Greek Buddhism (video)

Opensourcebuddhism.org, Wisdom Quarterly
(Open Source Buddhism) Mike Watters through Professor Rev. Dr. James Kenneth Powell II

Buddhism was a beloved Greek/Bactrian/Scythian tradition influencing the Dharma and toga-sporting depictions of the Buddha as East met West in Alexander's expansive Indo-Greek empire, which encompassed parts of northwest frontier India (Gandhara, Afghanistan, Indus River valley).

This detailed study of the intriguing interactions of the ancient Greeks, Indians, and Buddhists as greater Greece became a major conduit of communication.

Greek Skeptics and Stoics were greatly influenced by their connections with Buddhism, but not the Cynics. Diogenes was certainly a Buddhist man in the West. The contrast between his view and that of Socrates and Plato is well articulated. He is far more in agreement with the Buddha than the others.

Watters' chronicle of the origins and development of the Alexandrian then Ashokan civilizations is concise yet replete with details. The travels of the two Greek Dharmaraksitas is a fascinating revelation following Greco-Buddhism to Sri Lanka.

The study of King Menander (Milinda) pushes home how Buddhism took root in Central Asia and the philosopher-monk Nagasena's arguments in Greek court were historically pivotal.

Buddhism is Sufism (Central Asia)

Historical Sketch of Buddhism and Islam...
Dr. Alexander Berzin (with archeological information by Sergei Sokolov)

Ancient India's influence reached deep into the west, and the Buddhism there spread throughout ancient Greece and Russia, eventually seeding Christianity.

Buddhism and Islam

Throughout the region [Russia, Central Asia, the New-istans], there are many indications of cultural borrowing between Buddhism and Islam. For instance, Kazakh Sufis not only believe in rebirth, but also identify reincarnations of past Sufi masters like the Tibetan and Mongol Buddhists do of their teachers.

The Sufis build shrines as graves for their masters, circumambulate them and light butter lamps, reminiscent of Buddhist practices around stupas of deceased masters.

Sufi meditation includes recitation of the Islamic equivalent of "mantras," often combined with breathing cycles, as well as visualization of the[ir] Prophet and spiritual masters.

Parthia and Bactria [Iran and Afghanistan]
Historically, Buddhism was found in all five former Soviet Central Asian Republics that constitute West Turkistan: Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan.

It initially spread in the first century BCE from Gandhara (modern Pakistan) and Afghanistan to the kingdoms of Parthia [1] and Bactria. Turkmenistan and northeastern Iran constituted the Kingdom of Parthia; while southern Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and northern Afghanistan constituted the kingdom of Bactria [2].

Sogdia
Buddhism spread to Sogdia [3] in central Uzbekistan and northwestern Tajikistan mostly from Bactria. The sixth century Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang (Hsüan-tsang) reported two huge Buddhist monasteries at the Sogdian capital at Samarkand.

(qwiki.com)

Western Turk Empire
In the seventh century, when the Turkic people from Mongolia conquered most of Central Asia, Buddhism spread from the Sogdians and from Kashgar/Khotan in southern East Turkistan to the Taraz (Talas) River valley in southern Kazakhstan and the Chu River valley in northern Kyrgyzstan.... These regions constituted parts of the Western Turk Empire [4].

In the eighth century when Tibet ruled East Turkistan, the Tibetans also occupied eastern Kyrgyzstan, bringing with them early Tibetan Buddhism. [5]

Although Islam came to the southern part of these Central Asian republics in the ninth and tenth centuries, and to the northern part in the eleventh, Buddhism was not totally eliminated in the north.

Islam was always weak there and mixed with shamanism and even Buddhism. The main form of Islam throughout the region has always been Sufism [which many today treat as if it were a form of Buddhism, and Rumi a Buddhist, recognizing many similarities], a non-doctrinal sect that emphasizes meditation and a community of highly devoted practitioners living around a master. More

• A Buddhist Library: The Soul of Rumi (Sufism)
• People of Kyrgyzstan overthrow government
• Energy-Boosting Supplements: Myths and Facts

Sufism in Buddhist Bangladesh

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Sufism versus Islam (Iranian.com)
Gold, silver coins to be legal tender in Utah
Democracy in Kyrgyzstan (PRI's The World, June 7, 2011)

BERZIN ARCHIVES
Buddhism and Islam in East Turkistan
The Historical Context: Buddhism and Islam
Buddhism and Islam in Afghanistan