Reference question (Was: Filliozat)

[y.r.rani at mail.utexas.edu]

"O. Freiberger" <Oliver.Freiberger at uni-bayreuth.de> asked:

>>as 20 BCE in Athens.  In this account an ambassador from India was
>>accompanied by a Buddhist philosopher who immolated himself

>Could you please give the textual source for this information?

At the turn of the century and for a few decades after, there was quite a
bit of scholarly activity that  attempted to trace Buddhist influence in
early Christianity.  As well, in the 60's and 70's there was quite a bit of
"comparative religion" type work done on the two religions and their
similarities, etc.

Unfortunately, from where I sit right now, I do not have access to the
exact source of the Athens immolation tale.  I do remember seeing the
reference in several of the books that I consulted, when I had looked into
the issue several years ago.  Perhaps this bibilography will help:

Lillie, Arthur, _Buddhism in Christendom or Jesus, the Essene_  Unity Book
Service, New Delhi:1984 (first published in 1887).

   - _India in Primitive Christianity_ Kegan House,	Trübner & Co.: 1909.

Lopez, Donald S. & Rockefeller, Steven C., eds., _The Christ and the
Bodhisattva_ State University of New York: 1987.

Pye, Michael & Morgan, Robert, eds., _The Cardinal Meaning, Essays in
Comparative Hermeneutics:  Buddhism and Christianity_	Mouton & Co.,
Netherlands: 1973.

Radhakrishnan, S., _Eastern Religions in Western Thought_ Oxford	University
Press: 1939.

Streeter, Burnett H.,  _The Buddha and The Christ, an Exploration of the
Meaning of the Universe and of the Purpose of Human Life_	Macmillan and
Co., London: 1932.

Tambyah, Isaac T., _A Comparative Study of Hinduism, Buddhism and
Christianity_ Indian Book Gallery, Delhi: 1983 (first edition1925).

Yu, Chai-shin, _Early Buddhism and Christianity, A comparative Study of the
Founders' Authority, the Community, and the Discipline_	Motilal
Banarsidass, Delhi: 1981.

In his message S. Vidyasankar wrote:

>Isn't "kalanos, the gymnosophist," who went with Alexander, also supposed to
have immolated himself?

Perhaps Vidya could provide a textual source for this reference?

Hope this helps.
Yvette

(Interesting stuff, isn't it?)