Here are some quotations
from
Non-Muslim writers over the past
few centuries -
T.W. Rhys Davids, Nineteenth century
Professor:
There is
every reason to believe that the Pitakas [sacred books containing the legends
of Buddha] now extant in Ceylon are substantially identical with the books
of the southern canon, as settled at the Council of Patna about the year
250 B.C. As no work would have been received into the Canon which were
not then believer to be very old, the Pitakas may be approximately placed
in the forth century B.C. and parts of them possibly reach back very nearly,
if not quite to the time of Gautama (Buddha) himself.
Samuel Beal, Nineteenth century:
We know that
the Fo-pen-hing was translated into Chinese from Sanskrit (the ancient
language of Hindstan) so early as the eleventh year of the reign of Wing-ping
(Ming-ti) of the Hans Dynasty, ie., 69 or 70 A.D. We may, therefore, safely
suppose that the original work was in circulation in India for sometime
previous to this date. These points of agreement with the Gospel narrative
arouse curiosity and require explanation. If we could prove that they [the
legends of Buddha] were unknown in the East for some centuries after Christ,
the explanation would be very easy. But all the evidence we have goes to
prove the contrary....
Ernest de Bunsen, Nineteenth century:
With the remarkable
exception of the death of Jesus on the cross and of the doctrine of atonement
by vicarious suffering, which is absolutely excluded by Buddhism, the most
ancient of the Buddhisitic records known to us contain statements about
the life and doctrines of Gautama Buddha whic h correspond in a remarkable
manner and impossibly by mere chance with the traditions recorded in the
Gospels about the life and doctrines of Jesus Christ...
Max Muller, Nineteenth century Professor:
Between the
language of Buddha and his disciples, and the language between Christ and
his apostles, there are strange coincidences. When some of th e Buddhist
legends and parables sound as if taken from the New Testament, though we
know that many of them existed before the beginning of the Christian era.
Kenneth Scott Latourette, Twentieth
century:
Approximately
five centuries older than Christianity, by the time of the birth of Christ,
Buddhism had already spread through out much of India and Ceylon and had
penetrated into Central Asia and China.
M. LAbbe Huc, Nineteenth century:
The miraculous
birth of Buddha, his life and instructions, contain a great number of the
moral and dogmatic truths professes in Christianity.
T.W. Doane, Nineteenth century:
...nothing
now remains for the honest man to do but acknowledge the truth, which is
that the history of Jesus of Nazareth, as related in the books of the New
Testament maybe a copy of that of Buddha, with a mixture of mythology borrowed
from other nations.
Both Buddha and Jesus were baptized
in the presence of the spirit of G-D.
Both went to their temples at the age
of twelve, where they are said to have astonished all with their wisdom.
Both supposedly fasted in solitude for
a long time: Buddha for 47 days and Jesus for 40.
At the conclusion of their fasts they
both wandered to a fig tree.
Both were about the same age when the
began their public ministry: When he [Buddha] went again to the garden
he saw a monk who was calm, tranquil, self-possessed, serene, and dignified.
The prince determined to become such a monk, was led to make the great
denunciation. At the time he was 29 years of age....Jesus when he began
his ministry, was about thirty years of age... Luke 3:23
Both were tempted by the devil at the
beginning of their ministry: To Buddha, he said: Go not forth to adopt
a religious life but return to your kingdom, and in seven days you shall
become emperor of the world, riding over the four continents. To Jesus
he said: All these [kingdoms of the world] I will give you, if you fall
down and worship me. Matt 4:9 Buddha answered the devil: Get away from
me Jesus responded ...begone Satan! Matt 4:10.
Both experienced the supernatural after
the devil left: For Buddha: The skies rained flowers, and delicious odors
prevailed in the air. For Jesus ..angels came and ministered to him. Matt
4:11.
The multitudes required a sign from
both in order that they might believe.
Both strove to establish a kingdom of
heaven on earth.
Buddha represented himself as a mere
link in a long chain of enlightened teachers. Jesus said: Think not that
I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish
them but to fulfill them.Matt 5:17.
According to the Somadeva (a Buddhist
holy book), a Buddhist ascetic's eye once offended him, so he plucked it
our and cast it away. Jesus said 'If your right eye causes you to sin,
pluck it out and throw it away;...' Matt 5:29.
Buddha taught that the motive of all
our actions should be pity of love of our neighbor. Jesus taught: ...love
your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.... Matt 5:4.
Buddha said: Hide your good deeds and
confess before the world the sins you have committed. Jesus said: Beware
of practicing your piety before men to be seen by them;...Matt 6:1 and
Therefore confess your sins one to another and pray one for another, that
you may be healed... James 5:16.
Both are said to have known the thoughts
of others: By directing his mind to the thoughts of others, [Buddha] can
know the thoughts of all beings. But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said:
Why do you think evil in our hearts? Matt 9:4.
Both were itinerant preachers with a
close group of trustees within a larger group of disciples.
Both demanded that their disciples renounce
all worldly possessions.
Both sent their disciples on missionary
assignments: The number of disciples rapidly increased and Gautama sent
forth his monks on missionary tours hither and thither, bidding them wander
everywhere, preaching the doctrine, and teaching men to order their lives
with self -restraint, simplicity, and charity. And Jesus called to him
twelve apostle and began to send them out two by two....So they went out
and preached that men should repent. Mark 6:7,
Both had a disciple who walked on water:
To convert skeptical villagers, Buddha showed them his disciple walking
across a river without sinking. He said: Come So Peter got out of the boat
and walked on the water and came to Jesus but when he saw the wind, he
was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out: Lord save me! Matt 14:29-30.
21. One day Ananda, the disciple of Buddha, after a long walk in the country,
meets with Matangi, a woman of the low caste of the Kandalas, near a well,
and asks her for some water. She tells him what she is, and that she must
not come near him. But he replies: My sister, I ask not for your caste
of your family, I ask only for a draught of water. She afterwards became
a disciple of Buddha. There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus
said to her give me a drink. For his disciples had gone away into the city
to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him: How is it that you a Jew,
ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria? For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.
John 4:7-9
Both men received similar receptions:
The people swept a pathway, the gods strewed flowers on the pathway and
branches of the coral trees, the men bore branches of all manner of trees
and the Bodhisattva Sumedha spread his garments in the mire, and men and
gods shouted All hail. And they brought the colt to Jesus mad threw their
garments on it, and he sat on it. And many spread their garments on the
road and others spread leafy branches which they has cut from the fields.
Mark 11:7 -8.
When Buddha died: The coverings of [his]
body unrolled themselves and the lid of his coffin was opened by supernatural
powers. When Jesus dies: And behold, there was a great earthquake; for
an angel of the L-RD descended from heaven and came and rolled back the
stone and sat upon it. Matt 28:2
In the year 217 B.C. Buddhist missionaries
were imprisoned for preaching; but and angel, genie or spirit came and
opened the prison door, and liberated them. They arrested the apostles
and put them in the common prison. But at night an angel of the L-RD opened
the prison doors and brought them out. Acts 5:18-19.
Both men's disciples are said to have
been miracle workers.
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