Yes
Buddhism was completely different and the Greeks converted to Buddhism and seriously changed it over some 900 years.
The very first statues of the Buddha were done by ancient Greeks - none before
The temples were built by ancient Greeks - none before.
And the whole time the Greeks added Greek thought and religious practices to Buddhism.
So yes Buddhism is a Greek religion.
Wow it takes a lot of work for you to learn something.
Using ad hominem to prove a point seriously affects the value of your argument.
Greco-Buddhism, or Graeco-Buddhism, is the cultural syncretism between Hellenistic culture and Buddhism, which developed between the 4th century BC and the 5th century AD in Bactria and the Indian subcontinent, corresponding to the territories of modern-day Afghanistan, Tajikistan, India, and Pakistan.[citation needed] It was a cultural consequence of a long chain of interactions begun by Greek forays into India from the time of Alexander the Great, carried further by his successors' establishment of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom and, later, Indo-Greek Kingdom, and extended during the flourishing of the Kushan Empire. Buddhism was then adopted in Central and Northeastern Asia from the 1st century AD, ultimately spreading to China, Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Siberia, and Vietnam.
Except you are completely ignoring that Buddha lived and taught his wisdom long before Alexander was even born and his teachings were only locally known as he travelled extensively, but I seriously doubt that he ever visited Greece.
Thus if you had qualified your statement that Buddhism was being practiced long before the Greeks had even heard of it and what we know to today as Buddhism is actually a modified version of his original teaching, i.e. the Greco-Buddhism version, you would have been more correct.
Your explanation lacks clarity of historical facts. While Greco-Buddhist statues became famous for their excellence in craftsmanship, in the areas where Buddha taught there are many artifacts such as models of his footprint and artistic symbolic representations of his teachings, long before the Greeks had even heard the name Buddha.
You may want to study these historical facts before you make bold definitive statements.
Buddhist art is the artistic practices that are influenced by Buddhism. It includes art media which depict Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and other entities; notable Buddhist figures, both historical and mythical; narrative scenes from the lives of all of these; mandalas and other graphic aids to practice; as well as physical objects associated with Buddhist practice, such as vajras, bells, stupas and Buddhist temple architecture.[1] Buddhist art originated on the Indian subcontinent following the historical life of Siddhartha Gautama, 6th to 5th century BCE, and thereafter evolved by contact with other cultures as it spread throughout Asia and the world.
and
Buddhist religious architecture developed in the Indian subcontinent. Three types of structures are associated with the religious architecture of early Buddhism: monasteries (viharas), places to venerate relics (stupas), and shrines or prayer halls (chaityas, also called chaitya grihas), which later came to be called temples in some places.
The initial function of a stupa was the veneration and safe-guarding of the relics of Gautama Buddha. The earliest surviving example of a stupa is in Sanchi (Madhya Pradesh).
What’s your point Boris? Buddhism is still what it is today regardless of how you think it came about. So is Christianity. Your claims are not going to have a iota worth of effect on their state of being.
my word is not good enough
do your own research a thousand or so years
the cultural syncretism between Hellenistic culture and Buddhism, which developed between the 4th century BC and the 5th century AD in Bactria and the Indian subcontinent
I do my own research. We have made different conclusions. We can have an adult discussion, or you can keep doing whatever it is you are doing.
My point is Buddhism is Greek - influenced by Greek religious thought and practices for the best part of 1000 years because of and after Alexander
Greco-Buddhism, or Graeco-Buddhism, is the cultural syncretism between Hellenistic culture and Buddhism, which developed between the 4th century BC and the 5th century AD in Bactria and the Indian subcontinent
Pyrrhonism: How the Ancient Greeks Reinvented Buddhism
Pyrrhonism is commonly confused with scepticism in Western philosophy. Unlike sceptics, who believe there are no true beliefs, Pyrrhonists suspend judgment about all beliefs, including the belief that there are no true beliefs. Pyrrhonism was developed by a line of ancient Greek philosophers, from its founder Pyrrho of Elis in the fourth century BCE through Sextus Empiricus in the second century CE. Pyrrhonists offer no view, theory, or knowledge about the world, but recommend instead a practice, a distinct way of life, designed to suspend beliefs and ease suffering. Adrian Kuzminski examines Pyrrhonism in terms of its striking similarity to some Eastern non-dogmatic soteriological traditions-particularly Madhyamaka Buddhism. He argues that its origin can plausibly be traced to the contacts between Pyrrho and the sages he encountered in India, where he traveled with Alexander the Great. Although Pyrrhonism has not been practiced in the West since ancient times, its insights have occasionally been independently recovered, most recently in the work of Ludwig Wittgenstein. Kuzminski shows that Pyrrhonism remains relevant perhaps more than ever as an antidote to today’s cultures of belief.
The ancient Greeks influenced Buddhism for almost 1000 years because of Alexander - so Buddhism is a Greek religion
that is what I am saying
One simple question; Who taught Buddha Buddhism, the Greeks?
