Lord Jesus Christ studied Buddhism?

(Buddha's Wisdom) Did Jesus study Buddhism in India and Tibet? The untold of his missing years

Jesus was a Buddhist monk (BBC)

Illustration of Jesus/Issa in Ladakh, India/Tibet (Elizabeth.C. Prophet)

BBC: "Jesus was a Buddhist monk" (video and short summary)

(Spinoza Forever) Spinoza's last words: I Spinoza discovered who

Jesus really was, and was poisoned two days later

• 

  Jesus Lived in India (Kersten)

  Nicolas Notovitch
• Holger Kersten
• Swami Abhedananda
• Elmar R. Gruber
• Elizabeth Clare Prophet
• Who copied whom: Gnostic Jesus or the Buddha?
• Jesus in Buddhism: India, Tibet, and Japan
• VIDEO: Venerable Jesus?: "The Christ of India"
• VIDEO: Jesus in (Mahayana) India

The Buddha of Afghanistan (Gandhara)

(Young Buddhist Association) The History of Buddhism's Spread in Afghanistan | Dharma Friday Incognito, Episode 46

• The Buddha was from Bamiyan and Kabul (Kabil, Kapil, Kapil'avastu), Afghanistan: Dr. Ranajit Pal: Non-Jonesian Indology and Alexander
• The Buddhas of Bamiyan
• Bamiyan, Bamyan Province
• Zuhak, Bamyan, Afghanistan
• Mes Aynak ("little source of copper"): world's largest unexcavated Buddhist temple complex
• Mes Aynak mine
• Gandhara, Central Asia/NW Pakistan)
• Buddhism in Central Asia
• Bactria, Central Asia
• Ajinateppa (Ajina Tepe), Tajikistan
• Seleucid Empire, West Asia

(TarikhNamah) Afghanistan was once the center of the Buddhist World

(The Global Buddhist) The Lost Buddhist Kingdom of Afghanistan | Forgotten Heart of Buddhism

• (OSU School of History, Philosophy, and Religion) The Afghan Discovery of Buddha: The Intellectual Prehistory of Islamist Iconoclasm (dry lecture from UCLA)
• Young Buddhist Association; The Global Buddhist; Tarikh Namah; Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Deeper into Central Asia's Cannabis Fields

(Strain Hunters) Kyrgyzstan Expedition, Dec. 22, 2025

• Part 1: The Lost Cannabis of the Silk Road
• Buddhism in Kyrgyzstan
• Buddhism in Afghanistan
• Buddhism in Central Asia
• Kharosthi Buddhist language
• Ancient Gandhāran Buddhist texts
• 3,000-year-old temple secrets unearthed in Peru

Lost Cannabis of the Silk Road: Stans

Field of dreams...greens (hemp)

(Strain Hunters) The Lost Cannabis of the Silk Road, Kyrgyzstan Expedition | Strain Hunters, Episode 1.

• What does Buddhism have to do with Central Asia?
• Buddhism in Kyrgyzstan
• The historical Buddha and this iteration of "Buddhism" (the timeless, rediscovered Dharma) was born in ancient Gandhara (the three seasonal capitals collectively referred to as "Kapilavastu" (Pali Kapilavatthu and Kapilapura) not Nepal, but modern Afghanistan -- Bamiyan, Kabul, Mes Aynak -- and Pakistan and Bihar, India, near Himalayan foothill regions of the Hindu Kush and Kashmir)
• Though born here, modern scholars imagine a Silk Road transmission of Buddhism
• The wandering ascetic (shramana) Siddhartha awakened in Bodh Gaya ("Enlightenment Grove"), Bihar (Vihar), but at that time there was no "India." That came into being when many disparate kingdoms and republics were untied under Buddhist Emperor Ashoka. Prior to the many mahajanapadas or "familial territories" (lit. "greater territorial clan footholds").
• Soon after awakening (mahabodhi or "great enlightenment"), the Buddha (the "Awakened One") returned to his hometown in Central Asia, Kapilavastu (quite likely Bamiyan, according to Indian historian Dr. Ranajit Pal) and gained many Scythian/Shakyian/Saka followers, many who took up a life of wandering asceticism and followed him back to Bihar (Vihar'), so named because there were at one time so many viharas (Buddhist temples, monasteries and nunneries, and chaityas) across the land.
• Technically speaking, "Buddhism" was born in Rajgir, India, where the great former-Brahmin Buddhist monk Maha Kassapa called together the First Buddhist Council to standardize and create a formal "religion" or "Eastern philosophy"
• The Kharosthi (Gandhari) language texts (Gandhāran Buddhist texts) are the world's oldest known Buddhist texts.

