Buddhism and Christianity: Difference between revisions

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			{{Short description\|Comparison of the belief systems}}
	{{semiprotected}}
			], 1880]]
	Parallels between '''Christianity and Buddhism''' have been noted across the ages by scholars but are now being more widely appreciated as individuals search accessible ] scriptures in ancient and modern languages.{{Fact\|date=February 2007}} The field takes three forms:
			{{Buddhism}} {{Christianity}}
	#parallel teachings of ] and ] in words that appear similar and in some cases appear to share a common origin
			There were links between Buddhism and the pre-Christian Mediterranean world,<ref name="Bentley 1993">{{cite book \|title=Old World Encounters. Cross-cultural contacts and exchanges in pre-modern times \|first=Jerry H. \|last=Bentley \|publisher=Oxford University Press \|year=1993 \|isbn=0-19-507639-7 \|url=https://archive.org/details/oldworldencounte00jerr }}</ref> with ] sent by ] of ] to ], ] and ] from 250 BC.<ref name="Durant2011">{{cite book\|author=Will Durant\|title=Our Oriental Heritage: The Story of Civilization\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ru4LPyMAxxkC&pg=PT711\|access-date=27 August 2012\|date=7 June 2011\|publisher=Simon and Schuster\|isbn=978-1-4516-4668-9\|pages=711–}}</ref> Significant differences between the two religions include ] in Christianity and Buddhism's orientation towards ] (the lack of relevancy of the existence of a ]) which runs counter to teachings about ], and ] against the rejection of interference with ] in ] on.<ref name=Numrich10/><ref name=Bromo515/><ref name=Lim34/>
	#parallel sayings of the ] and ]
	#general parallels between the ] intent and practices of ] and ]

			Some early Christians were aware of Buddhism which was practiced in both the ] and ]s in the pre-Christian period. The majority of modern Christian scholarship rejects any historical basis for the travels of Jesus to India or Tibet and has seen the attempts at parallel symbolism as cases of ] which exaggerate resemblances.<ref name=Voorst17/><ref name=Les140/><ref name=Borg303>''The Historical Jesus in Recent Research'' edited by James D. G. Dunn and Scot McKnight 2006 {{ISBN\|1-57506-100-7}} page 303</ref><ref name="Collins">], "The Hidden Story of Jesus" ''New Blackfriars'' Volume 89, Issue 1024, pages 710–714, November 2008</ref> However, in the East, ] between ] and Buddhism was widespread along the ] in Antiquity and the Middle Ages, and was especially pronounced in the medieval ], as evidenced by the ].<ref>In the 13th century, international travelers, such as ] and ], sent back reports of Buddhism to the West and noted the similarities with ] communities. Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism, 2004, page 160</ref>
	The three categories overlap and are seldom presented separately, although one approach has used the theologically derived ] of the, possible original words of ] as a basis of comparison with the supposed earliest words of the ]{{Fact\|date=February 2007}}. The process is useful insofar as it highlights direct parallels in words, albeit in modern languages. Other studies of parallels include learned analyses, most of them recent although some date back to the time of the early ], which allegedly seems to have suppressed historical linkages between the ancient ]/] and ].{{Fact\|date=February 2007}}
	==Historical Interactions==
	{{see\|History of Buddhism}}
	More archeological findings and discovery of early ] and ] writings indicate Buddhist missionary presence and influence in spiritual traditions of the middle east in all Greek lands as early as 260 BCE{{Fact\|date=February 2007}}, during the reign of Emperor ] all the way to the founding and spreading of ] around 200 AD. It is suggested that Buddhist presence and influence in the region can no longer be denied{{Fact\|date=February 2007}}.
	<div class="references-small">
	:] has been open to the outside world from ancient times and a vigorous commercial activity went on between India and the ] world even before the Christian era. This is testified by both the western and Indian classical writers. Knowledge of Indian geography and India’s trade with the Mediterranean world is abundantly testified by western classical writers on India such as ] (63 BC-24 AD), ] (AD 23-79), ] (AD 100-160) and the author of ]. They give detailed information about the people, climate, trade routes, ports, cargoes and the economic condition of India. <ref> Essay Online- {{cite book
	\| last = Philip
	\| first = T.V.
	\| authorlink =
	\| coauthors =
	\| title = East of the Euphrates: Early Christianity in Asia
	\| publisher = Jointly Published by Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge and Christian Sahitya Samithy,
	\| date = May 1, 1998
	\| location = Tiruvalla, Kerala, India
	\| pages = 192 pages
	\| url =
	\| doi =
	\| id = ISBN 81-7214-441-5 }}
	</ref>

			==Origins and early contacts==
	</div>
			{{see also\|Buddhism and the Roman world\|Buddhist influences on Christianity}}
	===Establishment of Diplomatic Relations===
			] and ]) 3rd century BC by Indian Buddhist King Ashoka, see ], from ]. This edict advocates the adoption of "godliness" using the Greek term ] for ]. ] Museum.]]
	After the death of ], much of his empire was divided and eventually ruled by Greek generals from Alexander's army. Part of it was retained by Alexander's General, ]. This was also the beginning of India's first historical empire, under the guidance of ].
			]]]
	<div class="references-small">
			The ] goes back to what is now ], Nepal almost six centuries before Christianity, making it one of the oldest religions still being practiced.<ref name=Leslie140>''Jesus: The Complete Guide by J. L. Houlden (Feb 8, 2006) {{ISBN\|082648011X}} pages 140-144</ref> The ] go back to ] in the early first century. The four ]s date from around 70–90 AD, the ] having been written before them around 50–60 AD.
	:"Always lying in wait for the neighboring nations, strong in arms and persuasive in council, he acquired Mesopotamia, Armenia, 'Seleucid' Cappadocia, Persis, Parthia, Bactria, Arabia, Tapouria, Sogdia, Arachosia, Hyrcania, and other adjacent peoples that had been subdued by Alexander, as far as the river Indus, so that the boundaries of his empire were the most extensive in Asia after that of Alexander. The whole region from Phrygia to the Indus was subject to Seleucus. He crossed the Indus and waged war with Sandrocottus , king of the Indians, who dwelt on the banks of that stream, until they came to an understanding with each other and contracted a marriage relationship." ], History of Rome, The Syrian Wars 55 <ref></ref>
	</div>

			Starting in the 1930s, authors such as ] suggested that ] representatives of Ashoka the Great who traveled to ancient Syria, Egypt and Greece may have helped prepare the ground for Christian teaching.<ref>Will Durant, ''The Story of Civilization'' Part One (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1935), vol. 1, p. 449.</ref> Buddhism was prominent in the eastern Greek world and became the official religion of the eastern Greek successor kingdoms to ]'s empire (] (250 BC – 125 BC) and ] (180 BC – 10 AD)). Several prominent Greek Buddhist missionaries are known (] and ]) and the Indo-Greek king ] converted to Buddhism, and is regarded as one of the great patrons of Buddhism. (See ].) Some modern historians have suggested that the pre-Christian monastic order in Egypt of the ] is possibly a deformation of the Pāli word "]",<ref>According to the linguist Zacharias P. Thundy</ref> a form of Buddhism, and the movement may have "almost entirely drawn (its) inspiration from the teaching and practices of Buddhist asceticism".<ref name="Grove Press New York 1958">Living Zen by ] (Grove Press New York, 1958) {{ISBN\|0-8021-3136-0}}</ref> They may even have been descendants of ]'s emissaries to the West.<ref>"The Original Jesus" (Element Books, Shaftesbury, 1995), Elmar R Gruber, Holger Kersten</ref>
	The two men eventually reached an agreement and through a treaty sealed in ], established diplomatic relations which involved both marriage and ceding of Indian territory to the ] Emperor in return for 500 elephants.

			Buddhist gravestones from the ] have been found in Alexandria in Egypt decorated with depictions of the ], showing that Buddhists were living in Hellenistic Egypt at the time Christianity began.<ref>The Greeks in Bactria and India, W.W. Tarn, South Asia Books, {{ISBN\|81-215-0220-9}}</ref> The presence of Buddhists in ] has led one author to note: "It was later in this very place that some of the most active centers of Christianity were established."<ref name="Grove Press New York 1958"/> Nevertheless, modern Christian scholars generally hold that there is no direct evidence of any influence of Buddhism on Christianity, and several scholarly theological works do not support these suggestions.<ref name=PaulaF26/><ref name=Eddy53/> However, some historians such as ] suggest that there is a real possibility that Buddhism influenced the early development of Christianity.<ref name=Bentley240/>
	<div class="references-small">

			It is known that prominent early Christians were aware of Buddha and some Buddhist stories. ] (4th century AD) mentions the birth of the Buddha, who he says "was born from the side of a virgin." The early church father ] (died 215 AD) was also aware of Buddha, writing in his Stromata (Bk I, Ch XV): "The Indian ] are also in the number, and the other barbarian philosophers. And of these there are two classes, some of them called ] and others ]s. And those of the Sarmanæ who are called 'Hylobii' neither inhabit cities, nor have roofs over them, but are clothed in the bark of trees, feed on nuts, and drink water in their hands. Like those called ] in the present day, they know not marriage nor begetting of children. Some, too, of the Indians obey the precepts of ] (Βούττα) whom, on account of his extraordinary sanctity, they have raised to divine honours."<ref>Clement of Alexandria Stromata. BkI, Ch XV http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf02.vi.iv.i.xv.html (Accessed 19 Dec 2012)</ref>
	:"The Indians occupy some of the countries situated along the Indus, which formerly belonged to the Persians: Alexander deprived the Ariani of them, and established there settlements of his own. But ] gave them to ] in consequence of a marriage contract, and received in return five hundred elephants." Strabo 15.2.1(9) <ref></ref>

			In the ] there was no trace of Buddhism in the West.<ref>''Indian Buddhism: A Survey with Bibliographical Notes'' by Hajime Nakamura (Apr 11, 2007) {{ISBN\|8120802721}} page 95</ref> In the 13th century, international travelers, such as ] and ], sent back reports of Buddhism to the West and noted some similarities with ] communities.<ref name="Buddhism 2004, page 160">Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism, 2004, page 160</ref> Indeed, ] in the East between Nestorian Christianity and Buddhism existed along the ] throughout Antiquity and the Middle Ages,<ref>{{cite web \|last1=Stoyanov \|first1=Yuri \|title=Religious Syncretism and Cultural Pluralism along the Central and East Asian Silk Road – New Discoveries and Venues for Research \|url=https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/39978/1/Religious%20Syncretism%20%26%20Cultural%20Pluralism%20along%20the%20Central%20%26%20East%20Asian%20Sections%20of%20the%20Silk%20Road.pdf \|website=SOAS Research Online \|access-date=November 17, 2024 \|date=2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web \|last1=Samoylovskiy \|first1=Alexey L. \|title=The Great Silk Road and its impact on Cultural exchange and Economic development in Ancient Civilizations \|url=https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/the-great-silk-road-and-its-impact-on-cultural-exchange-and-economic-development-in-ancient-civilizations \|website=Cyberleninka \|publisher=Наука. Общество. Оборона 12.3 (40) \|access-date=November 17, 2024 \|date=2024}}</ref> and was especially pronounced in the medieval ], as evidenced by the ].{{cn\|date=November 2024}}
	</div>

			When European Christians made more direct contact with Buddhism in the early 16th century, Catholic missionaries such as St. ] sent back accounts of Buddhist practices.<ref name="Buddhism 2004, page 160"/> With the arrival of ] studies in European universities in the late 18th century, and the subsequent availability of Buddhist texts, a discussion began of a proper encounter with Buddhism.<ref name="Buddhism 2004, page 160"/> In time, Buddhism gathered Western followers and at the end of the 19th century the first Westerners (e.g. ] and ]) converted to Buddhism. In the beginning of the 20th century the first westerners (e.g. ] and ]) entered the Buddhist monastic life.<ref name="Buddhism 2004, page 160"/>
	The first Greek ambassador sent by Seleucid Nicator to the Indian Empire was ]. It was Seleucid Nicator who eventually founded the city of ], which eventually became one of the earliest centers of ].

