tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3539004132667839517.post9143114692928506395..comments2023-11-02T07:16:10.536-07:00Comments on The Buddha Myth--A Skeptic's Guide: THE THESISThai Mangoeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08454418608373895460noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3539004132667839517.post-79760810853458585632017-05-20T19:32:16.359-07:002017-05-20T19:32:16.359-07:00Very unlikely, since cynics were known in the West...Very unlikely, since cynics were known in the West for some time before Alexander. As I said, I think these world-denying, ascetics sects might developed both in India and in Greece due to the influence of Scythian culture from North and Central Asia.Luciushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16296440773873255879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3539004132667839517.post-47352014895815606012017-05-18T18:49:57.155-07:002017-05-18T18:49:57.155-07:00Thank you for your comments. In the 19th and early...Thank you for your comments. In the 19th and early 20th century European and American scholars wrote about the historicity of Buddha, and some were skeptical. Some also wrote about the Scythian connection, so I don't take any credit for the idea. I also wondered about the connection of Greek Cynicism and Buddhism; it could possibly have been brought West by Alexander's army which came into contact with the cynics in the East.Trirathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06122998237738046476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3539004132667839517.post-81397173509368903802017-04-28T12:19:14.998-07:002017-04-28T12:19:14.998-07:00I wish to congratulate you, good sir, on your blog...I wish to congratulate you, good sir, on your blog and your excellent and well-laid out thesis. Not that I agree with all aspects for it, but for years now I've been looking for serious scholarly work questioning the very existence of Buddha and the official historical narrative on the early development of Buddhism - and yours is so far the best (or practically the only) study I've found on topic (sad, really, that this issue is not tackled so much more in serious studies).<br /><br />I must say, however, that it never occurred to me to connect the Buddha or Buddhist narratives with the history of Indo-Scythians, though the connection now seems so obvious, so rich and so important that it is impossible to ignore. In fact, this brought to my mind an interesting parallel, or perhaps triviality, that you might take note off: in history of early Greek philosophy, you have this figure of Anacharsis, a legendary from Scythia, who supposedly visited Greece in the 6th century BC, where he became the founder of the philosophical sect of Cynics. Now the Greek Cynicism, as I'm sure you know, shares in fact many similarities to Buddhism (particulary its early forms), and it is perhaps more than coincidence that the semi-legendary founders of both sects were, at least in antiquity, belived to have some connection with Scythians.<br /><br />Luciushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16296440773873255879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3539004132667839517.post-64231334091910031132016-10-15T06:04:18.647-07:002016-10-15T06:04:18.647-07:00Great articles and investigation!. i found myself ...Great articles and investigation!. i found myself wondering about the city held to be the ruins of kapilavatu in lumbini....what would that be? wow so many new information! thanks for this! best wishesAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17820773830200283086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3539004132667839517.post-79266359635475365842016-03-13T23:17:52.003-07:002016-03-13T23:17:52.003-07:00The complete Buddhist system of mental training ma...The complete Buddhist system of mental training may or may not decrease human suffering, but at the cost of a lot of excess baggage carried in the form of myths and untruths. As a secular humanist living in the 21st century, I think we can do better than that.Trirathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06122998237738046476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3539004132667839517.post-16998593628367385962016-03-13T23:05:13.411-07:002016-03-13T23:05:13.411-07:00DCW, thanks for your comment. Of course I belong t...DCW, thanks for your comment. Of course I belong to the first category: those who have the humility to say "I don't know." But historians, even armchair ones, must be permitted to analyze the evidence and come to some conclusion. That is why I have gathered the opinions of many scholars who have studied Buddhism and concurred that there was no historical Buddha and, in my humble opinion, they are right. If some evidence for the historical Buddha were to emerge, such as it was discovered that one of his bone relics was really human, rather than of a pig or horse, I would be open to further evidence. My position is merely that, up to now, there is no tangible evidence of a historical Buddha. And his life story is the stuff of legend.Trirathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06122998237738046476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3539004132667839517.post-13814347232824843112016-02-15T19:23:18.169-08:002016-02-15T19:23:18.169-08:00I fully agree with you. Buddha is a myth.
But wha...I fully agree with you. Buddha is a myth. <br />But what perplexes me is why you argue the case based on opinions and historical myths.<br /><br />There are two classes of spectics:(1) Those who have the humility to say "I don't know"; and (2) those who say "only I know"; all other's don't know.<br /><br />To which class you belong, the first or the second? <br /><br /><br /><br /><br />DCWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09940357080016531658noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3539004132667839517.post-62408960857053449892016-02-15T19:22:54.010-08:002016-02-15T19:22:54.010-08:00I fully agree with you. Buddha is a myth.