The only three connections of cannabis (ganja, marijuana, herb, flower, pot, weed) to Buddhism that we are aware of are indirect and not very connected to enlightenment, but some users of this plant treat them as if they are connected.

The first is possible but unlikely. Potheads are convinced -- either through wishful thinking, speculation, or some handed down mythology that got stretched to enhance cannabis' glorious reputation -- that when the wandering ascetic Siddhartha (the Bodhisatta or Future Buddha) was engaged in severe asceticism, he took less and less food until he was down to just one cannabis seed a day. This would have been a healthy choice because hemp is so incredibly nutritious, though not likely psychoactive.

• Hempseeds are extraordinary because they are one of a very few plant sources of balanced Omega 3, 6, and 9 fatty acids plus a great source of protein.
• To emphasize how dedicated struggling Siddhartha was to attaining Buddhahood, his austerities (tapas), penances, and asceticism are spoken of in the extreme to make a point. He ate a bowlful of grain (most often said to have been rice or sesame maybe mustard seed). Then regarding that as too indulgent, he took only a handful...until he took only a single grain a day. That didn't work to gain him calm, insight, or enlightenment, and he gave all of these practices up for the Middle Way that avoids extremes of hedonism and asceticism. He realized that jhana practice was the way to awakening/liberation, serving as the foundation of insight (vipassana, lit. "clear seeing").

Rules, rules, rules

Fat Happy addict Homer (olioart.com)

The second is a curious omission in the Monastic Disciplinary Code (Vinaya and Pāṭimokkha and Pratimokṣa), such as one freely available translation by American Theravada monk Ven. Thanissaro Bhikkhu (abbot of Metta Forest Monastery, San Diego), which states and explains (with a backstory) all the rules Buddhist monks and nuns vow to live by.

There are major rules, lesser rules (which might be described as "minor"), and many more miscellaneous rules of etiquette. Which is which is not completely obvious.

When Ananda was told by the Buddha that after his passing into final nirvana, the monastic order (sangha), could democratically vote to alter or abandon the "minor rules" but not the others. Ananda did not have the presence of mind to clarify by asking which were which, so the historically-based Theravada tradition chose to keep them all. But Buddhist Councils debate, argue, and attempt to define or redefine them, even on occasion voting to modify or better explain them. For instance, maybe in the past monastics walked or were driven, but today a rule might be relaxed to allow them to drive.

Among arguably "minor" rules is a rule that monastics can smoke [such as tobacco], but what exactly they would have been smoking in those days is not thoroughly specified. They can smoke something. So a monk or nun might smoke hemp leaf, THC-containing weed, or herbs and flowers and grass and think that no violation (of the rules they live by as laid down by the historical Buddha) is taking place.

(It may well be that cannabis was not very powerful back then so that it made little difference). Smoking weed would be taking a risk because one of the biggest rules incumbent on all Buddhists is the Fifth Precept to "abstain from intoxicants that occasion heedlessness," namely beer and liquor.

• The way the rules are classified is by way of seriousness and their consequences. As regards the most serious, there are FOUR "defeat offenses" (parajikas). This is a little odd because these four are the Five Precepts with one exception. The only one left out is the fifth, consuming intoxicants, getting high, taking a substance that occasions heedlessness (which mean breaking other rules through neglect, indifference, lack of mindfulness, or the ignorance that comes from being high a.k.a. tripping balls). Isn't it odd that getting intoxicated does not rise to a "defeat" offense but all the others do? Because of intoxication, one is likely to commit any of the other offenses, including the defeat offenses of sex, stealing, killing, or lying [about attainments] that immediately and irrevocably lead one to lose one's ordination as a monk or nun for this lifetime.

What is the drug?