			==Similarities and differences==
	The main Greek cities of the Middle-East happen to have played a key role in the development of Christianity, such as ] and especially ], and “it was later in this very place that some of the most active centers of Christianity were established” (Robert Linssen, “Zen living”). These Greek cities were also major centers of trade with India and the east.
			===Similarities===
	<div class="references-small">
			{{Main\|Comparison of Buddhism and Christianity}}
	:There were three main routes which connected India with the western world. First, there was an overland route which linked India with the silk route from ] to ] and to ]. In normal circumstances the Himalayan range in the north was no serious obstacle to India’s trade with Central Asia along the silk route. Secondly, there was a route through the Persian Gulf. It connected the mouth of ] to the mouth of the ] and thence up the river to the point where roads branched off to ] and the ] ports. The third route was from India to the ] and from there by road to the ] and to ].<ref>ibid, T.V. Phillips </ref>
			In the 19th century, some scholars began to perceive similarities between Buddhist and Christian practices. In 1878, ] wrote that the earliest missionaries to Tibet observed that similarities have been seen since the first known contact.<ref name=Davids>''Encyclopædia Britannica'', 8 edition, article ''Buddhism'' by T.W. Rhys Davids</ref> In 1880, Ernest De Bunsen made similar observations in that with the exception of the death of Jesus on the cross, and of the Christian doctrine of atonement, the most ancient Buddhist records had similarities with the Christian traditions.<ref>{{cite book\|last=De Bunsen\|first=Ernest\|title=The Angel-Messiah of Buddhists, Essenes, and Christians\|url=https://archive.org/details/angelmessiahofbu00bunsrich\|year=1880\|publisher=Longmans, Green, and Company\|page=}}</ref>
	</div>

			Late in the 20th century, historian ] also wrote of similarities and stated that it is possible "that Buddhism influenced the early development of Christianity" and suggested "attention to many parallels concerning the births, lives, doctrines, and deaths of the Buddha and Jesus".<ref name=Bentley240>{{cite book \|title=Cross-Cultural Contacts and Exchanges in Pre-Modern Times \|first=Jerry H. \|last=Bentley \|publisher=Oxford University Press \|year=1992 \|isbn=978-0-19-507640-0 \|page= \|url=https://archive.org/details/oldworldencounte00jerr/page/240 }}</ref> Some high level Buddhists have drawn analogies between Jesus and Buddhism, e.g. in 2001 the ] stated that "Jesus Christ also lived previous lives", and added that "So, you see, he reached a high state, either as a Bodhisattva, or an enlightened person, through Buddhist practice or something like that."<ref name=Lama>Beverley, James A., "Hollywood's Idol", '']'' . Retrieved April 20, 2007.</ref> Vietnamese Buddhist monk ] affirmed core Christian beliefs such as the trinity, and the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, in his book ''Living Buddha, Living Christ''. Bokin Kim, similarly, sees Christ as the Buddha ], and Jesus as similar to Gautama who was just a historical manifestation of the transhistorical Buddha.<ref>Kim, Bokin. "Christ as the Truth, the Light, the Life, but a Way?" Buddhist-Christian Studies, vol. 19, 1999, pp. 76-80. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/bcs.1999.0023</ref> In ''The Lotus & The Rose: A Conversation Between Tibetan Buddhism & Mystical Christianity'', ] and ] discuss the interconnections between Buddhism and Christianity. In it, Fox relates the ] to what scholars ] and ] call Paul's original "]" or "metacosmic" view of Christ.<ref name="The Lotus & the Rose">{{cite book\|title=The Lotus & The Rose\|isbn=978-0999577004\|last1=Tsomo\|first1=Lama\|last2=Fox\|first2=Matthew\|year=2018}}</ref>
	===Mauryan Proselytizing===
	{{see also\|Greco-Buddhist monasticism}}
	Some of the ] inscriptions describe the efforts made by ] to propagate the Buddhist faith throughout the major ] kingdoms found throughout the middle east and Egypt. The Edicts identify the names and location of the main Greek monarchs of the time, and they are claimed as recipients of Buddhist proselytism: ] of the ] (261–246 BCE), ] of Egypt (285–247 BCE), ] of Macedonia (276–239 BCE), ] (288–258 BCE), and ] (272–255 BCE).

			===Differences===
	] at the time of king ] (260–218 BCE).]]
			{{see also\|God in Buddhism\|God in Christianity}}
	<div class="references-small">
			], Germany, late 15th century.]]
	:"The conquest by ] has been won here, on the borders, and even six hundred ]s (5,400-9,600 km) away, where the Greek king Antiochos rules, beyond there where the four kings named Ptolemy, Antigonos, Magas and Alexander rule, likewise in the south among the ]s, the ]s, and as far as ] (])." (], 13th Rock Edict, S. Dhammika).
			There are inherent and fundamental differences between Buddhism and Christianity, one significant element being that while Christianity is at its core ] and relies on a ], Buddhism is generally ] and rejects the notion of a Creator God which provides divine values for the world.<ref name=Numrich10>''The Boundaries of Knowledge in Buddhism, Christianity, and Science'' by Paul D Numrich (Dec 31, 2008) {{ISBN\|3525569874}} page 10</ref>
	</div>

			The ], currently the most widely used Christian ], states that "We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible".<ref name=Bromo515>''International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: E-J'' by Geoffrey W. Bromiley (Mar 1982) {{ISBN\|0802837824}} pages 515-516</ref> However, the notion of theistic creation is generally foreign to Buddhist thought, and the question of the existence of God is perhaps one of the most fundamental barriers between the teachings of Christianity and Buddhism.<ref name=Numrich10/><ref name=Lim34>''Communicating Christ in the Buddhist World'' by Paul De Neui and David Lim (Jan 1, 2006) {{ISBN\|0878085106}} page 34</ref> Although ] expresses belief in the saint-like state of a ], this is very different from the notion of Creator God in Christianity.<ref name=Lim34/><ref name=Norman149/> While some variations of Buddhism believe in an impersonal ] or ], in general Buddhism sees empty space as eternal and without a starting point of creation.<ref>Guang Xing, ''The Concept of the Buddha'', RoutledgeCurzon, London, 2005, p. 89</ref><ref>{{cite book \| last = Hattori \| first = Sho-on \| title = A Raft from the Other Shore : Honen and the Way of Pure Land Buddhism \| publisher = Jodo Shu Press \| year = 2001 \| isbn = 4-88363-329-2 \| pages=25–27}}</ref> According to the Dalai Lama, belief in a Creator could be associated with the understanding of emptiness, but "once a certain degree of realization has been reached, a choice between the two paths will become necessary."<ref name=DL>{{Cite web\|url=http://hhdl.dharmakara.net/hhdlquotes2.html\|title = Dalai Lama Answers Questions on Various Topics}}</ref>
	Although the philosophical systems of Buddhism and Christianity have evolved in rather different ways, the moral precepts advocated by Buddhism from the time of Ashoka through his edicts as well as the Pali Canon do have some similarities with the Christian moral precepts developed more than two centuries later:

			According to the ''Oxford Handbook of Eschatology'', there are inherent differences in the Christian and Buddhist beliefs regarding the End Times and ].<ref name=Walls552>''The Oxford Handbook of Eschatology'' by Jerry L. Walls (Apr 16, 2010) {{ISBN\|0199735883}} page 552</ref> ] states that while Buddhism has a notion of "relative eschatology" that refers to specific cycles of life, the term "Buddhist eschatology" does not relate to any "final things", or that the world will end one day – Buddhist scripture routinely referring to the "beginningless ]" as a never ending cycle of birth and death with no starting point.<ref>''The Oxford Handbook of Eschatology'' by Jerry L. Walls (Apr 16, 2010) {{ISBN\|0199735883}} page 151</ref> However, Christian eschatology directly involves the concept of "end to all creation" at the ] when the world will reach its conclusion.<ref>''The Oxford Companion to Christian Thought'' by Adrian Hastings, Alistair Mason and Hugh Pyper (Dec 21, 2000) {{ISBN\|0198600240}} page 206</ref>
	*respect for life
	*respect for the weak and disenfranchised
	*rejection of violence
	*confession
	*emphasis on charity and good deeds.

			There are other fundamental incompatibilities, e.g. while ] is part of the very fabric of Christian theology, in ] no deity can interfere with ], and hence the notion of any type of grace is inadmissible within these teachings.<ref name=Norman149>''Encyclopedia of Reincarnation and Karma'' by Norman C. McClelland (Apr 1, 2010) {{ISBN\|0786448512}} page 149</ref> ] however, differs on this issue.<ref>Richard K. Payne (ed.), ''Tantric Buddhism in East Asia'', Wisdom Publications, {{ISBN\|0861714873}}, 2006, p. 74</ref>
	Kersten contrasts the "bloodthirsty and vengeful deity" of the ]'s ] tribes with the "totally different God" who has illuminated "the philosophy behind Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, as relayed by Matthew's Gospel":
	<div class="references-small">
	:"Where did Jesus learn the precepts he proclaimed in the Sermon on the Mount?" ... "No other religion of the eastern Mediterranean area lays claim to the magnanimously loving Grace preached by Jesus".<ref>Holger Kersten, Jesus Lived in India. His Unknown Life Before and After the Crucifixion, Element, Reprint 1999.</ref>
	</div>
	Ashoka's pillars give us some of the earliest Buddhist ideas written in stone:
	<div class="references-small">

			The ] as a single event in history that acts for the atonement of sins is a central element of Christian belief.<ref name=Leslie140/> This, however, produces a strong difference between Christian and Buddhist teachings.<ref name=Leslie140/><ref name=Abe99>''Buddhism and Interfaith Dialogue'' by ] and Steven Heine (Jun 1, 1995) ISBN pages 99-100</ref> Buddhist scholar ] pointed out that while "the event of the Cross" is central to Christianity, it is not possible for Buddhism to accept its importance.<ref name=Abe99/> Buddhist philosopher ] stated that every time he saw a crucifixion scene it reminded him of the "gap that lies deep" between Christianity and Buddhism.<ref>''Mysticism, Christian and Buddhist'' by Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki ((Aug 4, 2002)) {{ISBN\|1605061328}} page 113</ref>
	:"Dhamma is good, but what constitutes Dhamma? (It includes) little evil, much good, kindness, generosity, truthfulness and purity." Pilar Edict Nb2 (S. Dhammika)

			==Buddhist influence on Christianity==
	:"And noble deeds of Dhamma and the practice of Dhamma consist of having kindness, generosity, truthfulness, purity, gentleness and goodness increase among the people." Rock Pilar Nb7 (S. Dhammika)
			===Suggestions of influences===
	</div>
			{{main\|Buddhist influences on Christianity}}
			{{See also\|Buddhism and the Roman world\|Buddhism and Gnosticism}}
			], Roman period), and the Buddha (] of ]).]]
			Suggestions have been made that Buddhism may have influenced early Christianity.<ref name="Bentley 1993"/> ], sent by ] of India to ], ], ] and ], may have helped prepare for the ethics of Christ.<ref name="Durant2011"/><ref name="Maguire">{{cite book \| last = Maguire \| first = Jack \| title = Essential Buddhism \| publisher = Simon and Schuster \| year = 2001 \| pages = 159–160 \| isbn = 0-671-04188-6}}</ref> ] (a small number of sects) are not considered part of mainstream Christianity and some have been declared heretical. However, ] proposes Buddhist influences on Gnosticism. Pagels suggested that there are parallels with teachings attributed to Jesus Christ and teachings found in Eastern traditions, but concludes that these parallels might be coincidental, since parallel traditions may emerge in different cultures without direct influence.<ref>{{cite book \|first=Elaine \|last=Pagels \|title=The Gnostic Gospels \|location=New York \|publisher=Random House, repr. 1989 \|year=1979\| url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/story/pagels.html}}</ref>

			Buddhist Jack Maguire has suggested that in the 4th century, Christian monasticism developed in Egypt, and it emerged with a corresponding structure comparable to the Buddhist monasticism of its time and place.<ref name="Maguire"/> In ], Indian gravestones dating from the ] (c. 305 BC – 30 BC) have been discovered in ].<ref>{{cite book \|last=Tarn \|title=The Greeks in Bactria and India \|page=370 }}</ref> Alexandria served as the ] trading centre between the ],<ref>{{cite book \| last = Lindsay \| first = W S \| title = History of Merchant Shipping and Ancient Commerce \| publisher = Adamant Media Corporation \| year = 2006 \| isbn = 0-543-94253-8}}</ref> later encompassing "some of the most active centers of Christianity" and becoming the third-most important seat of Christianity in the world.<ref name="Linssen_A">{{cite book \|last1=Linssen \|last2=Robert \|title=Living Zen \|location=London \|publisher=Allen & Unwin \|publication-date=1958 \|page=208}}</ref>
	The administrative structures formed by Buddhists are also very similar:

			After studying ], German philosopher ] states that " ] must be of Indian origin Everything true in Christianity is also to be discovered in ] and Buddhism," theorizing that after the ], Jesus was "brought up by Egyptian priests, whose religion was of Indian origin." Schopenhauer elaborates:<blockquote> this Indian doctrine entered into the ] there arose the task of uniting the knowledge of the corruption and misery of the world, of its need for redemption and of salvation through an ], together with the morality of ] and atonement, with Jewish monotheism and its 'Behold, it was very good'.<ref>{{cite book\|title=Essays and Aphorisms\|year=2004\|publisher=Penguin Classics\|isbn=978-0-14-044227-4\|author=Arthur Schopenhauer\|pages=190–191}}</ref></blockquote>
	*monasticism and communal living for spiritual adherents which adhered to principals of practicing poverty and chastity.
	*early Christian Councils reminiscent in organization to the ].
	*missionaries and missions which were first organized and established by Buddhists, all predate the early Christian organizations in the same areas where Christianity was first established (Antioch, etc.).

