58. Gymnosophists
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Greco-Buddhism
Gymnosophists were briefly touched upon last time.
Gymnosophists is a term referring to philosophers and ascetics who lived naked in ancient India.
It is said that Alexander the Great encountered them when he conquered northwestern India and that they influenced the Greek philosophers who accompanied him.
It may come as a surprise, but before Christianity, Buddhism was also practiced in Greece and Rome.
It is said that some early Christians were aware of this.
The cosmopolitan Hellenistic period, with Greek (Koine) as the common language, began with Alexander the Great's unification of Asia.
Since Alexander the Great's empire included northwestern India, understanding the path to the Hellenistic period makes the spread of Buddhism easy to grasp.
Furthermore, the practices of mystics, the Essenes, the Therapeutae, and others in Alexandria clearly show Asian and Buddhist elements.
Of course, Buddhist influences can also be seen in the teachings of Jesus.
The fusion of ancient Greek culture and Buddhism developed in Bactria and the Indian subcontinent from the 4th century BC to the 5th century AD.
The Indian subcontinent referred to here corresponds to present-day Tajikistan, Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan.
The "Buddhism" born from this fusion is called the Greek flavor of Buddhism, Greco-Buddhism.
Bactrian cities (such as Ai-Khanoum and Begram) were in contact with India for over two centuries, from the time of the Seleucid Empire and even after they became independent as the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom.
Later, from the 1st to the 3rd century AD, the Iranian dynasty Kushan Empire flourished. The Kushan Empire held territory in northern India and Central Asia, and also included Bactria.
Therefore, the Kushan Empire was also influenced by Greece.
Chandragupta (c. 340 BC–) destroyed the Nanda Dynasty at the end of the 4th century BC and founded the Maurya Empire.
Chandragupta, who ruled the Ganges basin, set out to conquer the Indus basin to the west. At that time, the Indus basin was ruled by Alexander the Great.
After the death of Alexander the Great, the Macedonian satraps (governors) took over, but they were defeated by Chandragupta and expelled.
Later, the Maurya Empire's Emperor Ashoka (from 268 BC) converted to Greco-Buddhism, and issued edicts to spread Buddhist philosophy throughout his territory.
Greco-Buddhism continued to flourish after the collapse of the Maurya Empire in the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, the Indo-Greek Kingdom, and the Kushan Empire.
The Greco-Bactrians maintained a powerful Hellenistic culture even while the Maurya Empire continued its rule.
At the Ai-Khanoum ruins discovered in northern Afghanistan, Persian-style temples, a plate of Cybele riding a chariot, and coins depicting Vedic gods have been found.
Around 180 BC, the Maurya Empire was destroyed by the Shunga Empire.
After that, the Greco-Bactrians advanced into India and established the Indo-Greek Kingdom. Greco-Buddhism flourished in the Indo-Greek Kingdom.
Indo-Greek King Menander I Soter (reigned c. 165 BC – c. 130 BC) ruled a vast territory in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent from his capital, Sagala.
Menander I is known as the greatest king of the Indo-Greek Kingdom.
Menander I was also a patron of Greco-Buddhism and is considered to be the subject of the important Buddhist text 'Milinda Panha' (Questions of King Milinda).
From around 250 BC, Emperor Ashoka of the Maurya Empire sent Buddhist missionaries to Syria, Egypt, and Greece.
Philo of Alexandria (c. 20 BC – ?) reports on Emperor Ashoka's missionaries in his book 'On the Contemplative Life'.
The Therapeutae are a group of mystics who practice an ascetic lifestyle, and according to the report, there is even a possibility that the Therapeutae themselves were descendants of the missionaries.
There is also a theory that the Pali word 'Theravada' transformed into Therapeutae.
It is very interesting to think that mystics influenced by Buddhism led to the later Christian monks.
By the way, the famous Cluny Abbey was founded by Jews.
In any case, it seems that Buddhists lived in Egypt during the Hellenistic period.