The Path of Purification

The third is related but tangential. There is the existence of an entheogenic elixir (an amrita or Greek ambrosia) called soma (an Indo-Aryan combination of natural "drugs" such as divine cannabis, of some extraordinary strain, Asian blue lotus or Egyptian blue lotus, fermented mare's milk or kumis, and other variants, perhaps psychoactive mushrooms or other DMT-containing ingredients, plus additives to process, enhance, or preserve it).

• Texts describe the preparation of soma by means of extracting juice from a plant, the identity of which is now unknown and debated among scholars. The ancient Historical Vedic religion's soma and Zoroastrianism's haoma (Avestan, name of the drink and plant) are not exactly the same [7].
• There has been much speculation about the most likely original botanical.
• Some accounts, such as those from practitioners of yogic Ayurveda, Siddha medicine, and Somayajna, identify the plant as "Somalata" (Cynanchum acidum) [8].
• Some researchers have proposed candidates including:
• Amanita muscaria (Fly agaric shamanic mushroom),
• Psilocybin (magic mushrooms),
• Peganum harmala (the alkaloid harmaline), and
• Ephedra gerardiana.
• [Into this or as a later substitute, it is believed cannabis was steeped in mare's milk kumis, perhaps a "poor man's soma."]
• So legendary is soma in the West that The Doors of Perception author Aldous Huxley used it as a central ingredient in his novel Brave New World, suggesting that the word refers to a psychoactive, entheogenic, psychedelic substance similar to mescaline, derived from cacti like peyote and San Pedro. But these might only be substitutes for the real thing because the character Linda tries mescal (the psychedelic protoalkaloid mescaline) and peyotl (peyote) and longs to get back to the World State and real soma.
• The society described in Brave New World keeps its citizens peaceful by various methods, including the constant consumption of the soothing, happiness-producing drug "soma."
• Botanical identity of soma–haoma

Zoroastrians use a soma to this day, identified as the plant ephedra, whose effects mirror the descriptions found in the Rig Veda [a pre-Hindu Brahminical text of great importance to Hindus].

The old Vedic religion was the belief system of some of the Vedic Indo-Aryan tribes, the Aryas (Aryans) [14][15], who migrated into the Indus River Valley region of the Indian subcontinent [16].

• [To be clear, the word Aryan, "noble," came to designate "enlightened" in Buddhist usage rather than being any kind of reference to race, ethnicity, or "Iranian" usage from which it originally derived.]
• The Buddha was a self-proclaimed Aryan [his mother, Maha Maya Gautami, being Iranian (from Sistan-Baluchistan, according to Dr. Ranajit Pal in his most remarkable book Non-Jonesian Indology), a descendant of the "Solar Race" (The Story of the Lineage or translation of the Nidanakatha in Buddhist Birth Stories by T.W. Rhys Davids).

Sakka, King of the Devas

The Indo-Aryans were speakers of a branch of the Indo-European language family, which originated in the Sintashta culture and further developed into the Andronovo culture, which in turn developed out of the Kurgan culture of the Central Asian steppes [17].

The Vedic beliefs and practices of the pre-classical era were closely related to the hypothesized Proto-Indo-European religion [18, Note 1] and show relations with rituals from the Andronovo culture, from which the Indo-Aryan people descended [14].

Sakka in Christianity: St. Michael

According to Anthony, the Old Indic religion probably emerged among Indo-European immigrants in the contact zone between the Zeravshan River (present-day Uzbekistan) and (present-day) Iran [19].

It was "a syncretic mixture of old Central Asian and new Indo-European elements" [19], which borrowed "distinctive religious beliefs and practices" [11] from the Bactria–Margiana culture (BMAC) [11].

This syncretic influence is supported by at least 383 non-Indo-European words that were borrowed from this culture, including the god Indra [Sakka] and the ritual drink Soma [12]. According to Anthony:

"Many of the qualities of Indo-Iranian god of might and victory Verethraghna were transferred to the adopted god Indra [Sakka of the Sakas], who became the central deity of the developing Old Indic culture.