Everyone understands what you are trying to say, but the way you are saying it is a contradiction in terms.
there was an original religion but is was dying out
the Greeks got hold of it and added to it to the extent that now there is little if anything left of the original
Buddhism now is Greek - it is classified as a Graeco-Indian religion but more Greek than anything else
there was an original religion but is was dying out
the Greeks got hold of it and added to it to the extent that now there is little if anything left of the original
Buddhism now is Greek - it is classified as a Graeco-Indian religion but more Greek than anything else
Well, not being a Buddhist, I'll leave it to an adherent to argue the merits of the Greek influence on the original philosophy of Buddha and its evolution. http://www.patheos.com/library/buddhism
there is nothing left of the original religion to say what is not Greek - its all Greek
As I understand it, Buddhism rejects a supreme deity. Is that the Greek version or from the original version?
Also, I read something about the "Four Truths", is that the Greek version or from the original version?
Anyway, being an atheist myself, it all sounds Greek to me........ 8-/
well here’s the thing, Buddhism was dying out in 323 BCE so that is 2,323 years ago
and then the Greeks got involved with Buddhism and there is very little or nothing left of the pre Alexander religion
As I said it is classified as a Graeco-Indian religion but its 99.9999999% Greek
well here's the thing, Buddhism was dying out in 323 BCE so that is 2,323 years ago
and then the Greeks got involved with Buddhism and there is very little or nothing left of the pre Alexander religion
As I said it is classified as a Graeco-Indian religion but its 99.9999999% Greek
Something like the King James version of the Bible, which would make modern Christianity a British religion?
well here's the thing, Buddhism was dying out in 323 BCE so that is 2,323 years ago
and then the Greeks got involved with Buddhism and there is very little or nothing left of the pre Alexander religion
As I said it is classified as a Graeco-Indian religion but its 99.9999999% Greek
That's a change in position. One of the many fallacies and communication errors you've committed.
well here's the thing, Buddhism was dying out in 323 BCE so that is 2,323 years ago
and then the Greeks got involved with Buddhism and there is very little or nothing left of the pre Alexander religion
As I said it is classified as a Graeco-Indian religion but its 99.9999999% Greek
Something like the King James version of the Bible, which would make modern Christianity a British religion?
He actually speaks about two different concepts.
a) "Owning a religion"
King James's Bible does not make christianity British, but turn to protestantism, and establishing Henry VIII as head of the Church of England made his own brand owned by the British.
In a similar way is Catholicism owned by the Church or the Vatican. Only people of jewish religion tend to remind, that it originated as a jewish messianic sect, led by John the Baptist. And it was not the only jewish messianic sect in years after Rome took Judea.
In this regard, Greeks do not "own" anything related to buddhism anymore (if they ever did).
b) "Origin of a religion"
This is usually not bound to single point of history, but describes a process in history of the particual religion. Apparenlty, Boris is claiming that Greeks had an influence at point of Alexander the Great got to Asia or India. Well, Greeks and Macedonians had their own helenic culture which differs a lot from Buddhism (regardles its form. There are two paths - one call Buddha a god, the other a philosopher. Its actually the smartest way how any releigion treats believers and thinkers i have ever seen).
The other problem is that most people do not care about this. Many christians I know simply believe that Betlehem is a city somewhere in Slovakia, and Jesus was born there 2000+ years ago. Devoted people around me are usually strangely ignorant that Jesus and the other in the story were living in Judea and were speaking arameic. They imagine them speaking slovak, or polish (because of John Paul I) or latin. Mentioning that all those people were jewish... and they start to twist and turn, claiming that those were first christians ever.
People more care about current state of the religion, its current owner and current tenets. Then these ideas are adopted as part of their identity, usually of cultural and national identity as well.
you miss my point
Alexander went East and built Greek Colonies some of which lasted for near 200 years
The Greeks there brought “Hellenisation” or the Greek way of doing things.
many converted to Buddhism and changed it forever - the Statues of the Buddha are just one of many examples - the Greeks made those statues as there were none before Alexander
so what Buddhism was like before Alexander nobody knows because it was over 2000 years that Alexander and the Greeks changed it into something new
Graeco-Buddhism, is the cultural syncretism between Hellenistic culture and Buddhism, which developed between the 4th century BC and the 5th century AD in Bactria and the Indian subcontinent, corresponding to the territories of modern-day Afghanistan, Tajikistan, India, and Pakistan.
So unlike Christianity and the British - there were Germans and Swiss involved with Protestantism before Henry VIII
Nobody really knows what Buddhism was before Alexander and what remains had Greek influence for over 1000 years - so what it is now is Greek.
Boy some people just cannot accept new ideas
Yes, Alexander the Great went to Asia, and he brough with him helenic culture and as it happens it mixed with local one.
Saying now that buddhism is Greek is like saying that whole Europe is Celtic. Remember that Buddhism spread further east from India, and was subjected to another cultural assimilation.