This translation of a 1982 volume published in Bern (Paul Haupt Verlag) by a Swiss theologian with a longstanding interest in dialogue between Buddhism and Christianity features an examination of the Kyoto school of Japanese philosophers who attempted to engage with both Christianity and secular Wes

Popular scholar Ravi Zacharias sets a captivating scene between Jesus Christ and Gautama Buddha in the first book of the Conversations with Jesus series. Have you ever wondered what Jesus would say to Mohammed? Or Buddha? Or Oscar Wilde? Maybe you have a friend who practices another religion or admires a more contemporary figure. Drop in on a conversation between Jesus and some well-known individuals whose search for the meaning of life took them in many directions--and influenced millions. Through dialogue between Christ and Gautama Buddha, Zacharias reveals Jesus' warm, impassioned concern for all people and explores God's true nature.

The real Saviours of Mankind all descend to the Nether World, the Kingdom of Darkness, of temptation, lust, and selfishness. And, after having overcome the Chrest condition or the tyranny of separateness, their astral or worldly ego is enlightened by Lucifer, the Glorified Divine Ego (Buddhi-Manas), who is the real Christ in every man. Pythagoras, Buddha, Apollonius, were Initiates of the same Secret School. The Sun is the external manifestation of the Seventh Principle of our Planetary System while the Moon is its Fourth Principle. Shining in the borrowed robes of her Master, she is saturated with and reflects every passionate impulse and evil desire of her grossly material body, our earth. Jesus as “Son of God” and “Saviour of Mankind,” was not unique in the world’s annals. The “infallible” Churches made up history as they went along, building up the Apostolic Church on a jumble of contradictions. See how the Fathers have falsified Jesus’ last words and made him a victim of his own success. “My God, my Sun, thou hast poured thy radiance upon me!” concluded the thanksgiving prayer of the Initiate, “the Son and the Glorified Elect of the Sun.” The Baptism in the Jordan is the Rite of Initiation and the final purification, when Christos and Sophia (Divine Intelligence–Wisdom) enter the Initiate by transference from Guru to Chela, leave the physical body upon death of the latter, and re-enter the Nirmanakaya, the Astral Ego of the new Adept. The “baptism” or Initiation of Jesus stands for the “descent” of the Higher Self or Soul (Atma-Buddhi) on Manas, the Higher Ego. And the union of Christos with Chrestos establishes a conscious communication of the Universal Individuality with the transcendent personality (Theophania) — the Adept. Jesus was crucified by his own Church, not by Scripture. The key to the hitherto unfathomable mystery of Jesus is hidden in the paronomasia of Chrestos and Christos. He who will not ponder over and master the great difference between the meaning of the two Greek words (Chrestos and Christos), must remain blind for ever to the true esoteric meaning of the Gospels; that is to say, to the living Spirit entombed in the sterile dead-letter of the texts, the very Dead Sea fruit of lip-Christianity. Jesus was Chrestos, a virtuous man in his trial of life and candidate to initiation. Not yet Christos, as he had not passed the third degree of initiation to become Epoptes. Chrestos, the neophyte, is admitted into the Christos condition at the end of his last incarnation when Manas is fully merged with Buddhi. His real temple is the awakened soul in the sanctuary of the heart. The real Christ is the Serpent or Dragon of Wisdom falling from on high into the hearts and minds of men. Christos is a Ray of Logos: Passive Wisdom in Heaven and Self-Active, Conscious Wisdom on Earth. Though the two are one, the permanent can never merge with the impermanent. It is only when the impermanent begins loving the permanent sufficiently to give up its ephemeral self and being, that a spiritual union of the “Heavenly man” with the “Virgin of the World” is accomplished and a new Saviour of Humanity is born here on earth but “without sin.” Alas, few are they who are fit to join that Holy Brotherhood where each, in order to gain admittance, must be at one with the Christ within him. Deity in Man is symbolised by Tau, a double glyph. Tau is formed from the figure Seven and the Greek letter Gamma, symbols of divine and earthly life, respectively. In its terrestrial attachment, Tau is the Sun shorn of his beams. In Greek Mythology, Tau is the iron lathe of Procrustes, the Attican Vishvakarman. Christos is Prometheus, a personification of the Great Logoic Sacrifice. On sending out its personal ray, Christos or Higher Manas becomes “crucified between two thieves”: the lower, impure tendencies that after death dissipate in Kama-Loka, and the higher aspirations that survive death and reascend the cyclic arc. Vishvakarman, the creator and “carpenter” of gods and men, crucifies Vikartana on a lathe and, cutting off the eighth part of his rays, deprives his head of its effulgence and creates round it a dark aureole. Christos is the “Man-God” of Plato, who crucifies himself for an eternity in the darkness of matter for the redemption of the Spirit of Light from the Kingdom of Darkness. As Deity and Man are One, so Christ is the God in Space and Man’s Saviour on Earth. Christos is the eternal, real Individuality or Universal Altruism, whereas Jesus-Chrestos is the ephemeral, false individuality or Egotism. Man is Deity on Earth, whose body is the cross of flesh, on, through, and in which he is ever crucifying and putting to death Christ, the Divine Logos, who is his benefactor and true friend. Chrest is a Ray made manifest from that Centre of Life which is hidden from the eyes of Humanity for and in Eternity. That Centre is the real Christ, crucified as a body of flesh and bones. The great mystery is at last unravelled: Christos, incarnating in Chrestos, becomes for certain purposes a willing candidate for a long series of tortures, mental and physical. Chrestos is the mortal man who, by crucifying the man of flesh and his passions on the Procrustean bed of torture, is reborn Immortal and leaves the animal-man behind him tied on the Cross of Initiation like an empty chrysalis. Then, his Higher Soul becomes as free as a butterfly.

