Sid (the Buddha), Kris (Krishna), Mo, Josh (Jesus), Aquaman, Lao Tzu, Joe (Joseph Smith)
JESUS vs. the BUDDHA: Love vs. Non-Attachment
The Buddha and the Christ: friends
(Buddha's Wisdom) 🔍JESUS vs. BUDDHA: LOVE vs. DETACHMENT: TWO PATHS, ONE TRUTH. What happens when Jesus’s fearless [yogic] love [called agape in Greek] meets the Buddha’s wisdom of [boundless love called metta and] letting go*?
*“Attachment says, ‘Be mine,’ whereas love says, ‘Be well.’”
This video explores how two of history’s greatest spiritual teachers [the Buddha preceding Christ by at least 500 years], born five centuries and continents apart, answered the same human question: *How do we love without suffering*?
*Suffering: dukkha, disappointment, pain, unsatisfactoriness, misery, ill, woe, not getting what we want and getting what we don't want.
From Galilee to the Ganges, discover how their paths converge in a timeless lesson for the modern heart.
📿 DISCOVER:
The radical love of Jesus that defied tribal and political boundaries
The Buddha’s teaching on non-attachment and the end of desperate grasping and clinging
The hidden parallels between early Christian and Buddhist thought
The mystery of whether the Christ and the Buddha’s teachings ever crossed paths [in ancient India, Tibet, and Central Asia]
How to practice “love with open hands” in relationships today
🙏 Subscribe for more East-meets-West wisdom: Every week, we explore the meeting point of philosophy, history, and spirituality, from Buddhist cosmology to hidden wisdom in Western thought.
⏱️ TIMESTAMPS:0
00:00 The grip in our chest
01:14 The love paradox
02:44 The dangerous love of Jesus
07:24 The freedom love of Siddhartha the Buddha
11:19 When two truths collide
15:35 Love without the leash
21:21 The third path
24:50 Love fearlessly, LET GO freely
📚 SOURCES AND FURTHER READING:
The Metta Sutta (Sutta Nipata 1.8) – Teachings on Loving-Kindness
Sallatha Sutta (SN 36.6) – The Parable of the Second Arrow
The Gospel of Luke 10.25-37 – The Parable of the Good Samaritan
The Gospel of Matthew 5.44 – “Love thy enemies”
Comparative studies on Greco-Buddhist exchanges along the Silk Road
Historical scholarship on early Christian monasticism and Buddhist influence
📱 Join community: Instagram: buddhaswizdom. Facebook: buddhaswizdom. ☕ Support the channel: buymeacoffee.com/buddhaswisdom
* Love fearlessly. Love freely. Stay curious. Stay wise.
Crystal Quintero, Pfc. Sandoval, CC Liu (eds.), Wiki edit
Operativos para proteger a las familias por festejos del "Día de Reyes" en CDMX
(adn40Mx) Jan 5, 2024: José Guadalupe Ruiz Méndez, Dir Operativo de la Zona Norte SSC CDMX realiza una llamada telefónica con de adn conmigo para platicar con Daniel Jacobo y Valentina Rodríguez sobre los operativos que se realizaran por día de reyes en CDMX.#adn40#SiempreConmigo
Lin-Manuel Miranda explains the magic of Three Kings Day
(Washington Post) Dec. 15, 2017: Even while growing up in New York, composer, playwright, and actor (Frozen), Lin-Manuel Miranda experienced a quintessentially Puerto Rican holiday, Three Kings Day (Dia de los Reyes o Magos). Here's what makes it special. #linmanuelmiranda#washingtonpost#threekingsday
US manger Nativity scene with true statement
Did Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhist monks from Ladakh or Lhasa go in search of a tulku (incarnation of significant figures like the Dalai Lamas and Panchen Lamas)? In this case, it would have been baby Jesus of Palestine (Issa, Isa, Yshua, Christ), following a UFO or miraculous star or sign in the sky (astrological/zodiacal)? When a significant lama (monk) or rinpoche ("precious one" or "jewel") is to be reborn, he gives indications of where. And a search party is sent out to track him down, bring him back, verify it's him, and remind him of his mission to spread the Dharma (Timeless Truth) to save humanity. Tibetans think it is Avalokiteśvara(sex-changed and popularized as ChineseKwan Yin, called Chenrezig in Tibet, the Goddess of Compassion) being reborn over and over again. This is the basis of the American movie Little Buddha.
