Amitabha, also known as Dharmakara

vispassana- insight into the nature of reality

egoism is the key to misery...

East meets West

Hellenism and the Indus

courtesy of -wiki-

Alexander in Afghanistan and India

In 326 BC Alexander the Great conquered the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent as far as the Hyphasis River, and established satrapies as well as several cities, such as Bucephala, until his troops refused to go further east. The Indian satrapies of the Punjab were left to the rule of Porus and Taxiles, who were confirmed again at the Treaty of Triparadisus in 321 BC, and remaining Greek troops in these satrapies were left under the command of general Eudemus. Sometime after 321 Eudemus toppled Taxiles, until he left India in 316 BC. Another general also ruled over the Greek colonies of the Indus: Peithon, son of Agenor, until his departure for Babylon in 316 BC.

In 305 BC, Seleucus I led an army to the Indus, where he encountered Chandragupta. The confrontation ended with a peace treaty, and "an intermarriage agreement" (Epigamia, Greek: Επιγαμια), meaning either a dynastic marriage or an agreement for intermarriage between Indians and Greeks. Accordingly, Seleucus ceded to Chandragupta his northwestern territories, possibly as far as Arachosia and received 500 war elephants (which played a key role in the victory of Seleucus at the Battle of Ipsus):

"The Indians occupy in part some of the countries situated along the Indus, which formerly belonged to the Persians: Alexander deprived the Ariani of them, and established there settlements of his own. But Seleucus Nicator gave them to Sandrocottus in consequence of a marriage contract, and received in return five hundred elephants."

—Strabo 15.2.1(9)

Alexander conquered land in Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, not to mention Iran, Syria, and the Balkans coast. The Seleucids, successor kingdom of Alexanders would go on to rule the area between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Regions of the Indian sub continent. It would then gain Independence from the Persian influenced Seleucid and be run as the Greco-Bactria Kingdom. Finally, the Mauryan empire would invade and begin to form what we know today as modern India, pre-Islamic invasion.

"Yona" is a Pali word used in ancient India to designate Greek speakers. Its equivalent in Sanskrit, Telugu and Tamil is the word "Yavana". "Yona" and Yavana are both transliterations of the Greek word for "Ionians" (Homer Iāones, older *Iāwones), who were probably the first Greeks to be known in the East. In Telugu another word "Yavanika", means drama stage, an invention brought by Hellenistic people. "Yunani", likewise, means medicine from Greeks.

Hadda is a Greco-Buddhist archaeological site located in Afghanistan.

Arhat (Sanskrit) or arahant (Pali), in the sramanic traditions of ancient India (most notably those of Jainism and Buddhism), signified a spiritual practitioner who had – to use an expression common in the tipitaka – "laid down the burden", realising the goal of nirvana, the culmination of the spiritual life (brahmacarya).

ethics of reciprocity = the golden rule

Testament Deuterocanonical books of Tobit and Sirach accepted as part of the Scriptural canon by Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and the Non-Chalcedonian Churches also expressed as the Silver Rule.

Tobit 4:15 "Do to no one what you yourself dislike."

Sirach 31:15 "Recognize that your neighbor feels as you do, and keep in mind your own dislikes."

Gospel

Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. (mathew 7:12)

And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. (Luke 6:31)

And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. (Luke 10:25-28)

Confucius

Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself. analects xv. 24 (V.13, VI30)

Anusasana Parva, Section CXIII, Verse 8

One should never do that to another which one regards as injurious to one’s own self. This, in brief, is the rule of dharma. Other behavior is due to selfish desires. (Brihaspati, Mahabharata)

Muhammad

Hurt no one so that no one may hurt you. (The Farewell Sermon)

Jainism

Nothing which breathes, which exists, which lives, or which has essence or potential of life, should be destroyed or ruled over, or subjugated, or harmed, or denied of its essence or potential.

In support of this Truth, I ask you a question - "Is sorrow or pain desirable to you ?" If you say "yes it is", it would be a lie. If you say, "No, It is not" you will be expressing the truth. Just as sorrow or pain is not desirable to you, so it is to all which breathe, exist, live or have any essence of life. To you and all, it is undesirable, and painful, and repugnant (Acaranga Sutra)

Sikhism (Guru Granth Sahib)

Whom should I despise since the one lord made us all. (Var Sarang)

The truly enlightened ones are those who neither incite fear in others nor fear anyone themselves. (Slok)

Taoism

Regard your neighbor's gain as your own gain, and your neighbors loss as your own loss (T'ai Shang Kan Ying P'ien)