A new light on ancient Middle East religio-politics through literary and archaeological evidence:

Buddhism in ancient Israel and Arabia

BY A.D.T.E. Perera

(Formerly, Associate Editor, Encyclopaedia of Buddhism, Government of Sri Lanka, publication, Research Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy, University of New Mexico, USA, Guest Research Fellow, Department of Disarmament and Development, UNO, New York)

(Continued from June 7)

OLD CULTS, rituals and practices which encouraged sacrifice of poor innocent dumb animals rared for killing in thousands on the altars of imaginary blood thirsty creator gods, priest-creaft thriving on witch-craft and state-craft both (as in the present day), war machinery, manufacturing of lethal weapons, war-chariots, arms deals, prisoners of war taken as quick money at public auctions on slave-trade, war booty which include children and women, worshipping heroes who unleashed armies of men trained to kill and destroy while they themselves remained behind barricades, bunkers and fortresses; false propaganda, nepotism mystieism and mystics, charlatans, quacks and mountebanks; magicians and astrologers all had to go "out of commission" with the Buddha's "Enlightened Doctrine" (Saddharma), based on universal compassion and supreme wisdom (Karuna and Pragna) well established.

The founding of Righteousness or "Saddharma" (Zadsparam as how Zoroaster pronounced it in his own Persian tongue), based on intellectual investigation aimed at correct insight, was anathema to the followers of Jewish religion and Graeco-Roman theistic religion based on gods and divinities, ogresses and above all a hierarchy of toady priests.

Although wise kings and emperors accepted the great compassionate Buddha and His 'Path of Salvation', and the innocent peace loving common folk and learned men also wished to follow the doctrine of Salvation from the misery of existence-Samsara-there were others who could not afford to lose their interests, their vested interests as it were.

They could not tolerate it all. Had they tolerated, their world would have collapsed, as Bernard Shaw had said "world exists because of intolerance.

Cunning Priests

Those comprised especially the priests at whose command the wheel of politics turned (excepting the saintly, learned, eremite monks) as is the case in present day politics, and their selfish followers at higher echelons, who held power through the weapons (like the present day gun-culture and bomb-culture saviours of mankind), the men who wished to keep the monopoly of the economic gains, the traders with their multinational and international network of circulation of goods, with prices controlled at their whim and fancy, with the backing of a coterie of money lenders and smiling financiers (exactly like some of the present day financiers).

Jesus Christ was too honest, cultured, learned and innocent a monk, a Buddhist monk we shall say without any hesitation, of the Mahayana denomination as we can prove now, who opposed those rascals openly without having a correct appraisal of their great power both in the public and underground carousals as well.

With his psychic powers (dhyanic powers), Jesus cured the sick, and tamed the ocean and must have thought that he could tame those sinners and culprits as well.

Jesus trusted too much on the power of the Cosmocrator God (Bod-Boddo-Buddha) the Amitabha Buddha and his millions of angels (Bodhisattvas) in the Sukhavati heaven. He thought and expected that they would come to his rescue, against the sinful, satanic rascals who arrayed against him.

But at the end Jesus had to seek refuge only in the Alaha (Arahan Buddha) and His Sublime Doctrine (Saddharma). This is well reflected in the new testament episodes of the Holy Bible.

This is the reaction by the selfish self interested people like the cruel priests at Jerusalem referred to in the Dead Sea Scrolls, to the early spread of Buddhism in those great seats of powerful empires and monarchies.

Alaha and Peshitta

The Jehowah followers with the help of theistic Greeks have curbed and pushed this tide of 'Righteous Kingdom' first established in West Asia in the Nabetean city states by Ven. Punna Thera.

Yet those monks of Sinai-Arabah who established themselves in Punon, Jerusalem and Dead Sea littoral, who preserved the Sacred original Scriptures had to retreat to mainland Arabia and establish their religious centres with Araha (later become popular as Alaha-Allah) as the Great being, the compassionate Father and "Peshitta" as their Sacred Scriptures.

The few 'Sinai' monks and their harmless followers who were allowed to stay behind, ended up as 'Essenes' of Dead Sea Scrolls fame, in the chapters of west Asian religious history.

However without any contact with the original mainstream Buddhist Kingdom's in the East, and Arabian religion of Allah-Allah worshippers had to survive till Jesus Christ appeared and spread the 'Good News' Gospel of God ('Pustaka of Buddo', Pustaka, in Sanskrit meaning 'book' had probably given 'gospel' in Aramaic, we may suggest.)