Theophany (Ancient Greek ἡ θεοφάνεια, Romanized theophaneia, lit. "appearance of a deity" [1]) is an encounter with a deity (deva, god, goddess), in which it manifests in an observable and tangible form [2, 3, 4].
Where the deity does not take tangible form (an outward manifestation), the broader term used for inward manifestation is divine revelation or divine inspiration [5] as when devas ("shining ones") or gandharvas(heavenly messengers in Buddhism) visit earth.
Not kings, not just three, but tales were added.
Where the god or goddess indwells in a human person, the terms used are divine incarnation, a Hindu avatar or, poetically, the personification of that deity [6].
Theophanies, tangible appearances of a deity, are distinguished from epiphanies, which are powerful internal changes in outlook caused by a theophany or other divine revelation [7].
Traditionally the term "theophany" was used to refer to appearances of the gods in ancient Greek and in Near Eastern religions.
While Homer's Iliad is the earliest source for descriptions of theophanies in classical antiquity (which occur throughout Greek mythology), the earliest description appears in the much older Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh [8].
While the Baháʼí Faith of India does not refer to any particular events of Theophany, it holds that "God" is manifest in the prophets .
The "Manifestation of God" is a concept that refers to what are commonly called "prophets," including, among others,
The Manifestations of God are a series of personages [Maitreyas, Messiahs] who reflect the attributes of the divine into the human world for the progress and advancement of human morals and civilization [45].
The Manifestations of God are the only channel for humanity to know about God, and they act as perfect Mirrors reflecting the attributes of God into the physical world, says Bahai [46]....
Hamza ibn Ali ibn Ahmad is considered the founder of the Druze and the primary author of the Druze manuscripts [52]. He proclaimed that God had become human and taken the form of man, al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah [53, 54, 51, 55, 56].
Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah is an important figure in the Druze faith whose eponymous founder ad-Darazi proclaimed him as the incarnation of God in 1018 [53, 54].
Divine appearances to animals
Human religious lore includes ancient literary recordings of deities appearing to animals, usually with the animals able to relate the experience to humans using human speech:
In numerous creation stories, a deity or deities speak with many kinds of animals, often prior to the formation of dry land on earth [57].
Human Hanuman and the great Monkey King
In the Hindu text the Ramayana, the monkey-headed human leader Hanumanis informed by deities, and usually consciously addressed by them [58].
The Future Buddha: The Tale of Bodhisattva Maitreya
(Wisdom Tellers) Discover the incredible story of Maitreya, the future Buddha known for boundless love and wisdom! Follow his journey towards enlightenment and learn about his teachings that promise hope and kindness. Let's uncover the legacy of this compassionate figure and his impact on the world.
Could there really be a Messianic Buddhism? There certainly is. (Tibetan Buddhism, for example, is obsessed with the Future Buddha and not so much interested in the historical one and his Teachings, even though they'll be the same Teachings).
There is a belief in the Buddha's "second coming." Of course, this is an oversimplification because it is not the historical Buddha Shakyamuni returning so much as it is another bodhisattva ("being bent on supreme enlightenment") arising. That buddha's name will be Maitreya, the "Messiah" of sorts, the Buddha-to-come.
In the Pali canon of Theravada Buddhism, pejoratively referred to as Hinayana or "Lesser Vehicle" Buddhism, which it is not, he is known as Metteyya. The last Hinayana tradition was the Sarvastivada, which was destroyed by Mahayana Buddhism.
Ninety percent of the Buddhism in the world today is of the Mahayana sort, with only ten percent being Theravada or "Teaching of the Earliest Enlightened Elders" of the Buddha's time. Theravada is a back to basics revivalism of what the historical person taught, whereas Mahayana is a kind of catholicism or universalist teaching, more Hinduism than Gautama-Buddha-Dharma.
When is the winter solstice? In 2022, the date of the winter solstice is Wednesday, Dec. 21st. What is the winter solstice, and why does it happen?
It's either the shortest day of the year or the longest night, right? No, it's both. Learn all about the shortest day of the year — and tell The Old Farmers' Almanac what winter means.