Indra was the subject of 250 hymns, a quarter of the Rig Veda. He was associated more than any other deity with Soma, a stimulant drug (perhaps derived from ephedra) probably borrowed from the BMAC religion. His rise to prominence was a peculiar trait of the Old Indic speakers [20]." More: Soma (drink)

• Strain Hunters; Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson, Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit

American gal motorbikes into Afghanistan

(Itchy Boots) Entering Afghanistan under Taliban rule

1,000 hidden Buddhist caves of Tibet

The oldest religious center of Tibet: A hidden world travelers have never seen, still used by monks

Tibet Travel (Tibet Vista) Oct 16, 2025: This is Jamyang from Tibet Vista, the leading Tibetan local travel agency since 1984. This video goes on a journey to three amazing places in Tibet.

• First, a hidden gem that most travelers have never seen—the religious center of the Guge Kingdom (Tholing Monastery?)
• Second, the sacred and breathtaking Manasarovar Lake
• Third, Purang County, the only place where Nepalese and Tibetans live together.

Let’s see all three places in detail so viewers can get a true sense of them and plan their future tours of Tibet.

(Living in China) Dunhuang, Western China, desert Silk Road crossroads

Dunhuang Caves, Mogao Caves, Silk Road transmission of Buddhism 

Any questions about Tibet or tours? Do not hesitate to ask. Jamyang is always happy to help. Email: jamyangtour@gmail.com. Website: tibettravel.org. Facebook: tibetvista.

Explore Buddhist Afghanistan by motorcycle

Afghanistan the media won't show us 🇦🇫🏳️

Where in the world is Afghanistan? It's next to Hindustan (India) and Pakistan, Central Asia

These are the white, Caucasian, Central Asian people America destroyed in their longest war?

It's a mellow ride in the foothills of Central Asia

(Matt Shoe) Sept. 27, 2025: Afghanistan, Central Asia [formerly ancient Buddhist Gandhara, Saka-stan, Shakyā Land, Scythia, the real Kapilavastu, in the foothills of the Hindu Kush, part of the Himalayan Range] is one of the most misunderstood countries in the world.

The Monks of the Mines (National Geographic)

After decades of war brought on by empires (British, Russian, American, Chinese) and negative media coverage (US propaganda), most adventure travelers wouldn’t even dream of coming here.

[What is there to see in the Buddha's hometown?]

Who are the Hazara people?

But today, I [a Lithuanian from the EU] set out to show a different side of this country – the beauty, the hospitality, and the raw reality of life in Afghanistan today.

Riding my motorcycle from Kabul to the legendary Bamiyan Valley and the pristine waters of Band-e Amir Lakes, I’ll ride through breathtaking landscapes, ancient history, and powerful human encounters.

(Historian Dr. Ranajit Pal)

Along the way, I meet a beekeeper who shares his honey, almonds, and hospitality, explore the ruins of the ancient and massive Bamiyan Buddhas destroyed by the [CIA-ISI's] Taliban, share food with families living in caves Buddhist monastics carved out and occupied around the time of the Buddha and for centuries thereafter, and witness the extreme poverty that 40 years of war has left behind.

Band-e Amir Lake, Bamiyan, Afghanistan

Finally, I reach Band-e Amir National Park – home to one of the most beautiful lakes in the world, crystal clear and surrounded by dramatic canyons.

This is Afghanistan as never seen before: raw, real, and unforgettable. Keep exploring! 🌍✌️

• Buddhism in Afghanistan
• Greco-Buddhism in the Hellenistic Far East

Trump: It's time to re-invade

(Secular Talk) CIA controls Pres. Trump, who does what he's told

My e-Books: Guides: mattshoe.travel/guides: ⚠️ Afghanistan Travel Guide. Follow on Instagram: themattshoe. Facebook: mattshoeyoutube. TikTok: mattshoetravel. Business enquires: contact@mattshoe.travel.

• Matt Shoe, Sept. 27, 2025; Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

History of Afghan Bamiyan Buddhas

Westerners visit Afghanistan, marvel at its ancient Buddhist past (Morse Collection/Gado/Getty)

.

The History of Afghanistan's Bamiyan Buddhas

Redhaired giants surviving in nearby Kandahar

The two colossal Bamiyan Buddhas stood as arguably the most important archeological site in Afghanistan for well over 1,000 years. They were the largest standing Buddha figures in the world.

