Possible Reference of Buddha in Holy Qur'an [Archive I]

lpetrich

August 10, 2003, 12:10 AM

Or it's a "reference" that's a result of an overactive imagination.

For a much more plausible example of the Buddha being known about in the Middle East in the Middle Ages, consider the story of St. Josaphat. His biography very closely parallels that of the Buddha -- even his name is a bit like "Bodhisattva" (a very enlightened being)

hinduwoman

August 11, 2003, 02:26 AM

In the first place no one knows whether there was ever a race called Aryans who migrated here --- all the poroof offered are linguistic affinity! And even the five thousand years date was based on Biblical chronology!

It is known that Hindu traders used to worship the Kabba as black sivalinga.

But a great Pandit regards it as true. Swami Dayanandji, the author of Sattyarth Prakash, writes ��When the Kurus built a house of sealing wax and proposed to put the Pandavas inside it, and then burn it down, Vidurji gave direction to Yudhishtira in Arabic, and the latter replied to him in the same language�� (11th Samvanas, 1st pro, 147th Adhyaya).

Rubbish, rubbish rubbish! Just let the Pandit write down the actual sanskrit words --- all the epic says is that Vidur spoke secretly as if giving general advice and all that Yuddhistir said was a brief "Understood".

The reference to fig tree as evidence is damned weak.

QUOTE]If they are right, does it not follow that Indian blood flows in the veins of the members of the noblest and most exalted family among Muslims? It will then have to be conceded that the descendants of Imam Zainul Abidin are half-Indian, whose ancestors saved Islam at Karbala! [/QUOTE]
So what? Thousands of Hindus were taken as slaves to Arabia and elsewhere after Muslim invasion with royal princcesses
ending up in harems who undoubedtly had children by the Sultans.

Lonely_Road_Of_Faith

August 13, 2003, 04:03 PM

It all sounds like a bit of a stretch to me. :confused: I've heard that some people believe the "footprint of adam" is in Sri Lanka, but I'm not sure that belief is accepted by many people outside of India.

Sure, there's a reference to a fig tree in the Quran, I've read it. but that could mean lots of things.

There's lots of references to fig trees in the Bible, even the "parable of the fig tree." I'm not sure that indicates any connection at all between Christianity and Bhuddism. So any connection someone makes between Bhuddism and Islam is likewise pure speculation.

LROF

hinduwoman

August 14, 2003, 01:39 PM

Even inside India I don't know how many believe in Adam coming to Srilanka.
Oh well :rolleyes:

Ameena

August 17, 2003, 08:27 AM

Hello All,

I am from Sri Lanka and I could not help laughing about these Buddha in Islam Scriptures.

FYI, the mountain where there is a foot print is called by different names by different people in SL.

For example, Buddhists call it Sri Paada (=the sacred foot) mountain, Hindus call it Shivanoli Paadam (= Foot of Lord Shiva in Tamil I think) and Christians call it Adam's Peak.

I don't know what Muslims call it but I think they believe that it is a foot print of Prophet Mohammed (I may be wrong here).

According to the History of Singhalese (Maha Vamsa) this foot print was found by a Singhalese king (Nisshanka Malla) in 4th Century A.D. By that time, Islam did not even exist.

Regards

Doctor X

August 18, 2003, 02:21 AM

According to the History of Singhalese (Maha Vamsa) this foot print was found by a Singhalese king (Nisshanka Malla) in 4th Century A.D. By that time, Islam did not even exist.

So he was precocious. . . .

Welcome to the forums.

--J.D.

Lonely_Road_Of_Faith

August 18, 2003, 11:47 AM

Originally posted by Ameena
Hello All,

I am from Sri Lanka and I could not help laughing about these Buddha in Islam Scriptures.

FYI, the mountain where there is a foot print is called by different names by different people in SL.

For example, Buddhists call it Sri Paada (=the sacred foot) mountain, Hindus call it Shivanoli Paadam (= Foot of Lord Shiva in Tamil I think) and Christians call it Adam's Peak.

