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The Original Jesus: The Buddhist Sources of Christianity
English (translation)Original German
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
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February 15, 2014
The influence of Buddhist scriptures on Gospels, Acts and Epistles
The authors provide an historical and scriptural evidence to show that a significant part of New Testament was influenced by the Buddhist literature and the Acts of Buddha. This book focuses on sacred text and does not deal directly with the facts that Jesus' spent several years in Kashmir, India, when it was under the influence of Buddhist and Jain teachings. The flow of Buddhist thought occurred at three main levels, the Buddhist missionaries carrying the message of Buddha into Egypt, Syria and Palestine are well documented in the history, especially during and after Emperor Asoka. Strong trade relationship help bring the Vedic and Upanishadic culture into the Middle East, and finally Jesus' life in Kashmir, India brought him closer to the wisdom of Buddha and the teachings of Upanishads.
The views of Jesus presented in Sermon on the Mount directly calls to mind an inner relationship with Buddha's teachings. Both Buddha and Jesus warn their followers about false prophets. The parallels between Buddhist thought and certain New Testament stories; Jesus' parables and his sayings are not new. For example, Buddha said "whosoever sees dharma, see me." Christ in the Gospel according to John says; "He that seeth me, seeth Him that sent me" (John 12:45). The dharma is the greatest cosmic law underlying the world, corresponding to the concept of the Word, the Logos, in the Gospel which begins by declaring, "The Word was God."
The genealogical trees of Jesus point to royal origins (similar to Buddha), as described in the Gospel of Matthew. The circumstance surrounding the birth of Jesus is similar to that of Krishna of Mahabharata. There are a number of parallels to the stories of Jesus' childhood and Buddha as described in Lalitavistara, and Nidanakatha. Two famous miracles is known to be performed by Jesus was taken from Buddhists precedents; the loaves and the fishes (Mathew 14:15-21; Mark 6:35-44, and Luke 9:13-17). This originates from the introduction to Jataka 78. In this miracle, Buddha satisfied the hunger of 500 inhabitants of a monastery, and some bread remained. According to New Testament accounts Jesus fed 5,000 people with five loaves and two fishes. Jesus' walking on water episode described in Mark 6:52 and its similarities with Buddha walking on water is striking. Many similarities in these two stories are listed by theologian Norbert Klatt. The Buddhist scriptures of Dighanikaya and the Majjhimanikaya describes Buddha walking on water and in Mahavamsa, Buddha crosses the Ganges. In an episode described in Mahavagga, Buddha's disciple, Kassapa sees Buddha walking on water, fearful about Buddha, Kassapa asks, "Are you there, great mendicant monk?" "It is I, Kassapa" Buddha replied, calming him down. Jesus' disciples also feared that they saw a ghost after seeing Jesus walking on water, to them Jesus replies, "It is I" (Mark 6:50 and John 6:20). In Matthew 14:28-33, Apostle Peter also tries to walk on the water but starts to sink. This episode is surprisingly similar to the introduction to Jataka 190, where Sariputta, a disciple of Buddha attempts to walk on water of river Aciravati and begins to sink by a strong wave. When he regains control of himself and start meditating deeply, he could walk on water.
