Dhamma Wheel Buddhist Forum

As a wiccan I believe in reincarnation like Buddhists. What crossed my mind was Buddha and Jesus. Both Buddha and Jesus were wise and spiritually enlightened sages. Are Buddha and Jesus too much alike to be different people? Check here: http://www.near-death.com/experiences/origen045.html

Is jesus a reincarnation of the Buddha? No.

The short answer is: the Buddha attained nirvana (we prefer to spell it "nibbana"), which is the cessation of volition and rebirth, amongst other things, so he cannot be reborn or will himself to be reborn, as that article you linked implies.

Many of the views on that website are directly at odds with not only Theravada Buddhism but also the doctrine of most major Buddhist traditions.

perhaps you might also be interested in the book 'Jesus lived in india' which claims Jesus studied under Buddhist monks in the Himalayas
http://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Lived-India ... 0143028294

The short answer: No.
The long answer: No.

I love this forum

Cianna200 wrote:As a wiccan I believe in reincarnation like Buddhists. What crossed my mind was Buddha and Jesus. Both Buddha and Jesus were wise and spiritually enlightened sages. Are Buddha and Jesus too much alike to be different people? Check here: http://www.near-death.com/experiences/origen045.html

Read this ---> http://sdhammika.blogspot.com/2008/04/b ... jesus.html and this ----> http://sdhammika.blogspot.com/2009/09/b ... jesus.html

So none of you believe Jesus is Buddha incarnate? I wonder how he was able to perform miracles. Well thank you all for your opinions.

Cianna200 wrote:So none of you believe Jesus is Buddha incarnate? I wonder how he was able to perform miracles. Well thank you all for your opinions.

MN 36

MN 36: Mahāsaccaka Sutta wrote: I directly knew: ‘Birth is destroyed, the holy life has been lived, what had to be done has been done, there is no more coming to any state of being.’

Cianna200 wrote:So none of you believe Jesus is Buddha incarnate? I wonder how he was able to perform miracles. Well thank you all for your opinions.

The Buddha never performed miracles, he never claimed to be more than a human being who achieved awakening.

The question is if Jesus was able to perform miracles, and we can only take the writings of his followers as any kind of proof, what does that prove? how does it change your life here and now?

Cianna200 wrote:So none of you believe Jesus is Buddha incarnate? I wonder how he was able to perform miracles. Well thank you all for your opinions.

If Jesus were the reincarnation of someone, what would make you think that someone was the Buddha? Why not some other person?

Cianna200 wrote:So none of you believe Jesus is Buddha incarnate? I wonder how he was able to perform miracles. Well thank you all for your opinions.

They were two different people.

Mkoll wrote:

Cianna200 wrote:So none of you believe Jesus is Buddha incarnate? I wonder how he was able to perform miracles. Well thank you all for your opinions.

If Jesus were the reincarnation of someone, what would make you think that someone was the Buddha? Why not some other person?

Through reincarnation one can obtain spiritual growth. By manifesting unconditional love one becomes a perfect being. Buddha obtained Buddha hood. Not many Buddhists see that there is a greater state than nirvana called Christ consciousness. A person who reaches nirvana is called a Buddha right? A person(son of man) who has gone beyond is called a Christ or a son of god. The Buddha was extremely close to coming the embodiment of love, closer than everyone else. My conclusion is that Buddha not only reached nirvana but reached god( perfect consciousness and perfect love) that's where Jesus' miracles come from. Jesus was the only human who attained the universal mind, the ''only begotten son''. People leave the heavenly realms for the sake of the world. I believe Buddha returned as Jesus the Christ to continue to prevent humans from falling into darkness. It's not true that most Christians believe, that Jesus came to die for our sins. Jesus taught again and again that he was just a human, he even stated ''you are gods, you are all sons of the up most high.'' Jesus could not have been born only once and is a holy being. Who was Jesus before he became Jesus? Jesus taught that we too can become Christs and live the life of unconditional love, spirituality, spiritual wisdom, spiritual selflessness til we become ''I AM.'' Jesus' death on the cross was meant to symbolize self sacrifice, self denial. Through extreme meditation, OBEs, NDEs, Lucid dreaming, and search for divine truth, we can come to know ourselves and know what is true. Merry part.

Cianna200 wrote:A person who reaches nirvana is called a Buddha right?

A person who reaches nirvana is called an arahant, Buddha, or paccekabuddha. A Buddha discovers the Dhamma (truth of reality) by himself and teaches it to others. A paccekabuddha discovers the Dhamma by himself but does not teach it to others. Arahants discover the Dhamma because they practice in accordance with the teachings of a Buddha. All practice the Noble Eightfold Path which is the only way to Nibbana as taught by the Buddha.

Your definition of Nibbana appears different from that of the Theravada tradition which is a rather conservative tradition as I'm guessing you can tell given my response. If you examine the teachings of the Buddha directly via the Pali Canon, I think you'll see that they are similar to Jesus' teachings in some ways but are vastly different on fundamental levels. I always recommend In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon by the American Buddhist monk Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi to those looking for a great introduction to the teachings.

I don't mean to rain on your parade and I hope you'll see this is a refreshing drizzle rather than a downpour.

Within the realm of speculation, it's possible. However, given your definitions it isn't a logical outcome. Why?

You define "Godhood" as a state of perfect consciousness and perfect love. These are two distinct categories in the Buddha's teaching - Ie. He described a state of "infinite" consciousness and "boundless" loving-kindness. He described other states as well. The whole theme of his teaching is an attitude to living that focuses on suffering, the causes of suffering, the state of the cessation of suffering, and the path leading to the state of the cessation of suffering. "Nirvana" means "blowing out" - by some interpretations.

The buddha's teaching is about "renunciation"; about calming; about effacement; - it was and is an attitude towards life that preaches non-attachment to hatred or greed. It talks about the benefits of moderate living and daily meditation. The insight of Buddhism is to see the inconstancy of the world - to see the death and decay that are inherent to living - sothat in seeing this a person may form a realistic approach to dealing with stress. Stress is constantly pervading our lives and conquering this (for him self) was the goal of the Buddha. He may have known something of God or a Divine being. As a human, I do not think he thought union with God was the way for a human to find lasting happiness.

the People who try to adopt that attitude hope that the general theme of his teaching will bring their lives a sense of peace, calmness, and confidence. Infinite love is fine (in the Buddhist tradition). Infinite, perfect consciousness is fine (in the Buddhist tradition). For the Buddha, however, renunciation was a better, higher attainment.

His philosophy was about a complete "type" of renunciation. The idea that he pops up in one life here or one life there is a bit disrespectful to the tradition of his teaching (if you wish to adhere to his teaching).

Jesus lived in a different place at a different time. His teaching of unwavering love and total defiance over corruption was and is the legacy of his life. The price he paid for his love was a harsh one. The mystery of his place in history and the meaning of his sacrifice is no doubt a very holy thing. But he was not the man named Siddhartha.

If the Christ was Buddha and the Buddha was Christ, then the teachings of each man are lost.

Ie. the Buddha found no end to suffering - for he suffered later on the cross.

Ie. Jesus died on the cross without taking his place again at the side of God in the kingdom of heaven where he was before his coming as man. Ie. It was not his right to be called "Messiah"!

In order to make your assertion you must undermine the life of the Buddha in order to insult the death of the Christ!