JESUS & BUDDHA
THE PARALLEL SAYINGS
This remarkable collection reveals how Jesus and Buddha—whether talking about love, wisdom, or materialism—were guiding along the same path. Jesus & Buddha also delves into the mystery surrounding their strikingly similar teachings and presents over one hundred examples from each.
As a Christian, I grew up with Jesus and have lived with him all my life. I have not lived with the Buddha. Similarly my work on this book was from the vantage point of a Jesus scholar. But my experience has led me to the conclusion that their teachings about ‘the way’ are virtually identical and that together they are the two most remarkable religious figures who ever lived.”
—Marcus Borg
You hold in your hand a remarkable and beautiful book. Jesus and Buddha are now meeting in an encounter of the spirit. When we listen deeply to their words we find that in many ways, they speak with one heart. If we could enact even one verse from these teachings, it would have the power to illuminate our hearts, free us from confusion and transform our lives.”
—Jack Kornfield
This book is an open-minded observation I truly enjoyed this book. It kind of saddens me to read all the negative reviews about it, because they have only come from Christians who think that this book is supposed to reveal some kind of universal “truth”. All this book is trying to do is relate to people how the two religions are so similar in what they are trying to attain, and what their key figures taught and said.All this stuff about Christianity having the true God is nonsense, because it shows an ignorance of Buddhism. Buddha never once concerned himself with metaphysical matters, and none of Buddhism confuses itself with the invisible world that we cannot prove beyond earthly concepts. That’s not to say that Buddhists don’t believe in God. It’s just a practical religion that says that you can end suffering, and the dependence on something else (like a belief structure and doctrines) in order to do so will never truly end your suffering. It’s food for thought, and this book for me was the perfect…
500 Years and 3000 miles Apart – Compatible Side by Side Located on this book’s pages are some amazingly similar sayings that will leave you hungry to learn more about both Buddhism and Christianity. Edited by Marcus Borg, in the preface he states that “If the Buddha and Jesus were to meet, neither would try to convert the other-not because they would regard such an effort as hopeless, but because they would recognize each other.” I believe after reading this book that you will feel the same way!
Similar but different true, but it may help build tolerance. I doubt that “Jesus and Buddha: The Parallel Sayings” will convert many Christians to Buddhism or Buddhists to Christianity. I hope that it will help to build tolerance between the two religions, which is what I believe is the author’s intent. “Jesus and Buddha: The Parallel Sayings” shows that there are many similarities between the teachings of Jesus and Buddha. Both were great spokesmen for compassion and nonviolence. However, by focusing on the similarities between the teachings of Jesus and Buddha, this book might be somewhat naĂŻve about the differences between Christianity and Buddhism. A couple of reviewers have pointed to “John 14:6 ‘I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except by me.'” The reviewers appear to be using the inherent intolerance of this teaching as a selling point for Christianity. For me it was the intolerance of such biblical scriptures that drove me away from Christianity, the religion that I was raised with and that I once…