Buddhist-Meditation-Systematic-and-Practical

have been fully commented upon elsewhere, they will
receive only brief mention here. There are similarities
between the following: the parable of the two sons
(Luke 15:11-32) and the simile of the burning house
(Saddharmapundarika Sutra); the parable of the sower
(Mark 4:2-25) and farmer Bharadvaja (Sutta Nipata);
the parable of the blind men (Matthew 15:14) and the
string of blind men (Tevijja Sutta, i 15); and lastly, the
teaching of heavenly treasures (Matthew 6:19-20) is
paralleled by a verse from the Khuddakapatha.
John the Baptist's life and some of the sayings of Jesus
(on John see Mark 1:6, and on Jesus, Mark 6:8-9,
Matthew 10:9-10, Luke 9:3) point to Far Eastern
influence in Israel at that time which may have come in
by way of the Essenes, definitely a sect with Oriental
inspiration, though it would be difficult to say that this
was specifically Buddhist. The spirit here is certainly
different from the Old Testament prophets' teachings.
At that time, men worshipped "heaven-and-man"
Dharma and were not prepared for anything going
beyond this, so we should give serious consideration to
John 16:12, "I have yet many things to say unto you, but
ye cannot bear them now," which clearly indicates that
Jesus knew much more than he could tell his disciples,
and may point to the existence of an esoteric doctrine
secretly transmitted, as claimed by followers of the
Gnostic schools. Such "hidden teaching" could well
have been derived from India, where at that time
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