In Alexandria during the Ptolemaic period, Buddhist tombstones depicting the Wheel of Law have been discovered.
India and Gnosis
The occultists of Alexandria called the ascetic monks of India Gymnosophists.
One of the Gnostic gospels, the Gospel of Thomas, was named after the Apostle Thomas.
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It is said that the Apostle Thomas landed by ship on the Malabar Coast of southwestern India and converted the people of India.
According to American religious historian Elaine Pagels, British Buddhist scholar Edward Conze points out that "Buddhists were in contact with the Thomas Christians of South India (Christians who knew and used the Gospel of Thomas)."
The trade routes connecting the Greco-Roman world and the Far East were open during the era when Gnosticism flourished (80–200 AD). Buddhist missionaries had been preaching in Alexandria for generations. Hippolytus (c. 170 AD), a Greek-speaking Christian in Rome, knew about the Brahmins of India and included their traditions as a source of heresy.
When it comes to trade routes, it means the Jews.
Hippolytus's book 'Refutation of All Heresies' states the following:
There is also a sect of philosophers in India among the Brahmins, who propose an independent life for themselves, and abstain from all living creatures and cooked meat. They are satisfied with fruit, and even that they do not gather, but live on what has fallen to the earth, and drink the water of the Tagabena River. They spend their whole lives naked, saying that the body was created by God as a garment for the soul. God is light, not such as one sees, nor like the sun or fire, but to them, it is the Word of God, not clear, but coming from knowledge (Gnosis), by which the hidden mysteries of nature are seen by the wise.
The Gnostics disliked the body as something defiled and sought the purification of the soul.
Apollonius of Tyana (c. 1st century) is a Neopythagorean philosopher, magician, and conjurer who is sometimes identified with Jesus. He has appeared here from time to time.
According to Philostratus (c. 170 AD–) in 'The Life of Apollonius of Tyana', Apollonius traveled to India.
There, he was welcomed by the kings and stayed for four months as a guest of the Brahmins along with his companion Damis.
And Apollonius met with the Gymnosophists in India.
The Gymnosophists spoke Greek, possessed neither homes nor property, and lived naked.
And they likened themselves to Olympic athletes.
There was also contact between the Gnostics and the Indians.
The Neoplatonist, vegetarian, and anti-Christian Porphyry (234–) wrote this in his book 'On Abstinence'.
Among them is a tribe of holy sages whom the Greeks habitually call Gymnosophists. ... The Babylonian Bardaisan lived in the time of our ancestors and had close ties with the Indians who were sent to Caesar (the Emperor) along with Damis.
Bardaisan was a Syrian Gnostic, also known as Bar Daisan.
Because of this, similarities can be seen between Gnosticism and Indian traditions, such as Buddhist traditions. For example, the Buddhist 'True Emptiness, Wondrous Being'.
True Emptiness is truly 'empty,' a state free from all delusions.
Wondrous Being means that the true form of existence only appears after transcending the relative opposition of being and non-being. Of course, this also resonates with Plato.
Edward Conze lists 'eight basic similarities between Gnosticism and Mahayana Buddhism'.
Both emphasize the inner life, and the Gnostic Sophia (wisdom) corresponds to Prajna. Both are female, goddesses.
The Mahayana sutras state the following:
At that time, the World-Honored One spoke again to the Elder Subhuti. ... Subhuti, the Tathagatas, who have attained perfect enlightenment and are worthy of offerings, care for, cherish, and protect this perfection of
wisdom (Prajna Paramita). Why is that? Because this (perfection of wisdom) is the mother and progenitor of the Tathagatas, who are worthy of offerings and have attained perfect enlightenment.
Semiramis and Tammuz appear here as well.
Pantaenus
Eusebius (c. 263–), a bishop of Caesarea and historian, reports this in his book 'Church History'.
Following the apostles, ... there were indeed many other evangelists of the Word. Pantaenus is said to have been one of them, and to have gone to India. It is reported that there, he found the Gospel of Matthew among people who already knew of Christ. For Bartholomew, one of the apostles, had preached to them and left behind the Gospel of Matthew written in Hebrew.
