Jesus was a Buddhist Monk (BBC documentary)
(By Tsem Rinpoche)
Dear friends,
This is really a groundbreaking documentary by world respected BBC. This is a video that must be seen. Let me know your comments.
I love interfaith harmony. It is my hope these videos so beautifully produced will contribute to interfaith harmony, understanding and peace among all living beings.
Tsem Rinpoche
Jesus was a Buddhist Monk BBC Documentary
Or view the video on the server at:
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/JesusWasABuddhistMonk_BBCDocumentary.mp4
The Life of the Buddha (BBC Documentary)
Lord Buddha’s life which is beautifully recorded here in this documentary.
Or view the video on the server at:
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/TheLifeOfTheBuddhaFull_BBCDocumentary.mp4
Or view the video on the server at:
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/Buddha_ADocumentaryAboutBuddhism.mp4
Jesus in India – Beyond Belief Documentary (very interesting video)
Or view the video on the server at:
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/JesusInIndia_BeyondBeliefDocumentary.mp4
Or view the video on the server at:
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/JesusInIndia_BBCDocumentary.mp4
Buddha Documentary (must see… very beautifully illustrated. Nice for kids and adults)
Or view the video on the server at:
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/TheBuddha2010SubEsp1_2.mp4
Or view the video on the server at:
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/TheBuddha2010SubEsp2_2.mp4
Please support us so that we can continue to bring you more Dharma:
If you are in the United States, please note that your offerings and contributions are tax deductible. ~ the tsemrinpoche.com blog team
Buddha was the last buddha not the first one. Before him there were in total 27 buudha. You can search nilgiva inscription of Ashoka the great. Buddhism traces it’s origin to indus valley Civilization!
mohenjodaro stupa is a living evidence that buddhist tradition are not 2500 but 5000 years old!
Read fa xian notes in which he mentions about stupa of previous budha with his own eyes.
500 witnesses to Jesus’s resurrection must be copied from 500 Arahants who compiled Buddha’s teachings too. Meaning Jesus as son of God is a fake claim. A scam.
We don’t even know whether Jesus existed or not but we are sure much of Jesus story was copied from Buddha as it is impossible to have so much similarities, eg Maya & Mary, miracle pregnancy and virgin pregnancy, birth during a journey home and back from home, prophesied by someone right after birth, had a disciple who betrayed them etc. Jesus was not only copied from the Buddha. It’s found out now that Jesus also copied from Egyptian God Horus and Sun God Mithra. In fact, many of the mythologies in the Bible’s Old Testament are copied from older religions, eg Adam and Eve had similar story with Atman and Jeeva a pair of birds to represent humans in Hinduism. The big flood with Manu and Noah, both had 3 sons, Abraham and Sarah obviously copied from Brahma and Sarasvathi both their names and story are very similar too. I think the Jews are genius for creating such a successful religion that spin-off Christianity and Islam. They must have found out their God and religion was man-made and created to con or control people. Those people who created Christianity
Christians are followers of Jesus Christ so technically speaking Jesus was not a Christian. Similarly Buddha was not a Buddhist. So why are we so called the followers of these teachings of these great wise men so hung up about what religion we are.
It is entirely possible that Jesus was a Buddhist monk. Jesus’s teachings and methods were so different and could be considered even contradicting to that of the old testament God. Jesus talked of love, of mercy, of kindness and of compassion. Buddha taught the same. However the spiritual end revealed by Jesus and Buddha differs or does it?
Both Buddha and Jesus taught us how to live a more meaningful, forgiving and kinder live but ultimately both are preparing us for death and what comes after. I think we sought religion and spirituality whatever form it be in because of the inevitable death that will come. The one certainty we all know will happen from the moment of our birth.
The idea of Jesus being a Buddhist monk is very appealing. What compelled Jesus to leave a legacy of another religious group of followers? Was he driven by compassion and the wisdom of knowing that it was necessary to cater for the needs and karma of the millions who are to become his followers after his death?
True that Jesus was a Buddhist Bhikku. But he was also a Bodhisatva who would in a future period many many lives after will attain Enlightenment.
Let us look to the Bible for a moment. It says that once Jesus who was absent for almost 8 years from Palestine returned had a small retinue of followers who was still not firm about his being the leader. One day Jesus and the followers were going on a journey and came across a stream. The followers took a boat and Jesus told them that he will follow them. Reaching the further shore, the followers saw Jesus walking over water. This gave affirmation to them that he sure is the son of God. At his death when he was nailed to cross, what he said was, “father have mercy on these people for they do not know what they are doing”.
As a Buddhist disciple in India he meditated and gained supernatural power through the realizing of the Jhanas. These Jahanas enable one to walk over water or dive into earth. Also his having compassion on those who were killing him is similar with that of the Jathaka Story Shanthivadi jathaka where in a previous life the Buddha who was an ascetic was being hurt by the King of that nation Kalabu. King kalabu had Bodhisatva’s arms amputated, legs amputated and yet Ascetic Shanthivadi only had compassion for the king.
Is this real? Is jesus christ a buddhist? Can’t that be someone’s concoction? But I have ever heard these words as I’m being a buddhist and believevin karma. Please reply me if anyone read or see my letter.
Real or not real, the point is since Jesus stories are copied from Buddha, Christianity should not be followed. 500 witnesses for Jesus resurrection must be copied from 500 Arahants who compiled Buddha’s teachings too.
the fact that stole photos from varga studios is disgusting
Perhaps it’s the message that is important and not the messenger?
Jesus died of poisoning from vinegar. He resurrected. If you die more than 24 hours you resurrect. he died for close to 33 hours. The phosphorus from the epiglottis inflamed itself in contact with the surrounding oxygen. Rigor mortis climbs for 24 to 72 hours depending on the weather and at the end the air trapped in his lungs from the vinegar poisoning escaped with the phosphorus. The contrary of water drowning occurs you can breath in but cannot breath out. shit came out of his ass around 6 hours after his death he was already entombed hermetically. the methane expanded in the small space exploded. thus the light and the explosion witnessed by the roman soldiers. The explosion is what made his portrait on the shroud. I don’t see how come people think resurrection is so unbelievable. when I worked as an ambulance worker we resurrected a boy that had died for 32 hours under ice in the water. I myself was come back to life after a while. long enough to be declared dead and have a toe tag in the corridor to the morgue on a stainless steel slab. The longest death before resurrection I know of is an entire winter. You should not say that there is not one shred of evidence for his resurrection. The Essenes are a Greek term that means the holy ones but in Hebrew they were called the Nazrai-ah-brith. Thus Jesus the Nazarene. the priest of the order of Melchizedek the one with the credo of the prayer of the saints. read the revelations. By the way it is untrue to say that Jesus never wrote anything for it is he that wrote the revelation. John the magnificent was a Greek translator that lived on the isle of Pathmos. an angel or servant of God (as translated literally) carried it to John of Pathmos.
Wow what an amazing post this is!!! I always thought Buddha and Jesus were the same mind or that Jesus was definitely a Boddhisattva! But this documentary sure has opened up more possibilities on this little thought of mine. I was a Catholic before, not a very scholastic one though and not really in to all those Bible studies cos we weren’t allowed to ask too many questions, so half way, me and sis decided no more Sunday school for us as there is no point to it.
But one thing is for sure… what the Buddha and Jesus taught is pretty similar if we only try to understand it without all the extra interpretations from those who wishes to use it for their own gains and means. Take a look at this video… it is not just the Buddhist who thinks Jesus’s teachings are very Dharmic… this pastor thinks it too as well…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AnxRm0D6eI&feature=youtube_gdata_player
hey try to be a buddhist and believe in karma. If you believe in God, you will become a bullshit. Karma is like 69 you get what you give.
Hi! I appreciate you having this video on here and asking this question! We hosted a workshop on this topic last night in Phoenix Arizona USA. We are one of the Teaching Centers for The Summit Lighthouse. This is a topic many people seem to be discussing lately. 🙂 May you all be blessed this New Year!
Before the roman church start killing, robbing, destroying, burning everyone, Jesus was just a normal person like you and me, but he choose the path of enlightenment like Buddha, you know peace love and happiness stuff, the rest is roman mythology composed for the masses to slave them. The Bible was VOTED to be the word of God by a group of men during the 4th century. They choose, edit, write the gospels with political motivations.
Chico, read my answer that listed some evidence proved Christianity a scam, no God.
“Dear friends,
This is really a ground breaking documentary by world respected BBC. This is a video that must be seen. Let me know your comments.
I love interfaith harmony. It is my hope these videos so beautifully produced will contribute to interfaith harmony, understanding and peace among all living beings.
Tsem Rinpoche”
Dear Rinpoche – Thank you for your comments above about interfaith harmony. As you & His Holiness The Dalai Lama have often stressed, tolerance & respect for other faiths & religious/spiritual traditions is very important for our spiritual progress & growth. May I recommend the following two books promoting interfaith harmony (that I hope many readers will benefit from):
The Perennial Philosophy by Aldous Huxley
A Calendar of Wisdom by Leo Tolstoy (The Indian Saint, Mahatma Gandhi, acknowledged the beneficial influence that Tolstoy’s writings had on him). I have also written ten short introductory one page essays about ten Spiritual Classics (Buddhist, Christian, Hindu & Taoist) designed to encourage readers to read these great books by Spiritual Saints & Sages and to pursue the spiritual life as best they can in these difficult, materialistic times. (How can I send this Word document to you if you are interested in reading it & adding it to your blog for the benefit of your readers?)
With great respect, appreciation & admiration for your wonderful work & dedication in bringing the Dharma to the whole world via YouTube, etc.
While not professing to know either one of these great powers, I myself feel very lucky that they even
try to understand and change us, they could judge us and we would fail miserable, but instead they continue to care for us. SO WHAT RIGHT DO WE HAVE TO JUDGE THEM.
