Freethought Nation

OK don't see a merge deal, so...

I don't see a thread on this yet (I thought I had started one on Buddha though), but I have here in my hands my World Religions text book (A Concise Introduction to World Religions by Willard G. Oxtoby & Alan F. Segal). In it, it compares Jesus to Buddha. Buddha did have disciples (5) according to this, which he told to carry the dharma to all the region of the world p 377. (The disciples were to carry Jesus's message around the world).

The night the Buddha was born a bright light illuminates world, marking a holy event (along with with the alignment of the constellation). There was a bright star when Jesus was born. Buddha was a virgin birth and so was Jesus. Both conceived miraculously. (Buddha's father the king took a vow a celibacy, while Mary was said to be an unwed virgin.) Both infants were born outside the house, Buddha in a grove, Jesus in a stable. Both births were announced by a bright light in the sky, and sages foretold that infants' future greatness. In both cases the births are announced by angels [actually stellar events if you read the texts]- to a meditating sage in one case, to shephards in the other. (p 384)

(The Temptation of Christ template? Luke 4):

Buddha goes (a spirit lead him into the wilderness) and sits under a Bodhi tree (at least he didn't condemn the poor tree) and this dude called Mara "the lord of death" arrives to tempt him. "Mara plays a role in Buddhism not unlike that of Satan in Christianity." (p 386) He tempts the Saviour, oops, no, the Bodhisattva (Buddha) to give up his mission by summoning his daughters, "whose names suggest psychological forces such as greed, boredom, and desire." That fails, so this Mara dude tempts him again by offering to grant any worldly wish if only he will go back home and live a life of good karma (merit) as a householder. (So therefore, if you will worship before me, all will be yours- Luke 4:7) The Bodhisattva says, "Um. No." Mara gets ticked and sends his sons, fear and anger, to attack Buddha, but "his spiritual power serves as a force field" to protect our hero.

OK that didn't work so the Mara dude takes a deep breath and challenges the Bodhisattva to a debate- tells him to go jump off the cliff and have the angels save him less he stubs he foot against a stone (Luke 4:9-11). Oh wait, I'm mixing up my stories again because they are so much alike, but our hero does perform a miracle and causes an earthquake to get rid of our evil dude.

So the little ordeal is over between Jesus and Satan... No, the little Bodhisattva and Mara that is. He has a three watch night and becomes enlightened. Then he goes back to his doubting Thomas friends who are mad because he left them and all. He tries to explain that he can teach them great things and they say, "Yeah right! Get out of here!" Then Buddha starts to glow, "they see his aura" (HOLY COW! IT'S JESUS CHRIST AS THE H.S.!) and then he delivers the Sermon on the Mount... No... The Wheel-Turning Discourse Sermon with the Four Noble Truths in Deer Park.

The next 45 years, Buddha goes around throughout the land ordaining disciples and teaching.

The great sacrifice?

His disciples and he go to this guys house for dinner and are served this foul smelling mushroom dish. Buddha says, "No, only serve me." He becomes ill. "Master, if you die what shall we do? Who will lead us?" The Compassionate One Je... whoops, did it again... Buddha tells them "Forgive our host for he knows not what he does." Actually the book says, "He tells his disciples not to blame the host, who meant well and tells them to follow the dharma." Then he dies. (p 386-389)

Way too much similarity there, just as there was with Buddha's virgin birth, which is HEAVY with astrotheology. Don't anybody say our Acharya is wrong in her books.

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Mriana

Nonviolence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man. ~ Gandhi

Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages. ~ Thomas A. Edison

Sorry about that, Freethinker, but I couldn't figure out how to move your post and you still have credit for it.

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Mriana

Nonviolence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man. ~ Gandhi

Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages. ~ Thomas A. Edison

Wait -- you all haven't seen this? He gives a promo quote for the Christ Conspiracy:

http://www.jesusisbuddha.com/Q.html

He's saying the Q document was Buddhist, but the quote he gives in Greek or whatever language it is is Krishna:



Of course, one of the incarnations of Vishnu was not only Krishna, but Buddha too. However, it is said that the Buddha of Buddhism is not that Buddha. With the fictional one, and not the title that is something like a teacher, I'm having a hard time believing they are two different Buddhas. I don't think so.

Whatever the case, they are all related

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Mriana

Nonviolence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man. ~ Gandhi

Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages. ~ Thomas A. Edison

Here's something interesting by Rene Salm: http://www.iid.org/publications/rfinal.pdf (that is an article on Buddhist and Christian Parallels)

His main site is: http://www.nazarethmyth.info/

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Mriana

Nonviolence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man. ~ Gandhi

Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages. ~ Thomas A. Edison

Incognitus I am calling your bluff on the mutt-of-metaphor called jeSuS.
I am going to shear your sheeple hide dude, ewe need to ride naked with the emperor through St. Peter's Square Elliptical.