			The suggestion that an adult Jesus traveled to India and was influenced by Buddhism before starting ] in ] was first made by ] in 1894 in the book ''The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ'' which was widely disseminated and became the basis of other theories.<ref>''The Unknown Life Of Jesus Christ: By The Discoverer Of The Manuscript'' by Nicolas Notovitch (Oct 15, 2007) {{ISBN\|1434812839}}</ref><ref name=Ehrm252>''Forged: Writing in the Name of God--Why the Bible's Authors Are Not Who We Think They Are'' by Bart D. Ehrman (Mar 6, 2012) {{ISBN\|0062012622}} page 252 "one of the most widely disseminated modern forgeries is called ''The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ''"</ref> Notovitch's theory was controversial from the beginning and was widely criticized.<ref>], "Jesus in India?" '']'' Volume 80, Issue 1 pp. 161-199 "Max Müller suggested that either the Hemis monks had deceived Notovitch or that Notovitch himself was the author of these passages"</ref><ref name=Wil84/> Once his story had been re-examined by historians, Notovitch confessed to having fabricated the evidence.<ref name=Wil84>''New Testament Apocrypha, Vol. 1: Gospels and Related Writings'' by ] and R. Mcl. Wilson (Dec 1, 1990) {{ISBN\|066422721X}} page 84 "a particular book by Nicolas Notovich (Di Lucke im Leben Jesus 1894) ... shortly after the publication of the book, the reports of travel experiences were already unmasked as lies. The fantasies about Jesus in India were also soon recognized as invention... down to today, nobody has had a glimpse of the manuscripts with the alleged narratives about Jesus"</ref><ref name="McG">''Indology, Indomania, and Orientalism'' by ] (Jan 1, 2010) Fairleigh Dickinson University Press {{ISBN\|083864208X}} page 133 "Faced with this cross-examination, Notovich confessed to fabricating his evidence."</ref>
	One theory is that these similarities may indicate the propagation of Buddhist ideals into the Western World, with the Greeks acting as intermediaries and religious syncretists.<ref>Historical interactions from: The Buddhism Omnibus, Oxford University Press 2004, ISBN 0-19-566898-7 </ref>
	<div class="references-small">
	:"Scholars have often considered the possibility that Buddhism influenced the early development of Christianity. They have drawn attention to many parallels concerning the births, lives, doctrines, and deaths of the Buddha and Jesus" (Bentley, "Old World Encounters"). </div>

			===Rejection of influences===
	===Early Christianity, Manichaeism and Buddhism===
			A number of scholars have stated that suggestions of an influence from Buddhism on Christianity, particularly Jesus's alleged travels to Buddhist India, are fanciful and without any historical basis:
	{{seealso\|Greco-Buddhism\|Buddhism and the Roman world}}

			*] states that modern Christian scholarship has "almost unanimously agreed" that claims of the travels of Jesus to Tibet, Kashmir or India contain "nothing of value".<ref name=Voorst17>Van Voorst, Robert E (2000). Jesus Outside the New Testament: An Introduction to the Ancient Evidence. Eerdmans Publishing. {{ISBN\|0-8028-4368-9}} page 17</ref>
	The story of the birth of the Buddha was well known in the West, and possibly influenced the story of the birth of Jesus: ] (4th century CE) mentions the birth of the Buddha, who he says "was born from the side of a virgin"<ref>Jerome-Against-Jovinianus, 815, Online Viewing: http://www.patriarchywebsite.com/bib-patriarchy/Jerome-Against-Jovinianus.txt</ref>. Also a fragment of '']'' <ref>Latin Sources: Archelaus (Bishop of Cascar in Mesopotamia, d. about 278): Acta Disputationis cum Manete Haeresiarcha; first written in Syriac, and so far belonging to the Oriental Christian Sources (Comp. ]), but extant only in a Latin translation, which seems to have been made from the Greek, edited by Zacagni (Rome, 1698), and Routh (in Reliquiae Sacrae, vol. V. 3-206); Eng. transl. in Clark's Ante-Nicene Library (vol. XX. 272-419). .</ref>(278 CE) mentions the Buddha's virgin-birth.
			*] states "Scholars have pointed out that Buddhist teachers lived in Alexandria, on the Mediterranean coast, by the first century. Some have posited that Jesus might have traveled there, or that Buddhist teachings may have reached cities of the Jewish homeland, including Sepphoris, a major city in Galilee only four miles from Nazareth. Popular speculation speaks of Jesus having traveled to India during "the missing years", the decades before he emerged on the stage of history. There, it is suggested, he came in to contact with Buddhist teachings. But both explanations are unlikely and unnecessary. The similarities are not of the kind that suggest cultural borrowing".<ref>Borg, M., ''Jesus & Buddha: The parallel sayings'', Ulysses Press, 2004, p.10</ref>
			*] states that although modern parallels between the teachings of Jesus and Buddha have been drawn, these comparisons emerged after missionary contacts in the 19th century and there is no historically reliable evidence of contacts between Buddhism and Jesus.<ref name=Les140>''Jesus: The Complete Guide'' 2006 by Leslie Houlden {{ISBN\|082648011X}} page 140</ref>
			* ] states that no serious scholarly work places Jesus outside the backdrop of 1st century Palestinian Judaism.<ref name=PaulaF26>Fredriksen, Paula. ''From Jesus to Christ''. Yale University Press, 2000, p. xxvi.</ref>
			* Eddy and Boyd state that there is no evidence of a historical influence by outside sources on the authors of the New Testament, and most scholars agree that any such historical influence on Christianity is entirely implausible given that first century ] ] Jews would not have been open to what they would have seen as pagan stories.<ref name="Collins"/><ref name=Eddy53>''The Jesus legend: a case for the historical reliability of the synoptic gospels'' by Paul R. Eddy, Gregory A. Boyd 2007 {{ISBN\|0-8010-3114-1}} page 53-54</ref>

			==Christian influence on Buddhism==
	Early 3rd-4th century Christian writers such as ] and ] write about a ], who visited India around 50 AD from where he brought "the doctrine of the Two Principles". According to these writers, Scythianus' pupil Terebinthus presented himself as a “Buddha” ("he called himself Buddas" ]). Terebinthus went to ] and ] where he met the Apostles ("becoming known and condemned" Isaia)<ref>Catechetical Lecture 6 CONCERNING THE UNITY OF GOD. ON THE ARTICLE, I BELIEVE IN ONE GOD. ALSO CONCERNING HERESIES.ISAIAH xlv. 16, 17. (Sept.)</ref>, and ultimately settled in Babylon, where he transmitted his teachings to ], thereby creating the foundation of what could be called Persian syncretic Buddhism, ]. We find evidence that Buddhist thought had major influence on the teachings of Mani:
			Christian influence on Buddhism in the 18th and 19th centuries was primarily by example of modern forms of ].<ref>Theravāda Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benares to ... - Page 130 Richard Francis Gombrich - 2006 "The main Christian influence on Buddhists was by reaction. The missionaries propagated Christianity in three main ways: by education, preaching, and pamphleteering. Every mission station had a primary school, and the Church of England ..."</ref><ref>{{cite book \|last1=McMahan \|first1=David L. \|title=The Making of Buddhist Modernism \|date=2008 \|publisher=Oxford University Press, USA \|isbn=978-0-19-518327-6 \|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DwASDAAAQBAJ \|language=en \|page=7 \|quote=Richard Gombrich and Gananath Obeyesekere have mapped similar trends specifically in Sinhalese Buddhism in Sri Lanka. Emphasizing the Christian influence on modernizing forms of Sinhalese Buddhism in the late nineteenth and ...}}</ref> During the last centuries, Christian missionaries have influenced many Buddhist groups such as the Buddhist nun ] who, after being inspired by the humanitarian aid done by Catholic nuns, decided that Buddhists need "to do more than simply encourage the private cultivation of people's souls". Her works eventually led to the foundation of ], a non-profit humanitarian group in Asia.<ref name="bio">{{cite web \|title=Biography of Dharma Master Cheng Yen \|url=http://tw.tzuchi.org/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=159&Itemid=198&lang=en \|publisher=Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation \|date=22 May 2014 \|access-date=19 March 2017 \|archive-date=21 July 2011 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721184449/http://tw.tzuchi.org/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=159&Itemid=198&lang=en \|url-status=dead }}</ref>

			==Contemporary Buddhist–Christian exchange==
	In the story of the Death of Mani <ref>According to the Gnostic Bible by Willis Barnstone, here is one of many authenticating references proving the centrality of Buddhism in Mani's formulation of Gnosticism</ref>:
			{{main\|Buddhism in the West\|Buddhist modernism}}
	<div class="references-small">
	::It was a day of pain
	::and a time of sorrow
	::when the messenger of light
	::entered death
	::when he entered complete ''']'''"
	</div>

			{{Quote box
	Following Mani's travels to the ] (several religious paintings in ] are attributed to him) at the beginning of his proselytizing career, various ] influences seem to have permeated Manichaeism:
			\|quote = “Ask and it shall be given, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened.”<br>] remarked: “That is excellent. Whoever said that is not far from Buddhahood.”
	<div class="references-small">
			\|author = ]
	:Buddhist influences were significant in the formation of Mani's religious thought. The transmigration of souls became a Manichaean belief, and the quadripartite structure of the Manichaean community, divided between male and female monks (the "elect") and lay followers (the "hearers") who supported them, appears to be based on that of the Buddhist ]. (Richard Foltz, "Religions of the Silk Road")
			\|source = '']''
	</div>
			\|width = 35%
			\|align = right
			}}

			===Attempts at convergence===
	]
			Buddhism has been gaining popularity in the west. Starting with a cultural and academic elite in the 19th century, it is now widespread in western culture, especially since the 1960s.{{sfn\|McMahan\|2008}}
	:Manichaeism spread with extraordinary rapidity throughout both the east and west. It reached Rome through the apostle Psattiq by AD 280, who was also in Egypt in 244 and 251. The faith was flourishing in the ] area of Egypt in 290. Manichaean monasteries existed in Rome in 312 during the time of the Christian Pope ]. By 354, ] wrote that the Manichaean faith was a significant force in southern France.
	Also, in the Great Song of Mani (13th-14th century) Mani is many times referred to as ] ].

			In the 20th century ] such as ], ], ] and the former nun ], and ] such as ], ] and the ] have taken part in an ] dialogue about Buddhism and Christianity.<ref>W.L. King, Buddhism and Christianity: Some Bridges of Understanding, Philadelphia, 1963.</ref><ref>{{Cite web\|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2001/03/divine-reticence/303045/\|title=Divine Reticence\|date=March 21, 2001\|website=The Atlantic}}</ref> This dialogue aims to shed light on the common ground between Buddhism and Christianity.<ref>{{cite book \|last = Tinker \|first = Hugh \|title = South Asia: A Short History \|url = https://archive.org/details/southasiashorthi00tink \|url-access = registration \|publisher = Frederick A. Praeger \|year = 1966 \|page=}}</ref><ref>The Dalai Lama,''The Good Heart: A Buddhist Perspective on the Teachings of Jesus'', {{ISBN\|0-86171-138-6}}</ref><ref>Thich Nhat Hahn, ''Going Home: Jesus and Buddha as Brothers'', 1999. {{ISBN\|1-57322-830-3}}</ref> The ] (''Dialogue Interreligieux Monastique - Monastic Interreligious Dialogue'') has hosted several encounters between Buddhist and Catholic monks, such as the Gethsemani Encounters at the ] which were attended also by the Dalai Lama, as well as exchange programs in which Buddhist monks and nuns visit Catholic monasteries and vice versa.<ref>{{cite book \|last1=de Béthune \|first1=Pierre-Francois \|editor1-last=Cornille \|editor1-first=Catherine \|title=The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Inter-Religious Dialogue \|date=13 March 2013 \|publisher=John Wiley & Sons \|isbn=978-1-118-52994-2 \|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UHdgFhRKCOsC \|access-date=2 February 2024 \|language=en \|chapter=Monastic Inter-Religious Dialogue}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal \|last1=Borelli \|first1=John \|title=In Memoriam: Bishop Joseph John Gerry, O.S.B. (1928-2023) \|journal=Dilatato Corde \|date=2023 \|volume=XIII \|issue=2 July - December \|url=https://dimmid.org/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC=%7b7F171057-4EB9-487F-9E54-5DC835955930%7d \|access-date=6 February 2024 \|publisher=DIMMID}}</ref>
	One of the founding fathers of western Christianity, ] was originally a Manichean.