I don't know what Muslims call it but I think they believe that it is a foot print of Prophet Mohammed (I may be wrong here).

According to the History of Singhalese (Maha Vamsa) this foot print was found by a Singhalese king (Nisshanka Malla) in 4th Century A.D. By that time, Islam did not even exist.

Regards

It's always nice to get a "local" perspective :D

Welcome to the forums,,,

Vajradhara

August 21, 2003, 12:24 PM

Namaste all,

the link provided points to a page that is no longer available.

if you seach for Buddhism and Islam, you will find some information out there. much too my dismay, it's almost completely incorrect.

i've seen a few things related to this...

1. Maitreya is supposed to be Mohammad
2. Buddhism is self contradictory and causes depression
3. Buddhism causes intelligent people to become idiots.

the #1 item lists, usually the predictions that the Buddha made regarding the advent of the next Buddha. the Muslim scholars then use the words "compassionate, merciful" and so forth to show that Mohammad was described in that fashion, ergo, the Buddha was talking about Mohammad. of course, they don't read much further than that and fail to realize that there are many Buddhas that have come and are still to come.... which would mean that Mohammad was not the final prophet of Allah.

generally speaking, i use the same line everywhere... it would be foolish to learn astrophysics from someone that was not an astrophysicst and it would be equally foolish to learn Buddhism from someone that was not a Buddhist.

Ameena

August 21, 2003, 03:45 PM

Originally posted by Vajradhara
Namaste all,

the link provided points to a page that is no longer available.

if you seach for Buddhism and Islam, you will find some information out there. much too my dismay, it's almost completely incorrect.

i've seen a few things related to this...

1. Maitreya is supposed to be Mohammad
2. Buddhism is self contradictory and causes depression
3. Buddhism causes intelligent people to become idiots.

the #1 item lists, usually the predictions that the Buddha made regarding the advent of the next Buddha. the Muslim scholars then use the words "compassionate, merciful" and so forth to show that Mohammad was described in that fashion, ergo, the Buddha was talking about Mohammad. of course, they don't read much further than that and fail to realize that there are many Buddhas that have come and are still to come.... which would mean that Mohammad was not the final prophet of Allah.

What Islamists do not understand is the meaning of the word 'Buddha'. It is an old Pali word pertaining to knowledge/enlightment. Anybody will become a Buddha if he/she realizes/understands by him/herself (without any divine intervention) the wheel of causality. The first to be enlightened was called Buddha. Also, Buddha rediculed the idea of a creator god. If Muhammad is a Buddha there should not exist Allah.

generally speaking, i use the same line everywhere... it would be foolish to learn astrophysics from someone that was not an astrophysicst and it would be equally foolish to learn Buddhism from someone that was not a Buddhist.

I have read this article long time ago. As Vajradhara rightly pointed out, those articles are written by Islam Scholars. Every religion seen from another religion is contradictory and false. thats why there are so many religions in the world

Vajradhara

August 21, 2003, 04:19 PM

Originally posted by Ameena
What Islamists do not understand is the meaning of the word 'Buddha'. It is an old Pali word pertaining to knowledge/enlightment. Anybody will become a Buddha if he/she realizes/understands by him/herself (without any divine intervention) the wheel of causality. The first to be enlightened was called Buddha. Also, Buddha rediculed the idea of a creator god. If Muhammad is a Buddha there should not exist Allah.

I have read this article long time ago. As Vajradhara rightly pointed out, those articles are written by Islam Scholars. Every religion seen from another religion is contradictory and false. thats why there are so many religions in the world

Namaste Ameena,

agreed :) thank you for the post.

andy_d

August 22, 2003, 04:45 AM

Besides, isn't Maitreya only due to pop up once Shakyamuni's dharma is lost? In fact, isn't that specifically why he starts teaching?

Always makes me laugh when I hear people talk of Maitreya. It seems rather obvious to me that it isn't quite time yet.

