Wow! Sidd851, are you sure of this? Can you recommend a book or two that might be a good starter book to study this? I should NOT be taking on more right now, but this is pretty fascinating. I'm a Christian - now a Unitarian Universalist, which is a religion that is very open to all views, including atheism - and I am also interested in Buddhism and other religions. I would love to learn more about this.
In fact, now that I think of it, this might be a fascinating subject to share at my church.
Thanks!
Janet
Hello, Janet.
First-- I wish to retract "The Aquarian
Gospel", and remove it from my list.
In researching gnosticism, it had been
lumped in with the codices discovered
at Nag Hammadi in the mid-twentieth
century.
I have not had a chance to look on it, or to research it---at first glance, however, it's
origin seems dubious.
There have been several assertions and
"revelations" in near history purporting to
have knowledge of the "missing years"
of Jesus. Routinely, these have been
largely rejected, and "disproven", usually
by those of the Christian faith, and
(entrenched) Historical and Biblical scholars. You'll note my punctuation
above: I do not necessarily denote belief,
nor disbelief, in such, by so doing.
I simply illustrate the differing consensuses,
and the similarities in those that have
drawn and adhered to them.
It has always been somewhat of a hobby
of mine to study religions and philosophies.
I had always considered myself an athiest---
sometimes quite militantly so, mostly in
rejection of conventional established
religions, and the overwhelming disparity
in practice and belief. I continued to study,
with the purpose of comparing and contrasting them.
With the understanding that humans alter,
distort, mold, edit, twist, and otherwise
lose the significance and meaning of
things---and add or change meanings as they see fit, sometimes subtly, other times blatantly, it is often an impossible task to
unravel the actual course(s) of religious
beliefs through the ages. Likewise with
their associated histories.
The pedigree of the Nag Hammadi codices
is verified. Ruled non-canonical and branded as heretical in the 4th century, they were
ordered destroyed and anyone in
possession of them put to death.
Ethiopia, ever the Christian stronghold, protected these writings, and eventually
succeeded in protecting them to the present day.
It is now that one can compare biblical history with them.
The modern gnostic following has translated several of these works in a scholarly way, but hints of gnosticism has crept in.
16 years ago, I began in-depth study of buddhism. What I found, when one discards the conventional trappings and beliefs, is a philosophy entirely based on logic.
The deeper buddhist philosophy is often
neglected in a "love everybody", fairytale-ish
simplification. As with some religions,
the outlandish or misunderstood or
unbelievable or sensational aspects are
those spotlighted by humans of ordinary
understanding.
The Abhidhamma is not even known to the
body of buddhists at large. It is the underpinning and explanation of buddhist practice and belief. (I don't recommend this as a casual read, or one to be undertaken
without more than cursory study of
buddhist philosophy.)
So, where am I going with all of this,
that seems like a disclaimer?
The gospel of Thomas is believed to be as
old as AD40, to as young as AD140,
possibly making it one of the most
contemporary to Jesus pieces of the puzzle extant.
The Gospel of Thomas is a "sayings" record.
Recorded as the sayings of Jesus.
Upon reading it, I was shocked to find that
all of the parables, allegories, and sayings
are common in buddhism.
I also found that they were completed stories
from the bible, where most still found in the
bible are incomplete,
unrecognizable on their own, or misused or
misinterpreted.
For me, the Gospel of Thomas is the missing link.
There is no doubt as to the connection.
Through and because of this, I expanded upon my previous
re-evaluation of the teachings of Jesus himself.
The direct connection is so profound, that
his exposure to, and subsequent teaching
of buddhism, is beyond doubt, at the very
least, to me.
It is of importance to note, also, that buddhism was present in the middle east
in times contemporary to Jesus, making
the question of whether he actually
travelled to India largely moot.
Buddhist monuments have been
destroyed all over the middle east,
especially Afghanistan, by the taliban.
I apologize for the length of this post,
and that the documentation that you ask for
does not exist, at least as such.
I highly recommend that, as you are able,
you research the histories that I have mentioned.
I recommend directly, though, that you read the Gospel of Thomas.
Secondly, that you research the Nag Hammadi codices, of which TGOT is a part.
I would also recommend "In The Buddha's Words" by Bhikku Bodhi, an anthological
progression of buddhist concepts.
I commend you, on your participation in the UU Church. I fully believe that the search for the shared messages, the commonalities,
of religions, collectively, is the progression
toward truth.
If I can help in any way, feel free to PM me.
Again, I am sorry that this is not so cut
and dried, and that I am unable here to present even a fraction of my observations, but, such is the nature of
humankind, their history,
and my limited space.
May you be well
sidd