When is the winter solstice?
The first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere is marked by the winter solstice, which occurs on Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022, at 4:48 PM EST.
England's Stonehenge, like Africa's Adam's Calendar, marks astrological dates and seasons.
Winter in the Western Hemisphere (Marina Zezelina/Shutterstock/Alamanac.com)
.
For the northern half of Earth (the Northern Hemisphere), the winter solstice occurs every year on Dec. 21 or 22. (For the Southern Hemisphere, the winter solstice occurs on June 20 or 21).
The winter solstice is the day with the fewest hours of sunlight during the whole year, making it the “shortest day” of the year. Conversely, it's the longest night of the year.
Thankfully, after we reach the winter solstice, the days begin to once again grow longer and longer until we reach the summer solstice — the first day of summer and the longest day of the year.
Think of it this way: Although the winter solstice means the start of winter, it also means the return of more sunlight. It only gets brighter from here on it (until the cycle repeats)!
[It was therefore a key day for astrotheology, the day of the birth of an important religious figure who will return, a kind of Maitreya or Messiah. See Jordan Maxwell for more on this historical phenomenon that has given many religions their power and influence over the millennia. For example, Jesus is not the "reason for the season" and was not born on Christmas or Christ's Mass. The Bible reveals he was born much earlier in the year when the animals were out to pasture. But the Church needed to appropriate a popular winter holiday to brighten the year and make it their own to promote the imperial state religion. Researcher Eric Dubay has a better alternative explanation for the facts as to what causes the solstices and equinoxes on the plane of the earth described by most of the religions of the world. But it is so controversial that he is banned and dismissed out of hand.]
Scientology is a money-making enterprise registered as a "church," perhaps to avoid paying taxes on profits and "donations" like some "prosperity doctrine" mega-church televangelists (Last Week Tonight).
Its founder was sci-fi writer L. Ron Hubbard, who bragged to fellow Pasadena Satanist/occultist the weapons developer Jack Parsons (founder of JPL, aka "Jack Parsons' Lab," the Jet Propulsion Lab) that he could start his own religion.
Hubbard did not know much about Eastern religions and made his self-aggrandizing claims in a poetry book he published as Hymn of Asia An Eastern Poem. His text explores several themes.
See here, I'm Buddha-come-again. That's it, yeah
According to Prof. Stephen A. Kent, the first line of Hubbard's extended poetic hymn asks, "Am I Metteyya? [sic]." Hubbard quickly followed this question with the statement, "I come to bring you all that Lord Buddha would have you know of life, Earth, and Man"* (Journal of Contemporary Religion, Vol. 11, No. 1, 1996, p. 21).
*The original text contains very short lines of verse, and in this quote and others I have compressed them into prose and bracketed appropriate punctuation. I left alone, however, Hubbard's capitalization, which may appear serendipitous.
God damnit, Buddhists! Are you f'n listening!?
Hubbard, Prof. Kent continues, made a fundamental error in Buddhist soteriology...More
Hubbard started an all-business quasi-religion, and its current guru is controversial possible wife-murderer David Miscavige.
If anyone expects to get involved with Scientology and its many arms in Hollywood and the world, be prepared to spend a lot of money. Bring credit cards. They will take much more than money, but first they get all the money they can.More
(Vatican News English, April 5, 2020) Pope Francis' Palm Sunday Mass in 1 minute: Pope Francis celebrates Mass on Palm Sunday and prays the Angelus in an empty St. Peter's Basilica, focusing his homily on love and service. Watch the Holy Roman Empire's entire pomp and circumstance mass hypnotic induction ceremony as it holds sway over 1/3rd of the planet with its corporate patriarchy.
Sid, it sucks being famous. - I know, Jess.
As we explore the Abrahamic faiths, let's start with Jesus Christ Superstar (Yesu of Nazareth, St. Issa) instead of the Mo's. Today is "Palm Sunday" and the Vatican Propaganda Office, located in the Holy See [built to worship Mithra (Maitri = Maitreya = Messiah) before converting to the composite figure of Jesus Christ (Y'shua, Joshua, Iesous, Issa, Isa) is milking the cow liquid out of it.