In the new gospel of Jesus Christ, the epithet Araha Alaha was retained but the emphasis was on the great 'Bod' the 'God' (Boddo of Bactrian, Saka, Kushana emperors) the Eternal Father in his highest Heaven 'Sukkavati' with millions of angels (or Bodhisattvas) headed by Michael and Gabriel (Mahakala and Avalokita in Mahayana Buddhism).

The Jews and their followers did not like this novel feature of a compassionate god who was not ferocious, not jealous or vindictive or ever ready to punish like their own creator Jehowah.

To crush the revival of neo-Buddhism introduced by the "prince of peace" Jesus Christ, the Jews conspired with the Roman governors in Judea and Jerusalem. Jews were successful in crushing this revival of Alaha (Araha) worshippers. They tortured, humiliated, crucified and killed their leader Jesus Christ.

They were not hesitant to destroy and appropriate their shrines and monasteries in Jerusalem area, and chased them away back to hinterland hide-outs, and mountain caverns and as refugees in Arabia, Syria and further East where they continued to worship, and revere the great lord 'Araha' as Allah, the 'Supreme Ruler of Righteousness', Allah the king "Allah-hu-Akbar".

Meanwhile the cunning Jewish priests, the unscrupulous rabbies of the time, contrived in such a way for Rome to accept 'God' as the supreme divine lord, while they themselves continued to practise their original Hebrew scriptures in tact, as Torah of Jehowah, in contradistinction to the Aramaic Peshitta of Alaha worshippers who now emphasised Alaha in the new epithet God (or Boddo, or Bod).

It could also be possible, that Rome had tactfully compromised to accept God through fear of a possible attack or punitive expedition by the combined forces of the Scythian Tartar confederation of the Buddhist empire of powerful Kushanas under the mighty emperor Kanishka, or his subsequent heirs for persecuting their grand missionary Jesus Christ and his neo Buddhist followers.

This had actually happened later when Allah worshippers rallied under one banner and punished the Holy Roman Empire and conquered the Eastern part of the empire, took over Constantinople and called it Istanbul and established the power of Allah as far as Spain and Portugal and Northern Africa.

We may conjecture that the conquests of Huns under their mighty general Atila and devastating Europe upto Rome was also an act of retaliation. (Incidentally Huns or Hephthalities were Buddhist rulers).

Ven. Isa-Jesus

Even the later expeditions of the great Buddhist emperors Kublai Khan and Jenghis Khan from Mongol China to the West, also can be taken as revengeful attacks for the harm done to the original Buddhist Churches of Punna, Zoroaster and later the Mahayana Sect of Ven. Isa or Jesus Christ.

Great Kublai would have received the news of the ruthless persecutions of Araha (Alah) as well as God-Bod- (Boddo) worshippers, from itinerant Chinese monks and Arab caravan traders and travellers like Ibn-Battuta.

Jesus new religion 'Christianity' with the compassionate God the father as the head, spread with new gusto with Peshitta or Buddha's spoken word Bhashita revised by the Jew Saul turned Paul, as the scriptural document of Divine inspiration and later amalgamated with elements from the Jewish Torah as the Old Testament to suit the Imperial Rome which declared Christianity, its state religion under emperor Constantine.

Our investigations throw further light on yet another so far unknown aspect of the 'Alaha - Boddo' (or Arahan-Buddha) episode in West Asia. That is the introduction of another important attractive Buddhist text by Jesus Christ with much Mahayana overtones; a product of the Mahayana revival under emperor Kanishka who was a contemporary of Jesus Christ, to substantiate his thesis that Alaha of the old Peshitta scriptures was the same as supreme Buddha (the Amitabha Buddha the resplendent lord), the Boddo, the eternal ruler of the Cosmos, God.

This was the text known as 'Vepulla Sutta' (or Vaitulya Sutra) which even tried to play havoc among Theravada Buddhism in Sri Lanka, during the early Christian centuries.

No one knows how the name Vepulla or Vaitulya was given to this extreme Mahayana text. According to some authorities Vepulla was the name given to the Mahayana treatise selected at the Buddhist synod held at Vepulla mountain near Rajgir in India under the patronage of emperor Kanisha.

If we analyses the Bible episodes we can glean some evidence to clarify the problem pertaining to Vepulla as well as the Holy Bible, the scriptures based on Jesus' teachings.

Vepulla and Bible

It could be argued that an original Mahayana text named Vepulla, compiled in the Kushana Empire by the monks of the Mahayana denomination had gone to West Asia through Jesus Christ, or else the teachings of Jesus Christ based on Mahayana soteriological doctrines and written on parchment paper had been named 'The Bible' by Jesus and his apostles and was later brought to Eastern Churches (of Mahayana) where it took the name of Vepulla from Bible or a similar Aramaic name. (Bible, Bebul, Bebulla, Vepulla).