Diana, Jesus or Buddha can never judge us. If the fact is proven that Jesus teachings cannot be believed of if any God is proven non-existent, we should abandon them. If anyone wish to learn about life or morality, I think Buddha’s 4 Noble Truth and Noble 8 Fold Path is complete and flawless.
Good and informative video
isn’t it amazing that BBC did a few documentaries on the possibility that Jesus was a Buddhist monk and that he had spent some years in India? The fact that BBC was willing to explore on this subject , may well be that the people of this generation are much more opened to new views and no longer follow blindly. That people are curious , intelligent and are still seeking for answers.
There are now so many books, videos, documentaries , articles written and published on the life of Jesus that some may consider them blasphemous, romantic , poetic etc etc. However i’m sure , most of these authors,filmmakers have put in a fair deal of research into writing or making of the documentaries.
I was fascinated with this particular subject some years back (still am ) and read with a huge hunger on anything i could lay my hands on – The Lost Years of Jesus, The Missing Years of Jesus, The Gnostic Bible, Nag Hammadi, The Gospel of Mary Magdelene, The Gospel of Judas, The Dead Sea Scrolls to name a few , even found Dan Brown’s book Da Vinci Code interesting , so started on reading books and articles on the various interpretation of Leonardo Da Vinci’s masterpieces like The Last Supper, The angel with baby John The Baptist, etc etc.
At the end of all this, i come to the conclusion that it is very possible for Jesus to have gone into India, to listen, learn from the many Masters and their teachings. Jesus is a spiritual being and of course, he would have wanted to learn more and quench his thirst for knowledge from every possible spiritual person or venue that he can. Some of the teachings of Jesus and Buddha are so similar in many ways, that it does make one wonder if these teachings are from the same source.
Who can honestly and truly say that Jesus did NOT go to India and he was NOT at one time of his life a Buddhist monk? There are many many routes up to the top of the mountain of Enlightenment , whichever route we take, it will eventually lead us to the same top.
These documentaries are interesting. Never would I have thought that Jesus could be a Buddhist monk but with the facts shown, it might be possible. All the scientific facts that are not known and how people are so skeptical makes me wonder why. And I amazed that people can actually spend so much time searching for ‘answers’ and researches.
The known fact is that all Gods are the same with their teachings. To be kind, loving and forgiving. God or Buddha did not teach us to insult nor criticize other beliefs. It is the person who made it otherwise, which is sad.
Thank you for the wonderful videos that I got to share with people.
Im no surprise that if Jesus is a monk, even when Jesus was being tortured by the people, he did not blame them, he keep asking to forgive them, forgive their action. With such compassion, he would has reach certain realization, Jesus and Buddha shared the same thought, compassion and wisdom.
But it is interesting to hear that Jesus didn’t die and he went to India to become a monk, something new to me, but whether he is a monk or not, I think it should not matter much, because his teaching is about making us to be a better human and I always believe Jesus is enlightened being, or could he be another form of Buddha? Here to spread the teaching in different method, what I notice is there is several similarity between Buddhism and Christian-ism…
Jesus shared the same virtuous qualities as Lord Buddha. I understand that enlightened beings can manifest in different forms and places to benefit sentient beings. So it is possible that Jesus could have manifested into a Buddhist monk after his crucifixion and lived in India. All the world’s religious founders/leaders always have one common motivation i.e. to help others. Both Jesus and Buddha have benefited billions of beings. So is our Tsem Rinpoche who is very compassionate to every being who crosses his path. Thank you very much Rinpoche for your constant wish to benefit sentient beings.
That is amazing explore to me! Jesus is Buddhist monk??To me doesn’t matter Jesus is a monk or a god, but I know Jesus had sacrifice himself to benefit many many people. A great man like Jesus, make me feel shame because I didn’t do enough for myself and others.
After finished watched the first video, I thinking what assignment my Guru give I still not yet fulfill now? How I need to move on for my first step to complete all promise I had made?
Buddha and Jesus had sacrifice so many, as a person I think before regret I need to take action first! Thank you for Jesus remind me!!!
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing these video. Although I did not understand all the video but what I think and feel is that no matter Jesus is a Buddhist monk or not its not really matter. Jesus and Buddha share the same motivation and goal that is to benefit all sentient beings and bring happiness. We should practice the quality that they have like love, kindness and compassion.
The life story of Buddha is very inspiring. The producer have done well to give a main points of the Buddha’s life and his message in a less than an hour documentary narration. If I have not study and practice Dharma, I wouldn’t feel as much, because of the lack of understanding. The compassion of a Buddha is infinite. To hear the story of Buddha brings much blessings. 🙂
Even the Buddha was seeking gurus for answers to the sufferings he saw around. He became a student and practices under gurus. The message is very clear that guru guidance is very important of one’s journey to enlightenment.
The Buddha has kept his promise well, to relief the sufferings of all sentient beings by teaching and showing the path. The Buddha is still keeping his promise. Free, unbounded by the wheel of life anymore the Buddha is able to help all sentient beings infinite numbers of way.
This is very interesting. I believe people would want to know more about their believe, and by knowing more, they increase their faith. They investigate, check and search for the underlying message of their faith using various means, in this case, studying the historical records. I think this is very educational in itself and it is not supposed a put down. Whether we are Christian or non-Christian we should not be bothered why what others think of us but by what we can do to practice our beliefs. Dalai Lama he himself said all religions in the world doesn’t teach us anger, hatred, and jealousy, but of love and compassion, and acceptance of others. If we have faith in him then we would practice love and compassion and acceptance of others. This is what everyone needs including ourself.
谢谢仁波切的分享这系列很有诚意的记录片，内容的确让我大开眼界…其实以前就一直听说耶稣曾经也是回教徒，并在回教历史上暂一席位（只是用了马来名字），而经过这纪录片，似乎在赞成并证实这历史的真实度。而更令我震撼的是，耶稣竟然也是佛教弟子。而我很佩服这制作单位，他们勇敢的提出疑问，到底耶稣在十字架上死了还是存活了下来了？这大胆假设，小心求证的精神让我很佩服。因为往往针对信仰疑问的课题，大众都会显得敏感，甚至有些人说你相信就对了，但对我来说盲目的相信就是迷信。而这纪录片，就好像一种激荡脑袋，应该去了解，去阅读，提出疑问，并求证。真理是不怕被质问的…
其实不管是哪个宗教的教导，灵魂人物，最终目的就是让众生受益，让人们脱离苦海，寻求心灵上的平静。每个伟大人物背后的故事总是启发人心的，只是得看你自己的心灵皈依处在哪？每个宗教都是应该被尊重，并互相交流。而我自己总觉得各个宗教灵魂人物们都是菩萨的化身。还有，我很喜欢The Life of the Buddha (BBC Documentary)这纪录片，感谢专业的BBC团队制作这么精彩的影片，实际的去追踪佛陀一生的足迹，真的很用心良苦把佛陀的真迹呈现在我们的面前，总觉的他们好有福报，哈哈:P
The proposition of Jesus as a Buddhist monk is certainly an intriguing one. Coming from a background where i had spent my secondary education at a methodist Christian school, I had always wondered why the New Testament was so different from the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, the character of God was that of a fearsome and vengeful albeit all powerful being. However, in the New Testament, Jesus’ character is kindness, compassionate and all embracing. The qualities Jesus exhibited and taught are certainly more Buddhist in nature.
Whether or not Jesus was a Buddhist monk, i do think he was a Bodhisattva from how he lived his life. From the beginning of his life, where he was sought out by three wise men which is reminiscent of monks seeking high incarnations and making offerings to the incarnate lamas to Christ’s ascension which sounds like what highly attained meditators can do, there are more reasons to support the hypothesis that Jesus was Buddhist than there are against.
While the hypothesis would be considered heretical by Christians, if people can simply be more open minded to examine the possibilities, if people can look at the qualities of Jesus rather than the label of Christianity, perhaps it could be easier to accept each other’s faiths and there can be peace on earth.
Sharon, please read my answer posted today too. Many of the mythologies in the Old Testament are copied and modified from other religions.
For me, whether Jesus was a Buddhist monk or not is not that crucial. But if Jesus wasn’t a Buddhist, then he was undoubtedly, greatly influenced by the teachings of the Buddha. That, what Jesus taught was very much based on Buddhist principles is important because it goes very far towards showing that the Truth that the Buddha taught is universal and that Truth applies in any language and can take expression in any religious form.
By the time Jesus was born, Buddhism was already some 500 years and had spread largely due to the work of Emperor Ashoka who spread Buddhism to all corners of the Indian empire and stretching to Egypt and Greece. Even before Ashoka, the conquest of the East by Alexander the Great made the East-West connection possible.
Judea, was no doubt a trade centre between the East and the West and therefore it would not have been hard for Buddhist teachings and philosophy to find its way into the Middle East. Therefore, it was very likely that Jesus was exposed to Buddhism even from a very young age.
The Russian Doctor, Nicholas Notovitch’s claim to have sighted and translated verses obtained from Buddhist monasteries in Kashmir describing the presence of Jesus, known there as Isa, may have been challenged and discredited by the Church. But even if we place little weight on Notovitch’s work, and even if the historic evidence of Jesus having studied in India were to be challenged, there are undisputed similarities between the Buddha’s teachings and the teachings of Jesus.
As a matter of fact, the essence of Jesus’s teachings seems to be closer to Buddhist tenets than traditional Jewish view of God . To begin with, when Jesus told his disciples that the kingdom of God was within each of us, it seems very much like Buddhist teachings, which speaks of the Buddha-nature within our own conscience. Certainly to say that God is within us is a departure from traditional Jewish belief that one meets God in God’s tabernacle. This is very key, because at the core of Buddhism is the call to look inwards at ourselves for salvation, rather than to look outwards for help from an external supreme being.
Jesus stressed on morals, ethics, forgiveness and acceptance rather than justice and what Jesus taught in Matthew 5 which warns against striking back at enemies is directly against the Old Testament stance of an eye for an eye as stated in Exodus 21.