			Although the prevalent romantic view on Buddhism sees it as an authentic and ancient practice, contemporary Buddhism is deeply influenced by the western culture. With the rise of western colonialism in the 19th century, Asian cultures and religions developed strategies to adapt to the western hegemony, without losing their own traditions. Western discourses were taken over, and western polemic styles were applied to defend indigenous traditions.{{sfn\|McMahan\|2008}}
	In the 2nd century CE, the Christian dogmatist ] recognized Bactrian Buddhists (Sramanas) and Indian Gymnosophists for their influence on Greek thought:
	<div class="references-small">
	:"Thus philosophy, a thing of the highest utility, flourished in antiquity among the barbarians, shedding its light over the nations. And afterwards it came to Greece. First in its ranks were the prophets of the Egyptians; and the Chaldeans among the Assyrians; and the Druids among the Gauls; and the Sramanas among the Bactrians ("Σαρμαναίοι Βάκτρων"); and the philosophers of the Celts; and the Magi of the Persians, who foretold the Saviour's birth, and came into the land of Judaea guided by a star. The Indian gymnosophists are also in the number, and the other barbarian philosophers. And of these there are two classes, some of them called Sramanas ("Σαρμάναι"), and others Brahmins (''Βραφμαναι'')." Clement of Alexandria "The Stromata, or Miscellanies" Book I, Chapter XV
	</div>

			===Rejection of convergence===
	The Greek legend of "]", sometimes mistakenly attributed to the ] ] but actually written by the ] monk ] in the ], was ultimately derived, through a variety of intermediate versions (] and ]) from the life story of the Buddha. The king-turned-monk Ioasaph (Georgian ''Iodasaph'', Arabic ''Yūdhasaf'' or ''Būdhasaf'') ultimately derives his name from the Sanskrit ], the name used in Buddhist accounts for Gautama before he became a Buddha. Barlaam and Ioasaph were placed in the Greek calendar of ]s on ], and in the West they were canonized (as "Barlaam and Josaphat") in the Roman Martyrology on the date of ].
			In 1989 the Catholic Church, through the ], rejected attempts at mixing some aspects of Christian and Buddhist practices, in a letter titled "Letter to the Bishops of the ] on some aspects of Christian meditation", generally known as the '']'' letter.<ref>] 82 (1990) 362-379</ref><ref>{{Cite web\|url=https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/doc_doc_index.htm\|title=Complete List of Documents - Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith\|website=www.vatican.va}}</ref><ref name=VaticanAspects>{{Cite web\|url=https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19891015_meditazione-cristiana_en.html\|title=Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on some aspects of Christian Meditation – Orationis formas\|website=www.vatican.va}}</ref>

	The story was translated into Hebrew in the Middle Ages as "Ben-Hamelekh Vehanazir" ("The Prince and the ]"), and is widely read by Jews to this day.

			The document issues warnings on differences and potential incompatibilities between ] and the styles of ] used in eastern religions such as ].<ref name=EWTNaspects> on ]</ref><ref>''The meeting of religions and the Trinity'' by Gavin D'Costa 2000 {{ISBN\|0-567-08730-1}} page 152</ref> Referring to some elements of Buddhism as "negative theology" the document states:
	The Sanskrit word ''bodhisattva'' is translated as ''nazir'' and in Hebrew means: ("One who abstains"); and is generally a word used for monks. Jesus too is referred throughout the Greek New Testament as a Nazarene who talks about a life of poverty and celibacy, something different than the vows of the original vow of Nazirs in Numbers 6:1-21.
			{{blockquote\|Still others do not hesitate to place that absolute without image or concepts, which is proper to Buddhist theory, on the same level as the majesty of God revealed in Christ, which towers above finite reality. To this end, they make use of a "negative theology", which ... denies that the things of this world can offer traces of the infinity of God.<ref name=VaticanAspects/>}}

			Similar warnings were issued in 2003 in '']'' which also referred to Buddhism.<ref name=HBook >''Handbook of vocational psychology'' by W. Bruce Walsh, Mark Savickas 2005 {{ISBN\|0-8058-4517-8}} page 358</ref><ref name=reflection>{{Cite web\|url=https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/interelg/documents/rc_pc_interelg_doc_20030203_new-age_en.html\|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131001211733/https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/interelg/documents/rc_pc_interelg_doc_20030203_new-age_en.html\|url-status=dead\|title=Jesus Christ The Bearer Of The Water Of Life - A Christian reflection on the New Age\|archivedate=October 1, 2013\|website=www.vatican.va}}</ref> The ] expressed agreement with those views.<ref name=LATimes >{{Cite web \|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2003/feb/08/local/me-relignewage8/2 \|title=Los Angeles Times, February 8, 2003 ''New Age Beliefs Aren't Christian, Vatican Finds'' \|website=] \|access-date=December 15, 2012 \|archive-date=July 1, 2012 \|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120701141606/http://articles.latimes.com/2003/feb/08/local/me-relignewage8/2 \|url-status=dead }}</ref>
	==Parallel Sayings==

			==See also==
	<div class="references-small">
			* ]
	{\|class="wikitable"
			* ]
	\|+
			* ] (journal)
	\|-
			* ]
	!Buddha
			* ]
	!Jesus
			* ]
	\|-
			* ]
	\|"Consider others as yourself." (Dhammapada 10:1)
			* ]
	\|"Do to others as you would have them do to you." (] 6:31)
			* ]
	\|-
			* ]
	\|"If anyone should give you a blow with his hand, with a stick, or with a knife, you should abandon any desires and utter no evil words." (Majjhima Nikaya 21:6)
			* ]
	\|"If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also." (Luke 6:29)
			* ]
	\|-
			* ]
	\|"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)
	\|"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)
	\|-
	\|

	"If you do not tend one another, then who is there to tend to you? Whoever would tend me, he should tend the sick." (Vinaya, Mahavagga 8:26:3)
	\|"Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me." (] 25:45)
	\|-
	\|"Abandoning the taking of life, the ascetic Gautama dwells refraining from taking life, without stick or sword." (Digha Nikaya 1:1:8)
	\|"Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take the sword shall perish by the sword." (Matt. 26:52)
	\|-
	\|... all these do not equal a sixteenth part of the liberation of mind by loving kindness. The liberation of mind by loving kindness surpasses them all and shines forth, bright and brilliant. (Itivuttaka 27;19-2)

	Just as a mother would protect her only child at the risk of her own life, even so, cultivate a boundless heart towards all beings. Let your thoughts of boundless love pervade the whole world." (Metta Sutta)
	\|"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friend." (John 15:12-13)
	\|-
	\|Just as rain penetrates a badly-covered house, so passion enters a dispersed mind. Just as rain does not penetrate a well-covered house, so too does passion not enter a well-developed mind (Dh 1:13-14).

	\|Everyone who hears my words and does them is like a man who built a house on rock. The rain fell, a torrent broke against the house, and it did not fall, for it had a rock foundation.

	But everyone who hears my words and does not do them is like a man who built a house on sand. The rain came, the torrent broke against it, and it collapsed. The ruin of that house was great (QS 14).
	\|-
	\|It's easy to see the errors of others, but hard to see your own. You winnow like chaff the errors of others, but conceal your own — like a cheat, an unlucky throw. If you focus on the errors of others,
	constantly finding fault, your effluents flourish. You're far from their ending. (Dhammapada Mahavagga 252-253)

	\|"Why do you see the speck in your neighbor's eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, "Friend, let me take the speck out of your eye," when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor's eye." (Luke 6:41-42)
	\|-
	\|

	"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)
	\|He said to them, "Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." (John 8:4-7)
	\|-

	\|But these three things, monks, shine openly, not in secret. What three? The moon, the sun, and the Dhamma and Discipline... (Anguttara Nikaya 3:129)
	"That great cloud rains down on all whether their nature is superior or inferior. 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." (Sadharmapundarika Sutra 5)

	\|"Your father in heaven makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous." (Matt. 5:45)

	\|-
	\|"Let us live most happily, possessing nothing; let us feed on joy, like the radiant gods." (Dhammapada 15:4))
	\|"Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God." (Luke 6:20)

	\|-
	\|"The avaricious do not go to heaven, the foolish do not extol charity. The wise one, however, rejoicing in charity, becomes thereby happy in the beyond." (Dhammapada 13:11)

	\|"If you wish to be perfect, go sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven." (Matt.19:21)
	\|-
	\|...when a tathagatha arises in the world,.. then there is the manifestation of great light and radiance: then no blinding darkness prevails. (Samyutta Nikaya 56:38; V442)

	\|Jesus is the light of the world - John 8:12
	Those who do the truth come to the light - John 3:17-21
	\|-
	\|Plucking out her lovely eye, with mind unattached she felt no regret.

	'Here, take this eye. It's yours.'

	Straightaway she gave it to him. Straightaway his passion faded right there, and he begged her forgiveness. (Therigata 14.1
	Subha and the Libertine)
	\|"And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. (Matt. 5:29–30).
	\|-
	\|'''Buddha the new born prince''' is adored and predicted by seer Asita and gods celebrate his birth.(SN 3.11 Nalaka Sutta)
	\|'''Jesus the new born prince''' is adored and predicted by seers "from the east" who celebrate his birth. (Matthew 2)
	\|-
	\|'''Buddha holds nothing back''':

	there is nothing, Ananda, with regard to the teachings that the Tathagata holds to the last with the closed fist of a teacher who keeps some things back. (Digha Nikaya, Mahaparinibbana Sutta,32)
	\|'''Jesus holds nothing back''':

	because a slave doesn't know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have heard from My Father. (John 15:15)
	\|-
	\|'''Chosen ones of Buddha'''
	the Blessed One saw beings with little dust in their eyes (Samyutta Nikaya 6.1 Ayacana Sutta)
	He has long had little dust in his eyes. What if I were to teach him the Dhamma first? (MN 26 Ariyapariyesana Sutta)
	\|'''Chosen ones of Jesus'''

	You did not choose Me, but I chose you. (John 15:16) (Matthew 9: 35 - 10: 8, Mark 3: 13 - 19, Luke 6: 12 - 18)
	\|-
	\|'''MARA AND BUDDHA''' Then Mara, the Evil One, knowing with his awareness the train of thought in the Blessed One's awareness, went to him and on arrival said to him: "Exercise rulership, Blessed One! Exercise rulership, O One Well-gone!
	'''Mara leaves'''

	Then Mara the Evil One — sad & dejected at realizing, "The Blessed One knows me; the One Well-gone knows me" — vanished right there. (Samyutta Nikaya 4.20 Rajja Sutta)

	\|'''SATAN AND JESUS''': And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, 6 and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8
	'''Satan leaves'''

	13 And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. (Luke 4:1)
	\|-
	\|'''Buddha is the Truth and the Law''': "He who sees the Dhamma, he sees me; he who sees me, sees the Dhamma."Kindred Sayings (III, Khandhaa-vagga, Middle Fifty, Ch 4, 87, Vakkali Sutta)

	\|'''Jesus is the Truth and the Law''':Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth and the life: no man cometh to the Father, but by me. (John 14:6)
	\|-
	\|'''Buddha tells us to "come and see" the Dhamma or truth, which is the Buddha'''...In the Six Characteristics of the ] or the "law", the fourth one is "Ehipashyaka" or, "Come and See".

	\|'''Jesus tells us "come and see" his true dwelling, Jesus is the truth''':
	"They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou? 39 He saith unto them, '''Come and see'''. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour."John 1:35-39,John 1:43-46.

	\|-
	\|'''Buddha lectures priest on bloodless sacrifice''':
	"But, Reverend Gotama, is there any sacrifice that is more profitable than these four?"
	"There is, Brahmin."