Whatever the process that took place, the holy text Bible or Vepulla has all the Mahayana Buddhist affiliations, with the Buddha elevated to the position of a 'Cosmocrator'.

The spread of Bible as Vepulla or a Mahayana text in ancient Sri Lanka even during the early Christian centuries can be proved by the survivals of such Biblical doctrines among early Sinhalese literature, e.g. pulling a speak out of another's eye before removing a beam in one's won eye; a wife is a gift of god (Bamba Ketu Hati).

Archaeologists have even discovered a Nestorian Greek Cross from ancient Anuradhapura. Moreover the arrival of the monk Sanghamitta in the 3rd century A.C. to propagate Vepulla doctrine and getting into the good books of the Sinhala Monarch at Anuradhapura is also noteworthy. The Mahayana monk Sangamitta's original hometown is supposed to be in North-West India.

Belief in Jesus second coming is also comparable with the Sinhala legend of 'Prine Diyasena' (Jayasena, of Jesu, Jesus) who will descend from heaven to establish a millennial peaceful rule.

Although Jesus Christ was crucified and killed by the Jews, his Bible text was acceptable to some Jews (both Hebrew and Aramaic speaking communities), as new gospel in which God the Supreme Lord appears with great power and compassion and wisdom, unlike Jehowah of Jewish Torah who was a jealous god, ever ready to punish ruthlessly the defectors and the miscreants.

Although the rulers in Syria and Palestine and other West-Asian kingdoms had condescended to accept the Holy Bible (the original Vepulla Sutta!) introduced by Jesus Christ, the Alaha oriented Peshitta scriptures also continued to survive along with the Bible, among those followers in Arab kingdoms and among the cave dwelling Sinai-monks who survived in the Dead Sea region as the Essenes. That is why the translators of the Peshitta (Greek Bible) found that Peshitta scriptures were acceptable both to Jews and Arabs.

The Arabs of mainland Arabia and of the Sinai-Palestine tract seem to have maintained strictly the original Peshitta texts, (without any Bible or Mahayana Vepulla interpretations introduced by Jesus Christ), of the original Supreme Lord Arahan Buddha as Alaha, Allah.

However with the passage of time, nearly one thousand years after the first mission of Ven. Punna the Arab Buddhist monk, when Mohammed, the son of Abdullah (servant of Allah) appeared on the scene, there must have arisen lot of confusion and misinterpretations as to the 'teachings of Righteousness', and the "Great Being" who was the originator of Righteousness; the Supreme Ruler of Compassion (Santinayaka as the Buddha was called).

Such a development was quite natural for any religious organisation, to receive extraneous beliefs, cults and practices into one's own fold.

However even up to the time of Mohammed the worship of the Higher Divinity Allah was prevailing among some Arab tribes. This Great Divine Being was variously worshipped as Allah, Allat and Al-Uzza.

Abud Allah

Allah was the principal God of Mecca before the birth of Mohammed and was worshipped even by pagans according to Quaran. Even Mohammed's father bore the name of Abud-Allah (Abdullah) meaning slave of Allah or one who has surrendered to Allah.

Abdullah means a person who has surrendered to Allah. We can compare this practice with the age old Buddhist practice of Surrendering before the Buddha by taking the solemn vow by uttering 'Buddham saranam gacchami'. The first two lay disciples of the Buddha from West Asia (i.e., Balkh in Bactria, modern Afghanistan) were the first to take this vow according to Buddhist records.

The name Abdullah also suggests that there were practising Alaha religionists before the founding of Islam by Mohammed. It is quite obvious that Mohammed's Islam is nothing but a revival of "Alaha's Doctrine of Righteousness" the Saddharma of the Great Alaha (Arahan Buddha).

The fact that this Holy and Sacred concept of the name "Allah, Allat" according to ancient inscriptional evidence seems to have been introduced into Arabia from Syria and Northern parts of Arabia, also substantiates our thesis that it had its roots in the original Araha doctrine of the Buddhist Church in 'Sinai-Arabah' region established by Thera Punna, during the very life-time of our Lord Bhagavat Buddha.

Moreover ancient Syria is part of the territory 'Sinai Arabah' we have identified before, as the location where Ven. Punna thera had carried out his missionary work and established four Buddhist monastic sanctuaries.

We believe we have marshalled sufficient evidence to prove that the Buddha was the Great Supra-human being worshipped as Alaha in pre-Christian West-Asia, which name later changed through linguistic formations into Allah from the original Buddhist concept Araha, a synonym of the Great Buddha which means the "Sinless One", the most worthy Lord, deserving worship and veneration both by the humans as well as divine beings (Araha Sambuddho Sattadevamanussanam).

