the Buddha did not stay localized to what is now northern India. Scholars speculate that some of the ideas of the Greek philosopher Pythagoras show remarkable parallels with Buddhist ideas. Alexander the Great's attempt to conquer the known world took him deep into India. Trade routes from India to the Middle East, Greece and Rome were quite active. The Greeks in particular were very eclectic taking in the cultures of the people they conquered. Jesus likely grew up in a Hellenistic world in which the philosophy and especially the stories of the east were likely shared. The more scholars analyze the mythology of the pre-Christian Europeans, the more connections are found to ancient Indian stories. The intermixing of cultures has gone on for a very long time. Thus Jesus' familiarity with stories and ideas from the east should not surprise us given he grew up in an area of the world long known to be an active trading route that spread from Egypt to the Indus River valley. What then is remarkable are the many parallels between the sayings of the Buddha and Jesus. The Buddha taught for about 40 years and after his death, his close followers came together to canonize his teaching. The way his teaching was systematically assembled and eventually recorded gives us a great degree of confidence in its transmission. One of these books of teachings was the sayings of the Buddha, pithy concise statements of the basic ideas of Buddhism called the Dhammapada. Comparing the sayings of the Buddha and the sayings of Jesus one finds fascinating parallels which suggest a strong affinity between these two teachers. If you look again to your order of service, the meditation for this morning are excerpts from the sayings of the Buddha and the sayings of Jesus. Although the texts are not exact semantic parallels, the teaching of both are similar. As you can see from the text, the Buddha prefers speaking symbolically and what we might today call psychologically. Jesus on the other hand is the master of metaphor and illustration. Much of what we have of the Buddha's discourses were given to his students who were generally more sophisticated than the common person. Jesus on the other hand ministered to the man and woman in the street. Many of his parables even children can grasp as they learn right from wrong. What were the central teachings that both the Buddha and Jesus share extracted from only the words we can most reliably attribute to them? Both teachers reject being worshipped as the personal source of salvation. They criticize their students who "worship them, but do not follow their teaching." Most central and the most misunderstood teaching of Jesus was the proclamation of the coming of the Kingdom of God. From the earliest sayings we see that Jesus was not primarily advocating an everlasting afterlife but rather what was possible in this world right now which was one with the reality beyond death. One of the most important ideas the Buddha spoke on again and again was release from the sorrows of this world while still living in it by ethical living and development of the mind. Belief and blind worship were if anything an obstacle to the student rather than an aid. The Buddha in particular did not ask his followers to have an unreasoned faith but encouraged them to develop their confidence based on their own experience and the example of others." extract from wiki: "Gautama Buddha (as portrayed in the Pali scriptures/ the agamas) set an important trend in nontheism in Buddhism in the sense of denying the existence of an omnipotent Creator God[1]. Nevertheless, in many passages in the Tripitaka Gautama Buddha spoke about gods and gave specific examples of individuals who were reborn as a god, or gods who were reborn as humans. Buddhist cosmology recognizes various levels and types of gods, but none of these gods is considered the creator of the world or of the human race[2]. While Buddhism does not deny the existence of supernatural beings (e.g., the devas, of which many are discussed in Buddhist scripture), it does not ascribe power for creation, salvation or judgment to them. Like humans, they are regarded as having the power to affect worldly events and so some Buddhist schools associate with them via ritual. All supernatural beings, as living entities, are a part of the six-part reincarnation cycle. ... Certain Buddhists (particularly in the modern West) hold to an interpretation of Buddhism that admits nothing of either the supernatural or divinity. In non-theistic views, realms and gods are viewed with a liberal dose of metaphor, as tools to understand aspects of Mind, and indeed this is supported by some sutras such as the Lankavatara Sutra. First Cause in Buddhism - Ignorance What is deemed as "Creation of the world" by an all-powerful God in many other religions is not accepted by any school of Buddhism. Avidya or ignorance is the closest thing to a "first cause" or principle of creation and not any God or Buddha. By removal of this ignorance with wisdom or prajna, we understand things as they really are and thus attain to Buddhahood." guess this wisdom was lost on a few people...
You know, I don't want to go out on too much of a limb here, and really, I can't say for absolutely sure, but I swear, sometimes, late at nite, when the world is asleep and I'm alone w/only my innermost thoughts, I find myself doubting if that guy is really Jesus. There I've said it. And I do feel better. Thanks for letting me get that off my chest. H
Yes, I did travel extensively on those routes leading to places like Egypt, England, India and Tibet...thanks in large part to my earthly father Joseph, who is still very active in his support of my earthbound brethren. I studied with masters in all those places. I studied also with the Essenes. There are many parallels between my sayings and those of the master Buddha, because they are parallel paths to the same destination...so to speak. Note well that in each of the portrayals of the master Buddha, he is always joyful...always. Let the peace of Buddha be a kind of signpost on the road less traveled. It IS possible to be joyful always, even in the world, and Buddha knew this well. Jesus