16th century European contacts with Hinduism

[Ven. Tantra]

Ah, skeptical indeed! But not to be confused with
�cynical� please. I mean, after all, if it was good
enough for the Buddha, it is good enough for me.
Someone�s jaw dropped; his eyebrows went oblique. �And
what do you mean by that, Professor?�
�Listen. Just because I do not practice all your
bodily contortions and suffocating breathing
exercises, does not mean I do not know something about
the history of Yoga. �It is interesting to note,� the
plump guy commenced, �that when the Greek philosopher
Anaxarchus, together with his prot�g� Pyrrho of Elis,
traveled to India in 326 BC, they mixed with a
menagerie of odd appearing ascetics known locally as
yogis <"gymnosophist">. Now, it is even more curious
that upon their return they founded not a school of
meditative mysticism, as one would expect, but the
first Greek school of Skepticism.�
�No kidding? I suppose those must have been the
earliest accounts of direct Indian influence on the
Mediterranean World.�
�Thank you dear student, I appreciate that. You have
struck to the core of the hoary conundrum.�
�But who can crack it?�
The professor took a sip of coffee. �Well,� he said,
�as far as I can figure out, the visiting scholars
must have mainly mixed with Indian materialists or the
Hinayana Buddha-cult. �How do I know this?� The
earliest account on the life of Pyrrho is by guy named
Diogenes Laertius. He describes his subject as �always
having the same disposition.� Pyrrho apparently liked
setting off on journeys without letting anybody know
where he going. He was happy to wander in cognito with
anyone that happened to come along. But he apparently
liked staying alone in the desert where he rarely
showed himself to other people.�
�Sounds like a Bhikkhu to me.�
�Funny you should say that. According to an eminent
British scholar,* Pyrrho�s friends revered him as a
saint, along the lines of a Buddhist arahant.�
�Then how come �skeptical�?� The student was curious.
�Pyrrho sounds more like the silent ascetic type.�
�I agree with you, and so does his biographer.
Laertius puts down �speechlessness� and
�imperturbability� as Pyrrho�s prime accomplishments.
However, in spite of his strong laconic bent, Pyrrho
became a huge celebrity. He was made chief priest of
his native city, Elis, and philosophers were granted
tax-exempt status on his account.�
�That�s very interesting.�
�Indeed,� said the professor. He lit another
cigarette. �And if you start to view the thing like
this, i.e., �historically,� one begins to imagine how
what we normally view as Buddh-(�ism�) was originally
more a of philosophic practice than a set of stifling
religious rites and tenets.�
�And so it is Buddha The Philosopher whom you regard
as �skeptical.��
�Correct.�
�But what does �skeptical� really mean?�
The professor paused to take a long draw. He exhaled
slowly then flicked a little ash on the floor. �The
original sense of the Greek-derived skeptikos does not
mean to �doubt,� but to �observe and question.� One is
always to refrain from drawing conclusions. This is
how the Skeptics came to the point where they
questioned the basis of knowledge itself and the
validity of affirming anything at all. This is
furthermore the basis of the Scientific Method.�
�Now wait,� the student blinked. �Have I got this
right? You are trying to say that Buddhists are
Skeptics?�
The professor shook his head no. �Forget about the
�Buddhists.� I am simply affirming that Gautama was.�

Sincerely,

Ven. Tantra
_______________

Reference
*Burnet, John. �Sceptics.� Encyclopaedia of Religion
and Ethics, Vol. XI, ed., John Hastings, Edinburg,
1920.



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