Buddha always treated everyone equally irrespective of their caste or social status. Jesus was equal in this respect. In one episode, Buddha draws anger of upper class followers when he accepts a courtesan's invitation for a dinner. Jesus also made similar gestures and goodwill by accommodating less fortunate and oppressed people in the society. Another story that is illuminating is the story of Ananda and Prakriti and its similarities to Jesus in John 4:5-42. While travelling through the countryside, Ananda, the disciple of Buddha feels thirsty and approaches a well and ask a Matangi girl named Prakriti for a drink of water. When she expresses fear that she belongs to a lower caste and she can not approach a holy man, Ananda responds, "my sister, I am not asking about your caste or your family; I am asking whether you can give some water to drink" (Divyavadana 217). This story is similar to Jesus' encounter at Jacob's well near Sychar in Samaria where he asks for some drinking water. The woman of Samaria replies, "How is that thou, being a Jew, asking drink from me, a woman of Samaria." Jesus says, if she knew who he was, she would ask him for a drink and he would give her "living water" (John 4:5-42). In his instruction to his disciples, Jesus says, "in as much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me" (Matthew 25:40). This is similar to Buddha's instructions, "anyone, O monks, who want to stand by me, should stand by the afflicted" (Mahavagga 8, 26.3)
Jesus first public appearance has many similarities with that of Buddha. After leaving his palace, Siddhartha sought teachers and join Rudraka the Brahmin. When young Siddhartha realizes that his teachings would not lead to liberation and insight; he decides go into wilderness in order to attain realization through strict asceticism. Five of Rudraka's followers join him but when Siddhartha gives up fasting and ascetic excesses realizing that would not lead him into his objective: His followers leave him thinking that he has given up search for redemption. Jesus also becomes the disciple of John the Baptist, a strict ascetic and penitent of his time. He gets baptized and then goes into wilderness and fasts; some of the disciples of John the Baptist follow him. Soon Jesus also gives up ascetic excesses. "John came neither eating nor drinking.....The son of man came eating and drinking..." (Matthew 11:18-19). Jesus' radical view included rejection of baptism and John's strict asceticism; instead he preached love, tolerance and harmony like Buddha and won many followers.
The influence of Upanishads and Vedanta also had some impact on epistles. Jesus expresses the idea of the unity of Atman and Brahman in the words; "I and Father are One" (John 10:30). The evangelist John also viewed everyone as god's equal; "I said, ye are gods" (John 10:34).
The authors provide an historical and scriptural evidence to show that a significant part of New Testament was influenced by the Buddhist literature and the Acts of Buddha. This book focuses on sacred text and does not deal directly with the facts that Jesus' spent several years in Kashmir, India, when it was under the influence of Buddhist and Jain teachings. The flow of Buddhist thought occurred at three main levels, the Buddhist missionaries carrying the message of Buddha into Egypt, Syria and Palestine are well documented in the history, especially during and after Emperor Asoka. Strong trade relationship help bring the Vedic and Upanishadic culture into the Middle East, and finally Jesus' life in Kashmir, India brought him closer to the wisdom of Buddha and the teachings of Upanishads.
The views of Jesus presented in Sermon on the Mount directly calls to mind an inner relationship with Buddha's teachings. Both Buddha and Jesus warn their followers about false prophets. The parallels between Buddhist thought and certain New Testament stories; Jesus' parables and his sayings are not new. For example, Buddha said "whosoever sees dharma, see me." Christ in the Gospel according to John says; "He that seeth me, seeth Him that sent me" (John 12:45). The dharma is the greatest cosmic law underlying the world, corresponding to the concept of the Word, the Logos, in the Gospel which begins by declaring, "The Word was God."
The genealogical trees of Jesus point to royal origins (similar to Buddha), as described in the Gospel of Matthew. The circumstance surrounding the birth of Jesus is similar to that of Krishna of Mahabharata. There are a number of parallels to the stories of Jesus' childhood and Buddha as described in Lalitavistara, and Nidanakatha. Two famous miracles is known to be performed by Jesus was taken from Buddhists precedents; the loaves and the fishes (Mathew 14:15-21; Mark 6:35-44, and Luke 9:13-17). This originates from the introduction to Jataka 78. In this miracle, Buddha satisfied the hunger of 500 inhabitants of a monastery, and some bread remained. According to New Testament accounts Jesus fed 5,000 people with five loaves and two fishes. Jesus' walking on water episode described in Mark 6:52 and its similarities with Buddha walking on water is striking. Many similarities in these two stories are listed by theologian Norbert Klatt. The Buddhist scriptures of Dighanikaya and the Majjhimanikaya describes Buddha walking on water and in Mahavamsa, Buddha crosses the Ganges. In an episode described in Mahavagga, Buddha's disciple, Kassapa sees Buddha walking on water, fearful about Buddha, Kassapa asks, "Are you there, great mendicant monk?" "It is I, Kassapa" Buddha replied, calming him down. Jesus' disciples also feared that they saw a ghost after seeing Jesus walking on water, to them Jesus replies, "It is I" (Mark 6:50 and John 6:20). In Matthew 14:28-33, Apostle Peter also tries to walk on the water but starts to sink. This episode is surprisingly similar to the introduction to Jataka 190, where Sariputta, a disciple of Buddha attempts to walk on water of river Aciravati and begins to sink by a strong wave. When he regains control of himself and start meditating deeply, he could walk on water.
