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Christianity, no doubt, brought about many good things to the world, especially Jesus’ teaching of love and nonviolence.

But its becoming the official religion of the Roman Empire led to the marginalization and the demise of the deep philosophy that had been developed by the ancient Greek and Roman thinkers who preceded Christianity.

Unfortunately, a lot of what these thinkers wrote disappeared, because of the passing of time and because of the deliberate attempt to erase all pre-Christian thought—and sometimes even early Christian thought—that contradicted the official doctrine or was seen as dangerous by the religious authorities of the time.

In spite of this, what reached us shows amazing depth and wisdom, with ideas and concepts that are in some cases close to Buddhist, Hindu, and even Taoist ideas. Whether this is a coincidence or the Greeks were indeed influenced by Asian thought is not clear, but it is known that exchanges of various types did occur between Asia and Mediterranean Europe. For example, we know that the Greek philosopher Democritus travelled as far as India.

To start with, many Greek philosophers believed in reincarnation (which they called metempsychosis), such as Pythagoras, Empedocles, and even Plato. On the other hand, the goal of Neoplatonism was reaching ecstasy (samadhi/jhana) in order to merge with the One (Brahman/Nirvana). There were also philosophers, notably the Cynics, who by choice lived in utter poverty, like Buddhist Theravada monks or Hindu sadhus, believing that was the best way to avoid attachments and desires and be really free.

But let me list just a few quotes written by some of the ancient Greek philosophers that seem to me to be close to Buddhist (often overlapping with Hinduist) and Taoist ideas:

1. “The One is everything.” (Xenophanes)

Also Melissus believed that this Being identifies itself with the whole universe. This idea is similar to that of Brahman, the Universal Soul, or the Tao.

2. “Long ago nature condemned both my judges and myself to death.” (Anaxagoras)

We all have to die one day, so why fret about it?

3. “Hot and cold were separated off from the Eternal.” (Anaximander)

Hot and cold are like ying and yang.

4. “The opposites own their existence to their enemies.” (Anaxagoras)

The “enemies” here are to be understood as yang versus yin, and yin versus yang. There cannot be one without the other; there cannot be joy without sadness, or health without illness.

5. “The best among plots is formed by the opposites, and all things arise out of contention.” (Heraclitus)

Sometimes yang takes over, sometimes yin, in succession. After war, there is peace, after peace war; after the dark there is light, and after the light, it gets dark again.

6. “Love and strife alternately dominate the world.” (Empedocles)

The succession of yin and yang again.

7. “Everything flows.” (Heraclitus)

This quote highlights impermanence; everything changes continuously. Impermanence is one of the Buddhist three marks of existence.

8. “We have to tend towards being, not appearing.” (Euclid from Megara)

The opposite of what many people do to this day. We should not worry about what people think of us.

9. “If you wish to make Pythocles wealthy, don’t give him more money; rather, reduce his desires.” (Epicurus)

The doctrine of desire/attachment as the cause of our unhappiness is central to Buddhism, but present in Hinduism and Taoism as well.

10. “Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.” (Epicurus)

Again attachment to our desires as the main cause of suffering.

11. “Those who are serene with themselves are serene with the others.” (Epicurus)

Before trying to change other people or the world, we have to start changing ourselves.

12. “Those who think less about tomorrow, set out for tomorrow with more pleasure.” (Epicurus)

Focusing on the now is also an important aspect of Buddhism. The past is no more and the future we just don’t know.

13. “If you grow fond of a pot, even knowing it is made of earth, complain not if it then breaks. In the same way, if you kiss your child, or your wife, say that you only kiss things which are human, and thus you will not be disturbed if either of them dies.” (Epictetus)

A bit pessimistic, but pointing again to impermanence in this world, and the importance of enjoying the moment we are in.

14. “The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are external not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control. Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable external, but within myself to the choices that are my own.” (Epictetus)

Basically, we have to let go of the things we cannot control. Being control-freaks is one of the causes of our suffering. If we cannot change things, we have to change our attitude toward them.

15. “Keep in mind that it isn’t the one who has it in for you and takes a swipe that harms you, but rather the harm comes from your own belief about the abuse. So when someone arouses your anger, know that it is really your own opinion fueling it.” (Epictetus)

Similarly to the previous quote, this is another Buddhist idea—the problem is always us, not the others; we are the ones who have to change. This is also related to the idea of the “second arrow” as explained in the Sallatha Sutta: the first arrow may cause physical pain and we cannot do anything about it, but the second arrow is just mental, the avoidable extra pain that we create out of fear inside our mind.

And these are but a few examples.

Unfortunately, the deep wisdom of these early philosophers is hardly known by most people today. The so-called West was in fact much more “Eastern” in those times, before monotheistic religions took over. A big pity, in my view.

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