Did Buddhism Influence Greek Stoicism?

Greek Reporter ^ | August 14, 2024 | Thanos Matanis

[nickcarraway]

Both Buddhism and Stoicism emphasize self-control, ethical living, and the attainment of a passionless state. However, the Indian philosophy predated Stoicism by about 500 years. Did Buddhism influence Greek Stoicism and thought, and, if so, how did it do so a continent away?

Similarities between Stoicism and Buddhism: A shared path to inner peace Practitioners of Stoicism and Buddhism deeply understand life’s impermanence and the need to overcome desires. The philosophies teach mental discipline and detachment from external circumstances as paths to inner peace. In Stoicism, “apatheia” means freedom from emotional disturbance, closely mirroring Buddhism’s “nirvana,” the liberation from suffering.

Both suggest that true tranquility comes from mastering one’s mind and emotions rather than external conditions. They also emphasize ethical living as a cornerstone of their teachings. Stoics strive to live according to nature and reason, while Buddhists follow the Dharma. Wisdom and self-mastery are central to both philosophies, leading to a life in harmony with the natural order and freedom from unnecessary suffering.

These similarities suggest that, despite cultural differences, both philosophies developed a shared approach to the attainment of inner peace and wisdom. Could Buddhism have influenced Stoicism?

Alexander the Great’s encounters with Buddhism Alexander the Great’s campaigns (334-323 BC) spread Greek influence into Central Asia, where Buddhism was already present. During this time, the Macedonian established Greek-style cities throughout his empires to blend Greek and Eastern culture. Part of his method included bringing Greek philosophers with him to interact with foreign ways of thinking. One such philosopher, Pyrrho of Elis, traveled with Alexander the Great to the East.

Grecian Delight supports Greece Beckwith’s 2015 Greek Buddha argues that Pyrrho’s encounters with Indian philosophers profoundly shaped his philosophical outlook. Pyrrho’s later establishment of the philosophical school of Skepticism, which emphasized doubt and the suspension of judgment, bears striking resemblances to Buddhist teachings on the unreliability of sensory perceptions and impermanence of the material world.

The Influence of Pyrrho’s Skepticism on Stoicism The influence of Pyrrho’s Skepticism on Stoicism is supported by such developments as the Stoic adoption of the concept of “apatheia” or emotional detachment. According to Beckwith, this concept, first espoused by Pyrrho, becomes a central tenet of Stoicism, which in turn, learned such ideas from Indian philosophers.

Beckwith’s analysis suggests that Pyrrho’s engagement with proto-Buddhist ideas could have been a conduit through which these Eastern philosophies entered and influenced Stoic thought. The emphasis on inner tranquility and the rejection of external disturbances in Stoicism mirrors the Buddhist approach to achieving enlightenment through mental discipline and detachment from worldly concerns.

Ashoka the Great and the spread of Buddhism to the Greek world Not long after Alexander’s death, Ashoka the Great (268-232 BC), himself likely part Greek, inherited cities populated by large swathes of Greeks, previously held by Alexander’s generals.

After converting to Buddhism, Ashoka promoted the Dharma (Buddha’s teachings) far beyond his empire, even reaching the Hellenistic world. According to his edicts that were written on polished rock, his efforts to spread Buddhism included sending emissaries to Greek-speaking regions. However, his emissaries have not been documented in Greco-Roman sources.

Despite the lack of Greco-Roman corroboration of Ashoka’s missionaries to the Mediterranean, Indian sources purport the existence of Greek Buddhists in Asia.

Greek Buddhists and the Mauryan Kingdom Among the evidence of Greek Buddhists in Asia is Ashoka’s Edicts written in proficient Greek. This suggests that there were Greek Buddhists in his empire at the time the edicts were written.

Historian Seldeslachts argues in The Final Frontier that significant numbers of Greeks converted to Buddhism during Ashoka’s reign. Buddhist literature records Yonaka (Greek) monks such as Dhammarakkhita who were responsible for spreading the message to their countrymen.

After the decline of Ashoka’s Mauryan Empire, Seldeslachts argues that the Greek monk, Dhammarakkhita, likely joined the Greco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek kingdoms, where Greek culture flourished in the heart of Asia.

Ai Khanoum: A Greek city transmitting Buddhism to Greece? Dhammarakkhita would have found a quintessentially Greek city and a Greek-speaking population. Findings from Ai-Khanoum, including Delphic inscriptions on a tomb, show a strong connection to the Mediterranean well after the decline of Alexander’s empire.

According to the inscription, the person who wrote the inscriptions was Clearchus, likely the Greek philosopher who, according to historians, traveled to the lofty valleys of Northwest India towards the start of the 3rd Century BC.