Pantaenus was a Stoic philosopher and a tutor to Clement of Alexandria and Origen. Both Clement and Origen are theologians representing early Christianity.
He is a fairly important figure who had a great influence on the development of Christian theology, but for some reason there is no page for Pantaenus on the Japanese Wikipedia.
Since Pantaenus traveled shortly after the reign of Marcus Aurelius, he would have been in India around 181.
Saint Jerome (c. 347–) mentions the birth of the Buddha, who was "born from the side of a virgin." It is said that this Buddhist legend of the virgin birth influenced Christianity.
Clement of Alexandria also knew about the Buddha. He wrote as follows in his book "Stromata".
The Indian Gymnosophists and other barbarian philosophers are also included in that number (philosophy transmitted to Greece). Among them are those called Sarmanae and those called Brahmins. Those of the Sarmanae called Hylobii do not live in cities, have no roofs, wear bark, eat fruit, and drink water with their hands.
Cochin Jews
In India, in addition to the Bene Israel in Mumbai (western India), there were also Jews living in southwestern India.
Because they live in Cochin, they are called Cochin Jews. The roots of the Cochin Jews are said to date back to the time of King Solomon.
The Cochin Jews, as the name suggests, settled in the Kingdom of Cochin. It is part of the present-day state of Kerala.
In 70 AD, Rome destroyed the Second Temple in Jerusalem. This was an event in the so-called First Jewish-Roman War (66–73 AD).
At the end of the First Jewish-Roman War, the Roman army attacked Masada. Masada was a fortress on a steep cliff and was impregnable.
About a thousand Jews who had fled were holed up in the fortress of Masada.
The Roman army spent two years completely filling in the west side of the mountain. And when the fall was imminent, the leader Eleazar gave a speech in front of everyone.
According to the customs of the time, if you surrendered, you would be enslaved, and if you resisted, you would be killed. Therefore, the conclusion was that death was better than slavery, and a mass suicide was decided.
It seems there were some effeminate men among them. Josephus wrote this in "The Jewish War".
How foolish it is to pursue freedom while alive, yet envy the freedom that lasts forever! Therefore, we who have been raised in our own discipline should be an example to others by our readiness to die. If we need foreigners to support us in this matter, let us look to the Indians who profess the practice of philosophy. These good people endure the time of life reluctantly, regarding it as a necessary servitude, and hasten to release the soul from the body. And no one hinders them, everyone considers them happy people, and they hand over letters to be carried to their close friends (the dead). They firmly and certainly believe that souls converse with each other (in the afterlife). After they (the Jews) finished hearing such commands, they offered their bodies to the fire. And they die in hymns in order to
separate the soul from the body most purely. ...Should we not be ashamed to have a lower concept than the Indians?
As you may have already noticed, for some reason Josephus even knows the content of Eleazar's speech. This is despite the fact that everyone at Masada was supposed to have died.
If Josephus's account is correct, it means that at the very least, the Jewish leaders knew of the Indian philosophy before the siege of Masada.
And the Jews of Masada practiced Buddhist and Gnostic 'practices'.
On the Malabar Coast, a center of ancient trade, Cranganore had a Jewish community. It is said that a Jewish leader named Habban was granted land by a Hindu king.
There is some evidence that Jews were settled in Cranganore in the first century of the Christian era.
Ancient Christian wedding songs of Malabar sing of the Jewish merchant Habban.
Habban accompanied Saint Thomas and arrived in Cranganore in 55 AD. It is said that Saint Thomas was welcomed there by a Jewish girl.
Saint Thomas stayed in the Jewish quarter of the town, and it is said that some Jews were baptized by Saint Thomas in Cranganore.
In the twelfth century, many Jewish travelers visited India and left behind writings about Jewish life.
The most influential was Benjamin of Tudela. He was a rabbi who left extensive accounts of the Jews in southwestern India.