There are many more examples of the close similarity between what the Buddha taught and what Jesus said. Too many to be sheer coincidences:
In John 8, Jesus said: “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” This bear an uncanny resemblance to the words of the Buddha: “Do not look at the faults of others, or what others have done or not done; observe what you yourself have done and have not done.” (Dhammapada 4:7)
In Luke 6:27, Jesus taught: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. From anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them back.” (Luke 6:27-30) .
Similarly the Buddha taught: “Hatreds do not ever cease in this world by hating, but by love: this is an eternal truth. Overcome anger by love, overcome evil by good … Overcome the miser by giving, overcome the liar by truth.” (Dhammapada 1.5 & 17.3).
More examples:
(i) Jesus: “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins.” Buddha: “Let all sins that were committed in this world fall on me, that the world may be delivered.”;
(ii) Jesus: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” Buddha: “Let your thoughts of boundless love pervade the whole world.”;
(iii) Jesus: “You father in heaven makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.” Buddha: “The light of the sun and the moon illuminates the whole world, both him who does well and him who does ill, both him who stands high and him who stands low.”
What Jesus taught was not a complete departure from the Torah or the Old Testament tradition but we have to remember that Jesus lived and taught at a time when chaos ruled and there were serious dangers in going against the Pharisees. So Jesus was not out to destroy the belief system based on the Old Testament God. Neither did the Buddha refute the existence and power of Brahma nor did the Buddha advice people not to worship Brahma. At the heart of Jesus’s teachings on love and forgiveness of sins we hear the Buddha’s words on compassion and kindness.
When Jesus suddenly appeared before John The Baptists, he was already almost 30 years old, and those who heard him marveled at how wise Jesus was. How did Jesus come by this wisdom which was different from what the Pharisees taught, and which was quite revolutionary at that time? Revolutionary perhaps to the Jewish tradition, and of the way they viewed salvation, but already very much in practice by Buddhist practitioners at that time.
自古以来，各派宗教都会因为人类的关系而时常都出现争议，今次的这个状况也是会引起很多人的
争论。
不过，我个人意见就是无论耶稣是否曾经是佛教徒而言，对我来说这不是一个重点，重点是你信仰
的宗教能不能够带给你快乐，向善，学做好人，无论如何宗教信仰它是造福众生，世界和平的。
感谢仁波切的分享。
Thanks Rinpoche for sharing us the historical side of Jesus and Buddha, it’s very inspiring, both are great beings that spending their life to serve others and suffer for others.
I like the video “Jesus in India – Beyond Belief Documentary”, it says clearly that the path that Jesus took according to a valid scripture in Lhasa, Tibet. So it can’t be wrong. I like the part the host Frank Huguenard comparing what Jesus said and Buddhist’s teaching, seems very similar and not contradicting.
I don’t remember all, but this is what I think. The Jesus said “The kingdom of Heaven is within you”, Buddha said “Look within to seek for inner Buddha”; they both share the same teachings, to look for inner peace.
But sadly to know that most of Jesus’s teaching or records about him had destroyed by the Roman and there are so much thing we couldn’t trace back. Lucky to say that Tibetan Buddhism has the lineage system to protect the teaching of the Buddha. Thanks to the monasteries that preserve Buddhist teaching so well.
All religion promote peace, which everyone needs the most. The teachings might not be all the same, but it can appeal to different people so they can accept easily and to achieve the ultimate goal of all religion, which is world peace.
Thank you Jesus, thank you Buddha, thank you all spiritual leaders of the world!
伟人总是有伟人的故事，无论是释迦牟尼、耶稣或莫哈默德。而每个宗教的代表人物，总是有个撼动人心、启发人心和了不起的故事。有一些故事像神话般，因此很多无神论者就拼命攻击虔诚教徒的无知。
也有很多人问，你为什么要信仰某个宗教。你如何证明神、上帝、佛的存在，也是个千古流传的一个疑问。其实这些伟人的故事，对我而言，我并没有尽信，但也不带着怀疑或讽刺的心态去质疑什么。我相信像是耶稣、佛陀等的故事，最终就是要启发我们要向善、挑战局限、要慈悲、要坚持……至于故事的出处、真伪、准确度、历史性，纵使有不同的人在不同的时候做出抨击然后推翻宗教人士的话，推翻释迦牟尼、耶稣或莫哈默德是假的，难道一个宗教的精神会因此而被推翻吗？宗教是一种信仰，当然可以去考证，但该去考证的，是这些教诲对我们心，起了多少好的转变。就算今天有人告诉我，佛陀根本不存在，我也不会在乎。因为祂的教诲已经改变了我，让我变得更为快乐。祂是不是真的存在，我不需要科学家、考古学家来告诉我，因为祂的教诲（无论是祂真的存在，然后给予教诲；还是有人凭空捏造），已经深植在我心中，很多很多人也因为祂的教诲，而造福很多人。
无神论者或许会说，那你还相信来干什么呢？信仰宗教如果那么神圣，那就不会有纷争。那既然相信了也会有纷争，那为什么我不信仰宗教呢？若是信仰某个宗教，我至少有改变向善的一个小机会。
In Rinpoche’s book 108 Ways to Grab My Apples (Published by KMP), there’s a quote – Different practices for varied minds are necessary. So never criticise others’ practices. Respect is a sign you are practicing.
The varied minds in this world have always come forth with new theories and concepts. We human have always just believe and take whatever we like. God exist, God doesn’t exist – there will always be people who believe and those who don’t. Many Christians choose what they want to believe and take from the Bible, just as there are also many Buddhists who choose what they want to believe and take from Buddha’s teachings. I don’t think the intent of this post is to conclude who Jesus is or is not. No one can force us to believe anything we don’t want to. Knowledge and information are so accessible nowadays. We live in a fortunate time of information accessibility. These information should serve to help us think and contemplate what is the truth we understand for ourselves.
When I first watch the video, my immediate thought was NO, Jesus cannot be a Buddhist monk. This thought was based on that the fundamental belief of Christianity is that God exist and He is the creator of Heaven and Earth. Jesus is the Son of God (whether He himself claimed it or not, He definitely implied that He is and accepted the recognition when given). As such if Jesus is the Son of God and He and the Father are one, the fundamental truth would be that God exist. This is very different to what I understand Buddhism to be (based on my limited knowledge at this time). Also Jesus teach that He is the way, the truth and the life, that whosoever believe in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. It’s about him. He died on the cross to take away the sins of the world. As I understand Buddhism, the teachings are based on following the path and stages to enlightenment and not based on one person alone (Buddha) to be able to take away our karma, take away samsara and grant us enlightenment.
After thinking about it for a few days and verbally discussing it with Pastor Susan and Sharon, I am now more inclined to say YES, it is very possible that Jesus was a Buddhist monk. Going back to Rinpoche’s quote that different practices for varied minds are necessary. I don’t see Buddhist as a religion as much as a way of life. What have Jesus really done but leave a legacy of teachings about kindness, forgiveness, compassion and grace. Everything he did he did for others, to benefit others – this is a sign of a Boddhisattva. So, what about my own argument on God and Jesus being the son of God. At the time of Jesus, there is little knowledge of science, like the Vikings age, people predominantly believe in the existence of God. All he did may have been to use the platform of that belief to spread his teachings.
There is a parallel I see in Buddhism and Jesus. Jesus did not deny he is the Son of God to those who believe he is. In Buddhism, if you see your Guru as a Buddha, then he is a Buddha. If you see him as a Boddhisattva, then he is a Boddhisattva. If you see him as a Teacher, then he is a Teacher. So it is the perception in how we see the Lama/Guru, that he will that person to us. The purpose of it is not for the person to gain recognition but to instill our own faith in that person’s teachings. Jesus may have just been using the people’s belief in God to draw them to his teachings. A Guru out of pure compassion will use varied methods to get through to us, to help us learn and practice Dharma. And that can be what Jesus is doing, to cater for that era.
Initially I was quite firm that NO, Jesus cannot be a Buddhist monk because I have a pre-conception of what a Buddhist monk should be and what Buddhism is all about DESPITE that I know very little about Buddhism at all. What I can see though is the results of Jesus life, how he used his life, how he lived to benefits others, how he takes upon the suffering of others and that tells me he can very well have been a Buddhist monk, more than that a highly attained Lama and a Boddhisattva.
I agreed with most that the part where the 3 wise men from the EAST followed the stars came knocking the door where Jesus is born is exactly the same as the tibetan tradition of looking for the incarnation of high Lamas, Tulku etc.
However, I have a very different view, perhaps controversial too. Instead of viewing that Christainity is a new form of religion, perhaps it could be the case where Jesus was actually spreading Buddhism but in order for people in the Roman empire to accept, he may have to use another form of teaching.
Buddha left behind 84,000 texts to suit every different people and perhaps “Christainity” is one of them but like the many experts have commented, the different version of the gospels may have amended the true meaning of the teachings as time passes by.
I find the part which says that 3 wise men from the east followed the stars and presented themselves and their gifts to Jesus to be interesting as it is so similar to Buddhism’s way of locating the reincarnation of high lamas.
That aside, I guess it’s not really that important whether or not Jesus was a buddhist monk as it will remain highly controversial – people simply choose to believe in what they think is the truth. No one should judge others on what they perceive to be the ‘truth’.
Throughout my teenage years to adulthood, there were many people who shared the idea of god and Christianity with me. When the going gets tough and the mind is weak, the idea of God and being able to leave one’s life in his hands does appear comforting. However, I have never been able to take that step in accepting the god idea as it doesn’t provide the answers to my questions such as why some people were born to suffer right from birth. I also felt that the emphasis of faith above deeds have the danger of resulting in moral fallacies – when the judging factor is faith, it seems easier to find excuses for oneself when we commit any wrongdoings as it is ultimately secondary.