Vajradhara

August 22, 2003, 09:55 AM

lugotorix

August 22, 2003, 10:02 AM

Originally posted by andy_d
Besides, isn't Maitreya only due to pop up once Shakyamuni's dharma is lost? In fact, isn't that specifically why he starts teaching?

Always makes me laugh when I hear people talk of Maitreya. It seems rather obvious to me that it isn't quite time yet.

Yes, it's a prerequisite to his coming that Shakyamuni's teaching has disappeared, and since those teachings are the source of info about Maitreya, as long as anyone remembers the name Maitreya you can be sure he hasn't come yet.;)

The other prerequisites (which seem to be forgotten by Maitreya-wannabes like L. Ron Hubbard or Bahu'allah) are:
a Chakravartin or world king ruling from India
an average 80,000 year human lifespan

both of which I'm fairly certain haven't come to pass.

lugotorix

Vajradhara

August 22, 2003, 10:27 AM

Ameena

August 22, 2003, 03:51 PM

Originally posted by lugotorix
Yes, it's a prerequisite to his coming that Shakyamuni's teaching has disappeared, and since those teachings are the source of info about Maitreya, as long as anyone remembers the name Maitreya you can be sure he hasn't come yet.;)

The other prerequisites (which seem to be forgotten by Maitreya-wannabes like L. Ron Hubbard or Bahu'allah) are:
a Chakravartin or world king ruling from India
an average 80,000 year human lifespan

both of which I'm fairly certain haven't come to pass.

lugotorix
Don't take them too literally. Even if we beome technologically so advanced as to live (by transplanting worn out body parts or cyborging) 1000 years, nobody will want to live that long. (Remember 'Bi-centannial Man' by Isac Asimov?). When the life span is too long, people will not seek any relief in religion.
Also, if the life span is too short again religion will not be attractive. Sakymuni appeared at a time when human life span was 120 year (it is said).

Also, I wonder why all the past Buddhas and future Buddhas come from India? Is it because Buddha's knowledge of geography limited to India and the adjoining countries? From what I heard,
Buddha has mentioned only 4 countries in his sermons/discussions. They are; Jambu Dveep (India), Uttar Kaurav Dveep (??), Majjima Desh (China) and Aparnaka Desh (Afganistan).

premjan

August 25, 2003, 09:34 AM

Originally posted by hinduwoman
Even inside India I don't know how many believe in Adam coming to Srilanka.
Oh well :rolleyes:

I think there is some mistaken conflation of Rama with Adam. Rama is said to have built a bridge of stones between South India and Lanka. This was probably mistakenly renamed by the British as Adam's Bridge.

Dr. Jagan Mohan

December 22, 2003, 10:24 AM

Also, I wonder why all the past Buddhas and future Buddhas come from India?

Buddhas appear all over the Universe... on all planets, including the Heavens.

Buddhas or Awakened ones will arise from all Sentinent, Intelligent Lifeforms. Not necessarity as Humans.

Nowhere Buddhism claims India to be the only birth place of Buddhas past and future.

The Sakyamuni has appeared in India, but this does not mean anything special about India.

Dr. Jagan Mohan

December 22, 2003, 10:43 AM

Islam suffers from an Inferiority complex.. an urge to prove the Quran as the world of God.

Just as some Christians indulge in biblican-codes, Torah codes and such, the Muslims have taken a step much further, trying to find Science in the Quran.

They show verses alluding to smoke, earth and heaven commanded by Allah to come together willingly, etc and conclude that the Big Bang Theory is there.... with all the physics calculations, theorems and derivations! Stupid scientists who are working on a theory of everything are just plain dumb! They should look into the Quran instead and become enlightened!

Chewed flesh, clot of blood all become ultra scientific Embryology, seas, mountains and other geology written clearly, and the funniest of all,

finding Mohammad in the Scriptures of other religions to lend credibility to Islamic claim of Big Mo' as the last Prophet!

What a stupid exercise in idiocracy!!

By the way, I found my name in the bible too.