	"What is it, Reverend Gotama?" "Brahmin, if anyone with a pure heart undertakes the precepts - to refrain from taking life, from taking what is not given, from sexual immorality, from lying speech and from taking strong drink and sloth-producing drugs - that constitutes a sacrifice more profitable than any of these four."(Kutadanta Sutta)
	\|'''Jesus lectures priest (Sadducees) on bloodless sacrifice''':
	33And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." (Mark 12:33)
	\|-
	\|'''Buddha calls priests blind'''
	O Vasettha, those brahmins who know the three Vedas are just like a line of blind men tied together where the first sees nothing, the middle man nothing, and the last sees nothing (Tevijja-Sutta, Dighanikaya, 13:15).
	\|'''Jesus calls priests (Pharisees) blind'''
	Can the blind lead the blind? Won't they both fall into a pit? (Matthew 15:14).
	\|-
	\|'''Buddha sends missionaries'''"Go forth, o bhikkhus, for the good of the many, for the happiness of the many, out of compassion for the world, for the benefit, for the good, for the happiness of gods and men. Let not two go by one way. Preach the doctrine that is beautiful in its beginning, beautiful in its middle, and beautiful in its ending. Declare the holy life in its purity, completely both in the spirit and the letter."

	\|'''Jesus sends missionaries'''Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. (Matthew 28:19).

	\|-
	\|Buddha helps outcastes (Thag 12.2), lepers (Ud 5.3) and the courtesan like Ambapali (Digha Nikaya 16: Maha-parinibbana Sutta)
	\|Jesus helps outcaste lepers (Luke 17:11-19) and "sinful women" like Mary Magdalene or Mary of Bethany (Luke 7:36-50)
	\|-
	\|'''God appoints Buddha:'''God the creator: "Throw open the door to the Deathless! Let them hear the Dhamma realized by the Stainless One!
	\|'''Christ says he has been anointed by God''': 18He hath anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor. He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,21And He began to say unto them, "This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears." (Luke 4:21)
	\|-
	\|'''Buddha declares''':

	Open are the doors to the Deathless to those with ears. Let them show their conviction.

	\|'''Christ declares''' after defeating Satan:

	Repent! for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. —Matthew 4:17

	Anyone who has ears to hear ought to hear."(Mark 4:23)
	\|-
	\|'''Buddha can walk on water and walk through walls''':
	He goes unimpeded through walls, ramparts, and mountains as if through space. He walks on water without sinking as if it were dry land. (Digha Nikaya 11:Kevatta Sutta)

	\|'''Jesus can walk on water and walk through walls''':
	And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. Mat 14:25
	"Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them." (John 20:26)
	\|-
	\|'''Buddha and the Cross''':

	"This, monks, is called a monk whose cross-bar <ref>this is also found in ] verse 398, the word used in Pali: ukkhittapaligham, Sanskrit: utksiptaparikham </ref>is thrown off, 10 whose moat is filled in, whose pillar is pulled out, whose bolt is withdrawn, a noble one with banner lowered, burden placed down, unfettered. (Majjhima Nikaya 22:Alagaddupama Sutta I 139-140)
	\|'''Jesus and the Cross''':

	And whosoever doth not bear his cross<ref>The Greek word used is "stauros," which does not mean cross, but rather stake. Was he crucified on a cross, or an individual stake?A: The cross was never used in early Christianity. The closest was the symbol "chi rho." It was understood that the "stauros" was a stake. The embellishment of the cross came later, and the crucifix after that. FAQ Bible Study New Testament (No. 58) (Edition 1.1 20000630-20011206) http://www.ccg.org/English/s/p058.html </ref>, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:27)
	\|-
	\|'''Buddha and the Sacrifice''':

	This Purusa is all that yet hath been and all that is to be; (Rig Veda ])

	''Buddha is known as the MAHA ]. This Purusha is a human sacrifice or ], from which all creation comes forth. "Maha -]" in the ], the ], in the discourse titled "Sutra of the Marks" (Pali: Lakkhana Sutta).Griffith (1899)''

	'':"man, the noblest victim, being actually or symbolically sacrificed ... and men and women of various tribes, figures, complexions, characters, and professions being attached to the sacrificial stakes in place of the tame and wild animals enumerated in Book XXIV . These nominal victims were afterwards released uninjured, and, so far as the text of the White Yajurveda goes, the whole ceremony was merely emblematical."''

	''The ceremony evokes the mythical sacrifice of Purusha, the "Cosmic Man", and the officiating Brahman recites the Purusha sukta to the assembled human victims (RV 10.90 = AVS 5.19.6 = VS 31.1–16).''

	''From the body of the Purusha all things come forth.''

	''In this human sacrifice, the Purusha is tied to a stake and symbolically killed.''

	\|'''Jesus and the Sacrifice''':
	3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. (John 1)

	“Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1)

	12For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. (1cor 12:12)
	\|}
	</div>
	sources:<ref>*Elmar R. Gruber & Holger Kersten. ''The Original Jesus: The Buddhist Sources of Christianity''</ref> <ref>Suns of God: Krishna, Buddha and Christ Unveiled, Acharya S.</ref><ref>Jesus and Buddha: The Parallel Sayings (Seastone Series) (Paperback)
	by Marcus J. Borg (Editor), Ray Riegert (Editor), Jack Kornfield (Introduction)</ref><ref>Blavatsky Collected Writings Volume 14 introduction by Boris DeZirkoff Excerpt- http://www.blavatsky.net/blavatsky/bcw/vol14/mystery-about-buddha.htm</ref><ref>Holger Kersten, ''Jesus Lived in India. His Unknown Life Before and After the Crucifixion'', Element, Reprint 1999</ref>
	<ref>Holger Kersten, 'Buddhist Thought in the Teachings of Jesus' </ref>

	==Dating of Texts==

	One of the sources of controversy in the parallel teachings has been the dating of the texts, both Buddhist and Christian. Buddhist teachings and missionaries are obviously older, however, Buddhism began with a long tradition of oral teachings which were finally put down in writing in Sri Lanka during the reign of King Vaṭṭagamiṇi (70 B.C.E.)<ref>http://www.buddhistdoor.com/bdoor/archive/nutshell/teach40.htm</ref>The Ti-pitaka rendered into writing for first time at Aloka-vihara, Matale, Sri Lanka: The Fourth Buddhist Council according to Theravada tradition held in Sri Lanka.<ref>http://www.palikanon.com/english/timetable.htm</ref> Before the scriptures were put into writing, several ] were held in order to reach an agreement on what constituted the official canon:
	<div class="references-small">
	:"There is every reason to believe that the Pitakas now present in Ceylon are substantially identical with the books of the Southern Canon, as settled at the Council of Patna about the year 250 B.C. As no works would have been received into the Canon which were not then believed to be very old, the Pitakas may be approximately placed in the fourth century B.C., and parts of them possibly reach back very nearly, if not quite, to the time of Gautama (Buddha) himself." ('''Rhys Davids''', ''Buddhism: Being a Sketch of the Life and Teachings of Gautama, the Buddha'' (London, 1894), p. 10)
	</div>
	The oral teachings were important as the poorest and disenfranchised were not literate, in fact, most of ancient society was illiterate and the most effective way for the teachings to be proclaimed was orally or through preaching, and so the preacher tradition begins with Buddha and the missions. The exortation "Open are the doors to the Deathless '''to those with ears''' is literal, and is similarly expressed in the Jesus story, "This day is this Scripture fulfilled '''in your ears'''." (Luke 4:21) The life story of the Buddha was already being translated into Chinese around 70 A.D.:
	<div class="references-small">
	:"We know that the Fo-pen-hing was translated into Chinese from Sanskrit (the ancient language of Hinduism) as early as the eleventh year of the reign of - Wing-ping (Ming-ti) of the Hans Dynasty, i.e., 69 or 70 A.D. We may, therefore, safely suppose that the original work was in circulation in India for some time before this date." ('''Samuel Beal''', ''The Romantic Legends of Sakya Buddha from the Chinese Sanskrit'' (London, 1875), p. vi.)
	</div>
	A similar problem occurs in dating the Christian Gospels. The Gospels for a while, circulated in oral traditions:
	<div class="references-small">
	:All early gospels have a common background. They come from an age when traditions about Jesus had not yet been fixed. Most these traditions, in fact, were still being circulated orally. In the “unwritten tradition,” various narratives about Jesus were being recounted along with parables and teachings attributed to him (Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 3.9.11). The oral traditions were so abundant that, as one ancient writer put it, “if every one of them were written down, I suppose the world itself could not contain the books that would be written” (John 21:25). (Andrew Bernhard)<ref>Andrew Bernhard "Dating Early Christian Gospels" Journal of Biblical Studies 1:4 2001 </ref>
	</div>

	However, a general consensus as to the timeline of putting those scriptures down in writing has been reached by most scholars trying to date the Gospels:
	<div class="references-small">
	: All parts of all early gospels were likely written after the death of Jesus (ca. 30 C.E.), but before Irenaeus created a broad consensus that only four individual gospels could be regarded as authoritative scripture (ca. 180 C.E.). The period for the writing of the early gospels might reasonably be narrowed to something like 60-150 C.E...(Ibid)</div>

	We can safely assume that Buddhist teachings, in particular the Pali Canon, were circulating around the world, both orally, from the time of Emperor ]'s missions around the world (Second Century B.C.), and written (from the time of King Vattagamini), earlier than their Christian counterparts. <ref>Thomas, Edward J. The Life of Buddha, as Legend and History. Routledge & Kegan Paul: London, 1975</ref><ref>Skilton, Andrew. A Concise History of Buddhism. Windhorse Publications: Birmingham, United Kingdom, 1994. Reprinted by Barnes & Noble</ref>



	===Aramaic and Greek Missions===
	] and ]) by king ], from ] (Shar-i-kuna). ] Museum. Click image for translation]]
	We might also assume that many Buddhist teachings were circulating in both ] and ] languages. In the western most part of Ashoka's empire, Edict 13, was in both Greek and Aramaic
	Many of the kings after Ashoka in the northwest of India were of Greek descent and strongly Buddhist, such as ] or King ]<ref>see ]</ref>.

	Many scholars debate as to what language Jesus and the apostles spoke in. Many have so far concluded that Jesus spoke Aramaic and knew ].<ref>The Earliest Gospel by Frederick C. Grant http://www.religion-online.org/showchapter.asp?title=1940&C=1761</ref>
	<div class="references-small">
	:Moreover, Jesus’ disciples were all Aramaic-speaking Jews, and the tradition as they and others handed it down was doubtless in that tongue -- as we have noted, the various surviving tags of Aramaic, such as Abba, effathá, talithá kumi, clearly indicate this. (ibid, Frederick C. Grant)
	</div>

	==Nazir for Buddha?==
	The word ] or ] is not once used in the ]. This point is not missed altogether by scholars of ]s.
	<div class="references-small">
	:The followers of the ] in ] during the decades either side of Jesus' birth, if there were any, certainly did not call themselves ]. Instead, they probably would have used the name adopted by their brothers in India: the followers of the ] (the Universal Law and the teaching of Buddha). In Greek, the word Dharma may be translated as ''']'''...The most sacred authority in Buddhism is the ] represented by ], ], and ]. Christian theology has the Holy ] of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, of whom the Son, the second Person, is equated with the Logos (that is to say the Dharma), and the third Person, the Holy Spirit, is active in the community of the faithful (the Sangha).<ref>ibid, Kersten</ref>
	</div>

	Another possible explanation for this might be found in the more well known history of the spread of Buddhism in China. In ], early Buddhist missionaries explained Buddhist ideas using ] terminology. Many Chinese held Buddhism to be a kind of Taoism of the foreigner and so not in conflict as they shared many of the same ideas. <ref>The Cambridge History of China, Vol.1, (The Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 B.C.-A.D. 220) ISBN 0-521-24327-0 hardback</ref>

	] symbol, created by combining the Greek letters ΙΧΘΥΣ, forming an eight-spoked wheel also known as the ] in Buddhism]]
	A similar integration or intermingling of Buddhist teachings generally happened in many of the different lands where missionaries were sent, including ] with the ] traditions and in Japan with ] traditions.

	In the middle eastern regions where Christianity began such as ], many of the kingdoms were ruled by a small minority of Greco-] rulers with subjects of a Jewish majority. Jewish terminology and myths to explain Buddhist metaphysical ideas might have been utilized by Buddhist missionaries.
	<div class="references-small">
	:According to Epiphanius of Constantia (Salamis), the Essenes were also called Nazarene – Nazarenos or Nazoraios<ref>(ibid, Kersten)</ref>
	</div>

	Evidence of such a possibility presents itself in the Greek legend of "]". The Hebrew translation of this text in the middle ages, is called "Ben-Hamelekh Veha]" ("The Prince and the ]") or the "Prince and the Nazirite". The Sanskrit word bodhisatva is completely replaced with the word "Nazir" and in Hebrew means: ("One who abstains"); and generally became a word used for monks by the middle ages. Jesus too is referred throughout the Greek New Testament as a ] and a celibate who tells his disciples to leave all material things behind if they want to be his disciple in several places in the New Testament. This was something entirely different from the Judaic tradition mentioned in Numbers 6:1-21.

