But he found no opportunity whatsoever and went away discouraged and discontent." (Lalitavistara Sutra 18)
Some of their sayings are remarkably similar. "The similarities of their wisdom teaching may flow out of the similarity of their religious experience," Borg said. And both were given an exalted, even divine status by the communities which grew up around them. Both began renewal movements within their respective, inherited religious traditions - Hinduism and Judaism. The Buddha, after a six-year religious quest, had an enlightenment experience under the Bo tree Jesus' quest led him to the wilderness and his spiritual mentor, John the Baptist. Still others suggest that Jesus may have visited India during "the missing years" - a period in his teens and early 20s when there was little documentation about his life.Ī more likely explanation, Borg said, is that the similarity in their sayings mirrors the similarities in their experiences. The book raises the fascinating question: How could Jesus, living 500 years after Buddha and 3,000 miles away, embody teachings so similar in nature to his predecessor?īorg said some historians believe that Buddhist principles had filtered through the Roman Empire by the time of Jesus.
"It is to provide an opportunity for reflection and meditation. "The primary purpose of this collection of essays and sayings was not to make a scholarly case for Jesus having known the teachings of Buddhism, or for cultural borrowing from Buddhism to Christianity," said Marcus Borg, the Hundere Professor of Religion and Culture at OSU, and editor of the book. "Jesus and Buddha: The Parallel Sayings" was recently published by Ulysses Press. But a new book edited by an Oregon State University professor provides a look at a surprising number of similarities in sayings attributed to two of the world's most important religious figures. Some 500 years later, Jesus uttered these words: "Why do you see the splinter in someone else's eye and never notice the log in your own?"Ĭoincidence? Perhaps. The religious philosopher Siddhartha Gautama - better known as Buddha - once said, "The faults of others are easier to see than one's own."