Getting with the times, the Vatican PR Department has condensed a 1:42:06 minute ritual to an empty house in a locked down palace down to a manageable (i.e., wordless) one-minute.
It's suitable for Instagram, FB, TikTok, even Twitter. The tiny country called the "Holy See" in the center of sickly Rome is the current city-state-cum-capital of the Church's worldwide Holy Roman Empire. It claims to have 7 coronavirus cases in a total population of about 1,000 mostly gay and bisexual bishops, carnal cardinals, pervey priests, Swiss guards, functionaries, and bankers.
The CEO, Papa Francisco (Pope Francis I), is trying to hold it down as Rome burns with disease along with the rest of the world suffering the new "plague" or "crown of death." But we're all friends in the afterlife, so for Holy Week we ask, Who was Jesus of Nazareth? And where was he for those 18 "lost years"? The years excised from the official imperial version of the Bible, fabricated by the Neo-Flavian dynasty also called theConstantinian dynasty and its power-hungry Roman Emperor Constantine at the Council of Nicaea?
The arahant (Sanskrit arhat, enlightened individual) ideal and the bodhisattva (buddha-to-be, supremely enlightened) ideal are often considered the respective guiding ideals of Theravāda ("Teaching of the Enlightened Elders," the first students of the historical Buddha) Buddhism and Mahāyāna ("Greater Vehicle," the idea of waiting for a messiah or savior rather than making the individual effort now that the historical Buddha advocated) Buddhism.
This assumption is not entirely correct, for the Theravāda tradition has (now) absorbed the bodhisattva ideal into its framework and thus recognizes the validity of both arahantship and Buddhahood as objects of aspiration.
An arahant is an enlightened-disciple, whereas a buddha is an enlightened-teacher.
It would therefore be more accurate to say that the arahant ideal and the bodhisattva ideal are the respective guiding ideals of Early Buddhism and (later) Mahāyāna Buddhism.
By "Early Buddhism" I (Bhikkhu Bodhi) do not mean the same thing as Theravāda Buddhism that exists in the countries of Southern Asia. I mean the type of Buddhism embodied in the archaic Nikāyas (Volumes) of Theravāda Buddhism and in the corresponding texts of other schools of Indian Buddhism that did not survive the general destruction of Buddhism in India.
Modern Western ascetic, tattoo proves it? (golfian.com)
It is important to recognize that these ideals, in the forms that they have come down to us, originate from different bodies of literature stemming from different periods in the historical development of Buddhism.
If we don't take this fact into account and simply compare these two ideals as described in Buddhist canonical texts, we might assume that the two were originally expounded by the historical Buddha himself. And we might then suppose that the Buddha -- living and teaching on the Ganges plain in the 5th century C.E. -- offered his followers a choice between them, as if to say:
"This is the arahant ideal, which has such and such features, and that is the bodhisattva ideal, which has such and such features. Choose whichever one you like." [Note 1]
NOTE 1: There is also a third model of the Buddhist spiritual life, that of the pacceka-buddha (Sanskrit pratyeka-buddha). The pacceka-buddha is similar in many respects to the enlightened-disciple or arahant, except that whereas the disciple arahant attains enlightenment under the guidance of a Buddha, the pacceka-buddha (like a samma-sambuddha) gains enlightenment without any outside guidance. Otherwise, the combination of qualities that constitute this type is essentially the same. In the literature of the Buddhist systems, we often read of three types of enlightened ones -- Pali: sāvakas, pacceka-buddhas, and sammā-sambuddhas (Sanskrit: śrāvakas, pratyeka-buddhas, and samyak-sambuddhas) -- and of the three "vehicles" (yāna) that lead to these attainments: the śrāvaka-yāna, the pratyekabuddha-yāna, and the bodhisattva-yāna.
The Mahāyāna sūtras (discourses), such as the (apocryphal) Mahāprajñā-pāramitā Sūtra (the Heart Sutra) and the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra (the Lotus Sūtra), give the impression that the Buddha did teach both ideals.
Such sūtras, however, certainly are not archaic. To the contrary, they are relatively late (latter day) attempts to schematize the different types of Buddhist practice that had evolved over a period of roughly 400 years after the Buddha's pari-nirvāṇa.