This documentary shows that modern world people would not take things blindly, they would find out more. Is good about when we find out more about what is all about the religion in this world, people can gain more faith in it.
Noted that they are similarity in Buddhism and Christianity, the most significant different is reincarnation. Christian and Islam does not believe in reincarnation, even is already prove reincarnation exist. The other different is human don’t like suffering, and Buddha taught us how to end suffering, others is going to heaven is the end. But if we end up in heaven which is another world, will the suffering end, we don’t know.
The beautiful part is this world is every one of us has freedom to
choose what we believe in and carry on our life. Therefore documentary like this is very useful information to understand others religion. And if we can get the message, we would find we are in one family, the only different is the final destination, heaven or enlightenment.
I like the last video which explain very clearly on the Buddhism, one of them say that “everything connect to everything else. You never live by yourself. You interact all the people all the time” and also “Our happiness depends on their happiness, how can we happy if others not happy.” The message is very clear from Buddha that “world peace” is possible if everyone care everyone, instead of focus own agenda and doing things benefit ownself only.
In my opinion, Jesus was a re-incarnation of a high buddhist lama who have chose to be rebirth in the area he was born. The documentary somehow affirms my thoughts about that. Thank you Rinpoche for sharing such a great video to all of us.
Here in Malaysia, we are exposed to different religions and i grew up with friends from all faiths without any sense of discrimination. Things did change as I got older where I started to experience discrimination of sort as people started to develop their own personalities and characters which are defined by believe systems and principles. It could be a believe system from a god head, a philosophy, or the worship of materialism itself.
I am not a historian and cannot validate the information presented in this documentaries though i enjoyed learning from it very much. Perhaps Jesus was influenced by Buddhist teachings, perhaps he went as far as being a monk.. I don’t know. But from being exposed to both Christianity and Buddhism, many aspects of the teachings from Buddha and Jesus are very similar and it is the teachings that I am most intrigued by. However, i thought i’d share a little about the life stories of Krishna, Jesus and Prince Siddharta as well as some similarities between Jesus and Buddha’s teachings.
1. Krishna came about 800 years before Jesus
Each year, Hindus celebrate the birth of Krishna. The Story tells of an evil king who killed many young children because a prophecy foretold that a child will grow up to kill him. The crucial hour of the birth of Krishna was in the middle of the night of an immaculate conception with the presence of angels. The family of the child had to escape. The sea parted for them as they cross the river! DOesn’t this story sound familiar in what you’d read off the Christian Bible?
2. Buddha was tempted by “demons” before he overcame them, did miracles to feed many as well as walked on water and many more. He too had a miraculous birth, prophesied to be a great king or leader of men.
“Do to others as you would have them do to you” – Jesus
“Consider others as yourself” – Buddha
“If someone strikes you on the right cheek, offer him the other also” – Jesus
“If anyone would give you a blow of his hand, with a stick or with a knife, you should abandon any desires or utter no evil words” – Buddha
“Love your enemy. Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who abuse you. From anyone who takes away your coat, do not withhold even your shirt” – Jesus
“Hatreds do not ever cease in this world by hating but by love. This is an eternal truth. Overcome anger by love. Overcome evil by good. Overcome the miser by giving. Over come the liar by truth” – Buddha
3 What Karmapa and Dalai Lama has to to say :
The Karmapa, recognizes Jesus as a Bodhisattva, expressing that Buddha’s and Jesus’s thoughts or teachings are similar because their motivation is to guide others towards the right path. If we look back the history, the stories of these holy beings are similar. are the same as they.
This is what the Dalai Lama has to say, ““If you are Christian,” he said, “it is better to develop spiritually within your religion and be a genuine, good Christian. If you are a Buddhist, be a genuine Buddhist”
These great beings brought about positive change, break norms and strong cultural values in their societies. They were not conformist but social reformist,…to bring about equality, happiness.
4. The teaching of Buddha is based on the fact that everybody wants to the happy. Isn’t this what we all want? I rather focus on the similarities from these great teachers have made immense impact on humanity for hundreds of years and whose teachings are alive in the hearts of millions.
What role do we want to play in our society that we live in today? Do we want to magnify the differences or magnify the goodness to bring about happiness for ourselves and other.
Source : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgksXcesXrA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6XNO6Jv3q0&feature=related
http://www.equip.org/articles/the-good-heart-a-buddhist-perspective-on-the-teachings-of-jesus/
“Forgive thy enemy” and again “The meek shall inherit the earth”. These are words from Jesus’ teachings. How clearly they echo the teachings of Lord Buddha about forgiveness, love and peace.
This blog post of Rinpoche’s is about finding harmony among all faiths and the surest way of finding harmony is to see that the teachings may come from different compassionate and enlightened beings, but they carry the same message.
For Christians the crucifixion and death on the cross is a symbol of Jesus’s great love and compassion for man. His resurrection is a symbol of hope beyond life and death.
I agree that the four gospels that contain the New Testament are meant to be studied with a focus on Jesus’s teachings and the compassion that is behind all his miracles.Other details and differences in the four gospels are not pertinent to a true and sincere practitioner of Christianity.When we think of the great compassion of Mother Teresa and the source of that compassion, then all this debate over whether Jesus did die on the cross or whether he did rise again from the dead on the third day pale into insignificance.
After watching videos it didn’t come as a surprise to me that Jesus may have travelled to India and learnt Buddhism during his time. Jesus’s life during the age of 14 to 29 wasn’t recorded in the bible. What happened during those years? A common assumption amongst Christians is that Jesus simply lived in Nazareth during that period, but there are various accounts that told of Jesus having travelled to India. Could he have gone to India during that time? Studied and grew up there (Like how a Buddhist monk would when they have come to age)?
According the Matthew’s Gospel, there were three wise men from the east that went to Jerusalem to inquire the whereabouts of a child. They came bearing gifts of Gold, Frankincense (incense) and Myrrh. When they found the child (Jesus), they worshipped him. Who were these three wise men? How did they know about the birth of Jesus? How a star could have guided them all the way to baby Jesus? And from which part of the east did they travelled from? (Hmmmm… Very similar to how Tibetans monks go searching for their reincarnated Lamas…)
The life of Jesus and Buddha has many similarities, such as:
– Buddha was about 30 years old when he started teaching. Jesus also started his teachings at the age of 30.
– Buddha teaches his disciples, Not to Kill, Not to Steal, Not to Lie, Not to commit Adultery, Not to use Strong Drink, which is similar to Jesus’s, Do not commit Adultery, Do not Murder, Do not Steal, Do not give False Testimony, Honor your Father and Mother (Luke 18:20).
– Both promotes VIRTUOUS ACTIONS that is for the welfare and benefit of others.
– LOVING COMPASSION. Buddha’s teaching is to love the entire mankind and all being, even our enemy. Christianity also teaches the same principle.
“Love thy neighbour like unto yourself”.
This translates to loving not only family and friends, but everyone around us.
Therefore it is not unlikely that Jesus actually went to India to study Buddhism.
It is still a question till today, whether did Jesus really die from the crucifixion? Did he come back to life? Why did Joseph and Nicodemus brought so much herbs (myrrh and aloe about a hundred pounds in weight) into the tomb?
I find the documentary “Jesus In India – Beyond Belief”, makes a lot of sense and actually prompts one to think deeper into the nature of things in a more logical manner.
To conclude this comment, I insert some findings that I got from the net.
“Jesus Body was them laid in a tomb donated by a rich man – Joseph of Arimathea. This Joseph and a man called Nicodemus came to minister to the body.”
“(They) ……. Came to Jesus by night and brought a mixture of myrrh and Aloes about on hundred pound weight” John 19:39”
“Were the herbs not used for embalming the body of Jesus? From the sources seen so far the idea of embalming using aloe has only surfaced in the Egyptian world. It is thought that pharaohs were buried along with aloes. Was Jesus being embalmed? The problem occurs when Jewish burial practices are examined. Jewish burial involved simply washing the body and burying it, there was no embalming. For a body to be embalmed incisions needed to be made. This was understood by the people of the time, and for Jews to make such incisions would not be acceptable. Upon the advent of the passing away of Judah, one of the ancestors of modern day Jews, he is recorded as having stated:
“I die this day at the age of one hundred and nineteen years before your eyes. None shall bury me in a costly garment, nor shall ye cut my body to embalm it, but ye shall carry me to Hebron.” Having spoken these words, Judah sank into death.
It seems unlikely that the aloes present were for embalming, also having myrrh there also in large quantities was not consistent with this hypothesis. If the viewpoint is taken that Jesus could possibly have still been alive at this point, and that Joseph of Arimithea and Nicodemus who were tending to him had knowledge of herbs, then the possible role of these herbs becomes clear.
Could they have been used to treat Jesus and to help him recover from his ordeal?”
“There are many versions of that story one came up in a book years ago called ‘Passover Plot’, which suggested that he had been sedated on the cross – that he was removed quite early and therefore could well have survived. That is certainly a possibility.” (Elaine Pagels, Professor of Religion, Princeton University)
I think it is quite possible that Jesus didn’t die on the cross but was seriously injured, later on escaped lived, continued his teachings and passed away Kashmir (known by the people there as Yuz Asaf).
To me, I am interested in what Jesus said, “The Kingdom of Heaven is within you”, “The Kingdom of God cometh not with observation”, and “The Kingdom of God will last forever”. Aren’t these words similar to what we call Buddhahood? The Buddha seed is in everyone, we can only achive Buddhahood by self transformation, and Buddha is the only state that is permenent.
As long as there are people there are differences. Even sometimes within the same faiths people can find faults with their fellow brothers and sisters. What is important is that we should focus on the similarities and how each type of faith can improve the human condition. Jesus was a spiritual phenomenon and in the midst of so much difficulties he founded a faith that inspired millions of people on to the path of peace and happiness. Whether jesus was inspired by Buddhist monks or Hindu sadhu is not as important as the message Jesus brought to the world. But i do find so much parallels between Jesus Teachings and Buddhism and the fact that three wise men looked for Jesus resonates so much with the search of a tulku that has taken on a new rebirth.