	<div class="references-small">
	:Gerber and Kersten have made a valiant effort to prove that the historical Jesus lived the life of a Buddhist and taught Buddhist ideals to his disciples; their work follows in the footsteps of the Oxford New Testament scholar' Barnett Hillman Streeter, who established as early as the 1930s that the, moral teaching of the Buddha has four remarkable resemblance to the Sermon on the Mount."<ref>Title : Did Buddhism influence early Christianity?
	Author : N. S. Chandramouli
	Publication : The Times of India
	Date : May 1, 1997</ref></div>

	==Later influences==
	], ]]]
	] showing the hand position of a medieval ].]]
	The use of ] spread from India to Europe during the ]s through the Islamic versions.

	When the Catholic missionary ] started preaching to the Japanese, he used the word '']'' to ] the notion of the ].
	However, when he learnt that the Japanese used Dainichi for the Buddha ], he changed to use '']'' from Portuguese and Latin ''Deus'', avoiding confusion of Christianity and ].

	Prayer postures are also quite generally associated with a particular religious tradition. Prayer with both the palms touching one another is called the "'''Anjali Mudra'''" in Indian spiritual traditions, and is a common greeting and prayer posture in all Indian spiritual traditions, including ], but is absent in ] traditions, whose scriptures mention raised or clasped hands<ref>
	From How to Pray by Helene Ciaravino (Garden City Park, New York: Square One Publishers Excerpt: http://www.christiangateway.com/community/prayer/articles/f_lib_article_hc_christian.html)</ref>. However, we find this prayer position found in Christian art from the middle ages, considered a common prayer posture of Christianity<ref>
	Ibid</ref>

	==In literature==
	] in his '']'' draws strong parallels between the essential message of both Buddha and Jesus main:love thy neignbor, and how that message was distorted by followers and the priesthood. ] in his '']'' suggests that Jesus-Buddha is the feminine ideology, Nietzsche the masculine and Plato-Socrates somewhere in between. ]' 1894 '']'' was modeled on the New Testament and told the story of Buddha through parables.

	== Scholars on the Parallels ==

	"With the remarkable exception of the ], and of the doctrine of ] by vicarious suffering, which is absolutely excluded by Buddhism, the most ancient of the Buddhistic records known to us contain statements about the life and the doctrines of Gautama Buddha which correspond in a remarkable manner, and impossibly by mere chance, with the traditions recorded in the Gospels about the life and doctrines of Jesus Christ...." (''']''', ''The Angel Messiah of Buddhists, Essenes and Christians'' (London, 1880), p. 50.)

	"] with its ], its bells and ], its images and ], its popes and bishops, its abbots and monks of many grades, its processions and feast days, its ] and ], and its worship of the double Virgin, so strongly resembles ] that the first Catholic missionaries thought it must be an imitation by the ] of the religion of Christ." '''The Encyclopedia Britannica'''.

	"These points of agreement with the Gospel narrative arouse curiosity and require explanation. If we could prove that they were unknown in the East for some centuries after Christ, the explanation would be easy. But all the evidence we have gone to prove the contrary...." (], pp. viii-ix.)

	"Between the language of The Buddha and his disciples, and the language of Christ and his apostles, there are strange coincidences. Even some Buddhist legends and parables sound as if taken from the New Testament, though we know that many of them existed before the beginning of the Christian era." (''']''', ''Introduction to the Science of Religion'' (London, 1873), p. 243)

	"Approximately five centuries older than Christianity, by the time of the birth of Christ, Buddhism had already spread through much of India and Ceylon and had penetrated into Central Asia and China." (''']''', ''A History of Christianity'' (New York, 1975), p. 274.)

	"The miraculous births of Buddha, his life and instructions, contain a great number of the moral and dogmatic truths professed in Christianity." ('''M. L']''', ''Christianity in China, Tartary, and Thibet'' (London, 1857), p. 327.)

	...nothing now remains for the honest man to do but acknowledge the truth, which is that the history of Jesus of Nazareth as related in the books of the New Testament, is simply a copy of that of Buddha, with a mixture of mythology borrowed from other nations." (''']''', ''"Bible Myths"'' (New York, 1882), p. 286)

	"There are many moral precepts equally commanded and enforced in common by both creeds. It will not be rash to assert that most of the moral truths prescribed in the gospel are to be met with in the Buddhistic scriptures." '''], the Catholic Bishop of ]'''

	"In reading the particulars of the life of Buddha it is impossible not to feel reminded of many circumstances relating to our Savior's life as sketched by the evangelists. It may be said in favor of Buddhism that no philosophic-religious system has ever upheld to an equal degree the notions of a savior and deliverer, and the necessity of his mission for procuring the salvation of man." '''Catholic Bishop Bigandet'''

	"He requires humility, disregard of worldly wealth, patience and resignation in adversity, love to enemies ... non-resistance to evil, confession of sins and conversion." '''Bishop ]'''

	==References==		==References==
			{{reflist\|30em}}
	<references/>
	Reference:
	] (2002) The ]’s Gospel: A Buddhist Interpretation of ]’ Words. ] Fund, Adelaide. 108pp.http://www.iid/publications/buddhasgospel.pdf

			{{Buddhism topics}}
	== Further reading ==
			{{Christianity footer}}
	*Blavatsky, H. P. ] (1877)
	*J. Duncan M. Derrett. The Bible and the Buddhists. Sardini 2000. ISBN 88-7506-174-2
	*Richard Garbe: Indien und das Christentum
	*Elmar R. Gruber & Holger Kersten. ''The Original Jesus: The Buddhist Sources of Christianity''.
	*Streeter, Burnett H., The Buddha and The Christ, an Exploration of the Meaning of the Universe and of the Purpose of Human Life, Macmillan and Co., London, 1932.
	*Allegro, John, The Mystery of the Dead Sea Scrolls Revised, Grammercy Publishing Co., New York, 1981 (first published Penguin Books, 1956).
	*Amore, Roy C., Two Masters, One Message, The Lives and the Teachings of Gautama and Jesus, Parthenon Press, Nashville, 1978.
	*de Silva, Lynn, A., The Problem of the Self in Buddhism and Christianity, Macmillan Press, London, 1979. -Reincarnation in Buddhist and Christian Thought, 1968.
	*Haring, Hermann & Metz, Johann-Baptist, eds., Reincarnation or Resurrection?, SCM Press, Maryknoll, 1993.
	*Head, Joseph, & Cranston, S.L., eds., Reincarnation An East-West Anthology (Including quotations from the world's religions & from over 400 western thinkers), Julian Press, New York, 1961.
	*Howe, Quincy, Jr., Reincarnation for the Christian, Westminster Press, Philadelphia, 1974.
	*Leaney, A.R.C., ed., A Guide to the Scrolls, Nottinham Studies on the Qumran Discoveries, SCM Book Club, Naperville, Ill., 1958.
	*Lefebure, Leo D., The Buddha and the Christ, Explorations in Buddhist and Christian Dialogue (Faith Meets Faith Series), Orbis Books, Maryknoll, New York, 1993.
	Lillie, Arthur, Buddhism in Christendom or Jesus, the Essene, Unity Book Service, New Delhi, 1984 (first published in 1887). India in Primitive Christianity, Kegan House Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., 1909.
	Lopez, Donald S. & Rockefeller, Steven C., eds., The Christ and the Bodhisattva, State University of New York, 1987. Phan, Peter, ed., Christianity and the Wider Ecumenism, Paragon House, New York, 1990.
	Pye, Michael & Morgan, Robert, eds., The Cardinal Meaning, Essays in Comparative Hermeneutics: Buddhism and Christianity, Mouton & Co., Netherlands, 1973.
	*Radhakrishnan, S., Eastern Religions in Western Thought, Oxford University Press, 1939.
	*Siegmund, Georg, Buddhism and Christianity, A Preface to Dialogue, Sister Mary Frances McCarthy, trans., University of Alabama Press, 1968.
	*Smart, Ninian, Buddhism and Christianity: Rivals and Allies, Macmillan, London, 1993.
	*Tambyah, Isaac T., A Comparative Study of Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity, Indian Book Gallery, Delhi, 1983 (first edition 1925).
	*Yu, Chai-shin, Early Buddhism and Christianity, A comparative Study of the Founders' Authority, the Community, and the Discipline, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1981.

			{{Authority control}}
	== External links ==
	*

			{{DEFAULTSORT:Christianity}}
	]
	]		]
	]
	]

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Origins and early contacts

Bilingual edict (Greek and Aramaic) 3rd century BC by Indian Buddhist King Ashoka, see Edicts of Ashoka, from Kandahar. This edict advocates the adoption of "godliness" using the Greek term Eusebeia for Dharma. Kabul Museum.

The history of Buddhism goes back to what is now Lumbini, Nepal almost six centuries before Christianity, making it one of the oldest religions still being practiced. The origins of Christianity go back to Roman Judea in the early first century. The four canonical gospels date from around 70–90 AD, the Pauline epistles having been written before them around 50–60 AD.

Starting in the 1930s, authors such as Will Durant suggested that Greco-Buddhist representatives of Ashoka the Great who traveled to ancient Syria, Egypt and Greece may have helped prepare the ground for Christian teaching. Buddhism was prominent in the eastern Greek world and became the official religion of the eastern Greek successor kingdoms to Alexander the Great's empire (Greco-Bactrian Kingdom (250 BC – 125 BC) and Indo-Greek Kingdom (180 BC – 10 AD)). Several prominent Greek Buddhist missionaries are known (Mahadharmaraksita and Dharmaraksita) and the Indo-Greek king Menander I converted to Buddhism, and is regarded as one of the great patrons of Buddhism. (See Milinda Panha.) Some modern historians have suggested that the pre-Christian monastic order in Egypt of the Therapeutae is possibly a deformation of the Pāli word "Theravāda", a form of Buddhism, and the movement may have "almost entirely drawn (its) inspiration from the teaching and practices of Buddhist asceticism". They may even have been descendants of Asoka's emissaries to the West.

Buddhist gravestones from the Ptolemaic period have been found in Alexandria in Egypt decorated with depictions of the dharma wheel, showing that Buddhists were living in Hellenistic Egypt at the time Christianity began. The presence of Buddhists in Alexandria has led one author to note: "It was later in this very place that some of the most active centers of Christianity were established." Nevertheless, modern Christian scholars generally hold that there is no direct evidence of any influence of Buddhism on Christianity, and several scholarly theological works do not support these suggestions. However, some historians such as Jerry H. Bentley suggest that there is a real possibility that Buddhism influenced the early development of Christianity.

It is known that prominent early Christians were aware of Buddha and some Buddhist stories. Saint Jerome (4th century AD) mentions the birth of the Buddha, who he says "was born from the side of a virgin." The early church father Clement of Alexandria (died 215 AD) was also aware of Buddha, writing in his Stromata (Bk I, Ch XV): "The Indian gymnosophists are also in the number, and the other barbarian philosophers. And of these there are two classes, some of them called Sarmanæ and others Brahmins. And those of the Sarmanæ who are called 'Hylobii' neither inhabit cities, nor have roofs over them, but are clothed in the bark of trees, feed on nuts, and drink water in their hands. Like those called Encratites in the present day, they know not marriage nor begetting of children. Some, too, of the Indians obey the precepts of Buddha (Βούττα) whom, on account of his extraordinary sanctity, they have raised to divine honours."

In the Middle Ages there was no trace of Buddhism in the West. In the 13th century, international travelers, such as Giovanni de Piano Carpini and William of Ruysbroeck, sent back reports of Buddhism to the West and noted some similarities with Nestorian Christian communities. Indeed, syncretism in the East between Nestorian Christianity and Buddhism existed along the Silk Road throughout Antiquity and the Middle Ages, and was especially pronounced in the medieval Church of the East in China, as evidenced by the Jesus Sutras.

When European Christians made more direct contact with Buddhism in the early 16th century, Catholic missionaries such as St. Francis Xavier sent back accounts of Buddhist practices. With the arrival of Sanskrit studies in European universities in the late 18th century, and the subsequent availability of Buddhist texts, a discussion began of a proper encounter with Buddhism. In time, Buddhism gathered Western followers and at the end of the 19th century the first Westerners (e.g. Sir Edwin Arnold and Henry Olcott) converted to Buddhism. In the beginning of the 20th century the first westerners (e.g. Ananda Metteyya and Nyanatiloka) entered the Buddhist monastic life.