But wha...I fully agree with you. Buddha is a myth. <br />But what perplexes me is why you argue the case based on opinions and historical myths.<br /><br />There are two classes of spectics:(1) Those who have the humility to say "I don't know"; and (2) those who say "only I know"; all other's don't know.<br /><br />To which class you belong, the first or the second? <br /><br /><br /><br /><br />DCWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09940357080016531658noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3539004132667839517.post-76895893979242282912014-01-04T16:15:19.353-08:002014-01-04T16:15:19.353-08:00You can believe what you like; that's the role...You can believe what you like; that's the role of religion. I'm interested in the historical angle. Like most major religions still practiced today, except perhaps Hinduism, a real person has been postulated as its founder, when there is no evidence to suppose that that person ever existed. It's as if we study about Alexander the Great, then find out that he was a mythical character. We should then at the very least move him from the realm of history to mythology.Trirathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06122998237738046476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3539004132667839517.post-84078111650553218582013-12-27T01:28:31.658-08:002013-12-27T01:28:31.658-08:00It's an interesting idea that, say, the Buddha...It's an interesting idea that, say, the Buddha never existed. One point as far as statues or Buddha images being found primarily in the Gandhara region are concerned would be due to the direct request by the Buddha not to have images of himself erected after his death. It was only once Buddhism came into contact with the Greeks that the humanization of the Buddha commenced.<br /><br />Let's explore the idea that the Buddha never existed. Let's pretend that it was a guy named Scott and some bros who got together to play a funny trick on the local gullibles. What would it matter? The point of Buddhism is not that the Buddha was a holy man and that he carries with him some kind of religious authority but that of the teaching itself. As far as the teaching goes, it's a complete system of mental training that does exactly what it was meant to do: Decrease human suffering.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04840189310688097882noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3539004132667839517.post-47689378971140480512013-10-22T15:55:59.132-07:002013-10-22T15:55:59.132-07:00Science can never reform mankind
because science i...Science can never reform mankind<br />because science is biggest slavery in the history of Mankind.<br /><br />Buddha/Gods DO exist. <br />Religions does not equal to Buddha/Gods.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15416264370929613612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3539004132667839517.post-59442972659142555842011-07-19T17:49:32.865-07:002011-07-19T17:49:32.865-07:00The Sakyas were not all Kshatriyas, obviously; but...The Sakyas were not all Kshatriyas, obviously; but you never hear of any of them being Brahmins. They may have respected the Brahmins, after all they had been in India for centuries by now. Then there's the famous case of Ambattha visiting them and finding them foreign, fierce, violent, rough-spoken wanderers.<br /><br />The challenge to Buddha's historicity comes from the fact that we know nothing of his life except that of made-up legend, from his birth and family circumstances, and so on. Most Buddhologists would agree that the so-called teachings of the Buddha were put into his mouth centuries after his death, had he ever existed.Thai Mangoeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08454418608373895460noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3539004132667839517.post-39628603632705082282011-06-08T21:04:55.179-07:002011-06-08T21:04:55.179-07:00I like your skepticism! I believe there are a few...I like your skepticism! I believe there are a few problems with your thesis. The Buddhist texts explain an interaction between the Sakae and the Brahmins. The Sakae were not all Kshatriyas, and, even so many were, they payed reverence to Brahmanas by addressing them as BHO and even vice versa.All evidence, also with the Jains, suggests Alexander was not the cosmopolitan and in many early Buddhist art of North India and Central Asia shows obvious racial interactions. Although the earliest Buddhist fragments are in the Kharosthi script from Afghanistan, among these we have fragments of Mahayana works thought to be of later date, but also the Theravada had strong roots in this area held by ALexander and later Indo-Greek kings. The earliest writing in India is Asoka's edicts and also the earliest Sanskrit texts are Buddhist (though in a Sanskrit mixed with a particular Prakrit). <br /><br />To challenge a historical Buddha we should ask why the sutras and suttas are so extravagant in that the whole workd bends to the Buddha, even while attacked he dodges bullets as if he stood outside of time, etc.<br /><br />In support of a historical Siddhartha Gotama is how large and standard was the early Buddhist oral tradition; if we take the legends before the time of Kanishka to be a biography, the Buddha-bio was, and is, the largest biography in the world and supposing a group of reformers could have constructed such a massive myth in which characters, locations, general narrative, customs and mannerisms, were in such agreement seems unlikely.<br /><br />There seems to be a rulctance by scholars in questioning an historical Buddhahopkins.daniels12https://www.blogger.com/profile/16071332355071560644noreply@blogger.com