were inspired by Mahayana Buddhism, which started to flourish around the 1st Century BCE thru the 1st Century CE. Alexander the Great placed Greek philosophers in the court of King Menander, who established a Greco-Buddhist Culture. Some think that Greco-Buddhist thought influenced the Greek stoics. All of this history and Greek philosophy would have been known to the Roman elite in Palestine. And certainly Greco-Buddhist thought and practice would have travelled throughout the silk road routes in the Levant. Buddhism is not so much a religion, as it is a practice. Mahayana Buddhism is distinct from the earlier Hinayana Buddhism, which emphasized moralty and ethics. While Mahayana Buddhism emphasized compassion and wisdom. I won't go into the wisdom bit, except to say that it is seeing reality as it truly exists, and not as the delusions that we hold so dearly.
I'm not a Christian, but I know more about the real teachings of Jesus than many of these self-righteous fundamentalist yo-yos. It's really simple. Feed the poor, heal the sick, practice peace and love thy neighbor. Or to make it even more simple, practice the Goldden Rule. One doesn't need to believe in a God to practice the Golden Rule.
We as a country have lost our moral compass. It is my hope that this Trumpian episode will enable Americans to recognize that we are all of us connected, and that practicing the Golden Rule is ultimately in our own self interest.
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