The Buddha from Babylon

[plwk]

The Lost History and Cosmic Vision of Siddhartha Gautama

After reading the excerpts from this link, I have no idea on what to make out of it.
Maybe, those of you who have bought/read this book or the excerpts do?

[DNS]

Sounds like a fiction book, although it may be portrayed otherwise. I'd guess Herman Hesse's classic had more non-fiction in it than this one.

[Malcolm]

The Lost History and Cosmic Vision of Siddhartha Gautama

After reading the excerpts from this link, I have no idea on what to make out of it.
Maybe, those of you who have bought/read this book or the excerpts do?

I see, so this is reverse of the Lost Jesus in India trope, i.e. the Lost Buddha in the Middle-East.

[Mkoll]

Looks like it's supposed to be non-fiction. I'd guess the main thrust is along the lines of New Age syncretism, but this is just speculation.

From the Amazon product page:

The sudden death of the Persian Emperor in 522 BCE is one of history’s great mysteries. Was his demise self-inflicted, accidental, an assassination, or due to natural causes?

The author contends that during this incident Siddhartha Gautama may have been the leader of Babylon's Magi, an interfaith order that assumed governance of the region. The situation exploded when Darius the Great seized the throne. Simultaneously the Magi Order was purged as Siddhartha, prince of the Saka nation headed back east to the Indus.

Could this event have inspired the creation of Buddhism as a pacifist movement dedicated to the pursuit of self-transformation, goodwill, and universal compassion?

The Buddha from Babylon: The Lost History and Cosmic Vision of Siddhartha Gautama uncovers new evidence that solves this age-old mystery and discovers Babylonian influences in the Buddha's revelations.

[tonycr46]

"Sounds like"..."Looks like"

Have any of you really looked into the book, let alone read it?

http://bit.ly/1Iez3ix

http://bit.ly/1Iez6uJ

These might be a couple places to start.

Also, the book is available to their members on http://www.scribd.com.

BTW, I have no connection to the book, the author or the publisher other than liking to see a bit of fairness. In fact, I just found out about this book a few days ago. I found this site while doing some research into it. Something others might want to do prior to jumping to conclusions.

[Caodemarte]

It is labeled an "alternative biography," like science fiction's alternative history so it is being marketed as fiction.