The most archaic Buddhist texts -- the Pali language Nikāyas and their counterparts from other early schools (some of which have been preserved in the Chinese language Āgamas or "Scriptures" and the Tibetan Kanjur or "Translation of the Word") -- depict the ideal for the Buddhist disciple as the arahant.
The Mahāyāna sūtras, composed a few centuries later in a Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit, depict the ideal for the Mahāyāna follower as the bodhisattva. Now some people argue that because the arahant is the ideal of Early Buddhism, while the bodhisattva is the ideal of later Mahāyāna Buddhism, the Mahāyāna must be a more advanced or highly developed type of Buddhism, a more ultimate teaching compared to the simpler, more basic teaching of the Nikāyas.
That (foolishness) is indeed an attitude common among Mahāyānists, which I will call "Mahāyāna elitism." An opposing attitude common among conservative advocates of the Nikāyas rejects all later developments in the history of Buddhist thought as deviation and distortion, a fall away from the "pristine purity" of the ancient teaching. I call this (foolish) attitude "Nikāya purism."
Taking the arahant ideal alone as valid, Nikāya purists reject the bodhisattva ideal, sometimes forcefully and even aggressively.
I have been seeking a point of view that can do justice to both perspectives, that of the Nikāyas and the early Mahāyāna sūtras, a point of view that can accommodate their respective strengths without falling into a soft and easy syncretism, without blotting out conceptual dissonances between them, without abandoning faithfulness to the historical records -- yet one which also recognizes that these records are by no means crystal clear and are unlikely to be free of bias.
This task has by no means been easy. It is much simpler to adopt either a standpoint of "Nikāya purism" or one of "Mahāyāna elitism" and hold to it without flinching. The problem with these two standpoints, however, is that both are obliged to neglect facts that are discomforting to their respective points of view.More
American Bhikkhu Bodhi
Although I am ordained as a Theravāda Buddhist monk, in this essay I am not going to be defending the opinions of any particular school of Buddhism or trying to uphold a sectarian point of view. For six years, I have lived in Chinese Mahāyāna monasteries, and my understanding of Buddhism has been particularly enriched by my contact with the teachings of the Chinese scholar-monk Master Yinshun (1906-2005) and his most senior living pupil, Master Renjun, the founder of Bodhi Monastery in New Jersey. My first purpose is to draw out from the texts what the texts say explicitly, and also what they imply, about these two competing ideals of the Buddhist life. At the end, when I draw my conclusions, I will clearly state them as such, and they will be entirely my own. Sometimes I will not draw conclusions but instead raise questions, pointing to problems in the history of Buddhism that I am acutely aware of but unfortunately cannot resolve. It is quite possible that what I consider a nuanced and balanced point of view will draw fire from partisan advocates on both sides of the divide. However, from the standpoint of my present understanding, I have no choice but to take this risk.
It is thought that the future Buddha Maitreya will come as a Central Asian (Scythian) king.
Just as not all swastikas are the same, neither are all "Buddhas." Here the true historical Buddha Gautama or Shakyamuni (left) is contrasted with the popular Mahayana Fat Happy Bodhisattva Budai or Hotei (blavatskytheosophy.com).
.
Fat Budai is not "the Buddha."
The Buddha is NOT fat, big and happy perhaps, but not fat. The fat guy is Budai, also known as Hotei.
He's a bodhisattva, a being aspiring for buddhahood and Maitreya/Messiah status as a kind of Mahayana martyr figure who will save all living beings when he's on the verge of enlightenment but will not enter enlightenment as a buddha but rather as a supremely enlightened (samma-sam-buddha arhat who then establishes the Dharma (teaching that leads to liberation) and waits for all living beings to gain insight and cross over this flood of suffering known as samsara, the "Wheel of Life and Death."
The historical Buddha Shakyamuni
It will be a long wait, of course, but Mahayana Buddhists comfort themselves with selfless vows and slogans like "samsara is nirvana." It's a lot like Catholicism, if one thinks about it. Indeed, there are many, many similarities between the later Mahayana ("Great Vehicle") school that departed and extrapolated or interpreted the historical Buddha's teaching to create a more Brahminical/Hindu version for the masses of followers who prefer faith to compassion to wisdom and compassion.