This theory is not proven and may be right or wrong. It is good to hear that Jesus may be a Buddhist monk who is a reincarnate lama who went to Palestine to teach and then returned to India. If it is true, Jesus has successfully created another religion which is also good for people to believe in and followed till today.
All religions have similar qualities like compassion, love, respect, etc…. and not to harm others. Be it BUddhism or Christianity, it is knowledge for us to know these theories so that our faith in our religion will be stronger.
Dear Rinpoche,
Thank you for putting together all these video for us. It is a real interesting topic for discussion and further reading on the lost years of Jesus. Many researchers are seeing the similarities between Christianity and Buddhism. The Ten Commandments are similiar to our Refuge vows too. The documentary on The Life of Buddha is a good introduction to Buddha and his teachings and is made very simple to understand by everyone. I am very interested to know more about the lost or rather censored books of Bible.
Very Interesting and gain much knowledge from this documentary, I watched and I did little research and Here is a little history from Wikipedia:
In 326 BCE, Alexander invaded India. King Ambhi, ruler of Taxila, surrendered his city, a notable center of Buddhist faith, to Alexander. Alexander fought an epic battle against Porus, a ruler of a region in the Punjab in the Battle of Hydaspes in 326 BCE.
Several philosophers, such as Pyrrho, Anaxarchus and Onesicritus, are said to have been selected by Alexander to accompany him in his eastern campaigns. During the 18 months they were in India, they were able to interact with Indian ascetics, generally described as Gymnosophists (“naked philosophers”). Pyrrho (360-270 BCE) returned to Greece and became the first Skeptic and the founder of the school named Pyrrhonism. The Greek biographer Diogenes Laertius explained that Pyrrho’s equanimity and detachment from the world were acquired in India.[3] Few of his sayings are directly known, but they are clearly reminiscent of eastern, possibly Buddhist, thought:
“Nothing really exists, but human life is governed by convention”
“Nothing is in itself more this than that” (Diogenes Laertius IX.61)
Another of these philosophers, Onesicritus, a Cynic, is said by Strabo to have learnt in India the following precepts:
“That nothing that happens to a man is bad or good, opinions being merely dreams”
“That the best philosophy [is] that which liberates the mind from [both] pleasure and grief” (Strabo, XV.I.65[4])
Sir William Tarn wrote that the Brahmans who were the party opposed to the Buddhists always fought with Alexander.
These contacts initiated the first direct interactions between Greek and Indian philosophy, which were to continue and expand for several more centuries.
In Addition, the best evidence for the Buddhist ideas in some of Jesus’ teachings comes from the Greek philosophers who were influenced by Buddhist teachings and from the almost certain presence of Buddhist “missionaries” in the Mediterranean region, including what was then Palestine.
I was born in a Christian home,I was instilled a form of foundational belief at home and church
That God was absolute and everything else else was of the devil, with this mindset, most Christians weak or strong in the faith “look down” on other religions and Christianity is the only true faith,my group was considered “radical” in church and was frowned upon,my leader founded a small church with some of us,unfortunately I was the “black sheep” in the grp for “questioning” my leader many times,i was misunderstood and felt really hurt,I couldn’t find any real answers and I left broken hearted.after decades of struggling in the faith, I explored Buddhism,it hurts big time to renounce the faith I once held so dear, but sorry,my logic and common sense must be better than that,I did many researches, questioned myself through the nights and watched my surroundings and come to a HARD conclusion I have to be a Buddhist,since then I have no regrets yet,hehe..I sincerely do hope Christians can keep an open mind,allow some form of logic and common senses to flow,be good to yourself and experience the fullness of joy in Buddhism and the dharma,to all “backsliders” my heart goes out to you,may we find the TRUTH soon.
Amos
Hi Amos,
Thanks for sharing, I come from a similar background (not uncommon in US). My parents are very nice though and have zero problem (at least to my face) with my practicing Buddhism. I was forced to go to Sunday school (like a good parent would do) for years and years, and get confirmed. Everything from the hymns, to sermons, to stained glass windows, random stories, there was no chance of it clicking ever; only created resistance. I would pray for things like getting girls, or getting to the bus on time, and nothing happened (now I know it increases your attachment and suffering). No explanation of anything, just assumed acceptance of the Bible. Even became rigidly atheist until opening up to Buddhism. Now with dharma I have respect for Christianity again and understand the practices: “Oh yeah, that is how confession helps, you should practice it!”
Then it’s funny when people think “something is wrong, why can’t you just be Christian? Don’t you know that you’re going to hell?”
It’s like, (I wouldn’t actually say this) don’t be foolish… there was zero chance of my ever become Christian, and I am baptized and confirmed (that goes away when you practice dharma?), if 14 years of being confirmed didn’t convince me of God then what will, and I would only be a suffering hateful menace to people around me, and to your religion, if I wasn’t Buddhist. People only see the negative, and want it their way or the highway.
“Isn’t it about time we stop killing each other in the name of God? Your God is superior than my God? My way of connecting to the divinity is superior than yours, what is that about?” I like what Frank Huguenard said at the end of this video ‘Jesus in India – Beyond Belief Documentary.’
Does it really matter who or what we believe in?
Recently, an attained and wise man said along the lines that ‘Spirituality is about practicing kindness and compassion, generosity, morality, patience, effort, awareness and to benefit others’. And that is wisdom.
That man is H.E. Tsem Tulku Rinpoche during a short dharma talk to guests, students and journalists during the launch of the book ‘The Promise’ in Kechara.
I agree with what Henry says. The videos here are very interesting. Of course I like the ones on Buddha’s story more than the ones on Jesus in India etc. But the point here is to contemplate and not judge. It is intriguing to discover the theories on Jesus and the missing years. However, what I see is what Henry says, does it really matter?
What is important is the qualities Buddha and Jesus have in common and really not what the religion is. Both Jesus and Buddha, and all holy beings, hold the intrinsic qualities we all should uphold and nurture in ourselves. And that is the whole reason they existed no matter where.
It’s always fascinating to learn about new discoveries that tell us more about history. What’s even more fascinating is how many different interpretations can be generated by people with and without expertise. And therein lies the danger, as always. When interpretations differ, prejudices kick in and, very soon, conflicts arise. And this usually leads us into discussions about who’s right and who’s wrong, rather than focusing on what really matters.
As Frank Huguenard said in “Jesus in India”, “… each of these (religious) books say exactly the same thing. And that when we open up for an interfaith dialogue to discuss our differences, what you’ll realise is that we don’t have any, just different ways of expressing divinity…”, what we should focus on is what brings us together rather than what sets us apart.
It’s like driving and cars. Billions of people on this planet know how to drive, that the brake slows down or stops the car and the accelerator speeds it up. We all know that and agree on it. But we drive with different kinds of cars. Trucks, sportscars, automatic, manual. And instead of celebrating our common ground, we have been distracted by the desire to compare vehicles. Mine’s faster, mine’s more powerful, mine’s a classic, mine’s expensive!
Whether or not Jesus was in India or was a Buddhist is, at the end of the day, only a fascinating story for me. There may be truth in it, I don’t know. It certainly explains why there are so many parallels in both the teachings of Buddha and Jesus. But it is in these parallels that I will focus and place hope on.
“Namaste” is such a beautiful word…
The combination of videos provided a lot of knowledge regardless of whether the story about Jesus is true or not. I guess nobody today knows exactly what really happened back then. But I really like the idea that Jesus was a Buddhist monk as it makes sense to me. It’s not important how Jesus was born (whether from Virgin Mary or just a normal mother) or where he was buried (Jerusalem, south of France, Kashmir), it’s His teaching which is the most important thing. People who are wasting time arguing about the “true” story of Jesus are actually arguing for their own ego and missed the teaching itself.
Jesus taught His followers about love, forgiveness, kindness and compassion. All of these are taught in Buddhism as well as all the great religions. The focus is on right conduct and should not be on which religion is better. Wars and massacres that are “so called” caused by religious differences are actually human games. The name of religion is used by some people to gain power, to conquer others and to cheat. True practitioners of religions focus on benefitting others and living morally.
I’m also quite happy personally. Since my grandfather was a Christian priest and many of my family are Christians, I thought it would be a conflict for me to practice Dharma. Now it’s such relief, we’re STILL the same family! Haha!
Also, the videos about Buddha were helpful to understand the whole story of Siddharta. The most impressive part was when Prince Siddharta met the four people: the old, the sick, the dead and the practitioner. For Siddharta, his mind transformed when he saw these people. For us, we see them all the time that we have become numb and our minds are not able to transform. Dharma teaches us how to be aware of things around us, even the smallest event could give us a teaching. The Buddha is inside our mind, everyone has the chance to be Enlightened but we have to train our minds to draw out teachings from our daily lives. That’s how we improve.
A big thank you to all the people who produced these films and thanks to Rinpoche for bringing them together in one place for us to learn.
Christine
I went to a christian missionary school, went to church and did a fair bit of Bible studies, I have found and still find the religion to be too simplistic and not true to what life is all about. As such I never became a christian.
I have seen relatives of mine who treated their mothers badly and went to church to ask for forgiveness and continue to ill treat their mothers. That was the major point why I have found Christianity to be too basic and simple with not true teachings for Christians to be better people. The questions I had in mind was how could it be so easy to ascend to Heaven when all you have learnt to be nice about was just asking for forgiveness.
The story of Jesus will always have spots of blindness as one believes him to be son of God, when the existence of GOD is being questioned by science and as science progresses GOD seem to be less and less likely.
The Gospels tell a lot of the great miracles by Jesus and his teachings. If Jesus teachings are to be studied in details and analyzed carefully, the similarities to Buddhism may well be clearly recognized.