Buddha always treated everyone equally irrespective of their caste or social status. Jesus was equal in this respect. In one episode, Buddha draws anger of upper class followers when he accepts a courtesan's invitation for a dinner. Jesus also made similar gestures and goodwill by accommodating less fortunate and oppressed people in the society. Another story that is illuminating is the story of Ananda and Prakriti and its similarities to Jesus in John 4:5-42. While travelling through the countryside, Ananda, the disciple of Buddha feels thirsty and approaches a well and ask a Matangi girl named Prakriti for a drink of water. When she expresses fear that she belongs to a lower caste and she can not approach a holy man, Ananda responds, "my sister, I am not asking about your caste or your family; I am asking whether you can give some water to drink" (Divyavadana 217). This story is similar to Jesus' encounter at Jacob's well near Sychar in Samaria where he asks for some drinking water. The woman of Samaria replies, "How is that thou, being a Jew, asking drink from me, a woman of Samaria." Jesus says, if she knew who he was, she would ask him for a drink and he would give her "living water" (John 4:5-42). In his instruction to his disciples, Jesus says, "in as much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me" (Matthew 25:40). This is similar to Buddha's instructions, "anyone, O monks, who want to stand by me, should stand by the afflicted" (Mahavagga 8, 26.3)
Jesus first public appearance has many similarities with that of Buddha. After leaving his palace, Siddhartha sought teachers and join Rudraka the Brahmin. When young Siddhartha realizes that his teachings would not lead to liberation and insight; he decides go into wilderness in order to attain realization through strict asceticism. Five of Rudraka's followers join him but when Siddhartha gives up fasting and ascetic excesses realizing that would not lead him into his objective: His followers leave him thinking that he has given up search for redemption. Jesus also becomes the disciple of John the Baptist, a strict ascetic and penitent of his time. He gets baptized and then goes into wilderness and fasts; some of the disciples of John the Baptist follow him. Soon Jesus also gives up ascetic excesses. "John came neither eating nor drinking.....The son of man came eating and drinking..." (Matthew 11:18-19). Jesus' radical view included rejection of baptism and John's strict asceticism; instead he preached love, tolerance and harmony like Buddha and won many followers.
The influence of Upanishads and Vedanta also had some impact on epistles. Jesus expresses the idea of the unity of Atman and Brahman in the words; "I and Father are One" (John 10:30). The evangelist John also viewed everyone as god's equal; "I said, ye are gods" (John 10:34).
May 9, 2018
Interesting read, although tough for the first ⅔'s...the last ⅓ is quite revealing...Jesus definitely has buddhist tendencies and philosophies...
July 15, 2018
Totally convincing
Read
June 20, 2010In their excellent research, I was amazed to read how well the authors have recorded the historical antecedents to Christ's life. Now, this is admittedly an area that is emotive, because people come to live by what they believe in and to defend that belief without much discrimination. But what I wish to share here is that I saw in this book, the potential to go beyond merely reacting emotionally, to understanding the essence of the research and presentation of these two authors.