Then, in a matter of days in the spring of 2001, members of the Taliban [urged on by the CIA and Pakistan's ISI] destroyed the images carved into a cliff face in the Bamiyan Valley. What comes next for Bamiyan?

• Buddhism in Afghanistan (Gandhara)

Big man stands at foot of statue

The smaller Buddha stood about 125 feet (38 meters) tall. It is thought to have been carved from the mountainside around 550 CE, according to radiocarbon dating [of organic matter, which seems very unreliable and based on the assumption that any portion of it is when it was all built].

To the east, the larger Buddha stood some 180 feet (55 meters) high, and was [thought to have been] carved a bit later, likely around 615 CE.

Each Buddha stood in a niche, attached to the back wall along their robes, but with free-standing feet and legs so pilgrims could circumambulate them.

Gandhara Greco-Buddhist art

The stone cores of the statues were originally covered with clay then with a brightly covered clay slip. When the region was actively Buddhist [by the Hazara tribe and earlier the Scythians/Indo-Sakas/Shakyians], visitors' reports suggest that at least the smaller Buddha was decorated with gemstones and enough bronze plating to make it seem as if it were made entirely of bronze or gold, rather than stone and clay.

Both faces were likely rendered in clay attached to wooden scaffolding; the blank, featureless stone core underneath was all that remained by the 19th century, giving the Bamiyan Buddhas an unsettling appearance to foreign travelers who encountered them.

The Buddhas appear to have been the work of the Gandhara civilization, showing some Greco-Roman artistic influence in the clinging drape of the [toga like] monastic robes.

Small cave niches around the statues hosted pilgrims and monastics; many of them feature brightly-painted wall and ceiling oil painted art, illustrating scenes from the life and teachings of the historical Buddha.

In addition to the two tall standing figures, numerous smaller seated Buddhas are carved into the cliff.

In 2008, archeologists rediscovered a buried reclining Buddha figure, 62 feet (19 meters) long, at the foot of the mountainside.

• Cultural landscape and archaeological remains of the Bamiyan Valley (UNESCO World Heritage Centre)
• PHOTO GALLERY (UNESCO World Heritage Centre)

The Bamiyan region remained predominantly Buddhist up until the 9th century. Islam gradually displaced Buddhism in the area because it offered easier trading relations with surrounding Muslim states.

Hazaras relocated to Pakistan

In 1221, Genghis Khan invaded the Bamiyan Valley, wiping out the population, but leaving the Buddhas undamaged. Genetic testing confirms that the Hazara people who now live in Bamiyan are descended from the Mongols.

Most Muslim rulers and travelers in the area either expressed wonder at the statues or paid them little heed. For example, Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire, passed through the Bamiyan Valley in 1506-7 but did not even mention the Buddhas in his journal.

Band-e Amir National Park, Afghanistan (Wiki)

The later Mughal emperor Aurangzeb (r. 1658-1707) reportedly tried to destroy the Buddhas using artillery; he was famously conservative, and even banned music during his reign, in a foreshadowing of Taliban rule. Aurangzeb's reaction was the exception, however, not the rule among Muslim observers of the Bamiyan Buddhas. More

• Archaeologists find giant 'sleeping' [reclining] Buddha in Afghanistan
• Kallie Szczepanski, May 23, 2018 (Thoughtco.com, The History of Afghanistan's Bamiyan Buddhas); Amber Larson and Dhr. Seven, Pfc. Sandoval (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Mountain discovery on Silk Road (video)

Uncovering a lost mountain metropolis

(nature video) Oct. 23, 2024: An isolated plateau in the highlands of southeastern Uzbekistan in Central Asia looks like an expanse of rolling hills. But look closer and a shard of pottery or the stony remnant of an ancient wall might hint at an archeological secret hidden for hundreds of years. Now a team of archeologists have used drone-mounted LiDAR to virtually peel back the layers of sediment and vegetation. Revealing two ancient cities, much larger than previously imagined, built 2,000 meters above sea level. The finding of these urban centers, called Tashbulak and Tugunbulak, at such high altitudes, may mean that highland areas may have played a more important role in medieval trade than previously thought.

• Read the paper: nature.com/articles/s4158...
• Buddhism in Uzbekistan, Central Asia
• Buddhism in Central Asia

This is a big deal with amazing art found (© Marc Dozier/Getty Images/Popular Mechanics).

