Student Enrolment, Question #10 (In Part):

"BUDDHISM IS 35,000 YEARS OLD..."

Some say that Buddhism cannot be that old (35,000 years old) because the Buddha
(Sidrata Gautama) lived between c.563 BCE or c.480 BCE. This (according to them)
would make Buddhism only 2414+ years old (from the date of that writing [1934].
Is Buddhism really only 2414 years old (based on the death of Buddha)? Or is Bud
dhism much, much older than that (or as the Lessons say, 35,000 years old)?
Consider the following info:
"Buddhism **WAS MUCH OLDER THAN GAUTAMA, or SAKHYA-MUNI, THE BUDDHA** of the Cey
lonese records. He was only one of its prophets. A passage in the Raja Taringini
, a religious history of Kashmir, translated by Mr. Turnour, shows (for it plain
ly has this meaning) that in China, Thibet, and Nepal, ***"SIX ARHATAS, OR MORTA
L PREDECESSORS OF GAUTAMA" (BUDDHA), ARE RECOGNIZED; and this accords with the f
act that the Jainas, whose religious system originated in Buddhism celebrate Kas
yapa, one of these predecessors, as their great prophet, claiming that the Buddh
ist themselves followed him before Gautama appeared." ("Prehistoric Nations"; pg
. 254-255)
Also,
"Eugene Burnouf...recognized the antiquity of this system of religion by speakin
g of Sakhya-Muni as "the last of the seven human Buddhas of whom tradition has p
reserved recollections." ***BUDDHISM WAS THE GROWTH OF MANY AGES PRECEDING THAT
IN WHICH SAKHYA-MUNI APPEARED.*** It's system of doctrine and practice *WAS COMP
LETELY DEVELOPED BEFORE HIS TIME,*** and this fact explains why the various Budd
hist sects have differed and disputed so much concerning the date of his appeara
nce." (Ibid., p. 255)
Interesting!