from: Buddhism in the Roman world -Wikipedia
Some knowledge of Buddhism existed quite early in the West. In the 2nd century AD Clement of Alexandria<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clement_of_Alexandria> wrote about the Buddha<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha>:[3]<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism_and_the_Roman_world#endnote_Clement2> εἰσὶ δὲ τῶν Ἰνδῶν οἱ τοῖς Βούττα πειθόμενοι παραγγέλμασιν. ὃν δι’ ὑπερβολὴν σεμνότητος ὡς θεὸν τετιμήκασι. [Among the Indians are those philosophers also who follow the precepts of Boutta, whom they honour as a god on account of his extraordinary sanctity.] — Clement of Alexandria<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clement_of_Alexandria>, Stromata<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stromata> (Miscellanies), Book I, Chapter XV He also recognized Bactrian Buddhists (Sramanas) and Indian Gymnosophists<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gymnosophists> for their influence on Greek thought:[4]<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism_and_the_Roman_world#endnote_Clement> "Thus philosophy, a thing of the highest utility, flourished in antiquity among the barbarians, shedding its light over the nations. And afterwards it came to Greece<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greece>. First in its ranks were the prophets of the Egyptians<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egypt>; and the Chaldeans<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaldea> among the Assyrians<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assyrian_people>; and the Druids<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druids> among the Gauls<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gauls>; and the Sramanas among the Bactrians<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bactrians> ("Σαρμαναίοι Βάκτρων"); and the philosophers of the Celts<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celts>; and the Magi<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magi> of the Persians<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persia>, who foretold the Saviour's birth, and came into the land of Judaea<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judea> guided by a star<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_of_Bethlehem>. The Indian gymnosophists are also in the number, and the other barbarian philosophers. And of these there are two classes, some of them called Sramanas ("Σαρμάναι"), and others Brahmins<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahmins> ("Βραχμάναι")." — Clement of Alexandria<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clement_of_Alexandria>, Stromata<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stromata> (Miscellanies) The story of the birth of the Buddha<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Maya> was also known: a fragment of Archelaos of Carrha (278 AD) mentions the Buddha's virgin-birth, and Saint Jerome<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerome> (4th century) mentions the birth of the Buddha, who he says "was born from the side of a virgin". Queen Maya<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Maya> came to bear the Buddha<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha> after receiving a prophetic dream in which she foresaw the descent of the Bodhisattva (Buddha-to-be) from the Tuṣita<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tushita> heaven into her womb. This story has some parallels with the story of Jesus being conceived in connection with the visitation of the Holy Spirit<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Spirit> to the Virgin Mary<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary,_the_mother_of_Jesus>. -- -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