Now let us analyses Islamic (Muslim) religious textual passages for possible survivals of Buddhist concepts and parallel terms.

Surrender to the Buddha

A reputed Islamic Scholar Professor Margoliouth has the following to say: "The original meaning of the name of Islam" as the title of this system is obscure, but its official interpretation is devoting the face (i.e. the person), in its entirety to Allah, the Arabic word for God, "Iddio".

The above statement shows that the Islamic religion is based on "Surrender to Allah", was a basic tenet in Buddha's teachings and practised by millions of Buddhists even today when they utter the solemn hymn or prayer, 'Buddham saranam gachchami' first uttered by the West Asian caravan leaders Tapassu and Bhalluka from Bactria according to the history of the Buddhist Church.

The word "Iddio" for God in Islamic tradition is also important as it is a word found in early Buddhism for great religious men who have gained higher psychic powers like the Buddha and his noble "Araha" bhikkhu disciples.

Prophet Mohammed's successor was Ali meaning 'sublime' which can be compared with the original buddhist term Arya or Ari, by which term Buddhist monks were addressed, e.g. "Ariya and Ariya Samgha; Ariya savaka, Ari sangagana", meaning 'venerable', 'noble', 'respectful'.

The fact that Mohammed himself had to face assassination threats and how Ali and his successors fell victims to assassins, repeatedly, speak of the ferocious nature of those Jewish Arabic tribes, as has been aptly portrayed in the story of Thera Punna and also the anti-Alaha factions of Jehowah followers operating surreptitiously.

The white dress worn like a gown or toga by the Arabs is reminiscent of the 'white dress' Buddha had introduced for His lay disciples. This was known as 'Odata Vasana' in early Buddhist texts.

This traditional Buddhist laymen's garment would have gone into 'Sinai-Arabah' (Suna-Apara) region through Punna Thera's lay followers which was the dress of Buddhist laymen in India as witnessed by Punna Thera himself before he became a convert to Buddhism. This white garment was variously called 'Odataka; Odata Vasana; odata vatta' in early Buddhist texts.

The shrines and temples built by pre-Islamic Arab kings and later appropriated by Mohammed and his followers were exact replicas of the architectural types of Buddhist monuments with domical super-structures. The Buddhist stupa or dagaba in India, Sri Lanka, and other early Buddhist kingdoms proved this fact. Even today every mosque has this domical roof resembling a Buddhist stupa.

In those early pre-Islamic shrines, there were artistic representations in sculpture and painting on the inside walls depicting divine beings and other personages.

A noteworthy discovery is the statue of 'Ammyad Shukaymim' carved out of alabaster stone in the round. This statue resembles very much a Buddha image. We have already referred to the inscription on the pedestal of this statue and compared it with the name of the Buddha Shakya-Muni.

Several other statues like this one in more or less worn out state have also been discovered from ancient Himyante Kingdom of South Arabia dating from pre-Christian centuries up to the 6th century A.C. (cir: 115 B.C.-525 A.C.)

Ahymn to Allah by prophet Mohammed found in the Holy Quaran is an echo of the famous stanza in praise of Bhagavat Buddha referred to above (supra.n.39) This verse which Mohammed himself is traditionally reported to have declared equal in value to two thirds of the Quran. It is translated as follows:

"He is Allah, one Allah, eternal. He brought not both, nor hath he been brought forth, co-equal with him there hath never been any one". Furthermore, there are ninety nine appellations to Allah. This reminds a Buddhist of the Buddha's nine appellations called "Nava Arahadi Buduguna".

The chapters of Holy Quaran are called 'Surah' which is quite identical with the Buddhist term Sutra (Sutta) for chapters or separate sermons or for the entire Buddhist Sutta Pitaka.

The practice of worship with circumabulation of sacred objects of shrines in Islam has its origin in early Buddhism in the practice of "Pradaksina". This practice is said to have revived and re-instituted by Mohammed himself at such holy places like Sakhra in Jerusalem temple and Kabah Mecca temple.

The word 'Kabah' the name of the sacred shrine at Mecca reflects an original Buddhist term in it. That is 'kube' or 'tube' (from Stupa or thupa) used in every Buddhist country for the Buddhist relic mound (stupa, Thuap, tope, tepe) from Far-East to Central Asia and South Asia, e.g. Tope-i-Rustam, Adzina-tepe, Buddhist shrines discovered on the Silk-Route Uttarapatha.