If it was Clearchus who wrote the inscription, it is likely he would have exchanged ideas with locals, including Greco-Buddhists who were likely converted by Dhammarakkhita. This may be further evidence of Buddhism’s influence on Greek philosophers, but it remains speculative.

At the very least, Clearchus’ inscription suggests that Ai-Khanoum was not isolated from the Mediterranean. Ai-Khanoum’s Greco-Buddhists may then have had some contact and even influence over philosophical thought in Greece.

Did Buddhism influence Greek Stoicism? The evidence supporting Buddhism’s influence on ancient Greeks is compelling, especially considering historical interactions between Greek and Indian philosophers during and after Alexander the Great’s campaigns.

The similarities between Stoic and Buddhist teachings, the documented conversion of Greeks in Asia and their connection to the Mediterranean, and the influence of Pyrrho’s Indian-inspired thought on Stoicism suggest that these two great philosophical cultures were not isolated. Scholars such as Beckwith are convinced that Indian thought influenced Stoicism. However, he isn’t without his detractors.

Despite this ambiguity, exploring these connections gives us a deeper understanding of how ideas traveled across continents and how connected the ancient world actually was.

[mairdie]

Fascinating. Thanks.

[mairdie]

And on a different note of Alexander the Great, there’s his diary of his campaign found in an attic.

“Journal of Alexander the Great” by Henry Livingston (1793)

New-York Magazine; or, Literary Repository
Journal of an Asiatic Expedition
Vol. IV No. II; Feb 1793; p.98; by R

https://youtu.be/ByGN29_5VRQ

[waterhill]

Buddha is dead, Jesus is risen..

[waterhill]

I knew this dude, he was crazy. But I loved him:

Billy Joe Shaver
https://youtu.be/1n57WBtvtC4?si=sW7wu9RZhrraQURz

[waterhill]

Oops, that was pat. I love her.

Billy Joe:https://youtu.be/psvV10pohMw?si=xad4R94oAkQsiBrg

I was there. Ed and I were pals.

[Fai Mao]

There are far more differences than similarities.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

I remember reading something about this decades ago in LIFE magazine. They showed a small statue of Buddha that resembled Alexander the Great.

[waterhill]

God used Alexander the Queer for Christianity. Take it or leave it.

[ThanhPhero]

We now know there were Buddhists in Anatolia during the Byzantine era and before and there were Buddhists scattered about in central Asia and points west back to 300 BC or so. Recent discoveries in Egypt are Buddhist statuettes from the time of Alexander and the early Ptolomeys

[Candor7]

Very interesting piece.

"Did Buddhism Influence Greek Stoicism?"

It sure did, thanks to Ashoka Maharaja, one of the ancestral sovereigns of the Kingdom of Shambhala,the others being China's Yung Lo,Japan's Shotoku Taishi, and Tibet's Gesar of Ling. Ashoka prosecuted horrible wars, which resulted in thousands of deaths and horrible blood baths.He was so abhorred by thehuman suffering that he renounced war and created an empire based upon enlightened principles.

These principles were inscribed on stone columns set up across India.

One of Ashoka's Columns:

Ashoka Maharaja:

Pillar Edicts of Ashoka in English

[BuddhaBrown]

“Buddha is dead...”

I’m just pining for the fjords.

[waterhill]

“I’m just pining for the fjords”

Me too

[waterhill]

Buddha is still deas

[FormerFRLurker]

Very interesting read, thanks.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks nickcarraway.

• 1st-century Buddha statue from ancient Egypt indicates Buddhists lived there in Roman times [01/15/2024]

[SunkenCiv]

https://search.brave.com/search?q=indian+statuette+found+in+pompeii

[SunkenCiv]

Description of a crystal or glass pavilion, murals in stucco, wall painting and life-like sculpture in Manimekalai are proof of Mediterranean influence in India. This is confirmed by literary allusion to numerous Greeks in India identified as Yavana from Yavanapura or Alexandria. The Greek connection apparently included Pompeii, where an ivory statuette in early Buddhist style was recovered from a merchant's house on the "via dell' Abbondanza". [Arputhrani Sengupta, Associate Professor, Dept. of History of Art, National Museum Institute, New Delhi, India, "Narrative in Tamil Epic (Second Century AD): Transmission of Myth"] (fig.8) Goddess Manimekala-Isis-Aphrodite in Sanchi style, Pompeii, 1 st century AD Arputhrani Sengupta (Associate Professor, Dept. of History of Art, National Museum Institute, New Delhi, India)

[antceecee]

Bookmark! Thank you for sharing!

[OKSooner]

How?