Connections with buddhism?

[Grey]

Druidism. Often during discussions it is said that the path of druidism is that of enlightenment. That study and communing with nature, finding yourself and understanding as much as you can are all major parts of it. This search for understanding and being close with nature/the universe seems very much like the path of buddhism, but with a bent towards self teaching rather than being taught by a previous master.

Whats your take on this?

[grnpuffer]

Druidism. Often during discussions it is said that the path of druidism is that of enlightenment. That study and communing with nature, finding yourself and understanding as much as you can are all major parts of it. This search for understanding and being close with nature/the universe seems very much like the path of buddhism

It depends on what druidism means by enlightenment. if you mean union with nature, uh, I would have to say maybe not.

But there is a peculiar connection that I've never understood. I've heard various linguists and historians talk about the origin and evolution of indo-european languages. The closest languages to sanskrit are ancient languages from ireland (or was it scottland?) and an isolated area within Iran. I've never been able to get my head around how that might have happened. However if it's true, AND the people understood the implications, there might be an interesting story to investigate. Sanskrit is important because it's a mystical language- literrally the language of the subtle body.

[Ladyvi]

huh !!!?

interesting. been meaning to pick up buddhism to study it.. but havnt had the time or resources.. perhaps i should think about it again. i know that there is a circle of stones not unlike that of stone henge close to the buddhism center in nepal.. it is said that it was used for communication purposes. even conjectured it was used for teleportation at one time.. perhaps the two spoke to each other.

[Phi]

I don't have the book with me on this trip, but there was frequent mention of the Indo-European connection of the Celtic to the Hindu in A Brief History of the Druids by Peter Beresford Ellis. Not necessarily Buddhism, but with ancient Hindu beliefs and the seeming corelations with some ancient European Celtic practices and some word roots as well.
The author here seems to be making connection of ancient pan-European Celtic culture with the Indian culture.

Also information that there were settlements in Galatia and other Middle East locations of Celtic families that may have followed mercenary Celtic warrior groups, leading to some interaction and give and take between the cultures of those regions and the Celts.

[Grey]

Well I do know that the ghobi dessert, the one placed right above tibet and china and surrounded by a mountain range, is supposedly home to people that have a large amount of celtic blood. It shows itself in people that look otherwise indian but have blue eyes and/or red/blonde hair. Supposedly when the other tribes went west some went east and settled their until they eventually were bread into the hindu population that came north later. There was a documentarty about it on the history channel a couple of months back.

[Phi]

Very interesting!

Also I read recently that the ancient Volcae might be considered Celtic tribes as well, though I have not found additional corroboration of that. There is speculation that the Vlachs found in northern areas of Greece and the Wallachians of Romania are decendants too.

There is said to be an isolated group of Vlachs in the mountainous regions that are primarily redheads with blue eyes. Sorry I don't have full reference info, but it was an Encyclopaedia Brittanica article in an old edition on the Vlachs. I can look it up when I get back to my home.

Interesting note here, that the Vlach language of the Vlachs of northern Greece has been used for centuries or longer, is still spoken, and that the Greek government has been trying for a long time to eradicate it. Any other info on these people from other sources? Has the Vlach language been compared to any known Celtic or related (such as Basque, Brittanic?) Or has it become nearly entirely slavic, as these Volcae people were overrun by Slavs in early times.

Anybody learning Vlach to try to help save a dying language that is under attack? Just curious.
:hmmmmm:

[Ladyvi]

the book i mentioned is called tracing our ancestors.. unfortunately a very dry read. but thats where the blurb about stone henge and the stone circle up near nepal.

[grnpuffer]

I don't have the book with me on this trip, but there was frequent mention of the Indo-European connection of the Celtic to the Hindu in A Brief History of the Druids by Peter Beresford Ellis. Not necessarily Buddhism, but with ancient Hindu beliefs and the seeming corelations with some ancient European Celtic practices and some word roots as well.


Hi Phi
Thanks for the reference.
Not to jump on Grey's original post, but I'm really curious about this....
Have any sense if the Hindu and Celtic interpretation of enlightenment and universal cosmology developed in a parallel manner?

Hi Grey
As far as a connection with buddhism- I tried to upload the class notes (not mine) from a class that details cosmology from the view point of tibetan buddhism- I have no idea if the upload worked. It talks about different realms and the bardo and how time works. As I don't know anything about Druid cosmology I'm afraid I can't comment on the similarities (tho I'm really hopping to learn from the folks on this list). If you're bent on following it up ... the web link to the information is www.world-view.org. Click around to the online classes and go to class #8. The class notes are in the course documentation. You can also download the audio of the lectures for free. As far as descriptions of mind states related to enlightenment, I'll have to hunt around because it's sort of all over the place. Let me know ifyou want that.

[Tangerines]

The Hardcore Zen site in my signature is a good resource on Soto Zen Buddhism; just remember that Zen tries to reject a lot of the ceremony and whatnot of other sects (while there are plenty of rituals, more and more practitioners of Zen are considering them to be unnecessary).

[Pol]

Just replying to the first post:

Well, there are many forms of buddhism. It's not exactly a path. In fact, it's more like a sidewalk that may run along with any path. There are also many religions that practice enlightenment that are not Buddhist. I guess it has a lot in common with many things.

[Ron]

Druidism. Often during discussions it is said that the path of druidism is that of enlightenment. That study and communing with nature, finding yourself and understanding as much as you can are all major parts of it. This search for understanding and being close with nature/the universe seems very much like the path of buddhism, but with a bent towards self teaching rather than being taught by a previous master.

Whats your take on this?
The word "druid" comes from Derwydd (Cymraeg aka Welsh Language) litterally meaning oaken-seer... (Derw = Oaken). The word "buddha" means "enlightened one". I see them different by definition -- as different and intertwineable as Wicca and Wiccecraeft.