So from Jesus teachings and his conduct as a human being I would consider him a Buddhist. After all Buddhism was introduced before Jesus born.
my friend you’ve said that you’ve done a fair bit of Bible studies. but let me tell you something its not enough to know what really is inside the bible and about who Jesus Christ is. if you want to know something nicely you better go to the core of it spent some more time in reading the bible and you’ll discover who Jesus really is.
Buddhism and Christianity have more in common than religious adherents are usually willing to admit. It may not have happened exactly as Nicholas Notovitch claimed, and there may be an ‘St Issa Sutra’ safely tucked away in some Buddhist monastery.
However, there are many points of similarity between these two great religions which remain to be explored. Both espoused altruism, emphasizing that it is more blessed to give than to receive. Both said that love is the best way to overcome hatred.
I would say that a Buddhist that lives his religion well, fits the Christian term and vice versa. Jesus’ commitment to sacrifice his own life in order to save others was a hard evidence for being a Buddhist practitioner. Altruism is at the heart of the teachings of both Buddha and Jesus.
So from a Buddhist perspective, Jesus could be considered to be a Buddhist monk as his beliefs matches in many of the philosophical concepts found in Buddhism.
This is an interesting article covered by BBC and I think it has some truth in it. There is no doubt that Jesus and Buddha are the same as both preached loving kindness and forgiveness. Whether it is Christian dharma or Buddhist dharma, the bottomline is that both of them guided us to be good human beings.
There’s an intersting article that I read which I would like to share http://www.thezensite.com/non_Zen/Was_Jesus_Buddhist.html
I have no doubt all gods n Buddhas of different religious are the same, they are enlightened and had left their marks on earth to show us the way to liberation. Their respective teachings were transcribed and written by people of different intellectual background hence some details or vital points were lost or misconstrued.
This explained why there are several different holy scriptures that formed the backbone of various religions.
I have read about theories of Jesus’ whereabouts during those Lost years but these videos are by far most convincing.
The part about the 3 wise men who when to Jesus’ birth place guided by the stars was likened as lamas sent to look for their guru’s reincarnation was mind blowing to me. I have never linked these two together !! And it made so much sense !!
According to some Buddhism literature i read, God of Cristian Bible resides in the Heaven of Thirty Three,same abode with Jade Emperor,also the King of God for the Chinese believers.These Kings of Gods are very Ancient Gods.They are not the small Gods but they are the Kings of Gods just like earth,they are many Kings and Queens.But in Heaven,you have to have the merits and virtue so that you can stay in the Heaven,which is compatible with both religions,Christianity and Buddhism.Christians believes their God is the Creators of Heaven, Earth and Hell.Other religions too believes their Gods is also the creators of of heaven,hell and earth.These heaven,hell and as we may know, is very close to the earth,as we may know.Gautama Buddha states that everything has ‘Buddha nature’. It is this Buddha nature that all existence comes into beings from absolute nothingness.The Buddha does not create this world and the universe.It is the brightness of enlightenment that triggers the creation of everything in the empty space.This brightness produce false objects which creates everything what we sometimes called ‘Big Bang’.After everything false comes into existence,then the karma will operate,the karma of false objects such as hell,earth and heaven, which has many occupants/beings in it as a manifestation of karma activities, because all of these beings create from the Mind alone,which is consistent with the ‘Buddha Teaching’. All of this object,be it has form or no-form,comes into existence.Christian often believes their God is the Creator.We cannot say they are wrong.It is their believes.The Buddha, compare to Jesus is some what different, but both of them have some kind of quality mind of enlightenment.Once these sages , Jesus and Buddha , awakened to enlightenment.their job is to help people both in mind and spirit.Everything else is unimportant.
I read a book many years ago about Jesus’s early years where he went to learn Buddhism in India and his tomb can be found in northern India. I am not the least surprise. I also read that when the Christain missionaries went to Tibet while relating about Jesus to convert the Tibetans, the Lamas explained to them that they knew the messiah. The Tibetans could easily accept Jesus but the Christain missionaries could not penetrate their belief.
Why Christainity had so many different version of gospels? Many Christains are baffled at the inconsistency of the many different gospels from different close opostles of Jesus. My view to this is of course due to the many mental dispositions; different level of intelligence and capability of the people in the world that makes the whole world ticks. Hence, Jesus just like Buddha taught differently in accordance to the many different levels of his students.
thank you rinpoche nice story.
This is an interesting account of Jesus life. People are very interested in finding out whether Jesus really was crucified, was he resurrected, how true was the bible? What do we get out of this investigation? I think it is more meaningful to take the teachings in the bible and practice it. Teachings of compassion, teachings of respect, teachings of peace and harmony.
For example, there are many children stories available in the market, they are all made up stories, not real at all but parents read them to the children because there are teachings in the stories. What is appreciated is the teachings, not whether the characters are truly in existent.
The Respected BBC? See the point is not everything you see and hear is a truth, Clearly the video has no support of any genuine evidence as to whether Jesus was a Buddhist monk or not.
Good for Buddhist who is skeptical about Christian Faith
Dear TheBoi,
These videos shows evidences from various researchers that Jesus may have been to India and learnt Buddhism. I agree with you that not everything we see or hear is true, that’s why we are here discussing whether if it may be true (not to put down anyone). If you do have any videos and researches that proves otherwise (other than just asking people to believe and not discuss whether it’s true or not true), please do kindly share with us. It always good to have evidence and concrete explanation don’t you think?
Dear Joe,
I agree with both you and TheBoi that not all we read is absolute truth. This is a fact. For this reason I enjoy this Blog and Rinpoche’s teachings because it constantly encourages us to think for ourselves and make informed opinions. And we should all respect one another’s opinions even if we may not agree. Even in disagreement we must have respect.
If we listen deeply to the teachings of Buddha and Jesus,we will find that they speak with one heart.We can transform our lives if we could enact even one verse from these teachings.
It’s remarkable how Jesus and Buddha,whether talking about love, wisdom,or materialism,were guiding us along the same path.
These videos are all very interesting. However, I think Jesus travelled to the East before he died and not after. The Bible says that when he died he went to hell and took the keys of death from the devil (a bardo perhaps????). When he was resurrected he said that everyone can escape death and be born into heaven to join him with God (Maybe Jesus is the Christian Yamantaka????)
It makes more sense to believe that Jesus went to the east to learn from skilled mahasiddhas and gain siddhis so that he could benefit others on his side of the world. He multiplied fish, resurrected people from the dead, these are all siddhis that one can obtain from years of practice and since he worked for the benefit of others, he definitely was a Buddha. He may have not been Buddhist but he was a Buddha.
It’s so easy to see the differences, but it’s harder to see the similarities… Peace, love and Dharma
A high Lama once said that if we are realistic and practice with understanding, it can be powerful and pschologically effective, have real meaning and,without doubt, bring the peaceful realisations we desire. But on the other hand, if we do our practices half-heartedly and without understanding, all we’ll get is being “depressed”. It was also pointed out that it is extremely difficult to practice Dharma, such that it diminishes your delusions, but if we can, its most worthwhile; it will really shake our ego. Even one small act of charity giving, motivated by the intention to realize everlasting, peaceful enlightenment can be incredible effective and really shatter our attachment. As advised, we should not be attached to anything, not even religion, much less material things. We are to practice our spiritual path understanding its reality and how it relates to us as individuals. It is said “that’s the way to discover universal love, free of insecure, partisan feelings such as, “I’m a Buddhist, I’m a Christian, I’m a Hindu” or whatever. It shouldn’t matter what we are; each of us has to find the path that suits us as individuals. If we have this kind of understanding, we’ll never be against any religion. Different people need different paths. But unfortunately, our limited minds aren’t that relaxed. We think “my religion is the best,the only way. All others are wrong”. Its not the religion that are at fault; its the followers. Therefore, it is advised that if we want to be psychologically healthy, we must understand our path and act correctly and realisations will come of their own accord, but most important of all is to have “interfaith harmony, understanding and peace amongst all living beings”.
I have heard links of Jesus to Buddhism before. I think one great teacher said the death of Christ where he takes the sins of the world onto himself sounds very much like Tonglen. Christianity also teaches about forgiveness and to ‘turn the other cheek’ when we are wronged which is patience, one of the 6 Paramitas. It is nice to see similarities between two religions as it encourages religious harmony.
Natalie,here is something that I could not digest in my mind when you mentioned that you think one great teacher said the death of Christ where he takes the sins of the world onto himself sounds very much like Tonglen. As a Buddhist myself it wonders me how can Jesus take the sins of the world onto himself?? Even the great Buddha cannot take the sins of the world onto HIMSELF; let alone Jesus. If Jesus can really take the sins of the world onto himself then I don’t think Jesus is a Buddhist or had even encounter Buddhism at all. Why?? This concept or perception of taking the sins of the world onto oneself is in contradiction to what the Universal law of Karma come into effect. Everyone is responsible for his or her karma via thoughts, speech and actions. Whatever one does he is the maker of his own destiny don’t you think so?? Buddha is a Teacher of men and Gods. Buddha never claimed that He can take or absorb anybody sins but stress clearly that one must do Charity, Keep one Morality and Meditate earnestly to gain the highest bliss.
It is one own effort to walk the path and end one sufferings is the true teaching of the Buddha. Be an Island unto oneself. Take no other refuge except the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha…strive on!!
Dear Thomas,
My understanding on few points that you mentioned below. From some of your comments may I presume that you are of Theravada background? Me too I enjoy reading Arjahn Chah’s teaching prior to jointing Kechara.
Natalie,……said the death of Christ where he takes the sins of the world onto himself sounds very much like Tonglen.
In the Lamrim, What is the definition of the word “Compassion”? Ans: One cannot bear to see the suffering of others. Just as you wish to take on the suffering yourself when you see you love one are suffering. You develop the greater Intention/motivation to actually acquire the skill of be able to do so. That is to become a Buddha yourself! This is Tonglen, mind transformation at the very first stage!
