Path: shell.portal.com!svc.portal.com!sdd.hp.com!nntp.coast.net!news.kei.com!newsfeed.internetmci.com!newsfeeder.servtech.com!murphy2.servtech.com!gn2.dan.servtech.com!user From: merk077@servtech.com (Gregoire) Newsgroups: alt.mythology,alt.folklore.urban,alt.lucky.w,alt.magick.tyagi Subject: Re: Jesus in Tibet Urban Legend Date: Sun, 30 Jun 1996 13:27:25 -0400 Organization: ServiceTech, Inc. Lines: 25 Message-ID: References: <31CFF93F.553@sonic.net> <4qq96e$9ar@ravel.seattleu.edu> <4qs9v2$3j@sjx-ixn5.ix.netcom.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: gn2.dan.servtech.com Xref: shell.portal.com alt.mythology:28180 alt.folklore.urban:282514 alt.lucky.w:536 alt.magick.tyagi:9126 Dave Wilton wrote: -> Siddhartha Gautama lived circa 563-483 B.C. (or circa 600 B.C. -> depending on which part of the _Universal Almanac_ you want to -> believe). I don't know when it exactly reached Tibet from Nepal and -> northern India, but it reached China by 200 B.C., therefore its a -> pretty safe bet that it reached Tibet well before Christ's birth, not -> that this validates the idea that Christ ever visited Tibet. Buddhism first made inroads into the already unique Tibetan religion of Bön when missionaries sent by the remarkable ruler of northern India, Asoka who reigned 273-232 BCE. It's worth noting for this thread that he also sent Buddhist missionaries west across Syria and into North Africa. To insist the soul-stirring metaphysics of Buddhist thought had no influence in the Middle East area is as outrageous as thinking of Jesus meditating on a mountaintop in Tibet. In fact, the centuries leading up to the time when Jesus was said to have lived were a time of great religious havoc and experimentation. -- Gregoire "The river is within us, the sea is all about us." (T.S.Eliot)