Learn some history and HER-Story, stop grazing on only the HIS-story the sheeple, seegullibles and quizzies get fed and willingly digest.

http://forums.truthbeknown.com/viewtopi ... highlight=
I dare you to go to this link, read the ENTIRE article...and please GIVE ME YOUR most sincere best Judeao/Christian defense...
WHY does that thread make the Vatican looking like fooking Pagan thieves hiding behind veil called jeSuS?

EWE are wet behind the EARS dude.
Christians (especially the roaming Roman Catholics) are still in the dark ages.

namaste

Raphael

p.s. here ya go incognito.
No place to run and hide from MY GOD.
http://kachina2012.wordpress.com/2009/0 ... -swastika/

Good, you go towards the white light at death then.

The light that brings you back, back to where you started.

could it be that simple?

white light, turn right, come back to an illusion of bit, byte and fight?

OR

true blue, be deft, and turn left and rest for a bit?

namaste

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4 Leaf Clover=LSD=DMT=FLYWHEEL=4 Evangelists=KEY 528=ASYMMETRY=swastiKA=SPIN
“A theory is more impressive the greater is the simplicity of its premise, the more different are the kinds of things it relates and the more extended its range of applicability…”
-Einstein

What white light? I thought the lights were a pretty shade of pink.

_________________
Mriana

Nonviolence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man. ~ Gandhi

Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages. ~ Thomas A. Edison

the white light westerners often claim they see in a NDE (near death experience/enlightenment)

but here is the rub...

ever hear anybody come back and say they were drawn to a BLUE LIGHT?
eh?
I have not.

this suggests to me, as many NDE's suggest...they are drawn to the WHITE LIGHT ... and if you go toward it ... pffft ... back in lalala land.

OR you may die....only to be reborn into another body...till you learn to avoid the attractive white light...

And the EM spectrum is bounded by a white light that releases into a visible light and a black light that tends to absorb the colors that define the white light that pass through a 'prism' shaped like a pyramid.

namaste

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4 Leaf Clover=LSD=DMT=FLYWHEEL=4 Evangelists=KEY 528=ASYMMETRY=swastiKA=SPIN
“A theory is more impressive the greater is the simplicity of its premise, the more different are the kinds of things it relates and the more extended its range of applicability…”
-Einstein

KMart is having another Blue Light special!

Mriana goes toward the Blue light and then returns.

WOW! You all should see what I got for a really LOW price!

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Mriana

Nonviolence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man. ~ Gandhi

Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages. ~ Thomas A. Edison

you can buy blue light in a k-mart?
I have to go to the beer store.

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4 Leaf Clover=LSD=DMT=FLYWHEEL=4 Evangelists=KEY 528=ASYMMETRY=swastiKA=SPIN
“A theory is more impressive the greater is the simplicity of its premise, the more different are the kinds of things it relates and the more extended its range of applicability…”
-Einstein

I don't know. I never asked if I could. I wouldn't be surprised if one could.

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Mriana

Nonviolence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man. ~ Gandhi

Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages. ~ Thomas A. Edison

Buddhist influence on Christianity?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism_and_Christianity

Christianity's "Great Commission"?

On page 270, of "The 5 gospels: what did Jesus really say" by Robert W. Funk "93", it says:



On page 108, of "The Gospel of Jesus" "99" by Jesus Seminar Director & founder Robert W. Funk:



500 years or so earlier the Buddha gave a similar commission to his own disciples. Then he addressed the monks:

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2013 Astrotheology Calendar
The Mythicist Position
Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection
Stellar House Publishing at Youtube

Also it is important to acknowledge the archaeological evidence for Buddha via [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashoka"[/url]
This Indian king constructed monuments commemorating the birth place of Buddha about 317 years after Buddha's birth, and inscribed his conversion to the dhamma on rocks:






As late as the middle of the 3rd century CE we have coins being minted in Persia by Shapur I's brother Peroz with the depiction of Buddha on the obverse. Instrumental in the presence of Buddha in Sassanid Persia was the sage, author and holy man Mani. Mani was ultimately crucified in the Persian capital c.270's and was by any other name a messenger of Buddha. Mani had perhaps read Philostratus' c.217 CE "Life of Apollonius of Tyana" because it is reported that Mani also trecked to India "to converse with the Indians".