I constantly heard my Guru utter these prayer/vows to take on someone sin(your negative karma) from time to time. I saw him saying this prayer when he hugs someone while they are crying…. My kind Guru shows it by examples.
O.K we have fake it at our level to create the cause for us to actualized it!
As a Buddhist myself it wonders me…….claimed that He can take or absorb anybody sins but stress clearly that one must do Charity, Keep one Morality and Meditate….
Agreed, with your points. As for the question on how could take on our sin? He always advice us to do more Dharma works to collect merits to advert all the past negative Karma. When we do dharma work all our collective negative karma will rise up to divert/stop us from doing virtue. All his project will be at jeopardize and he has to bear with us to help us to overcome it! His dharma works had only one motivation that is to benefit sentient being, by allowing us to carry out the job is to put his work at risk and sentient being benefit at risk! Think of it of how kind a guru would go to the extend of wanting to benefit us.
If a practitioner developed the clairvoyance as a “byproduct” from practice, if he/she does not use this skill to benefit others you will break one of the commitments to one Dharma protector. That what I read from our weekly protector’s puja sadahna.
Can you see how the word “absorb” mean here?
LT Loo
感谢，尊贵的上师詹杜固仁波切，跟我们分享。
非常震撼佛陀伟大的一生纪录片，耶稣是一个佛教徒。
是佛教徒还是耶稣，都为了造福一切众生
所有的宗教都是为了众生受益，带来和平。快乐与幸福，也是所有宗教领袖最终的目标。
This is a very interesting topic indeed. It does makes me wonder at times do they (the learned religious masters) really communicate with their peers especially during the Jesus Christ days. The tomb was an interesting find as well indicating that Jesus actually didn’t die and spent the latter of his life in Kashmir. Controversial but worth challenging to find the truth.
There is a book name ” Jesus live in India” which will tell you how the writer trace the footsteps of Jesus up to Kashmir where his tomb was enshrined until today. Sorry, nobody is allowed to dig up the body for a DNA check to see whether he is Jesus or not. However, the mark of Jesus could be seen on the floor where the footsteps of the person has hole in it. Read the book with an open mind and someday you may have the answer to your question.
Buddhism actually talking about the Mind.The ‘Mind’ in this case that makes up the world.The quality of the Mind is of paramount importance in the view of Buddhism.Buddhism talks about the quality of the mind and how everyone can achieve Buddha Mind or the ‘True Mind’. We as sentient beings always differentiate or using words to label the quality of the ‘holy mind’ as Jesus, Buddhas,etc. Does Jesus have mind? Does Buddha has mind ? If both of them have mind,then might as well both can share the same common traits such as meditation, training of the mind and spirit.Jesus is a name given.Buddha is also the name Given.If both has mind,might as well we can label them ‘Jesus-Buddha Mind’ instead of Jesus and Buddha because we know both have the quality of the mind to attain purity. We are not God nor Buddhas.We often feel comfortable with what we believe in.It is OK.But sometimes, we have to ask ourselves.Are we God or Buddhas? No.We cannot see the reality not even open our heavenly eyes to see the hell, heaven and other pure realms in the space.We are just ordinary human beings who try to questions things why do we exist in this Universe in the first place and how.In this case , Jesus was a Buddhist Monk according to the BBC Documentary.Well,i like to ask everyone,does the words ‘Priest’ and ‘Monk’ look different? Both also Holy.It is just the words that give rise to such distinction. Tsem Tulku Rinpoche has always been compassionate and kind towards sentients beings.Thank you for your kindness and sharing.
First of All, thank you very much Rinpoche for sharing this with all of us. I am happy that Jesus became a buddhist monk after his ‘death on the cross’, I find both religion are similar especially the Roman Catholic. I am not afraid to say that I was a Roman Catholic before I took refuge. I find Buddhism suits me more in accepting situations that we are in. There are similarity in both religion. The Baseline is to benefit others. Whatever religion we just need to respect. I used to say GOD is one and requires different diiferent teachers to show the path to enlightenment.
It is very interesting to know that after Jesus woke up from his death, he actually went to India and became a monk there. Jesus just like any other scholars (those who came from China or Tibet to learn Buddhism) that went to India and study Buddhism. Jesus then continue to benefit others until he achieved enlightenment.
All Religions are teachings to convince people to be a better person. Hence the teachings are very similar. It’s always about love, giving and peace. I think no matter what religion we believed in and practicing, most importantly is the transformation in our mind.
My concern is, very unfair for the Christianity to believe that Jesus actually did not go to Heaven but went to India and studied Buddhism. That will be the end of the Christianity. I do not think it is a very good idea.
I love and enjoy sharing good qualities with my friends who are Christian, Muslim or Hindu.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing.
Julia, when you said Jesus achieved enlightenment, does it mean he gained nibanic bliss or merely greater wisdom. It is a very tricky question when one said someone gain enlightenment in the context of Buddhism. Enlightenment in the Theraveda interpretation means gaining the attainment of either first stage or second stage or third stage or Arahant stage of sainthood.
The question of Jesus going into India after the cruxification or before that is really unknown. All we know from reading, is he went to India; while some books wrote he went to learn Buddhism. Whatever it maybe, Jesus teaching is very similar to Lord Buddha teaching in many respect. I once read a book about a Thai Meditation Master by the name of Luang Por Chah being asked whether Christmas can be celebrated by Buddhist people. His reply was it is not wrong for Buddhist to celebrate Christmas with their christian friends. In fact he termed such celebration as “Buddi-mas” a combination of Buddhism & Christmas.
Julia, karma is always fair. If Christianity is found to be fake or bad, we should save their followers to abandon it. Please read my answer posted together today for more evidence. Actually, the claim was Jesus studied Buddhism during his “missing years”, not after his crucification. After his crucification, it’s believwd that he esxaped death and went to Kashmir.
This theory really reconciles the void of Jesus “lost years” and provides tangible evidence of his final destination after crucifixion, which are all intertwined. For those who belief that, when stripped from all mundane “impurities”, all teachings of the great sages are in truth the same, this is one step closer in unifying all philosophical, not religious, truths..
Im not surprise if all the religious leader share the common goals, understanding and studies, as the ultimate goal is to benefit all sentient, bring peace and happiness.
Otherwise, how could they be our spiritual leader.
Im so glad BBC have covered such an interesting topic and educate all of us!
Interesting documentary.It is not surprising Jesus and Buddha share the common traits as both religions Christianity and Buddhism practice meditations, training of the mind and the spirit.Western country peoples have a culture of practicing skepticism.They inquire about everything along their quest to know the truth.That’s why westerners are very smart people.
In discussing the life of Jesus, it is important to consider how reliable various sources are. The canonical gospels are late first-century texts, which means their authors would have been a generation removed from Jesus. (The many supernatural elements reported in these texts are not reassuring either.) Now how old is the earliest mention of the story that Jesus went to India? The answer is…(drum roll)…late 19th century, with the Issa ms “discovered” (or more likely, invented) by Nicolas Notovitch. In other words, it is no more probable than some story I might make up today about how Jesus went to Malaysia or New Jersey.
I realize that you are not very interested in examining these things critically (your website often reads like the National Enquirer), but there you go. We can’t prove that Jesus DIDN’T go to India, but there’s no good evidence for it.
Mr. Nicolas Notovitch might as well have forged the drum roll that he supposedly translated, but definitely he could not have forged a century old religion, beliefs, and history that has flourished on Cashmere region around Issa…
You seem to be referring to “Prophet’s Tomb” in Srinagar, which according to the Ahmadiyya movement is the tomb of the prophet Jesus (Issa). The Ahmadiyya legend is also late 19th century. Nicholas Roerich (about 1924) mentions encountering legends to the effect that Jesus visited Ladakh, but his two quotations are obviously taken from the Notovitch ms, and the Aquarian Gospel (a channeled work from about 1900).
But never mind–let’s suppose you’re right, and that an 18th century source can be found for the Jesus-went-to-India myth. This is hardly much of an improvement, as this would still be 1,700 years later than the canonical gospels.
Zla’od,
I found out you’re a Caucasian living in Taiwan, named David Bell. I did a trace on your IP address and it revealed your exact whereabouts and identity. If you’re so confident about what you’re posting, why don’t you use your real name? It seems quite strange that you have something rude to say in every comment to Rinpoche but you can’t even be straightforward enough to put your own name to it.
Why are you always attacking Tsem Rinpoche. What has he ever done to you? Your attacks on Tsem Rinpoche makes you sound small, rude, narrow and maybe even prejudiced.
If Rinpoche’s blog reads like a National Enquirer and you don’t like it, then why are you here all the time writing comments and reading? What have YOU done? What blog have you created? How much readership do you have? I would think the National Enquirer has a lot more readership than you! Why are you so jealous? If this displeases you so much, there are many, many, many more Buddhist websites and discussion panels you can visit instead.
This is Rinpoche’s personal private space which he shares and makes available to people like us who are living in far distant corners of the world, where there is no access to this much information, stored in a central place. The information benefits so many of us. So again, if you’re so unhappy with what Rinpoche is writing here, why do you continue coming here and writing comments? How does it help anyone in any way? How do you contribute to this space of learning, other than to negate everything that is written? If you know so much, then why don’t you share it here instead of just negating everything?
Rinpoche has every right to write whatever he wishes to on his own personal blog. This is a space for learning and discussion, which unfortunately you don’t seem to be interested in. Unfortunately, although you are trying to come across sounding learned and putting down what Rinpoche is writing here, you just end up sounding petty and jealous. You haven’t studied the Dharma for as many years as Rinpoche had, taken ordination vows nor lived, worked and studied in the monastery – so what grounds do you have to keep contesting his writings and blog in such a rude manner?
You seem to feel…threatened by my comments. I wonder why. Yes, this is TTR’s blog, but it is not exactly “private.” I assume he appreciates outside reaction. After all, truth is not necessarily on the side with the most followers, or even on the side of the holiest and most spiritually accomplished supporter. “Zla’od,” incidentally, is my Tibetan name. (Pronounced “Dawoud,” which happens to be the Arabic for David.)