Described as ‘unique and a great service to understanding’, this book is intended for three groups; Western Buddhists, that bulk of the West that have no religious affiliation yet know there is something more to life, and Buddhists in Asia who follow the encounter of the dharma with the West. It highlights the pervasive similarities in the teachings of Jesus and the Buddha as they were probably originally presented. In its six chapters and appendix, it compares the two great teachers, the Buddha and Jesus, briefly charts the process by which experts have produced words readily attributed to Jesus and presents a Buddhist ‘imitation’ of these words based on the hypothetical ‘Sayings of Jesus’. It then considers congruence between the Buddha’s and Jesus’ teachings before offering both Buddhist and Christian interpretations. An appendix re-presents the Buddhist imitation of Jesus’ words as a continuous text. Dr. Falvey introduces his work ... ‘Jesus speaking the Buddha’s words’ exudes audacity and ignorance, yet this work essentially wrote itself as a product of my socialization, a modicum of Christian theological study and its explication through three decades of casual association with Thai Buddhism. Differences between the two traditions – such as Christianity relying on a God while Buddhism denies the existence of a God proved themselves facile upon consideration of the metaphorical intent of teachings of both traditions.

An honest, unflinching tale of re-finding one's faith, from one of the world's most famous theologians Without Buddha I Could Not Be a Christian narrates how esteemed theologian, Paul F. Knitter overcame a crisis of faith by looking to Buddhism for inspiration. From prayer to how Christianity views life after death, Knitter argues that a Buddhist standpoint can encourage a more person-centred conception of Christianity, where individual religious experience comes first, and liturgy and tradition second. Moving and revolutionary, this book will inspire Christians everywhere.

Putting aside what you think you know about Christianity and Christ's teachings, and reading the gospels again as if for the first time, Jesus emerges as a profound wisdom teacher, whose teachings had a lot in common with those of Buddha. This book explores Christ's teachings on non-duality and his guidance on how to reach unity, oneness with God through what he called metanoia (going beyond, meta, thought, noia) through kenoisis (self-emptying). What emerges is a strong connection between Christ's teachings and Buddhism that reveals Jesus was clearly familiar with Buddhist teachings. By viewing Christ's teachings through the lens of Zen, common themes emerge that enable the author to recreate what Christ called "The Way." Christ's Way is reconstructed as a practical guide to waking up to your true self, to your Christ Nature, just as the mystics and Zen masters have described. The author reviews what we know about Buddhism in the middle east at the time of Christ, the influence of Greek philosophy on Christ's teachings and the long history of Greek Buddhists that pre-dates Christ. He also considers The Gospel of Thomas as being a rich source of Christ's teachings, the earliest version of which may pre-date the gospels or the writings of Paul. This book explores the deep truths of Christ teachings, hidden in plain sight, showing how when misconceptions about his teachings are removed what emerges is a whole new view of Christianity for the 21st Century: Christ as wisdom teacher, Christ as a teacher of non-dual awareness, and as a guide to living fully in the present moment.

They see where the Buddhist understanding of the nature of reality and the concept of God come together. Their conversation shows the deep connection between Jesus and Buddha."--BOOK JACKET.