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Neko's avatar

Let me add one more example of cultural confluence - omphaloskepsis. The instructions for that always struck me as a somewhat misinterpreted reading of an account of samatha practice. I.e. sit on a low seat, observe the rising and falling of your breath at the naval, etc. And this stuff didn't stop in Greece. It undoubtably also made its way into Orthodox Christianity by way of the Neoplatonists. If you want to really piss off an orthobro, tell him that his hesychasm is basically a bastardized version Buddhist meditation with perhaps even a bit of Tibetan ngondro thrown in for good measure!

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Salahuddin Costa's avatar

Great article!

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Assa Brown's avatar

Great article; Ajahn Sona the Abbot of Birkin Forest Monastery has done great research into the influence of Persian and Greek cultures on Buddhism. Centuries later Xuan Zang writes about this influence in his, Record of the western regions.

I wholeheartedly agree with your summing up. 🙏

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Joycemar Tejo's avatar

Great text. The multipolarity we pursue should not be "segregacionist" or "excludent", on the contrary. Knowledge traditions must converge and interact for the good of mankind.

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Klaus Hubbertz's avatar

Thank you so much for this elucidating article !!!

👍👍👍 🔥🔥🔥 🌋🌋🌋 💥💥💥

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