“I realize that you are not very interested in examining these things critically (your website often reads like the National Enquirer), but there you go.”
That’s not a very polite way of talking for someone who is as learned and as esteemed as yourself. Can’t you see that Rinpoche’s intention is not scholarly accuracy but a teaching on compassion and religious acceptance. Rinpoche never said that these facts are set in stone but he is presenting them to us so we learn a little bit more about about these religious figures and broaden our horizon. Perhaps, it will help if you stop staring at the smaller facts.
I think what I said, and what you said, amounts to the same thing.
The National Enquirer is a U.S. tabloid famous for its sensationalistic, made-up stories about Bigfoot, UFO’s, etc. It’s like professional wrestling–so fake that it’s not even fake anymore, since everybody knows that it’s fake (if you see what I mean). I see a lot of that in your website. I’m sorry if this observation strikes you as impolite, but outside of the Kecharian organizational culture, most readers would have a similar reaction. The message you are sending, whether you realize it or not, is that TTR is something of a flake.
Now it is possible to write about any of these subjects well, and I know of academically-respectable studies of UFO’s, Bigfoot…and the Jesus-went-to-India story. If anyone is interested, I recommend H. Louis Fader’s book “The Issa Tale That Will Not Die: Nicholas Notovitch and his Fraudulent Gospel” (University Press of America, 2003).
If TTR is primarily interested in encouraging respect for other religions, is this really best way to accomplish this–to seize upon a fringe theory which has zero acceptance in scholarly circles? Is it not more respectful to acknowledge the differences between the various religions and their founders, rather than force them to agree with your own views? After all, there is a Daoist text (the Huahujing, the Scripture of Converting the Barbarians) which tries to explain away Buddhism as a less intelligent version of Daoism. I have already mentioned the Baha’is, who claim that Buddha was a prophet of God, but that modern Buddhism has become corrupted and forgotten this essential fact.
PS. If you are interested in points of historical connection between Christianity and Eastern religions, you may wish to read Marcus Borg’s “Jesus and Buddha: The Parallel Sayings” (Ulysses Pres, 1997), and/or Martin Palmer’s “The Jesus Sutras: Recovering the Lost Scrolls of Taoist Christianity” (Ballantine, 2001). Borg’s book merely presents the parallel sayings, without attempting to explain how they arose. In other words, he is NOT arguing that Jesus went to India. Palmer’s book presents a set of 7th century Chinese-language Nestorian scriptures, which show signs of having been influenced by local religions.
For more general Christian-Buddhist ecumenical dialogue, there is a journal called “Buddhist-Christian Studies,” several issues of which have been re-issued as books: Terry Muck and Rita Gross (eds), “Buddhists Talk about Jesus, Christians Talk about the Buddha” (Continuum, 2001) and “Christians Talk about Buddhist Meditation, Buddhists Talk about Christian Prayer” (Continuum, 2003).
Incidentally, I enjoyed “There’s No Way But Up,” and look forward to reading “Tales my Lama Told Me.”
Hmmm..something which very simple make it complicated.last time the professor told me in the class while i was a still a student,some of the theories i could not agree any of them.These professors are just collecting informations and form their own conclusion.Why would you compare those professor’s works to Enlightened Monk such as Buddhas?If i were to become enlightened and can see Heaven and Hell and Ultimate Reality? Would i be straight forward to tell you everything i observed? We should preserved Buddhism as a religion so that it is one of the gateway for us to leave suffering whenever we have the opportunities.If i were to become prince,i wouldn’t set my mind to become monk, but Tsem Tulku Rinpoche is extraordinary.From Prince to become Monk.A Hero.
i have a feeling these Zla’od try to corrupt Buddhism even if it is not.I saw all of these Zla’od comment.Some of it clearly a nonsense.i hope he realize what he is doing it before too late.
Dear Zla’od,
The purpose of this post is to share views and opinions about the Jesus was a Buddhist Monk video and not to undermined any religions or religious figure. It is open for discussion.
My opinion about this video give me an idea that Jesus learned Buddhism and his teachings are similar to Buddhist teachings. As a Buddhist, I understand that Boddhisattva manifest in many forms, culture and religion to teach about peace and compassion.
I respect your opinion but I don’t agree with your views.
You’ve said below about what others claimed:
“After all, there is a Daoist text (the Huahujing, the Scripture of Converting the Barbarians) which tries to explain away Buddhism as a less intelligent version of Daoism. I have already mentioned the Baha’is, who claim that Buddha was a prophet of God, but that modern Buddhism has become corrupted and forgotten this essential fact.”
I would like to point out that Daoist and Buddhist are totally two different schools of thoughts. How Buddhism is less intelligent version of Daoism as claimed by is merely their lack of researched and knowledge or ignorance about Buddhism. Buddhism is about humility and do not claimed who is more intelligent or better rather a way of life to be free of suffering.
What Baha claimed about Buddha was a prophet of God, is incorrect. Buddhism has never changed in the teachings and the fact is the teaching cannot be corrupted unless corrupted by the practitioner with lack of wisdom and knowledge. There are the 3 upper realms which the God realm is one of them. Buddha is beyond the 3 upper and 3 lower realms which is free of suffering. As long as we remain in these 6 realms there will be suffering. Buddhism is about being free from suffering and only Buddha can help us end suffering through wisdom and activity of compassion.
To clarify, I do not agree with either the Huahujing (which claims that after Laozi traveled west, he appeared in India and started Buddhism) or the Baha’i scriptures (which view Buddha as one of many prophets of God, the most recent being their own founder). My point is that what you are doing is just as much a distortion. Since you don’t like it when others distort your religion (through over-reliance on dubious historical sources), why would you do it to them?
The statement that “Christ was a bodhisattva” amounts to a theological belief, which cannot be evaluated objectively. I see it as an understandable attempt by Buddhists to demonstrate respect for other religions (though I wonder how they profess to know the mind of this person who lived 2000 years ago and wrote nothing). The notion that Jesus went to India is a very different kind of claim, and is open to historical critique.
A common pattern on this site, I notice, is that TTR will endorse some strange woo belief in one of his blogposts, and then his followers add a string of comments agreeing with him. (I understand that he assigns this activity to at least least some of you.) If one is religiously committed to the idea that TTR is an omniscient Buddha, and therefore right about everything, then I can see how critical approaches might create a kind of dilemma. Perhaps this is part of the guru-disciple game–learning to assent to even very bizarre pronouncements without question. Perhaps the guru even embraces bizarre claims on purpose, without believing them himself, in order to test his disciples.
I really don’t think we need to entertain weather or not Jesus was a Buddhist. Clearly the texts we have shown he was not, unless we have some “new” text to prove his view is even vaguely close to the dharma. If (and that is a big if) he was in India it makes more sense that he was trained as a Hindu, that would fit a little better (at least the view can be warped enough by interpretation to be seen as the “same”)The texts on the side of buddhsim clearly state that the view is what defines what is and is not buddhist, now “if” Jesus was a buddhist why would he subscribe again and again to en eternalist view???
How can someone affirm that an eternalist view was really Jesus one if what was claimed to be “his words: were written down generations after his passing?? I have a totally con tray view, that when striped from wordily and convenient interpretations, his teachings are very close to Dharma.
Meanwhile, the Baha’is make the same argument to show that Buddha believed in God. After all, you can’t prove that he didn’t–the earliest records are from centuries later!
Bahai is a new religion that copied a little of every religion to scam followers. I visited their center in New Delhi and saw their scamming practice. The Buddha has no relationship with any God. The Buddha don’t believe in any God. He taught us to be in heaven in the current life not after life or after death.
The eternalist view was developed by the Church in Rome to make Christianity more appealing to the masses. Their simplistic view that eternal salvation can be achieved merely by the simple act of accepting Christ differs greatly to what Gnostic Christianity taught. In Gnosticism, which is the earliest form of Christinaity, there were teachings about reincarnation and karma. Gnosticism also teaches that Christhood (Buddhahood) can be achieved by any being through spiritual practice. The Church insists that salvation can only be achieved via its approved rituals and priesthood and saw Gnosticism as a threat to its status, relevance and political power soo it sought to outlaw Gnosticism and labeling it as heretical. When compiling the New Testament, various gospels that mention reincarnation and karma were also excluded. Gnostic Christianity remained buried in obscurity until the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the 1940’s. I believe Jesus was an Enlightened being and everything he taught is in line with Buddhism as we see it today. The problem is, his teachings have become degenerate due to 2000 years of misinterpretation by mere mortals, some quarters even skewing it for their own selfish needs. Just a little off topic here: The famous American psychic Edgar Cayce also spoke about the past lives of Jesus (http://www.near-death.com/experiences/origen049.html)
There is no question of an eternal existence except in the simple minds. The goal is to escape hell or the second death. The resurrection was to bring to people of this world that someone surviving the first death was not subjected by the second death. People are so evil that they commit all sorts of atrocities. The prayer of the saints credo of the Nazarenes is if you lead by the sword you shall be lead bu the sword and if you lead into captivity you shall be lead into captivity. So if you kill or you imprison someone you have to pay for it but otherwise just believing in Jesus is enough to make you aware that your death can be achieved in serenity. For Jesus is so high in the realm of consciousness that when you die he is there and guides you personnaly. All you have to do is make him your personnal savior. In the discipline of budhism you can refuse all desires and that can make you serene in death. Anyone dying serenely as a shot at becoming conscious of God and going to him in all humility and living his serenity for eternity. THus is the eternalists credo (in greek belief or faith(.
Please read my answer posted today for more evidence
一系列非常震撼佛陀伟大的一生纪录片。制团队从科学的角度来证实佛陀3千年前足迹和教诲。赞叹赞叹！感谢我的上师尊贵的詹杜固仁波切：）