Did Jesus Christ travel to the eastern world and study religions and spiritual philosophies there? If so, which countries did he visit and what did he study? Did he incorporate ideas from his studies into his own teachings? Thank you, Merry Christmas!
2007-12-20 07:09:27 · 13 answers · asked by Jowe 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
No, Jesus was born a Jew, lived a Jew and died a Jew. There is no evidence from the scriptures written about him that he ever studied Easter Philosophies. Religious Jews were not generally open to incorporating other philosophies of the day, but they would have probably taken the wisdom.
A second point should be made here. The so called famous Sermon on the Mount that Jesus orated has been called the cornerstone of his teaching. Most Christians do not know that ALL of what Jesus spoke can be found in Jewish sources predating, post-dating and in contemporary status with Jesus' time. Nothing of what he spoke was original. Bottom line? Jesus was a Jewish religious product of his day, nothing more, nothing less.
2007-12-20 07:17:29 · answer #1 · answered by fierce beard 5 · 2⤊ 2⤋
According to the New Testament (The Gospel of Matthew), Jesus spent his early childhood in Egypt which was at the end of the Silk Road. As a result, Egypt was prosperous and enriched with religious diversity. There was even a large Buddhist community known as the Therapeutae (Sons of the Elders) that existed in Alexandria. Today, some scholars believe that Jesus may have been inspired by the Buddhist religion and that the Gospel of Thomas and many Nag Hammadi texts reflect this possible influence. Books such as The Gnostic Gospels and Beyond Belief: the Secret Gospel of Thomas by Elaine Pagels and The Original Jesus by Gruber and Kersten examine the facts and fiction, and theories.
This is not to say that Jesus was a Buddhist disciple but just possibly he had been influenced by the Buddhist teachings. This is mere speculation. Obviously, he was a Jew and was influenced by the Hebrew religious tradition. However, for us, Jesus is our spiritual brother and our teacher as a mystic. We are one with all mystics whether they be called Shinran, Dogen, Rumi, Khan, Gandhi, Jesus, Nanak and Ramana, etc. Each mystical tradition speaks of the same experience but with different words; one may use the word "Pure Land" and the other as the "Kingdom of Heaven" but the experience is the same.
2007-12-20 07:17:19 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 2⤋
The New Testament describes his birth, and incident when he was about 12, and the last three years of his life. The rest is a blank. There are various theories about what he was doing, such as marrying Mary Magdalen and having a family. One theory is that he went to the east and studied Buddhism. There is absolutely no proof of this. Many of Jesus' teaching resemble those of the Buddha. However, all of the great spiritual leaders of mankind have preached basically the same message.
2007-12-20 07:34:17 · answer #3 · answered by sjpatejak 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Israel is an Eastern country and Jesus memorized the Torah and attended Synagogue every Saturday... so I suppose so..
The only other country Jesus is recorded as having visited was Egypt so his family could hide him from the King in Israel who wanted to kill him. But by the time he was a young lad, he is recorded as being back in Israel and studying with the Jewish teachers of the Law.
2007-12-20 07:16:35 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
its very possible cause the bible says nothing about his life from about 12 til 30. thats plenty of time to travel.
one thing is for sure, he did study the Kabalah. the last line of the lords prayer is directly out of Kabalistic thinking. He would have studied with the Phrases who mostly took the OT literally and the Essenes who were much more mystical in their thinking and studied the OT along with the Talmud and the Kabalah. he would have read these books as well as any good open minded Jew of the times.
2007-12-20 07:17:30 · answer #5 · answered by nacsez 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
i agree with brother Michael. that is because i believe Jesus was God in human form. why would He need to study any teachings at all if He was Jesus? surely He would already know these things.
2016-05-21 16:40:47 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. We somehow forget He is the sovereign God of the universe. Why would He bother with flawed human reasoning and flawed human philosophy when He already possessed all knowledge and all wisdom? He never roamed beyond the small area around Jerusalem, Nazareth, Galilee, etc.. And, to a previous answerer, He did not spend His childhood in Egypt. The family fled there when Herod was killing the children in Bethlehem , but returned after he died and settled in Nazareth.
2007-12-20 07:24:41 · answer #7 · answered by BrotherMichael 6 · 0⤊ 3⤋
There is no doubt in my mind that the rabbi Yeshua ben Yoseph did study Buddhism.
Buddhism is 100's of years older than Yeshua.
Yes, he was an Essene.
2007-12-20 07:21:48 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
No. He studied the Jewish law and scripture.
2007-12-20 07:14:58 · answer #9 · answered by Double-edged 2 · 2⤊ 2⤋
Probably not, however, he was probably associated with the Essenes or other similar groups.
2007-12-20 07:19:06 · answer #10 · answered by Pirate AM™ 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