Jesus studied Buddhism? (Buddha, agnostic, gospel, bible)

[b. frank]

I know enough about the "missing years" of Jesus' life to agree with most scholars - secular and Christian - that Jesus was pretty much just living his life as a carpenter or whatever trade during the parts of the New Testament that he is not mentioned (age 12 to 27?).

So...what's the deal with the theory that Jesus travelled to the Far East and studied Buddhism? I have never heard that.

[Reads2MUCH]

I have read in a few philosophical religious books that Jesus may have done a lot of traveling during those many years of his life we are not privy to here about. To me it would only make since that this man of God would have traveled and tried to spread his message of peace and love. In the course of his travels he may well have studied with other men of faith. There are many wonderful values and morals to be offered by virtually all the main religions of the world. And to work and study with fellow holy men would have seemed to me the natural course for Jesus to take. But we were not there and any documentation of anything of this nature is either lost or under lock and key. Because it could definitely throw a major wrench into the Christian ways if revealed that Jesus also respected other religions besides his own.

[agnostic soldier]

There were scrolls in a monastary Hemis that said that Jesus traveled to India when he was younger and studied Buddhism.

[b. frank]

Originally Posted by agnostic soldier

There were scrolls in a monastary Hemis that said that Jesus traveled to India when he was younger and studied Bddhism.

That appears to be a theory of this one guy...

Nicolas Notovitch - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Granted, someone who actually spent time in that monastery is in a better position to know that than, say, me.
But when your biggest fan is a guy who claims to be the messiah himself, I tend to be skeptical.

[cncracer]

Originally Posted by b. frank

I know enough about the "missing years" of Jesus' life to agree with most scholars - secular and Christian - that Jesus was pretty much just living his life as a carpenter or whatever trade during the parts of the New Testament that he is not mentioned (age 12 to 27?).

So...what's the deal with the theory that Jesus travelled to the Far East and studied Buddhism? I have never heard that.

Frank, I am still looking for proof he existed, I think if he had traveled to the Far East and studied the teachings of Buddha we would see it in their history, if not in western history. The effect of the learning the teachings of Buddha would have also caused the future Christians to have been much less violent in my view.

[agnostic soldier]

Originally Posted by b. frank

That appears to be a theory of this one guy...

Nicolas Notovitch - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Granted, someone who actually spent time in that monastery is in a better position to know that than, say, me.
But when your biggest fan is a guy who claims to be the messiah himself, I tend to be skeptical.

I agree with you, although I find it hard to believe that any story of Jesus is true, considering such a man most probably didn't exist and is nothing more than a character in a fiction novel.

[Mark S.]

Originally Posted by b. frank

So...what's the deal with the theory that Jesus travelled to the Far East and studied Buddhism? I have never heard that.

There's also a theory that Jesus studied with the druids in Britain.

And that aliens built the pyramids.

Just because some nut wrote a book about it doesn't make it true.

[b. frank]

Originally Posted by cncracer

Frank, I am still looking for proof he existed,

Well, you won't find any more proof than the historical record already offers.

I think if he had traveled to the [/font]Far East[font=Verdana] and studied the teachings of Buddha we would see it in their history, if not in western history.

Maybe. But, assuming that Jesus existed, then he didn't even appear in the history of his own people very much. It's not strange that he wouldn't show up in others' history. Maybe the Indians would have thought he was just a nice, slightly odd character. No reason to stir the scholars. In any case, his lack of appearance in recorded history is certainly not proof of anything.

The effect of the learning the teachings of Buddha would have also caused the future Christians to have been much less violent in my view.

Well, a lot of the actions of future Christians can hardly be attributed to (or blamed on) Jesus.

[chielgirl]

Originally Posted by Mark S.

There's also a theory that Jesus studied with the druids in Britain.

And that aliens built the pyramids.

Just because some nut wrote a book about it doesn't make it true.

Like the bible.

[rubyskye]

Originally Posted by cncracer

Frank, I am still looking for proof he existed, I think if he had traveled to the Far East and studied the teachings of Buddha we would see it in their history, if not in western history. The effect of the learning the teachings of Buddha would have also caused the future Christians to have been much less violent in my view.

First of all, the original and essential words/language (Aramaic) of the bible (and in this case, the new testament) are so radically different from the bible that people are familiar with (and have read and been indoctrinated with for thousands of years) that you wouldn't recognize much of it. It's as if much of it has been flipped on its head or inverted.
The degree to which the bible has been used and misused by the controllers is tragic. And it continues. Just read threads on this forum for evidence.
And a passage like this from the Gospel of Thomas (The Nag Hammadi Library) expresses essential concepts that are eastern and familiar to those that study both Buddhism and the Yogis of India. In this case, as i read it, he is speaking of non-duality or non-dualistic thinking which is a fundamental aim of both:

Jesus said to them, "When you make the two into one, and when you make the inner like the outer and the outer like the inner, and the upper like the lower, and when you make male and female into a single one, so that the male will not be male nor the female be female, when you make eyes in place of an eye, a hand in place of a hand, a foot in place of a foot, an image in place of an image, then you will enter [the kingdom]."

If you view, as i do, Jesus as an initiate and mystic (regardless of
whether or not he's the "son of God" [whatever that means - i think that it's been interpreted in a rather spiritually and intellectually immature fashion and with no understanding of esoteric Christianity or of the mystical practices of the initiates of that time] it's quite easy to imagine that he traveled to the east and learned from the sages there.
It seems to me that most Christians are in a box in terms of their understanding of Christ and Jesus and if anything comes from outside the box, it's too threatening because it may undermine the entire mistake. Halleluhya!
Why would any Christian have resistance to the notion that Jesus traveled to the east in those "lost years" and hung out with the great sages and yogis of that time? Why or how would it undermine anything that is essential?