Asia (the East) connected with the Roman Empire (the West) for centuries through the Silk Road

A mountaintop discovery is changing everything we knew about the Silk Road

• A new LiDAR survey of previously discovered Silk Road sites reveals a more sprawling urban history than first imagined.
• An aerial survey of the Tashbulak and Tugunbulak sites in Uzbekistan, Central Adia, uncovered more than 300 medieval archeological features, suggesting a robust urban community.
• The Silk Road or Route — which existed from 114 B.C. to 1450 A.D. — was a vital and expansive trade route that connected the Eastern and Western worlds.

A new survey of two archeological sites along the Silk Road has unveiled a stunning new discovery that rewrites our understanding of the famed Eurasian (Europe-Asia) trade route that spanned continents and centuries.

Monk meditates on Silk Road (en.unesco.org)

As reported in Newsweek, a new aerial survey of Tashbulak and Tugunbulak — two archeological sites roughly three miles apart in the Uzbekistan mountains — utilized LiDAR (a remote sensing technology that uses laser pulses to penetrate obstacles and create 3D images of a landscape) to reveal more than 300 medieval archeological features.

• [Buddhism in Central Asia was prevalent along the Silk Road. Its history there is closely related to the Silk Road transmission of Buddhism during the first millennium of the common era. It has been argued that the spread of Indian culture and religions, especially Buddhism, as far as Sogdia, corresponded to the rule of the Kidarites over the regions from Sogdia to Gandhara [4]. Islam invaded and displaced Buddhism. Uzbekistan [5] and Kazakhstan [6] have the most Buddhists, largely practiced by their Koryo-saram minority, although the former has the lowest percentage of Buddhists. Due to historical Tibetan, Mongol, and Manchurian influence, Kyrgyzstan [7] has the highest percentage of Buddhists in Central Asia. More]

Empires of the Silk Road (C. I. Beckwith)

The two sites, which were discovered in 2011 and 2015, are located 6,562 to 7,218 feet above sea level. At that elevation, the land was unlikely to have supported large-scale urban development at the time, given the difficulties posed to construction and agriculture.

But this new survey — the results of which were published in Nature — indicates that that’s exactly what occurred at Tashbulak and Tugunbulak.

“The LiDAR results indicate that the scale of urbanization in this area was much more expansive than previously known,” Brown University researcher Zachary Silvia told Newsweek.

Silvia, while not involved directly in the study, has published a News & Views article for Nature about the results and singled out the significance of this revelation

 “This is the first — and probably only — ancient or medieval city located at this elevation in Central Asia, which forces us to reconsider what we know about urbanization in the area.”

Among the structures discovered by the study’s LiDAR flights were “watchtowers connected with walls along a ridgeline, evidence of terracing, and a central fortress surrounded by walls made of stone and mud brick.”

The Silk Road (Valerie Hansen)

But while this survey revealed what structures were once present at Tashbulak and Tugunbulak, there are still more questions to be answered.

“Typically, remote sensing techniques are one tool within the broader tool kit of the archaeologist,” Silvia noted to Newsweek. “The next step for the team would be to confirm their findings through geophysics — techniques that ‘see’ below the surface — and targeted excavations that can confirm whether or not this is indeed such an extensive settlement. I am optimistic that this is precisely what the team will find in the coming years.” Source

• Valeriana everything we know about Mexico's lost city
• VIDEO: 100-million-year-old discovery: Scientists uncover ancient seafloor hidden deep beneath earth (MSN) A groundbreaking discovery has revealed remnants of an ancient seafloor beneath the Pacific Ocean, potentially rewriting Earth's geological history! Scientists believe this is just the beginning of uncovering hidden structures in Earth's depths, offering new insights into our planet’s complex past. What other secrets lie beneath? Location: London WooGlobe Ref: WGA177390.
• VIDEO: Top 10 mysterious moving statues that scientists can't explain
• Are the ancient precision-cut granite Barabar caves in India older than we think?
• Scientists may have finally found the origin of one of history's most important inventions
• Scientists decipher 3,000-year-old map to find location of Noah's Ark
• Michael Natale, Popular Mechanics via MSN, Oct. 29, 2024; Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly