buddhism for children
I know this is a provocative title, but here I'm honestly presenting an idea that seems sound, at least to me, and that could have been neglected due to our presuppositions about Buddhism, and Eastern religions in general. Buddhism always has been an example of Asian thought. We always thought that it developed without any European influence. I'm crazy enough to say that it was invented by Europeans?
I've put forward this controversial idea in my web site. There, it received a great number of visits and commentary. I want to say that is theory is not mine, I've taken it from a comparative religion professor, Justin Halter. He makes some good points for this case that I will mention here.
The first point is the absence of evidence of the existence of the Buddha. It is commonly asserted that the Buddha lived around the year 500 B.C. If you know about Buddhist art, you know that there isn't any image of the Buddha until the first century A.D. At that time appears for the first time a fully evolved image of the Buddha.
Historians always defended that Buddhist art existed before these images. Indeed, there is art before this, but we don't have any reason to think that it is Buddhist. We find images of wheels, trees and other objects that could have been very well part of Hindu art.
The absence of Buddhist art is not the only point for this case. There is neither written records that talk about the Buddha or Buddhism. We have the edicts of king Ashoka, but they don't say anything particularly Buddhist, they talk about ideas that were part of Indian culture at the time.
The Pali Canon, the mother of all Buddhist scriptures, is usually asserted as being first century B.C. in origin, but reflecting hundreds of years of oral tradition. However, that is a legend. The older manuscripts that we have are from the 18th and 19th century.
There was also Greek writer, Megasthenes, who lived for ten years where the Buddha did, around the year 300 B.C. He makes no mention of Buddhism when writing about the religious practices of India.
Now, let's talk about the Greeks and their influence. After Alexander's conquests, the Greeks set up kingdoms in Asia, along the so-called Silk Road. Their presence is established by the archeological record. The Greeks built distinctive cities, leaving their art and architecture. It is among this Greek culture in Asia that we find the first appearance of the Buddha.
Guess when Buddhism starts to spread across Asia. First century A.D! It supposedly existed for half a thousand years, but after the first century A.D. it expanded throughout Central Asia and even China in less than a hundred years.
It is probable that the Greeks didn't invent Buddhism, if they did, from scratch. They probably adapted and rationalized practices and beliefs that they found in that environment.
I think that this point is not talked about very frequently because it doesn't bear great importance for Buddhist practitioners. It is not like Christians, for whom the existence of Jesus Christ is essential for the validity of their beliefs. For Buddhists, the Buddha's teachings are more important than his actual existence.
To read more about my ideas, and to learn about Buddhism in general, from a fresh point of view, visit the following site by author Pablo Antuna:
Buddhism Through Buddhist Eyes
More about Buddhism and the Greeks