You all bow down to me now!:notworthy :notworthy :notworthy

premjan

December 22, 2003, 11:32 AM

There is some schizophrenia in Islam. On the one hand, it eschews miracles, claiming the compositional quality of the Koran as the only miracle (of course the angel gabriel did appear to muhammad, which was a miracle). In this respect Islam is much better than its two predecessor faiths which are overloaded with miracles (parting of the red sea, resurrection and so on).

The problem is that Islam is a religion and is not science, and neither is it full communism, hence there has to be some justification for why to believe the koran, if only to use that belief to kill people who don't believe. Hence there has to be a lot of apologetics.

In Hinduism, we have everything conveniently blended into mythology, hence we don't face the embarassment of having to believe that Lord Krishna could really lift a mountain with his little finger. What a blessing.

godmustbecrazy

December 31, 2003, 05:48 AM

hello vajradhara
i have heard that buddha predicted that maitreya would be born after 2500 years.is it true.if it is then the time is close!

Vajradhara

January 2, 2004, 12:27 AM

Originally posted by godmustbecrazy
hello vajradhara
i have heard that buddha predicted that maitreya would be born after 2500 years.is it true.if it is then the time is close!

Namaste godmustbecrazy,

thank you for the post.

the "best" numbers i've heard on it were 4000 years, roughly the time of a small kalpa. though you are correct in saying that we are living in the Dharma ending age.

premjan

January 11, 2004, 04:17 AM

Buddha would clearly be an apostate and infidel in Islam since he did not speak the praise of God by any name. Rather he claimed he was beyond God. I think he would have been found by the side of the date palm tree or camel trail with his throat slit for blasphemy if he had happened by a devout Muslim community.

Answerer

January 11, 2004, 08:27 AM

Islam bans idols, Buddhism doesn't. Thats the best difference.

premjan

January 11, 2004, 10:32 AM

True, yet the inner goal of Buddhism is a bit similar: to remove the idolatry of the mind represented by its nonsense categories.

Answerer

January 11, 2004, 08:18 PM

Originally posted by premjan
True, yet the inner goal of Buddhism is a bit similar: to remove the idolatry of the mind represented by its nonsense categories.

Well, where do you remove idolatry from when there are never such thing in the first place? Just ignore it........

premjan

January 11, 2004, 11:38 PM

I think idolatry does exist: it is the tendency of our mind to focus itself upon physical objects (idols), mental categories (which are not meaningful in reality) instead of either shunya (in Buddhism) or God (in Islam, or Judaism).

Idolatry is bad because it makes some concrete object into your highest focus instead of the infinite ineffable, absolute.

Answerer

January 13, 2004, 10:03 PM

Originally posted by premjan
I think idolatry does exist: it is the tendency of our mind to focus itself upon physical objects (idols), mental categories (which are not meaningful in reality) instead of either shunya (in Buddhism) or God (in Islam, or Judaism).

Yeah, but its a tendency that can be dealt with.

premjan

January 14, 2004, 07:04 AM

respectfully, idolatry can be dealt with, especially by a self-aware person. yet some people of lower awareness need to be shown their mistakes in this regard.

Answerer

January 15, 2004, 04:14 AM

You missed out determination. Self-awareness alone is not enough.

Vajradhara

January 17, 2004, 11:06 PM

Originally posted by Answerer
Islam bans idols, Buddhism doesn't. Thats the best difference.

Namaste answerer,

thanks for the post.

i'm not sure what you mean by the word "best" in this instance.. however, in my opinion, the most profound difference would be found in two areas, namely the lack of belief in a creator deity and the lack of belief in a permanently existing soul.

interestingly enough.. Buddhist iconography didn't exist until the arrival of the Bactarian Greeks on the Subcontinent.

premjan

January 18, 2004, 01:17 AM

Does Buddhism absolutely abandon the notion of a creator? In all branches of Buddhism?

Harumi

January 18, 2004, 02:19 AM

Wait, I'm confused about the Adam's Peak thing.