And throughout the island (including all the towns) (of the Malabar Coast) there are thousands of Israelites. The inhabitants are all black, and the Jews are also black. The latter are good and benevolent. They know the Law of Moses and the prophets, and a little of the Talmud and Halakha.
The Spanish rabbi and Neoplatonist Maimonides (1135–) wrote in his book that the 'Mishneh Torah' was studied in India.
Also, a poem by the fourteenth-century Spanish rabbi Nissim expresses the joy of finding a Jewish king in Cranganore.
In the ancient spice trade, the Middle East and South India were connected by land and sea routes.
The famous Silk Road passed through China in the second century AD.
Jews also played an important role in these trades. Muslim travelers of the ninth and tenth centuries testified to this in their diaries and other records.
A high official of the Caliph of Baghdad, Ibn Khordadbeh (820–), wrote about the commercial activities of the Radhanites (itinerant Jewish merchants) in his 'Book of Roads and Kingdoms'.
These merchants speak Arabic, Persian, Roman, Frankish, Spanish, and Slavic. They travel from west to east, and from east to west, some by land and some by sea. They carry eunuchs, slave girls, boys, brocade, beaver skins, sable, and swords from the west. They board ships in France in the Western Sea (Mediterranean) and head to Farama (Pelusium, Egypt). There, they load their goods onto camels and travel by land for a distance of 25 farsakhs to Al-Qulzum (Suez). They board ships in the Eastern Sea (Red Sea) and sail from Al-Qulzum to Al-Jar and Al-Jeddah (all in Saudi Arabia), heading toward Sindh (Pakistan), India, and China. Returning from China, they bring musk, aloe, camphor, cinnamon, and other products of the eastern countries back to Al-Qulzum, then to Farama, where they set sail on the Western Sea again. Some sail to Constantinople to sell their goods to the Romans, while others go to the palace of the Frankish king to deliver their goods. Sometimes, these Jewish merchants set sail from the land of the Franks on the Western Sea, head to Antioch (at the source of the Orontes River), and from there travel by land to Al-Jabiyah (Al-Hanaya on the Euphrates), arriving there after a three-day journey. There, they board the Euphrates, arrive in Baghdad, and from there sail down the Tigris to Al-Ubulla (Iran). From Al-Ubulla, they sail to Oman, Sindh, Hind (India), and China. Such various journeys are also possible by land. Merchants departing from Spain or France go to Sus al-Aqsa, then to Tangier (all in Morocco), and from there walk to Kairouan (Tunisia) and the capital of Egypt. Afterward, they go to Al-Ramla (Israel), visit Damascus (Syria), Al-Kufa (Mesopotamia), Baghdad, and Al-Basra (Iraq), and cross Ahvaz, Fars, Kerman (all in Iran), Sindh, and Hind to arrive in China. They also sometimes pass behind Rome, go through the land of the Slavs, and arrive at the capital of the
Khazars
, Khamlij (Itil). They travel the Caspian Sea, arrive in Balkh (Afghanistan), from there cross the Oxus River (Amu Darya), and continue their journey through yurts (Mongolian houses), the Toquz Oghuz (a Turkic nomadic people of northern Central Asia), and from there to China.
In any case, the Jews go everywhere. They influence the lands they visit, and they return having been influenced by them as well.
In this Note, I am persistently tracking the movements of the 'Jews.' In a sense, they are at the center of history, and tracking them leads to exploring the roots of the occult.
The reason so many people have traveled as far as India is because such interesting 'Jewish history' and 'Jewish writings' have been recorded there.
That 'history,' as seen in the books of Josephus, is sometimes half-legendary. Therefore, the only way to verify the truth is to go there in person.
And when you actually find Jews there, you are overjoyed, and a sense of reality is added to the legendary history.
The fundamental driving force behind the search for the 'Jews' is, after all, eschatology. The various senses of reality added as a result of the search all lead to the strengthening of eschatology.
No one can stop this flow of 'history.'
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