In the present research study I have ventured to trace historical evidence based on literary and archaeological data to substantiate further our original hypothesis, that is, Buddhism was introduced to Middle-East and West-Asia (Arabia-Persia-Syria-Palestine-Israel, the Sinai Arabah in ancient documents, etc.) during the very lifetime of the Buddha.

In our attempt we have discussed only a bare fraction of the immense wealth of evidence that are at the disposal of the research scholar. Ours is however a humble attempt without much tools and facilities at our disposal and resources to further the accumulated knowledge gleaned from literary and archaeological and also art-historical sources.

We are sure with the opening of traffic for research scholars to these great seats of ancient cultural and religious wisdom, namely Arabia, Syrai, Israel, Palestine, Iran, Iraq, Egypt etc. and with the possession of modern tools of academic research, more light can be thrown on the hidden aspects of the original seats of establishment of the "Peaceful Doctrine (Saddharma) of our lord Sakyamuni Buddha the Boddo, the God and also to further the great and untiring efforts made by those early apostles of the Buddha hailed from Arabia and West Asia, the forefathers of the present day Arabs, Jews and the Persians, to propagate and preserve the 'Good Norm'. the Good News Saddharma, Zad Sparam of the Buddha for the weal and welfare of the entire humanity.

Dead Sea Scrolls

We wish to add a further note regarding the original site that we have identified with the story of Punna Thera, that is the region around the 'Sea of Arabah' or 'Dead Sea' in Palestine where scholars have yielded some very valuable documentary evidence known as the "Dead Sea Scrolls" as far back as the early fifties of the present century.

It is very unfortunate that these scrolls, now given the name or acronym 'MMT' (Miqsat Ma'ase Ha-Torah) are kept in the dark for nearly half a century from the academic world, by those Jewish-Hebrew academics into whose hands these valuable religious documents of a sect of ancient cave dwelling eramites, have finally fallen. MMT critics say that "many of the mysteries of the MMT are far from solved".

We now suspect and our suspicion is not without justification, that these ancient documents from Dead-Sea cave temple sites have also something to do with original Buddhist missionary activities conducted by the pioneer Jewish, Arab, Buddhist monk, the noble Thera Ven. Punna.

A fascicule of these scrolls termed MMT, edited by Jewish Hebrew scholars, has caused much disharmony among research scholars. This shows that there is something 'fishy' about the manner how these documents are handled and the way how the results of their studies are divulged.

Some even have gone into litigation to rectify the damage caused to scholarship by those who claim to be the custodians of these so called MMT or Dead Sea Scrolls.

These ancient documents speak of a leader or teacher of righteousness, who is the head of the eramites of the Qumron group of caves. This teacher of the Qumron group was addressing his adversary, the Wicked priest of Jerusalem.

The editors of these documents say: "we really don't know who is speaking and who is being addressed".

However we may add those that, who have followed our arguments placed in this research paper, would not find it difficult to identify who are the Sectarian MMT and their adversary the wicked priest or priests of Jerusalem.

Another statement of the modern editors is as follows: "The third section of the MMT states that, "we have separated ourselves from the multitude of the people", but it is uncertain whether this recalls a separation of the Qumron Sectarians from the mainstream Judaism as represented by the temple authorities in Jerusalem or some internecine dispute with the sect itself. It is not even, entirely clear that the 'they' group and the 'You' group are the same.

According to our researches given in the present study the reader will not find it difficult to identify who these two groups are, the 'they' and the 'you' groups.

We may add emphatically that the 'they' group represents the wicked Jewish priests of Jerusalem who relentlessly opposed the Peshitta-Alaha 'we' group of the Sinai (Essene) Buddhist patriarchs.

However the modern editors have, got a remarkable guess in regard to the 'we' sect when they say: 'In some ways they look like Essenes", thus giving a final approval, as it were to our thesis.

Therefore we take this opportunity to request very kindly from the Jewish academics and those Israeli authorities who keep the 'Dead Sea Scrolls' under their safe custody, still as a secret from the world at large, to release these documents in publications for the benefit of scholars and students of the world over, who are keen to know the truth and the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Original Buddhist texts

Because of the remarkable research study of the Maha Thera Ven. Dr. Paravahara Pannananda, the Chancellor of the Ruhunu University of Sri Lanka, quoting from original Buddhist texts, 'On the establishment of the Buddha's peaceful religion in Arabia, "we were enticed to do further research.

All that we have discovered subsequently and presented in this brief study, are a result of this new light thrown on a so far hidden aspect of 'West Asian religious history' by the Ven. Maha Thera I am indeed beholden to him, who is also my Guru and Spiritual Advisor.

(Concluded)