[Nidsstese]

I recently saw a BBC documentary about this and wanted to see people's response to this idea. Thanks.

[kasandrasikl]

I recently saw a BBC documentary about this and wanted to see people's response to this idea. Thanks.

I assume this is the one that put forth the theory that Jesus went to live in Kashmir after his disappearance.

I thought that this documentary was more plausible than most of these kinds of theories.

One thing though much seemed to hinge on the 3 wise men being Buddhist monks searching for their reincarnated master. I may be wrong but I don't think such a tradition existed before Tibetan Buddhism came along, at least 1000 years later.

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[Quonuttott]

I recently saw a BBC documentary about this and wanted to see people's response to this idea. Thanks. Welcome maunderingcabal,

As we are a learning community, its necessary to give URL links to any information that you refer to in a discussion, thanks.

Is this the documentary you mean ? I haven't seen it myself and unfortunately don't have time to wach it at the moment because its about 50 minutes in length .

with kind wishes

Aloka

[Quiniacab]

I assume this is the one that put forth the theory that Jesus went to live in Kashmir after his disappearance.

I thought that this documentary was more plausible than most of these kinds of theories.

One thing though much seemed to hinge on the 3 wise men being Buddhist monks searching for their reincarnated master. I may be wrong but I don't think such a tradition existed before Tibetan Buddhism came along, at least 1000 years later.

I've always heard the Wise Men (if they existed at all) were followers of Zoroastrianism. For anyone who doesn't know Zoroastrianism is a Persian religion that has been pretty much completely replaced by Islam.

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[alicewong]

Buddhism certainly spread around the known world quickly & many of its principles appear to have been adopted & included within other traditions. A very good example, is the Hindu Bhagavad Gita, which is primarily a Hindu text but incorporates Buddhist principles about non-attachment.

I personally see little evidence Jesus of Nazareth was a Buddhist monk because he did not teach any of the core Buddhist teachings, such as the Four Noble Truths, the Three Characteristics, the Elements, etc. The moral teachings of Jesus of Nazareth are similar to Buddhism but the wisdom teachings are lacking.

Buddhist missions already existed in Egypt & Greece at the time of Jesus of Nazareth, which would have adhered to both Buddhist Dhamma & Vinaya. Jesus of Nazareth did not adhere to Buddhist Dhamma & particularly Vinaya. For example, Buddhism spread around the world based on its Vinaya (moral code) of not harming & being aggressive towards other cultures & religions.

But the reports of Jesus of Nazareth was he deliberately provoked the Jewish priests, attempted to assert his authority in the Jewish temple and, in short, attempted to reform the Jewish religion. Buddhist monks do not behave in such a manner. Even Buddha made no attempt to reform the common Brahmin religion of his day. Instead, Buddha, the same as Buddhist monks, deliberately sought peaceful co-existence with other religions.

Thus, I personally see little evidence Jesus of Nazareth was a Buddhist monk or conducted himself in the manner of a Buddhist. If Jesus of Nazareth studied in India, which he probably did, his views align themselves with Brahminism.

Brahma is the 'Father of the All'. Buddha taught the Brahmins radiating love in all directions is the way to Brahma. Therefore, imo, Jesus of Nazareth, if related to Indian religion, was essentially a Brahmin (i.e., Hindu).

Regards

[greekbeast]

I've always heard the Wise Men (if they existed at all) were followers of Zoroastrianism. For anyone who doesn't know Zoroastrianism is a Persian religion that has been pretty much completely replaced by Islam.

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I think so too. Zoroastrianism seems more likely for the wisemen. Although I don't know too much about that religion.

[Corryikilelet]

Buddhism certainly spread around the known world quickly & many of its principles appear to have been adopted & included within other traditions. A very good example, is the Hindu Bhagavad Gita, which is primarily a Hindu text but incorporates Buddhist principles about non-attachment.

I personally see little evidence Jesus of Nazareth was a Buddhist monk because he did not teach any of the core Buddhist teachings, such as the Four Noble Truths, the Three Characteristics, the Elements, etc. The moral teachings of Jesus of Nazareth are similar to Buddhism but the wisdom teachings are lacking.

Buddhist missions already existed in Egypt & Greece at the time of Jesus of Nazareth, which would have adhered to both Buddhist Dhamma & Vinaya. Jesus of Nazareth did not adhere to Buddhist Dhamma & particularly Vinaya. For example, Buddhism spread around the world based on its Vinaya (moral code) of not harming & being aggressive towards other cultures & religions.

But the reports of Jesus of Nazareth was he deliberately provoked the Jewish priests, attempted to assert his authority in the Jewish temple and, in short, attempted to reform the Jewish religion. Buddhist monks do not behave in such a manner. Even Buddha made no attempt to reform the common Brahmin religion of his day. Instead, Buddha, the same as Buddhist monks, deliberately sought peaceful co-existence with other religions.

