Similarities in the teachings

1. To OneTo One
WisdomWisdom
FellowshipFellowship
Ed GeratyEd Geraty

2. The god in me greetsThe god in me greets
and celebrates the god inand celebrates the god in
you.you.
I am honored to be your host today
While in this time and place of celebration
mixed with quietude
PLEASE turn your cell phones OFFPLEASE turn your cell phones OFF -- or on
vibrate if needed 9/08

3. ““We believe in a loving, compassionate,We believe in a loving, compassionate,
generous giver of all life. Call this by anygenerous giver of all life. Call this by any
name - the name doesn't matter. It is the lifename - the name doesn't matter. It is the life
in every one of us, and in everything aroundin every one of us, and in everything around
us. Everything comes from this one source,us. Everything comes from this one source,
and it is the life force. We believe in livingand it is the life force. We believe in living
in the awareness that we are one, and therein the awareness that we are one, and there
is no "other."is no "other."
We believe that when our hearts are open andWe believe that when our hearts are open and
loving to all - that we are living in the light -loving to all - that we are living in the light -
and are living as the creator intended.”and are living as the creator intended.”
12/0812/08

4. We light the candleWe light the candle
to symbolize UNITYto symbolize UNITY
And the Presence ofAnd the Presence of
GOD’S LIGHT IN ALLGOD’S LIGHT IN ALL

5. Reading

6. The Jesus-Buddha
Dialogues

7. “Jai Guru Dev”
Jai = I give thanks to
Guru = a teacher, or spiritual leader.
Dev = god or heavenly one

8. Numerous scholars have made parallels
between Buddha and Jesus.
They "have often considered the possibility
that Buddhism greatly influenced the early
development of Christianity.
They have drawn attention to many parallels
concerning the lives, doctrines, and
experiences of the Buddha and Jesus.

9. Some believe…
Some believe Jesus was the reincarnation
of Buddha
Some believe Jesus learned Buddhist
teachings

10. Some parallels
Buddha and his disciples traveled as
preachers, going into homes and
preaching gospels to those who hear; one
parallel not found in other traditions.
Jesus, too, pursues this form of preaching
and teaching.

11. The Light
Jesus speaks of himself as 'the light' and the
son of a great father
In Mahayana traditions, their Buddha
proclaims himself to be a great father with
sons of light

12. • Both supposedly fasted in solitude for a
long time: Buddha for forty--seven days
and Jesus for forty.
• Both wandered to a fig tree at the
conclusion of their fasts
• Both were about the same age when they
began their public ministry

13. Response to “evil”
• To Jesus, he (Satan) said: "All these [kingdoms of the
world] I will give you, if you fall down and worship me"
(Matthew 4:9).
• Jesus responded: "...begone, Satan!" (Matthew 4:10).
• Buddha has harassed by demons. He answered “evil":
"Get you away from me."
• Both experienced the "supernatural" after the “evil" left:
• For Buddha: "The skies rained flowers, and delicious
odors prevailed [in] the air."
• For Jesus: ".angels came and ministered to him"
(Matthew 4:11).

14. signs
• The multitudes required a sign from both in
order that they might believe.
• Both strove to establish the “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" (Matthew
5:17).

15. • 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."
• "Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said: `Why
do you think evil in your hearts?' "
(Matthew 9:4).

17. Similar teachings
Buddha preached on the "Holy Hill." Jesus delivered his sermon on the
Mount.
The phraseology of the sermons of Buddha and the sermon of Jesus is
the same in many instances.
Both Buddha and Jesus compared themselves to husbandmen sowing
seed. The parable of the prodigal son is found in both Buddhist and
Christian scriptures. So is the account of the man born blind.
Both use the mustard seed as a simile for smallness. Buddha taught:
"Perishable is the city built of sand." Jesus taught: "a foolish man
builds his house upon the sand." Both speak of "the rain which falls
on the just and on the unjust."

18. preaching
Buddha commanded his disciples to preach
his gospel to all men. Christ commanded
his disciples to do the same.
In obedience to these commands the world
was filled with missionaries, and largely as
the result of this the adherents of these
religious systems outnumber those of all
others combined

19. The sayings
"Do to others as you would have them do to you." (Luke
6:31)
"Consider others as yourself." (Dhammapada 10:1)
------
"If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also."
(Luke 6:29)“
If anyone should give you a blow with his hand, with a stick,
or with a knife, you should abandon any desires and
utter no evil words." (Majjhima Nikaya 21:6)

20. "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate
you, bless those who curse you, pray for those
who abuse you. From anyone who takes away
your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give
to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone
takes away your goods, do not ask for them
back." (Luke 6:27-30)
"Hatreds do not ever cease in this world by hating,
but by love: this is an eternal truth. Overcome
anger by love, overcome evil by good ...
Overcome the miser by giving, overcome the liar
by truth." (Dhammapada 1.5 & 17.3)