How in the world does it look like a footprint? I looked at the pictures and although it is a mountain that suddenly juts out of a bunch of flat tops, how does that make it a footprint?

premjan

January 18, 2004, 03:23 AM

http://www.geocities.com/islamimiracles4/image004.jpg

Waning Moon Conrad

January 18, 2004, 10:19 AM

Originally posted by premjan
Does Buddhism absolutely abandon the notion of a creator? In all branches of Buddhism?

Yes it does.

Would this mean that the buddha was not a proponent of Monism?

premjan

January 18, 2004, 02:13 PM

buddha was not a monist, he was a "zeroist" if there is such a word.

Answerer

January 20, 2004, 03:09 AM

You can call him in whatever names you like but Buddha is simply just a man who is awakened.

premjan

January 20, 2004, 05:08 AM

who were the human beings through history who have been 'awakened'?? have there been many? are most philosophers awakened? was nietzsche awakened? how about martin luther king? was buddha only one of the first to make detailed notes on the process of awakening in order to pass it on to the world?

Answerer

January 20, 2004, 08:03 AM

Originally posted by premjan
who were the human beings through history who have been 'awakened'?? have there been many? are most philosophers awakened? was nietzsche awakened? how about martin luther king? was buddha only one of the first to make detailed notes on the process of awakening in order to pass it on to the world?

The arahats. I don't know the exact numbering but there are quite a lot(from the past til now). If you ever been to Thailand or Sri Lanka, you will likely get to see some. They might be hard to find, I don't know.

premjan

January 20, 2004, 08:19 AM

http://luxlapis.tripod.com/arahats.htm

the sixteen arahats (sarasvativadin or tibetan school).

Vajradhara

January 21, 2004, 03:47 PM

Originally posted by premjan
Does Buddhism absolutely abandon the notion of a creator? In all branches of Buddhism?

Namaste premjan,

yes, it is totally refuted in every school.

the creator deity was called Ishvara in the historical Buddhas time and this concept is specifically refuted in the First Turning of the Wheel teachings.

premjan

January 21, 2004, 11:18 PM

I wonder if that helped or hindered anything. the judaic creator God for example, was pretty logical (even mathematical) as a construct, with the ten mosaic commandments. how are we to say it is better to believe in no creator? by what standard are we to judge the answer? the buddhist philosophy was a little detached from application, just a disembodied system of thought about how the human brain processes logical categories. Logically this little piece of thought belongs alongside modern AI research but coming as it did at a time when there were no computers, I don't see how it helped anything much. Of course, Buddhists were more compassionate people, apparently, although in India, it is said that there was a lot of sexual corruption of monasteries towards the end of the Buddhist age, due to the deemphasis of normal social life. It may not have been so in other parts of Asia.

River

April 17, 2006, 09:13 PM

When did Buddhism abandon the name " ARAHA" for G-d ?

It appears that the name of G-d is relatively conserved throughout

all the major religions.

i.e

Zoroastrianism : AHURA

Judaism: Ha'ALOAH

Christianity (aramaic): ALLAHA

Islam: ALLAH

another synonym of G-d in the Qur'an : RAHMAN

Hinduism: B-RAHMAN

premjan

April 18, 2006, 12:28 AM

More than Brahman, perhaps the name 'Varaha' (cosmic boar) corresponds to Rahman. Of course being a pig it would be anti-Islamic in a literal sense.

aupmanyav

April 18, 2006, 10:32 AM

Who were the human beings through history who have been 'awakened'?There have been millions of people through the history who were awakened, at least in India. Some people do not have the wherewithalls to go beyond what they see or what they are told, others can understand better. There is no harm in worshipping idols. Nearly all people have their own idols; people, books, places, structures, stories, ideologies; do not limit idols to only those made of stone. True iconoclasts go beyond all that. Abrahamic Gods logical! Nothing more illogical than that.

Arhat in Ari-hanta in Sanskrit, the slayer of enemies (the enemy being ignorance). 'Brahman' is not 'rahman' (funny linguistics), human attributes cannot be applied to it since it is not a man or woman. It is matter/energy/wave/force. First understand that.