Similarities and differences

In the 19th century, some scholars began to perceive similarities between Buddhist and Christian practices. In 1878, T.W. Rhys Davids wrote that the earliest missionaries to Tibet observed that similarities have been seen since the first known contact. In 1880, Ernest De Bunsen made similar observations in that with the exception of the death of Jesus on the cross, and of the Christian doctrine of atonement, the most ancient Buddhist records had similarities with the Christian traditions.

Late in the 20th century, historian Jerry H. Bentley also wrote of similarities and stated that it is possible "that Buddhism influenced the early development of Christianity" and suggested "attention to many parallels concerning the births, lives, doctrines, and deaths of the Buddha and Jesus". Some high level Buddhists have drawn analogies between Jesus and Buddhism, e.g. in 2001 the Dalai Lama stated that "Jesus Christ also lived previous lives", and added that "So, you see, he reached a high state, either as a Bodhisattva, or an enlightened person, through Buddhist practice or something like that." Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh affirmed core Christian beliefs such as the trinity, and the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, in his book Living Buddha, Living Christ. Bokin Kim, similarly, sees Christ as the Buddha Dharmakaya, and Jesus as similar to Gautama who was just a historical manifestation of the transhistorical Buddha. In The Lotus & The Rose: A Conversation Between Tibetan Buddhism & Mystical Christianity, Lama Tsomo and Matthew Fox discuss the interconnections between Buddhism and Christianity. In it, Fox relates the Buddha-nature to what scholars John Dominic Crossan and Bruce Chilton call Paul's original "cosmic" or "metacosmic" view of Christ.

Differences

See also: God in Buddhism and God in Christianity

There are inherent and fundamental differences between Buddhism and Christianity, one significant element being that while Christianity is at its core monotheistic and relies on a God as a Creator, Buddhism is generally non-theistic and rejects the notion of a Creator God which provides divine values for the world.

The Nicene Creed, currently the most widely used Christian creed, states that "We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible". However, the notion of theistic creation is generally foreign to Buddhist thought, and the question of the existence of God is perhaps one of the most fundamental barriers between the teachings of Christianity and Buddhism. Although Mahayana Buddhism expresses belief in the saint-like state of a Bodhisattva, this is very different from the notion of Creator God in Christianity. While some variations of Buddhism believe in an impersonal eternal Buddha or trikaya, in general Buddhism sees empty space as eternal and without a starting point of creation. According to the Dalai Lama, belief in a Creator could be associated with the understanding of emptiness, but "once a certain degree of realization has been reached, a choice between the two paths will become necessary."

According to the Oxford Handbook of Eschatology, there are inherent differences in the Christian and Buddhist beliefs regarding the End Times and eschatology. Jan Nattier states that while Buddhism has a notion of "relative eschatology" that refers to specific cycles of life, the term "Buddhist eschatology" does not relate to any "final things", or that the world will end one day – Buddhist scripture routinely referring to the "beginningless Saṃsāra" as a never ending cycle of birth and death with no starting point. However, Christian eschatology directly involves the concept of "end to all creation" at the Last Judgement when the world will reach its conclusion.

There are other fundamental incompatibilities, e.g. while grace is part of the very fabric of Christian theology, in Theravada Buddhism no deity can interfere with karma, and hence the notion of any type of grace is inadmissible within these teachings. Mahayana Buddhism however, differs on this issue.

The crucifixion of Jesus as a single event in history that acts for the atonement of sins is a central element of Christian belief. This, however, produces a strong difference between Christian and Buddhist teachings. Buddhist scholar Masao Abe pointed out that while "the event of the Cross" is central to Christianity, it is not possible for Buddhism to accept its importance. Buddhist philosopher D. T. Suzuki stated that every time he saw a crucifixion scene it reminded him of the "gap that lies deep" between Christianity and Buddhism.

Buddhist influence on Christianity

Suggestions of influences

Main article: Buddhist influences on Christianity See also: Buddhism and the Roman world and Buddhism and Gnosticism

Suggestions have been made that Buddhism may have influenced early Christianity. Buddhist missionaries, sent by Emperor Ashoka of India to Sri Lanka, Syria, Egypt and Greece, may have helped prepare for the ethics of Christ. Gnostics (a small number of sects) are not considered part of mainstream Christianity and some have been declared heretical. However, Elaine Pagels proposes Buddhist influences on Gnosticism. Pagels suggested that there are parallels with teachings attributed to Jesus Christ and teachings found in Eastern traditions, but concludes that these parallels might be coincidental, since parallel traditions may emerge in different cultures without direct influence.

Buddhist Jack Maguire has suggested that in the 4th century, Christian monasticism developed in Egypt, and it emerged with a corresponding structure comparable to the Buddhist monasticism of its time and place. In Alexandria, Indian gravestones dating from the Ptolemaic period (c. 305 BC – 30 BC) have been discovered in Alexandria. Alexandria served as the Ptolemaic trading centre between the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian subcontinent, later encompassing "some of the most active centers of Christianity" and becoming the third-most important seat of Christianity in the world.

After studying Eastern philosophy, German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer states that " New Testament must be of Indian origin Everything true in Christianity is also to be discovered in Brahmanism and Buddhism," theorizing that after the flight into Egypt, Jesus was "brought up by Egyptian priests, whose religion was of Indian origin." Schopenhauer elaborates:

this Indian doctrine entered into the Promised Land there arose the task of uniting the knowledge of the corruption and misery of the world, of its need for redemption and of salvation through an avatar, together with the morality of self-denial and atonement, with Jewish monotheism and its 'Behold, it was very good'.

The suggestion that an adult Jesus traveled to India and was influenced by Buddhism before starting his ministry in Galilee was first made by Nicolas Notovitch in 1894 in the book The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ which was widely disseminated and became the basis of other theories. Notovitch's theory was controversial from the beginning and was widely criticized. Once his story had been re-examined by historians, Notovitch confessed to having fabricated the evidence.

Rejection of influences

A number of scholars have stated that suggestions of an influence from Buddhism on Christianity, particularly Jesus's alleged travels to Buddhist India, are fanciful and without any historical basis:

Robert Van Voorst states that modern Christian scholarship has "almost unanimously agreed" that claims of the travels of Jesus to Tibet, Kashmir or India contain "nothing of value".
Marcus Borg states "Scholars have pointed out that Buddhist teachers lived in Alexandria, on the Mediterranean coast, by the first century. Some have posited that Jesus might have traveled there, or that Buddhist teachings may have reached cities of the Jewish homeland, including Sepphoris, a major city in Galilee only four miles from Nazareth. Popular speculation speaks of Jesus having traveled to India during "the missing years", the decades before he emerged on the stage of history. There, it is suggested, he came in to contact with Buddhist teachings. But both explanations are unlikely and unnecessary. The similarities are not of the kind that suggest cultural borrowing".
Leslie Houlden states that although modern parallels between the teachings of Jesus and Buddha have been drawn, these comparisons emerged after missionary contacts in the 19th century and there is no historically reliable evidence of contacts between Buddhism and Jesus.
Paula Fredriksen states that no serious scholarly work places Jesus outside the backdrop of 1st century Palestinian Judaism.
Eddy and Boyd state that there is no evidence of a historical influence by outside sources on the authors of the New Testament, and most scholars agree that any such historical influence on Christianity is entirely implausible given that first century monotheistic Galilean Jews would not have been open to what they would have seen as pagan stories.

Christian influence on Buddhism

Christian influence on Buddhism in the 18th and 19th centuries was primarily by example of modern forms of religious education. During the last centuries, Christian missionaries have influenced many Buddhist groups such as the Buddhist nun Cheng Yen who, after being inspired by the humanitarian aid done by Catholic nuns, decided that Buddhists need "to do more than simply encourage the private cultivation of people's souls". Her works eventually led to the foundation of Tzu Chi, a non-profit humanitarian group in Asia.

Contemporary Buddhist–Christian exchange

Main articles: Buddhism in the West and Buddhist modernism

“Ask and it shall be given, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened.”
Gasan remarked: “That is excellent. Whoever said that is not far from Buddhahood.”

Paul Reps, Zen Flesh, Zen Bones

Attempts at convergence

Buddhism has been gaining popularity in the west. Starting with a cultural and academic elite in the 19th century, it is now widespread in western culture, especially since the 1960s.

In the 20th century Christian monastics such as Thomas Merton, Wayne Teasdale, David Steindl-Rast and the former nun Karen Armstrong, and Buddhist monastics such as Ajahn Buddhadasa, Thich Nhat Hanh and the Dalai Lama have taken part in an interfaith dialogue about Buddhism and Christianity. This dialogue aims to shed light on the common ground between Buddhism and Christianity. The DIMMID (Dialogue Interreligieux Monastique - Monastic Interreligious Dialogue) has hosted several encounters between Buddhist and Catholic monks, such as the Gethsemani Encounters at the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani which were attended also by the Dalai Lama, as well as exchange programs in which Buddhist monks and nuns visit Catholic monasteries and vice versa.

Although the prevalent romantic view on Buddhism sees it as an authentic and ancient practice, contemporary Buddhism is deeply influenced by the western culture. With the rise of western colonialism in the 19th century, Asian cultures and religions developed strategies to adapt to the western hegemony, without losing their own traditions. Western discourses were taken over, and western polemic styles were applied to defend indigenous traditions.

Rejection of convergence

In 1989 the Catholic Church, through the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, rejected attempts at mixing some aspects of Christian and Buddhist practices, in a letter titled "Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on some aspects of Christian meditation", generally known as the Aspects of Christian meditation letter.

The document issues warnings on differences and potential incompatibilities between Christian meditation and the styles of meditation used in eastern religions such as Buddhism. Referring to some elements of Buddhism as "negative theology" the document states:

Still others do not hesitate to place that absolute without image or concepts, which is proper to Buddhist theory, on the same level as the majesty of God revealed in Christ, which towers above finite reality. To this end, they make use of a "negative theology", which ... denies that the things of this world can offer traces of the infinity of God.

Similar warnings were issued in 2003 in A Christian reflection on the New Age which also referred to Buddhism. The Southern Baptist Convention expressed agreement with those views.