21. "Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least
of these, you did not do it to me." (Matt. 25:45)“
If you do not tend one another, then who is there to tend to
you? Whoever would tend me, he should tend the sick."
(Vinaya, Mahavagga 8:26:3)
----
"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I
have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay
down one's life for one's friend." (John 15:12-13)"J
“Just as a mother would protect her only child at the risk of
her own life, even so, cultivate a boundless heart
towards all beings. Let your thoughts of boundless love
pervade the whole world." (Sutta Nipata 149-150)

22. "Why do you see the speck in your neighbor's eye, but do
not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say
to your neighbor, "Friend, let me take the speck out of
your eye," when you yourself do not see the log in your
own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your
own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck
out of your neighbor's eye." (Luke 6:41-42)
"The faults of others are easier to see than one's own; the
faults of others are easily seen, for they are sifted like
chaff, but one's own faults are hard to see. This is like
the cheat who hides his dice and shows the dice of his
opponent, calling attention to the other's shortcomings,
continually thinking of accusing him." (Undanavarga
27:1)

23. "They said to him, "Teacher, this woman was
caught in the very act of committing adultery.
Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone
such women. Now what do you say?" He said to
them, "Let anyone among you who is without sin
be the first to throw a stone at her." (John 8:4-7)
"Do not look at the faults of others, or what others
have done or not done; observe what you
yourself have done and have not done."
(Dhammapada 4:7)

24. "Your eye is the lamp of your body. If your eye is
healthy your whole body is full of light; but if it is
not healthy, your body is full of darkness.
Therefore consider whether the light in you is full
of darkness. If then your whole body is full of
light, with no part of it in darkness, it will be as
full of light as when a lamp gives you light with
its rays." (Luke 11: 34-36)
"As a man with eyes who carries a lamp sees all
objects, so too with one who has heard the
Moral Law. He will become perfectly wise."
(Udanavarga 22:4)

25. "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is
the kingdom of God." (Luke 6:20)
"Let us live most happily, possessing
nothing; let us feed on joy, like the radiant
gods." (Dhammapada 15:4)

26. "Everyone who lives and believes in me will
never die." (John 11:26)
"Those who have sufficient faith in me,
sufficient love for me, are all headed for
heaven or beyond." (Majjhima Nikaya
22:47)

27. "Those who want to save their life will lose it,
and those who lose their life for my sake
will save it." (Mark 8:35)
"With the relinquishing of all thought and
egotism, the enlightened one is liberated
through not clinging." (Majjhima Nikaya
72:15)

28. "When the devil had finished every test, he
departed from him until an opportune time."
(Luke 4:13)
"During the six years that the Bodhisattva
practiced austerities, the demon followed behind
him step by step, seeking an opportunity to harm
him. But he found no opportunity whatsoever
and went away discouraged and discontent."
(Lalitavistara Sutra 18)

29. "Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood
among them." (John 20:26)
"He goes unhindered through a wall." (Anugattara Nikaya
3:60)
----
"If you wish to be perfect, go sell your possessions, and
give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in
heaven." (Matt.19:21)
"The avaricious do not go to heaven, the foolish do not
extol charity. The wise one, however, rejoicing in charity,
becomes thereby happy in the beyond." (Dhammapada
13:11)

30. Both taught Non Duality
• Jesus said, “Split a piece of wood, and I
am there. Lift up the stone, and you will
find me there.” (The Gospel of Thomas)
• There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is
no longer slave or free, there is no longer
male and female; for all of you are one in
Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28)

31. • Come to know the One in the presence before
you and everything hidden from you will be
revealed. (Gospel of Thomas)
• When you are able make two become one,
the inside like the outside, and the outside like
the inside, the higher like the lower, so that a
man is no longer male, and a woman, female,
but male and female become a single whole…
—then you shall enter in.

32. • "Verily, verily, I say unto you, before
Abraham was, I AM." John 8: 58
• "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the
beginning and the ending" sayeth the
Lord, "which is, and which was, and which
is to come, the Almighty.“ (Revelations
1:8)

33. • If the selflessness of phenomena is
analyzed and if this analysis is cultivated,
It causes the effect of attaining nirvana.
Through no other cause does one come to
peace. (The Samadhiraja Sutra)
• One who is in harmony with emptiness
is in harmony with all things. (Nagarjuna,
Treatise on the Middle Way 24.14)

34. The Buddha
• There is that sphere of being where there is no earth,
no water, no fire, nor wind; no experience of infinity
of space, of infinity of consciousness, of no-thingness,
or even of neither-perception-nor-non-perception; here
there is neither this world nor another world, neither
moon nor sun; this sphere of being I call neither a
coming, nor a going nor a staying still, neither a dying
nor a reappearance; it has no basis, no evolution, and no
support: it is the end of dukkha. (ud. 8.1)