Thus, I personally see little evidence Jesus of Nazareth was a Buddhist monk or conducted himself in the manner of a Buddhist. If Jesus of Nazareth studied in India, which he probably did, his views align themselves with Brahminism.

Brahma is the 'Father of the All'. Buddha taught the Brahmins radiating love in all directions is the way to Brahma. Therefore, imo, Jesus of Nazareth, if related to Indian religion, was essentially a Brahmin (i.e., Hindu).

Regards

Thank you for the response. Very informative, and logical deduction!

Welcome maunderingcabal,

As we are a learning community, its necessary to give URL links to any information that you refer to in a discussion, thanks.

Is this the documentary you mean ? I haven't seen it myself and unfortunately don't have time to wach it at the moment because its about 50 minutes in length .

with kind wishes

Aloka And, yes. That was the documentary I watched.

[weluvjessicaalba]

I have also heard of this but there is not much evidence to support it that i know of.

[TimEricsson]

Pretty fascinating anything is possible...

[BorBitExatini]

Hello,
i also knew about these theories. While reading the Pali-Canon i discoverd a lot of similarities.
At first i would like to take he theme of the three kings of the coming to greet the Jesus Baby. One of the kings woudn´´t be there because auf problems.
These four kings are called, in the Pali-Canon, the kings of the world, living in the brahmaic worlds.
The other thing is how to deal with other humans where Gotamo Buddho said: Take your next one for yourself, with love, pity and compassion.
the wonders Jesus did can be read in P-C. as the seven magic planes.
And for me the most important fakt, that hi was buddhist is, that he met the devil. G. Buddho,
Every advanced disciple has to meet him. I met him too.
The catholics say that he was fasting, in former times this word meant having insight , he was just meditating in the desert.
Even the section opf the OLD-Catholics have the theorie, that Jesus was buddhist. And why not.
For the last i would like to quote Gotamo Buddho:"The priests are talking about him but i know him." He means Brahma.

anando

[itaspCatCriny]

Hmmm...
I read a Jack Kerouac novel where at some point he talks about this, but never gave much credence to the idea (although, it is interesting).

While Jesus' teachings on compassion, poverty, love, etc., seem somewhat Buddhist, he also says things like "let those who are not with us be against us." (mark 9:40. Similar verses in Matthew 12:30 and Luke 11:23), and constantly emphasizes blind faith, worship, and belief in things that cannot be proven.

There is also the whole discussion about if Jesus ever existed, but I think that might be reaching outside the area of discussion too much for me to get into.

[replicamuse]

I'm with Element on this one.

Jesus certainly was influenced by the Brahmanic ideas, while trying to reform his A-brahamic tradition.

One could take any of the countless 'spiritual masters' of this day as another example. They often stay within their inherited tradition but incorporate external practises like satipatthana. That doesn't mean they are Buddh-ist (even tho the term is stretchable), let alone monks.

I'm not a friend of hijacking others' names (Buddha in this case), even for the sake of reconciliation.

Jesus would say: "I'm not here to bring peace on earth, but to bring the 'sword' in order to separate the chaff from the grain."

But in the end, does it matter?:

[barsikjal]

Not true.

[Andromino]

Jesus was not Buddhist monk. He never teached Buddhism.

[priordine]

I personally see little evidence Jesus of Nazareth was a Buddhist monk because he did not teach any of the core Buddhist teachings

The title of the thread and youtube is misleading, it's not even the title of the documentary which is "Did Jesus Die".

It was a while ago that I watched it but I don't recall it making any such claim that Jesus was an ordained member of the Buddhist Sangha, rather that he was influenced by contact with Buddhist teachers and this influenced his attempt to reform Judaism.

The main point as far as I remember was to find a rational explanation for the disappearance of his body that doesn't buy into the usual myth.

[CoiI8XIj]

The title of the thread and youtube is misleading, it's not even the title of the documentary which is "Did Jesus Die".

It was a while ago that I watched it but I don't recall it making any such claim that Jesus was an ordained member of the Buddhist Sangha, rather that he was influenced by contact with Buddhist teachers and this influenced his attempt to reform Judaism.

The main point as far as I remember was to find a rational explanation for the disappearance of his body that doesn't buy into the usual myth.

It's true, the documentary was not initially about this idea. But towards the end it brings up the idea that he was a Buddhist. That was the only part I was interested in. I personally don't believe Jesus even existed, I was just interested in what others thought. I think that Christianity is a religion created by people that were not accepted into the racial religion of Judasim (it almost seems you have to be a certain race to be accepted in that religion, learn about the oppression of black (dark skinned) jews and see for yourself). Or Christianity was created by jews to control none jews. There seems to be some similarities in Jesus' gospels and Buddhism, but then again a lot of religions share values and beliefs.