References

^ Bentley, Jerry H. (1993). Old World Encounters. Cross-cultural contacts and exchanges in pre-modern times. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-507639-7.
^ Will Durant (7 June 2011). Our Oriental Heritage: The Story of Civilization. Simon and Schuster. pp. 711–. ISBN 978-1-4516-4668-9. Retrieved 27 August 2012.
^ The Boundaries of Knowledge in Buddhism, Christianity, and Science by Paul D Numrich (Dec 31, 2008) ISBN 3525569874 page 10
^ International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: E-J by Geoffrey W. Bromiley (Mar 1982) ISBN 0802837824 pages 515-516
^ Communicating Christ in the Buddhist World by Paul De Neui and David Lim (Jan 1, 2006) ISBN 0878085106 page 34
^ Van Voorst, Robert E (2000). Jesus Outside the New Testament: An Introduction to the Ancient Evidence. Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN 0-8028-4368-9 page 17
^ Jesus: The Complete Guide 2006 by Leslie Houlden ISBN 082648011X page 140
The Historical Jesus in Recent Research edited by James D. G. Dunn and Scot McKnight 2006 ISBN 1-57506-100-7 page 303
^ Gerald O'Collins, "The Hidden Story of Jesus" New Blackfriars Volume 89, Issue 1024, pages 710–714, November 2008
In the 13th century, international travelers, such as Giovanni de Piano Carpini and William of Ruysbroeck, sent back reports of Buddhism to the West and noted the similarities with Nestorian Christian communities. Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism, 2004, page 160
^ Jesus: The Complete Guide by J. L. Houlden (Feb 8, 2006) ISBN 082648011X pages 140-144
Will Durant, The Story of Civilization Part One (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1935), vol. 1, p. 449.
According to the linguist Zacharias P. Thundy
^ Living Zen by Robert Linssen (Grove Press New York, 1958) ISBN 0-8021-3136-0
"The Original Jesus" (Element Books, Shaftesbury, 1995), Elmar R Gruber, Holger Kersten
The Greeks in Bactria and India, W.W. Tarn, South Asia Books, ISBN 81-215-0220-9
^ Fredriksen, Paula. From Jesus to Christ. Yale University Press, 2000, p. xxvi.
^ The Jesus legend: a case for the historical reliability of the synoptic gospels by Paul R. Eddy, Gregory A. Boyd 2007 ISBN 0-8010-3114-1 page 53-54
^ Bentley, Jerry H. (1992). Cross-Cultural Contacts and Exchanges in Pre-Modern Times. Oxford University Press. p. 240. ISBN 978-0-19-507640-0.
Clement of Alexandria Stromata. BkI, Ch XV http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf02.vi.iv.i.xv.html (Accessed 19 Dec 2012)
Indian Buddhism: A Survey with Bibliographical Notes by Hajime Nakamura (Apr 11, 2007) ISBN 8120802721 page 95
^ Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism, 2004, page 160
Stoyanov, Yuri (2018). "Religious Syncretism and Cultural Pluralism along the Central and East Asian Silk Road – New Discoveries and Venues for Research" (PDF). SOAS Research Online. Retrieved November 17, 2024.
Samoylovskiy, Alexey L. (2024). "The Great Silk Road and its impact on Cultural exchange and Economic development in Ancient Civilizations". Cyberleninka. Наука. Общество. Оборона 12.3 (40). Retrieved November 17, 2024.
Encyclopædia Britannica, 8 edition, article Buddhism by T.W. Rhys Davids
De Bunsen, Ernest (1880). The Angel-Messiah of Buddhists, Essenes, and Christians. Longmans, Green, and Company. p. 50.
Beverley, James A., "Hollywood's Idol", Christianity Today June 11 2001, Vol. 45, No. 8. Retrieved April 20, 2007.
Kim, Bokin. "Christ as the Truth, the Light, the Life, but a Way?" Buddhist-Christian Studies, vol. 19, 1999, pp. 76-80. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/bcs.1999.0023
Tsomo, Lama; Fox, Matthew (2018). The Lotus & The Rose. ISBN 978-0999577004.
^ Encyclopedia of Reincarnation and Karma by Norman C. McClelland (Apr 1, 2010) ISBN 0786448512 page 149
Guang Xing, The Concept of the Buddha, RoutledgeCurzon, London, 2005, p. 89
Hattori, Sho-on (2001). A Raft from the Other Shore : Honen and the Way of Pure Land Buddhism. Jodo Shu Press. pp. 25–27. ISBN 4-88363-329-2.
"Dalai Lama Answers Questions on Various Topics".
The Oxford Handbook of Eschatology by Jerry L. Walls (Apr 16, 2010) ISBN 0199735883 page 552
The Oxford Handbook of Eschatology by Jerry L. Walls (Apr 16, 2010) ISBN 0199735883 page 151
The Oxford Companion to Christian Thought by Adrian Hastings, Alistair Mason and Hugh Pyper (Dec 21, 2000) ISBN 0198600240 page 206
Richard K. Payne (ed.), Tantric Buddhism in East Asia, Wisdom Publications, ISBN 0861714873, 2006, p. 74
^ Buddhism and Interfaith Dialogue by Masao Abe and Steven Heine (Jun 1, 1995) ISBN pages 99-100
Mysticism, Christian and Buddhist by Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki ((Aug 4, 2002)) ISBN 1605061328 page 113
^ Maguire, Jack (2001). Essential Buddhism. Simon and Schuster. pp. 159–160. ISBN 0-671-04188-6.
Pagels, Elaine (1979). The Gnostic Gospels. New York: Random House, repr. 1989.
Tarn. The Greeks in Bactria and India. p. 370.
Lindsay, W S (2006). History of Merchant Shipping and Ancient Commerce. Adamant Media Corporation. ISBN 0-543-94253-8.
Linssen; Robert (1958). Living Zen. London: Allen & Unwin. p. 208.
Arthur Schopenhauer (2004). Essays and Aphorisms. Penguin Classics. pp. 190–191. ISBN 978-0-14-044227-4.
The Unknown Life Of Jesus Christ: By The Discoverer Of The Manuscript by Nicolas Notovitch (Oct 15, 2007) ISBN 1434812839
Forged: Writing in the Name of God--Why the Bible's Authors Are Not Who We Think They Are by Bart D. Ehrman (Mar 6, 2012) ISBN 0062012622 page 252 "one of the most widely disseminated modern forgeries is called The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ"
Simon J. Joseph, "Jesus in India?" Journal of the American Academy of Religion Volume 80, Issue 1 pp. 161-199 "Max Müller suggested that either the Hemis monks had deceived Notovitch or that Notovitch himself was the author of these passages"
^ New Testament Apocrypha, Vol. 1: Gospels and Related Writings by Wilhelm Schneemelcher and R. Mcl. Wilson (Dec 1, 1990) ISBN 066422721X page 84 "a particular book by Nicolas Notovich (Di Lucke im Leben Jesus 1894) ... shortly after the publication of the book, the reports of travel experiences were already unmasked as lies. The fantasies about Jesus in India were also soon recognized as invention... down to today, nobody has had a glimpse of the manuscripts with the alleged narratives about Jesus"
Indology, Indomania, and Orientalism by Douglas T. McGetchin (Jan 1, 2010) Fairleigh Dickinson University Press ISBN 083864208X page 133 "Faced with this cross-examination, Notovich confessed to fabricating his evidence."
Borg, M., Jesus & Buddha: The parallel sayings, Ulysses Press, 2004, p.10
Theravāda Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benares to ... - Page 130 Richard Francis Gombrich - 2006 "The main Christian influence on Buddhists was by reaction. The missionaries propagated Christianity in three main ways: by education, preaching, and pamphleteering. Every mission station had a primary school, and the Church of England ..."
McMahan, David L. (2008). The Making of Buddhist Modernism. Oxford University Press, USA. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-19-518327-6. Richard Gombrich and Gananath Obeyesekere have mapped similar trends specifically in Sinhalese Buddhism in Sri Lanka. Emphasizing the Christian influence on modernizing forms of Sinhalese Buddhism in the late nineteenth and ...
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"Los Angeles Times, February 8, 2003 New Age Beliefs Aren't Christian, Vatican Finds". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 1, 2012. Retrieved December 15, 2012.

v t e Topics in Buddhism
Outline Glossary Index
Foundations	Four Noble Truths Three Jewels Buddha Dharma Sangha Noble Eightfold Path Nirvana Middle Way
The Buddha	Tathāgata Birthday Four sights Eight Great Events Great Renunciation Physical characteristics Life of Buddha in art Footprint Relics Iconography in Laos and Thailand Films Miracles Family Suddhodāna (father) Māyā (mother) Mahapajapati Gotamī (aunt, adoptive mother) Yaśodharā (wife) Rāhula (son) Ānanda (cousin) Devadatta (cousin) Places where the Buddha stayed Buddha in world religions
Bodhisattvas	Avalokiteśvara Guanyin Mañjuśrī Mahāsthāmaprāpta Ākāśagarbha Kṣitigarbha Samantabhadra Vajrapāṇi Skanda Tārā Metteyya/Maitreya
Disciples	Kaundinya Assaji Sāriputta Mahamoggallāna Ānanda Mahākassapa Aṅgulimāla Anuruddha Mahākaccana Nanda Subhūti Puṇṇa Mantānīputta Upāli Mahapajapati Gotamī Khema Uppalavanna Asita Channa Yasa
Key concepts	Avidyā (Ignorance) Bardo Bodhicitta Buddha-nature Dhamma theory Dharma Enlightenment Five hindrances Indriya Karma Kleshas Mental factors Mindstream Parinirvana Pratītyasamutpāda Rebirth Saṃsāra Saṅkhāra Skandha Śūnyatā Taṇhā (Craving) Tathātā Ten Fetters Three marks of existence Anicca Dukkha Anattā Two truths doctrine
Cosmology	Ten spiritual realms Six Paths Deva realm Human realm Asura realm Hungry Ghost realm Animal realm Naraka Three planes of existence
Branches	Mahayana Zen Chinese Chan Japanese Zen Korean Seon Vietnamese Thiền Pure Land Tiantai Huayan Risshū Nichiren Madhyamaka Yogachara Vajrayana Tibetan Buddhism Chinese Esoteric Buddhism Shingon Dzogchen Theravada Navayana Early Buddhist schools Pre-sectarian Buddhism Basic points unifying Theravāda and Mahāyāna Southern, Eastern and Northern Buddhism
Practices	Bhavana Bodhipakkhiyādhammā Brahmavihara Mettā Karuṇā Mudita Upekkha Buddhābhiṣeka Dāna Devotion Deity yoga Dhyāna Faith Five Strengths Iddhipada Meditation Mantras Kammaṭṭhāna Recollection Smarana Anapanasati Samatha-vipassanā (Vipassana movement) Shikantaza Zazen Tukdam Koan Ganana Mandala Tonglen Tantra Tertön Terma Merit Mindfulness Mindful Yoga Satipatthana Nekkhamma Nianfo Pāramitā Paritta Puja Offerings Prostration Music Refuge Sādhu Satya Sacca Seven Factors of Enlightenment Sati Dhamma vicaya Pīti Passaddhi Śīla Five precepts Eight precepts Bodhisattva vow Pratimokṣa Threefold Training Śīla Samadhi Prajñā Vīrya Four Right Exertions Twenty-two vows of Ambedkar
Nirvana	Bodhi Bodhisattva Buddhahood Pratyekabuddhayāna Four stages of awakening Sotāpanna Sakadagami Anāgāmi Arhat
Monasticism	Bhikkhu Bhikkhunī Śrāmaṇera Śrāmaṇerī Anagārika Ajahn Sayadaw Zen master Rōshi Lama Rinpoche Geshe Tulku Western tulku Kappiya Donchee Householder Upāsaka and Upāsikā Achar Śrāvaka Ten principal disciples Shaolin Monastery
Major figures	The Buddha Nagasena Aśvaghoṣa Nagarjuna Asanga Vasubandhu Kumārajīva Buddhaghosa Buddhapālita Dignāga Bodhidharma Zhiyi Emperor Wen of Sui Songtsen Gampo Xuanzang Shandao Padmasambhava Saraha Atiśa Naropa Karmapa Hōnen Shinran Dōgen Nichiren Shamarpa Dalai Lama Panchen Lama Ajahn Mun B. R. Ambedkar Ajahn Chah Thích Nhất Hạnh
Texts	Early Buddhist texts Tripiṭaka Mahayana sutras Pali Canon Chinese Buddhist canon Tibetan Buddhist canon Dhammapada Sutra Vinaya Madhyamakālaṃkāra Abhidharmadīpa
Countries	Afghanistan Bangladesh Bhutan Cambodia China India Indonesia Japan Korea Laos Malaysia Maldives Mongolia Myanmar Nepal Pakistan Philippines Russia Buryatia Kalmykia Tuva (ru) Singapore Sri Lanka Taiwan Thailand Tibet Vietnam Africa Senegal South Africa Central Asia Uzbekistan Middle East Iran Saudi Arabia Western countries Argentina Australia Brazil Canada Costa Rica Czech Republic France Germany Italy Mexico New Zealand Norway Poland Sweden Switzerland Ukraine United Kingdom United States Venezuela
History	Timeline Ashoka Kanishka Buddhist councils History of Buddhism in India Decline of Buddhism in India Huichang persecution of Buddhism Greco-Buddhism Gandharan Buddhism Texts Menander I Buddhism and the Roman world Buddhism in the West Silk Road transmission of Buddhism Persecution of Buddhists In Afghanistan In Vietnam Rimé movement Banishment of Buddhist monks from Nepal Dalit Buddhist movement Chinese invasion of Tibet 1959 Tibetan uprising Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism Buddhist modernism Vipassana movement 969 Movement Engaged Buddhism Women in Buddhism
Philosophy	Abhidharma Atomism Buddhology Creator Buddhism and democracy Economics Eight Consciousnesses Engaged Buddhism Eschatology Ethics Evolution Humanism Logic Reality Secular Buddhism Socialism The unanswerable questions
Culture	Architecture Temple Vihāra Kyaung Wat Ordination hall Stupa Pagoda Burmese pagoda Candi Dzong architecture List of Buddhist architecture in China Japanese Buddhist architecture Buddhist temples in Korea Thai temple art and architecture Tibetan Buddhist architecture Art Greco-Buddhist Bodhi Tree Budai Buddha in art Calendar Cuisine Funeral Holidays Vesak Uposatha Māgha Pūjā Asalha Puja Vassa Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi Kasaya Mahabodhi Temple Mantra Om mani padme hum Mudra Music Pilgrimage Lumbini Maya Devi Temple Bodh Gaya Sarnath Kushinagar Poetry Prayer beads Hama yumi Prayer wheel Symbolism Dharmachakra Flag Bhavacakra Swastika Thangka Temple of the Tooth Vegetarianism
Miscellaneous	Abhijñā Amitābha Brahmā Dharma talk Hinayana Iddhi Kalpa Koliya Lineage Māra Siddhi Sacred languages Pāḷi Sanskrit
Comparison	Baháʼí Faith Christianity Influences Comparison East Asian religions Gnosticism Hinduism Jainism Judaism Psychology Science Theosophy Violence Western philosophy
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