They record the existence of diplomatic links between the emperors, Alexander, of Greece, and Asoka, of India, and state that some of the ambassadors of Asoka to Greece were spiritually advanced monks who followed the Buddha Dhamma, and hence, some of them could have been at the highest level of purity or spiritual attainment (arahants, from the Pali). With time, the influence of the disciplined conduct of these monks, gave rise to a sect of followers called the 'therapeutae.'
The authors explain the origin of the word as meaning 'healing of the mind.' This is in keeping with the fundamental tenet of the Buddha's teachings that all physical reality that we experience, stems from the mind. [Hence any healing of a physical condition must commence with a healing of the mind. So, we have greed/lust, aversion/illwill/hatred, and ignorance/delusion of self, as the roots of all evil that arise in the mind. When one is prepared to deal with these in the mind, and give rise to the wholesome, one experiences healing.:]
From this sect of therapeutae, there descended the Essenes, who had moved from place to place, taking the teachings of the healing of the mind to a wider populace. The authors show that the Essenes were the group that influenced the young Jesus.
In their earlier work, the Jesus Conspiracy, they, again with plenty of research, show how the shroud of Turin, came to bear the image of Christ, through the reactions of the oils and other medicinal balms the Essenes had used to heal the physical wounds of Christ following his torture and crucifixion.
What I mostly wish to share is how this work can potentially open a great path to harmony between these two religious traditions. One need not go into the veracity of the existence of God or whether the human being is capable of liberation in the sense of Nibbana. There remain great comparables in the principles of generosity, compassion and loving kindness, and morality, as much as in wholesome mental cultivation, that the two traditions share with each other and with all other major religions.
There are other works like Egerton Baptist's, 'Nibbana or the Kingdom,' which explain how the teachings of rebirth and Causation were eliminated from the Christian Scriptures after Christ, which seemingly brought a gulf between the two religions.
As stated earlier, Gruber and Kersten's works, leave enough room for the possibility of harmony between these religions, and their followers, and the strength of the teachings that encourage the followers to eschew all forms of conflict and violence.
They record the existence of diplomatic links between the emperors, Alexander, of Greece, and Asoka, of India, and state that some of the ambassadors of Asoka to Greece were spiritually advanced monks who followed the Buddha Dhamma, and hence, some of them could have been at the highest level of purity or spiritual attainment (arahants, from the Pali). With time, the influence of the disciplined conduct of these monks, gave rise to a sect of followers called the 'therapeutae.'
The authors explain the origin of the word as meaning 'healing of the mind.' This is in keeping with the fundamental tenet of the Buddha's teachings that all physical reality that we experience, stems from the mind. [Hence any healing of a physical condition must commence with a healing of the mind. So, we have greed/lust, aversion/illwill/hatred, and ignorance/delusion of self, as the roots of all evil that arise in the mind. When one is prepared to deal with these in the mind, and give rise to the wholesome, one experiences healing.:]
From this sect of therapeutae, there descended the Essenes, who had moved from place to place, taking the teachings of the healing of the mind to a wider populace. The authors show that the Essenes were the group that influenced the young Jesus.
In their earlier work, the Jesus Conspiracy, they, again with plenty of research, show how the shroud of Turin, came to bear the image of Christ, through the reactions of the oils and other medicinal balms the Essenes had used to heal the physical wounds of Christ following his torture and crucifixion.
What I mostly wish to share is how this work can potentially open a great path to harmony between these two religious traditions. One need not go into the veracity of the existence of God or whether the human being is capable of liberation in the sense of Nibbana. There remain great comparables in the principles of generosity, compassion and loving kindness, and morality, as much as in wholesome mental cultivation, that the two traditions share with each other and with all other major religions.
There are other works like Egerton Baptist's, 'Nibbana or the Kingdom,' which explain how the teachings of rebirth and Causation were eliminated from the Christian Scriptures after Christ, which seemingly brought a gulf between the two religions.
As stated earlier, Gruber and Kersten's works, leave enough room for the possibility of harmony between these religions, and their followers, and the strength of the teachings that encourage the followers to eschew all forms of conflict and violence.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews