A sermon by Rev. Jim Sanderson of the Jenkins Unitarian Universalist Fellowship
Buddhists and Christians have sometimes, in a search for common ground, pointed out some intriguing parallels between the "life stories" of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, and Siddartha Gautama, the Buddha. Jesus' mother Mary was visited by a divine being, Gabriel, who told her how she, a virgin, would conceive and give birth to the divine Son of God. Maya, Gautama's mother, had a dream vision in which a white elephant approached her and entered into her to emerge nine months later as the future enlightened one. The white elephant was a symbol of holiness. Jesus was born in a poor setting but his birth was attended by angels and kings. Buddha came into the world in a sacred garden. He emerged from his mother's side. His birth was attended by goddesses. His mother was herself a queen so the royalty angle was there too. Jesus was hailed by Simeon, an elderly devout man as the future savior when he was taken to the temple for circumcision. Similarly an elderly holy man came to visit the newborn prince Siddartha and burst into tears on meeting the boy.
He wept because Siddartha would grow up to end suffering in the world. Both Jesus and Siddartha deserted their families to seek their truths. Both spent time in the wilderness. Both had teachers who they followed for a while and who eventually came to follow them. Both were tempted by evil supernatural beings. Even some sayings of each bear similarities. These are interesting of themselves. Perhaps the stories are similar because one story influenced the other? More likely they are similar because they grow out of similar needs and questions. Perhaps as Joseph Campbell would point out they reflect the common mythic threads that run through the human unconscious.
Could the teaching of the Buddha have touched the life of Jesus? Actually yes, they could have, which is not the same as saying that they did. Jesus lived about five hundred years after Guatama and in an area thousands of miles removed. Jesus lived in a very different culture from Gautama and was of a different social standing. Yet he shared, it would seem, a thirst for truth with Gautama. Moreover, despite our image of Jesus as a poor man, that was not necessarily the case. In his time and place the term "carpenter" could refer to any skilled artisan including some fairly well compensated ones. Further we are given to understand from the Gospels that Mary was related to the temple priesthood Jesus could thus have grown up in an intellectually enriched atmosphere, one in which the deep questions were seriously explored. Far from being a simple peasant Jesus may well have been a well-educated theologically bent young man. What however does this have to do with Buddhism?
Well, the ancient world was not quite as benighted or as fragmented as we sometimes think. Ideas have a way of spreading out. Remember that Jesus' Israel was part, albeit reluctantly, of the great Roman Empire. The Empire maintained trading and cultural relations with the East and in particular India. India had been the goal of Alexander the Great's last aborted campaign. Cleopatra may have considered fleeing to India after Actiun. In short, India was far from an unknown place in Jesus' world. Some two and a half centuries before Jesus, a remarkable Emperor reigned in India. His name was Ashoka and he converted to Buddhism. Ashoka sent out missionaries to carry the Buddha's message far and wide. We know some of those missionaries made it as far west as Syria.
There is also a tradition that holds that Jesus traveled to the East in the years not discussed in the Bible. There are local traditions of Jesus' presence in Afghanistan, Iran, and even Pakistan and India. However there is no way to know when these traditions arose. Some stories go so far as to claim that Jesus survived crucifixion and returned to the East, dying in Kashmir many years later. However, all of these stories are based on little or no real evidence. We simply do not know what Jesus was doing before his ministry, nor is there any reason why we should expect there to be any records of those years.
Buddhists and Christians have sometimes, in a search for common ground, pointed out some intriguing parallels between the "life stories" of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, and Siddartha Gautama, the Buddha. Jesus' mother Mary was visited by a divine being, Gabriel, who told her how she, a virgin, would conceive and give birth to the divine Son of God. Maya, Gautama's mother, had a dream vision in which a white elephant approached her and entered into her to emerge nine months later as the future enlightened one. The white elephant was a symbol of holiness. Jesus was born in a poor setting but his birth was attended by angels and kings. Buddha came into the world in a sacred garden. He emerged from his mother's side. His birth was attended by goddesses. His mother was herself a queen so the royalty angle was there too. Jesus was hailed by Simeon, an elderly devout man as the future savior when he was taken to the temple for circumcision. Similarly an elderly holy man came to visit the newborn prince Siddartha and burst into tears on meeting the boy.
He wept because Siddartha would grow up to end suffering in the world. Both Jesus and Siddartha deserted their families to seek their truths. Both spent time in the wilderness. Both had teachers who they followed for a while and who eventually came to follow them. Both were tempted by evil supernatural beings. Even some sayings of each bear similarities. These are interesting of themselves. Perhaps the stories are similar because one story influenced the other? More likely they are similar because they grow out of similar needs and questions. Perhaps as Joseph Campbell would point out they reflect the common mythic threads that run through the human unconscious.
Could the teaching of the Buddha have touched the life of Jesus? Actually yes, they could have, which is not the same as saying that they did. Jesus lived about five hundred years after Guatama and in an area thousands of miles removed. Jesus lived in a very different culture from Gautama and was of a different social standing. Yet he shared, it would seem, a thirst for truth with Gautama. Moreover, despite our image of Jesus as a poor man, that was not necessarily the case. In his time and place the term "carpenter" could refer to any skilled artisan including some fairly well compensated ones. Further we are given to understand from the Gospels that Mary was related to the temple priesthood Jesus could thus have grown up in an intellectually enriched atmosphere, one in which the deep questions were seriously explored. Far from being a simple peasant Jesus may well have been a well-educated theologically bent young man. What however does this have to do with Buddhism?
Well, the ancient world was not quite as benighted or as fragmented as we sometimes think. Ideas have a way of spreading out. Remember that Jesus' Israel was part, albeit reluctantly, of the great Roman Empire. The Empire maintained trading and cultural relations with the East and in particular India. India had been the goal of Alexander the Great's last aborted campaign. Cleopatra may have considered fleeing to India after Actiun. In short, India was far from an unknown place in Jesus' world. Some two and a half centuries before Jesus, a remarkable Emperor reigned in India. His name was Ashoka and he converted to Buddhism. Ashoka sent out missionaries to carry the Buddha's message far and wide. We know some of those missionaries made it as far west as Syria.
There is also a tradition that holds that Jesus traveled to the East in the years not discussed in the Bible. There are local traditions of Jesus' presence in Afghanistan, Iran, and even Pakistan and India. However there is no way to know when these traditions arose. Some stories go so far as to claim that Jesus survived crucifixion and returned to the East, dying in Kashmir many years later. However, all of these stories are based on little or no real evidence. We simply do not know what Jesus was doing before his ministry, nor is there any reason why we should expect there to be any records of those years.
