Buddhist Perspectives

1. Dialogue Education Buddhist Perspectives Buddhism and Christianity THIS CD HAS BEEN PRODUCED FOR TEACHERS TO USE IN THE CLASSROOM. IT IS A CONDITION OF THE USE OF THIS CD THAT IT BE USED ONLY BY THE PEOPLE FROM SCHOOLS THAT HAVE PURCHASED THE CD ROM FROM DIALOGUE EDUCATION. (THIS DOES NOT PROHIBIT ITS USE ON A SCHOOL’S INTRANET).

2. Click on the image to the left. You will need to be connected to the internet to view this presentation. Enlarge to full screen. You Tube Video- Jesus was a Buddhist Monk BBC Documentary (Full documentary 52 minutes)

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4. There is speculation concerning a possible connection between Gautama Buddha and Jesus Christ, and between Buddhism and Christianity, because of perceived similarities. Buddhism and Christianity

5. Buddhism originated in India about 500 years before the Apostolic Age and the origins of Christianity in Israel. Buddhism and Christianity

6. Similarities noted in cultural exchange • In the 13th century, international travellers, such as Giovanni de Piano Carpini and William of Ruysbroeck, sent back reports of Buddhism as a religion whose scriptures, doctrine, saints, monastic life, meditation practices, and rituals were comparable to those of Christianity. Buddhism and Christianity

7. With the arrival of Sanskrit studies in European universities in the late 18th century a discussion began of a proper encounter with Buddhism. Buddhism and Christianity

8. In the 20th century Christian monastics such as Thomas Merton, Wayne Teasdale, David Steindl-Rast and the former nun Karen Armstrong, and Buddhist monastics such as Ajahn Buddhadasa, Thich Nhat Hanh and the Dalai Lama have put energy into Buddhist/Christian dialogue. Buddhism and Christianity

9. Similarities noted by scholars 19th century • In the 19th century, when European scholars started to investigate Asian culture and religion, attention was drawn to perceived similarities between Buddhism and Christianity. Buddhism and Christianity

10. Similarities noted by scholars 19th century • As far back as 1816 the historian George Faber in his book, The Origin of Pagan Idolatry Ascertained from Historical Testimony, stated, • There is so strong a resemblance between the characters of Jesus and of Buddha, that it cannot have been purely accidental. Buddhism and Christianity

11. Similarities noted by scholars 19th century • Thomas Tweed notes that between 1879 and 1907 there were a "number of impassioned discussions about parallels and possible historical influence between Buddhism and Christianity in ... a variety of periodicals". Buddhism and Christianity

12. Similarities noted by scholars 19th century • In 1883, Max Müller, the pioneering scholar of comparative religion and orientalist, asserted : “ That there are startling coincidences between Buddhism and Christianity cannot be denied, and it must likewise be admitted that Buddhism existed at least 400 years before Christianity….” Buddhism and Christianity

13. Similarities noted by scholars 19th century • In the beginning of the 20th century interest waned somewhat. Buddhism and Christianity

14. Contemporary research • Contemporary research still points to perceived similarities between Buddhism and Christianity. Buddhism and Christianity

15. Parallels between Buddha and Jesus- Gospels Burkhard Scherer stated: • [...] it is very important to draw attention to the fact that there is [massive] Buddhist influence in the Gospels....Since more than a hundred years, Buddhist influence in the Gospels has been known and acknowledged by scholars from both sides. Buddhism and Christianity

16. Parallels between Buddha and Jesus • Christian Lindtner compares the Pali and Sanskrit Buddhist texts with the Greek gospels and determines that the four gospels were reformulated from older Buddhist texts based on gematria values, puns, and syllabic equivalences. Buddhism and Christianity

17. Birth stories • Orientalist Samuel Beal (1825 - 1889) asserts that the story of the birth of the Buddha was well known in the West, and possibly influenced the story of the birth of Jesus. Buddhism and Christianity

18. Birth stories • Arthur Lillie argues that the birth accounts of the Buddha were copied into the gospels. Buddhism and Christianity

19. Infancy stories Some have compared the earlier infancy account of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke to that of the Buddha in the later Lalitavistara Sutra, a Mahāyāna/Sarvāstivāda biography dating to the 3rd century CE. Buddhism and Christianity

20. Miracle stories P. Carus, in his comparison of Buddhism and Christianity, observes that both Jesus and the Buddha are said to have walked on water only because of their faith in their teacher. Buddhism and Christianity

21. Buddhist views of Jesus • Some Buddhists, including Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama regard Jesus as a bodhisattva who dedicated his life to the welfare of human beings. Buddhism and Christianity

22. Buddhist views of Jesus Both Jesus and Buddha advocated radical alterations in the common religious practices of the day. Buddhism and Christianity

23. Mary-Mother Mary • The story of the birth of the Buddha was known in the Hellenistic world: a fragment of Archelaos of Carrha(278 CE) mentions the Buddha's virgin-birth. Buddhism and Christianity

24. Mary Mother Mary • The classical scene of the Virgin Mary being supported by two attendants at her side, may have been influenced by earlier iconography, such as the rather similar Buddhist theme of Queen Maya giving birth. Buddhism and Christianity

25. Guanyin and the Virgin Mary • The Sinologist Martin Palmer has commented on the similarity between the Blessed Virgin Mary and Guan Yin. Buddhism and Christianity

26. Similarities in literature, stories and myths Dhammapada and King Solomon The Dhammapada, the proverbs of the Buddha, bear widespread similarities to the Book of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes of King Solomon. Buddhism and Christianity

27. Barlaam and Josaphat • The Greek legend of Barlaam and Ioasaph, sometimes mistakenly attributed to the 7th century John of Damascus but first recorded by the Georgian monk Euthymius of Athos in the 11th century, was ultimately derived, via Arabic and Georgian versions, from the life story of the Buddha. Buddhism and Christianity

28. Morality • The teachings of the Buddha display certain similarities to Christian moral precepts of more than five centuries later: the sanctity of life, compassion for others, rejection of violence, confession and emphasis on charity and the practice of virtue. Buddhism and Christianity

29. Religious Symbolism • T.W. Rhys Davids, British scholar of the Pāli language, was the earliest and most energetic promoter of the Theravada tradition in the West. Buddhism and Christianity

30. Religious Symbolism • It is believed that use of rosaries spread from India to Western Europe during the Crusades via its Muslim version, the tasbih. Buddhism and Christianity

31. Religious Symbolism • The Añjali Mudrā, prayer with the palms touching one another, is a common form of greeting and prayer gesture in all Indian spiritual traditions, including the Buddhist. Buddhism and Christianity

32. Religious Symbolism • “When all allowance is made for similar causes and coincidences, it is hard to believe that a collection of such practices as clerical celibacy, confession, the veneration of relics, the use of the rosary and bells can have originated independently in both religions." Buddhism and Christianity

33. Similarities in administrative structures • The Buddhist Jack McQuire believes that in the 4th century, Christian monasticism developed in Egypt, and it emerged with a corresponding structure comparable to the Buddhist monasticism of its time and place. Buddhism and Christianity

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