Piya wrote:

> BTW which of your published writings (journal article or book) do you recommend me in this area, or related area?

The compilation of "Buddhist and Christian Parallels" is at http://www.iid.org/publications/rfinal.pdf . Because the ideas set forth there can be offensive to some coming from a traditional Buddhist framework, I will not go into them here.



Your students of the 'History of Buddhism' in Singapore are expecting to learn something relating to the Buddhist heritage of South Asia, and you will of course cover that. This does not, of course, relate to what we are talking of here, which deals with the possible influence of Buddhism in antiquity on the West-the Greek and Hebrew worlds. But, you might include it as a little 'spice.' I myself taught an introductory Buddhism course in Oregon a few years ago. The response to these comparative ideas from students was mixed. Whether coming from a Buddhist or a Judeo-Christian background, the challenge of a comparative, synoptic, view is twofold: a person must be willing and able to step out of a traditional framework (recall the Kalamasutta), and must be familiar, or at least interested, in things 'on the other side'-- Western (for Buddhists), and Eastern (for Westerners). Not many people have both characteristics.



Regarding general ethical and doctrinal parallels between the two religions, there is quite a bit of literature available for the general reader. The following are on my bookshelf. All offer a non-threatening approach to Easterners or Westerners:



-- M. Borg. Jesus and Buddha: The Parallel Sayings.(Ulysses Press) 1997.

-- Thich Nhat Hanh. Going Home: Jesus and Buddha as Brothers. (Riverhead Books) 1999.

-- M. Walshe. Buddhism and Christianity: A positive approach. (Wheel No. 275/6) 1980/86.

-- L. de Silva. The Buddha & Christ as Religious Teachers. (Wheel No. 380) 1992.

-- T. Ragland. The Noble Eightfold Path of Christ. (Trafford Publishing) 2003.



There really isn't much published on historical connections between Buddhism and Christianity, because the field is still relatively unexplored. With the recently discovered 'Essene' writings from Qumran (the Dead Sea Scrolls), and the texts from Nag Hammadi (the Coptic Gnostic Library), the West is beginning to open up to the possibility that the East may have influenced Mediterranean religion in antiquity.



On the question of possible historical ties, the list of ancient citations and works that I sent before are the basis for original research. Together with these, one may consider the works of Christian Gnosticism from a new perspective. If one sees Buddhism as a perfect gnosticism (achieving gnosis) then one will be able to see Gnosticism as Buddhism overlaid with a heavy Western garb-the garb being later, secondary mythology. Jhana and gnosis, by the way, etymologically are from the same root.



Here are a few scholarly works, more demanding than the above:



-- "Buddhism and Gnosis" by E. Conze, in the Messina Colloquium (1967) collection: Le Origini dello Gnosticisma, ed. Ugo Bianchi. Gives eight basic parallels between Gnosticism and Buddhism.

-- R. Amore. Two Masters, One Message. (Abingdon) 1978.

-- Ernst Benz has two works. (1) Das Christentum und die nicht-christlichen Hochreligionen (Brill, 1960). Has a somewhat dated but extensive bibliography. (2) Indische Einflusse auf die fruhchristliche Theologie (Steiner, 1951).

-- Lindsay Falvey. The Buddha's Gospel: A Buddhist Interpretation of Jesus' Words. (Inst. for Int'l Dev.) 2002. Especially relates to Buddhadasa's thought. http://isrc.payap.ac.th/document/papers/paper08.pdf

-- J. Bruns, "The Christian Buddhism of St. John" (1971).

-- Chai-Shin Yu. Early Buddhism and Christianity. (M. Banarsidass) 1981/86.



Finally, for a Hindu perspective: Dr. B. Chowdhury's "The New Wine of Jesus: Christ taught Vedanta" (Calcutta, 1982).



I wish you the best success in your teaching, and welcome comments offlist to rjs@...



Santi,

Rene


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]