Parallels

Jesus said, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of heaven.”

Buddha said, “Let us live most happily, possessing nothing; let us feed on joy like radiant devas.”

Jesus said, “If you wish to be perfect, go and sell all of your possessions and give all of your money to the poor so that you may have treasure in heaven.”

Buddha said, “The avaricious do not go to heaven, and the foolish do not extol charity.”

Jesus said, “Both heaven and earth shall pass away; however, the truth will last forever.”

Buddha said, “All of these heavens are temporary.”
Buddha said, “The truth abides forever” (Gospel of the Buddha).
Buddha said, “My doctrine is like unto fire which consumes all things that exist between heaven and earth, great and small.”

Jesus said, “I have cast fire upon the world, and see, I am guarding it until it blazes.” -Gnostic Thomas
Jesus said, “Blessed is he who came into being before he came into being” (Gnostic Thomas).
Jesus said, “Before Adam, I am.”

Buddha said, “You should not say the Tathagata is born; neither should you say that he is unborn” (Lankavatara).
Buddha said, “For limitless kalpas I have resided on the divine vulture peak as well as every other place in space” (Lotus).

Jesus said, “Turn over a stone and I am there” (Gospel Thomas).
Jesus said to them, “When you make the two one, and when you make the inside like the outside and the outside like the inside, and the above like the below, and when you make the male and the female one and the same, so that the male not be male nor the female female; and when you fashion eyes in the place of an eye, and a hand in place of a hand, and a foot in place of a foot, and a likeness in place of a likeness; then will you enter the kingdom” (Gnostic Thomas).

Buddha said, “He develops the base of power endowed with concentration founded on discrimination & the fabrications of exertion, thinking, ‘This discrimination of mine will be neither overly sluggish nor overly active, neither inwardly restricted nor outwardly scattered.’ He keeps perceiving what is in front and behind so that what is in front is the same as what is behind, what is behind is the same as what is in front. What is below is the same as what is above, what is above is the same as what is below. By night as by day, and by day as by night. By means of an awareness thus open & unhampered, he develops a brightened mind.”

Jesus said, “I tell you the truth; you have seen and believed but blessed are those who do not see me and believe.”

The Buddha said, “Perverted are those who see the Buddha in form” (Gospel of Buddha).

Jesus said, “Woe to those who have seen the Son of Man; blessed will they be who have not seen the man, and they who have not consorted with him, and they who have not spoken with him, and they who have not listened to anything from him; yours is life!” (Apocrypha of James).

Thomas said, “Teacher, teacher,” and Jesus replied,” I am not your teacher; rather, you are intoxicated from the well that I am tending” (Gnostic Gospel of Thomas).

Buddha said, “My teaching is like a raft to get you to the other side, when you get to the other side you must abandon your raft.”

Jesus said, “But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.”

Buddha said, “If I showed myself as constantly abiding, arrogance and selfishness overtake the wretched, abandoning restraint, they give themselves up to the five desires; however, when they see me as extinct they lay down good roots in their search for me” (Lotus sutra)

Jesus said, “The path is narrow, and few are chosen.”

Buddha said, “Wide is Indra’s net, and only a few birds escape.”

Jesus said, “This world is a bridge; do you build your house on a bridge?” (Gnostic Gospel of Thomas).

Buddha said, “All things are impermanent; therefore find the imperishable and make that your refuge.”

Jesus said, “The Kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘here it is’ or ‘there it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.”

“The Bodhisattva dwells deep in the sign less, and the non-dual” (Vimalakirti sutra).

Jesus said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.”

Then the Buddha admonished the monks of the monastery for their neglect and encouraged them to nurse the sick and care for the suffering. He concluded by saying, “Whosoever serves the sick and suffering, serves me” (Gospel of Buddha).

Jesus said, “Foxes have wholes and squirrels have nests, but the sun of man has no where to rest.”

Buddha said, “The mindful exert themselves, never delighting in a home they leave the household life like a king who leaves his country.”

Vimalakirti said, “The Bodhisattva’s never resting, tirelessly serving all equally.”

Jesus said, “Some who are the farthest from God, shall be the closest to God.”

Buddha said, “The Buddha neither favors the saint nor the sinner.” Buddha said, “Although a monk might be close to me, if he is not well restrained, he is far from me.”

Jesus said,” Not everyone who says to me, “teacher, teacher” shall enter the kingdom; rather those who do the will of the Father.”

Jesus said, “It is a sign of a wicked generation, if they ask for a sign.”

Buddha said, “In a place where there is something that can be distinguished by signs, in that place there is deception. If you can see the signless nature of signs, then you can see the Buddha.”

Vimalakirti said,” the Bodhisattva dwelling deep in the realm of the sign-less.”

The Buddha said, “He who extensively covets pleasures, fields, goods, or gold, cows, women, relations—sins will overpower him, dangers will crush him, and pain will follow him, just as water pours into a broken ship.”

Jesus said, “Beware! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.”
Jesus said, “Whoever has come to understand the world has found (only) a corpse, and whoever has found a corpse is superior to the world” (Gnostic Thomas).

Buddha said, “Yes Ananda, everything you see is a disease and a canker; however, your seeing essence that perceives this disease is utterly free from disease” (Surangama sutra).
The Buddha thought: “I have taught the truth, which is excellent in the beginning, excellent in the middle, and excellent in the end; it is glorious in its spirit and glorious in its letter. But simple as it is, the people cannot understand it. I must speak to them in their own language. I must adapt my thoughts to their thoughts. They are like unto children, and love to hear tales. Therefore, I will tell them stories to explain the glory of the Dharma. If they cannot grasp the truth in the abstract arguments by which I have reached it, they may nevertheless come to understand it, if it is illustrated in parables.”

Jesus said, “This is why I speak to them in parables: Through seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.”

Buddha said, “These Buddha sons will be seated close to me, beneath my seat” (Surangama).

Jesus said, “You will see me to the right of my Fathers throne.”
“Then the Earth shook and the rocks split” (Mathew 27:51 [so called death of Jesus]).

“The Earth shook in many ways” (Gospel of Buddha [on the Buddha’s Para nirvana])

“Pick up a stone, and I am there!” (Gnostic Gospel Thomas).

“Pervading all lands in space” (Avatamsaka sutra [repeated use of all-pervasive and uncreated]).

“For limitless kalpas I have resided on the divine vulture peak as well as every other place in space” (Lotus sutra).

The Buddha said, “All formations decay into their own roots.”

“All nature, all formations, all creatures exist in and with one another; they will be resolved again into their own roots” (Gospel of Thomas).

Jesus said, “For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away”

Buddha said,” Better than absolute sovereignty over the earth, better than lordship over all the worlds is the Fruit of a Stream-Winner.”