Jesus and Buddha: The Parallel Sayings by Marcus Borg and Jack Kornfield

The principals of Dharma found in the gospels Buddhism and Christianity has little in common. For instance, the former is non-theistic, but the latter is a theistic religion. But the sayings of Jesus have been influenced by the teachings of Buddha. This has been reviewed in numerous books, but the author of this book looks only at the similarities. Jesus preached something besides love, forgiveness, and peace. In fact, one-third of Jesus' words in the Synoptic Gospels are parables, which are enigmatic and oracular but still constitutes the only form of his teachings. The synoptic gospels used the parables within the literary and theological frameworks of their work. However, it is also confounding that the book of John does not have any parables, and the Gospel of Thomas, and the Gospel of Mary Magdalene both of which are excluded from Bible, is vastly different in tone and structure from the four Canonical Gospels. John's bodily resurrection is an indispensable part of Christian faith, but according to Thomas, and Mary, Jesus’ teachings align with that of Buddha in its tenor and spirit. The important aspects of Jesus' ethics are grounded in Buddhism. Buddha attained enlightenment while meditating under the Bodhi tree, then he remined silent and fasted before he started preaching with five of his former companions, the ascetics with whom he shared six years of hardship. Buddha gave the first presentation of the Four Noble Truths, which are his foundational teaching for one's liberation from suffering in life. The wheel of dharma leads to enlightenment. There is much similarity in the Sermon on the Mount which are a collection of teachings of Jesus that emphasizes morality found in the Gospel of Matthew (Chapters 5, 6, and 7). This is after he was baptized by John the Baptist, Jesus goes fasting and performs meditation in the desert, and then begins to preach in Galilee at the Mount of Beatitudes. Much of his work is performing miracles. Jesus Seminar, a group of Biblical scholars and academics re-created gospels and evaluated the historical Jesus. Among other things, they asserted that the Gospel of Thomas is more authentic than the Gospel of John. The authors of synoptic gospels used oral and written traditions of first century to re-create their work, and sightings of risen Jesus is visionary experience rather than a physical encounter. The author of this book highlights the similarities but ignores the differences between the two personalities. Buddha was born about six hundred years before Jesus in a vastly different culture and history of their respective countries. Buddha challenged the impact of Vedic influence on people in ancient India and spoke out against the ritual practices of Vedas that were believed necessary in one's liberation from suffering in life. He addressed the political and social issues of his time and well-versed in the Sankhya philosophy of Hinduism that was widely popular at his time. Jesus and apostles never criticized the slavery that was practiced in ancient Israel.