The "Virg Yin" Kwan Yin Bodhisattva
Like Catholicism, Mahayana Buddhism is far more concerned with the Virg Yin (Kwan Yin) than the central teaching figure. When the teacher is mentioned, it is usually not the historical Buddha who is meant but a more cosmic God-like being known as Amitabha. Everyone goes around greeting each other saying Amitofu, as in "all hail the great leader" or "God bless you."
The Western God, all-powerful white man
Great ceremonies and fanfare promote faith, emotions, piety, and devotion rather than meditation, dispassion, mindfulness, or insight. That kind of stuff is left to the monastics, who do not usually practice much either given that they have become priests and priestesses, officiants at social functions such as funerals and "blessing" ceremonies, so many blessin ceremonies. Like Brahmins of the Buddha's time and later Hindu priests, they are the officials who know the secret mantras (prayer-like magic formulae), the way to "God" and "GOD" (Brahma and Brahman), the ones who as God's representatives on Earth can forgive, modify, or even expunge karma for the rich (with a little "indulgence" selling in the old European style).
Veneration of good luck Budai is widespread
Populist Mahayana Buddhism in China is so in line with Roman Catholicism that the official communist government asked the Vatican and Catholic Church to come in and proselytize to have social control the former Confucian-Taoist-Buddhist triumvirate used to exert for social control. Most Mahayana Buddhists do not realize any of this, so it may come as a shock to research and find it out. Religion is a very deeply seated thing most of us are born into, never question, and get no answers for even if we do question.
Future Buddha Maitreya
So we must all respect the fact that 90% of Buddhists follow this school and its Tibetan branch, which is different enough in appearance to call itself Vajrayana while still very much considering itself a form of Mahayana (just ask the 14th Dalai Lama, enemy of the Chinese government, savior of the Tibetan people and quite a few Westerners). For the love of Kwan Yin and Mother Mary, we can all be Catholic and join in the Universalism religion most humans are forced to follow at this time (which is the form followed on another neighboring planet, it is said, where the population has given up freedom for social cohesion, which seems to be the Chinese way, though not at all the American way).
The Buddha is still the Buddha, who spoke of 28 or so buddhas who had preceded him over the aeons, when the world was not so much different than it is now, save for the fact that in the past the devas (angels, gods, space aliens) were visible and no one doubted whether they existed or what they were capable of doing as superhumans who could shapeshift and appear as average humans.
So who's the FAT one?
Budai or Pu-Tai(Chinese and Japanese 布袋, Bùdài,Hotei, Vietnamese Bố Đại) is a Chinese folkloric deity whose name means "Cloth Sack." The name comes from the Santa Claus like bag he is conventionally depicted as carrying.
Budai is usually identified with or seen as a pre-incarnation of Maitreya, the "messiah," the Future Buddha, so much so that the Budai image is one of the main forms in which Maitreya is depicted in Mahayana Buddhist China.
The "messiah" Maitreya
He is almost always shown as fat, jolly, and smiling or laughing. Hence his nickname in Chinese, the Laughing Buddha (Chinese 笑佛, pinyin Xiào Fó). It is no wonder that in the West, potheads (like Cypress Hill) frequently mistake the image of Budai for the historical Gautama Buddha (Shakyamuni, the "Sage of the Shakya/Scythian Clan). Sitting cross legged he is usually called the Fat Buddha (Chinese 胖佛, pinyin Pàng Fó). More
All materials on this site are submitted by editors and readers. All images, unless otherwise noted, were taken from the Internet and are assumed to be in the public domain.
In the event that there is still a problem, issue, or error with copyrighted material, the break of the copyright is unintentional and noncommercial, and the material will be removed immediately upon presented proof.
Contact us by submitting a comment marked "private."
Do not follow this journal if you are under vinaya or parental restrictions. Secure protection by Sucuri.
Wisdom Quarterly: American Buddhist Journal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at creativecommons.org/about/licenses.
Budai or Pu-Tai (Chinese and Japanese 布袋, Bùdài, Hotei, Vietnamese Bố Đại) is a Chinese folkloric deity whose name means "Cloth Sack." The name comes from the Santa Claus like bag he is conventionally depicted as carrying.
