First off, Buddha came into the picture around 500BC.
I really wish that the western world would realize the influence that jesus represented from these beautiful ideas that come from the east. It's particularly clear with gnostic expressions of christ's teachings that have been found in the last 100 years in old jars and such in the deserts of egypt and the middle east. But the parallels are clear in the bible as well.
Ashoka the Great - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is the first indian king to become a buddhist. He spent a large portion of his life conquering north and east india and then realized what suffering he had caused and connected with the buddhist message that life is suffering. Then at approximately 300-250 BC, he sent buddhist missionaries out across the world to the near east where, 300 years later, christ would show up on the scene. This is when neo-platonic philosophy arises in the near east.
Ananda - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ananda is exactly analogous to St. Peter in the catholic tradition. Both went on to start the respective churches of their relgions. Ananda was basically buddha's student who didn't quite get it in the same way peter always seemed to not get the message of jesus (i.e. put down the sword!)
Buddha was born from his mother's side at the level of the heart. They don't really believe this. The story, however, is told as a metaphor for spiritual birth given that the heart in hindu philosophy is a compassionate center and the axis about which the religion revolves.
Christ was born of a virgin.
Buddha left his family, cut off his top knot and went to the philosophers of his time to learn.
Christ left his family, was rejected in nazareth, went to John the Baptist to learn about his nature.
Buddha then went walking and found himself under a bodhi tree. There he sat down in lotus posture and did not move until he was tempted by kama (desire) mara (fear) and dharma (social duty). Kama presented his beautiful daughters to buddha and he wouldn't be moved. Mara threw spears of an army at buddha and he was not there in spirit (awakened) and the spears turned into lotus flowers as they entered his presence and he was worshiped. Then dharma came telling him that he must follow the ways of his society. He simply touched the ground with his hand at the "immovable spot" and said, "don't tempt me with the world, eternity is on my mind"
Then the godess of all creation (Mother Universe, Maya) came out to buddha and declared:
"This is my beloved son, who through innumerable lifetimes has so given of himself that there is nobody here."
At this point all the temptation bowed to the buddha and dispersed. Buddha got up and went to teach.
In the christian tradition the story line is almost identical. He was baptized by John
Quote:
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"And Jesus being baptized, forthwith came out of the water: and lo, the heavens were opened to him: and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him. And behold a voice from heaven, saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:16, 17). "And there came a voice from heaven: Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased" (Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22)."
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After this, jesus went into the desert for 40 days and was tempted by satan as most of us in the western tradition know with hunger (turn rocks into bread), desire for power (all this can be yours if you worship me), and spiritual vanity (throw yourself off this temple etc). Christ resists these 3 temptations and returns to deliver his teachings.
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Beyond these obvious similarities in the teachings of the 2 traditions, the messages that get delivered by christ are amazingly similar to those of buddha.
The essence of both teachings are the rejection of desire and fear to a "middle path" in buddhism and the equivalent symbol of "the straight and narrow" in christianity.
There's plenty more to the comparison and I've found that what it really represents is that these two stories are
FOLK expressions of the identical
elementary idea which is contained in the teachings of christ and the buddha.
It's interesting that buddhism has not ever launched into anything akin to the crusades or the burning of witches. It has never caused violence and in fact it's basic tenants act against this. And this is the message that jesus gives on innumerable occasions from "turn the other cheek" to "peter, put down your sword, he who lives by the sword dies by it."
Yet western culture has taken the buddhist concepts from the east and for about 1500 years has used them to justify their horrific behaviors and intolerances.
All the while, the buddhists sit in their lotuses and feel compassion for all of those around them, and especially for those who do them harm.
Looking at the depth of the hindu tradition that the buddhists come out of, it's just amazing to see the differences that they have compared to western culture. They are spiritually light years ahead of us and it's been blowing my mind over the last months to come to this realization.
There's definitely a lot of squalor and such in the east and overpopulation and nasty conditions, but their spirituality is so wonderful and has been for thousands of years longer than Christianity or Judaism has been around. These people are swimming in their psyches while westerners drown into psychoses.