by Dharmacharya Gurudas Sunyatananda

Created on: January 17, 2009

On this cold, winter night, the Monks of the Eightfold Path a non-sectarian intentional spiritual community, rooted in the rich tradition of Buddhist Dharma, interpreted through an inclusive, non-religious, culturally relevant and post-modern lens honours the ancient traditions and mythos of our heritage as disciples of the Buddha Dharma and the Dharma of the Christ.

Inasmuch as mythos almost always draws on more ancient myths, there are some significant parallels between the narratives of Buddhism and the Yeshua narratives. Like Buddha, who was said to have been born of a virgin, named Maya, on December 25th, Yeshua was said to have been born to Mary, also supposedly a virgin, and by the Fourth Century C.E., his nativity was celebrated on December 25th, along with the birthdays of the Persian God-Man Mithra, Sol Invictus, Attis and Horus.

Like Yeshua, whose heritage is traced back to the mythological "first man", Adam, to whom one of the gods had given dominion over the earth, Buddha's genealogy traces back to the mythical Maha Sammata, the legendary "first ruler of the world."

Buddha Sakyamuni, we are told, was visited by wise men, who acknowledged his divinity; just as the story tells us occurred in the Yeshua/Jesus narrative.

When Sakyamuni was an infant, King Bhimbasara feared that the child would one day endanger his throne, and therefore sought to kill him. Similarly, the fictitious "slaughter of the innocents" story is told, in which King Herod ordered all the male children to be slaughtered for the same fearful reason.

At the age of twelve, tradition teaches that Buddha Sakyamuni had already excelled in his understanding of the Hindu Dharma, surpassing the wisdom of the learned men of the temples. Similarly, Yeshua is found in the Temple at Jerusalem, teaching the astounded learned ones there, according to the Christian narrative.

So why then, if it is so patently clear that these stories are mythos, do the monks of our spiritual community honour them?

To answer this, I find it necessary to clarify a misconception which often arises, when folks find their faith shaken by the presentation of rational evidence that frequently causes them to strike a defensive posture, and miss the point of the message altogether. (Both mine, and that of their sacred narratives!)

Unlike some scholars, who believe that this evidence proves the case for disbelief in there ever having been an historical Buddha Sakyamuni or Yeshua ben Yosef, I am disinclined to agree. There is no

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