Greco Buddhist art Puns

I'm not sure how many out there knew this, but thanks to the Greek conquests into the Middle East and beyond in the time of Alexander the Great, there was a short-lived Greek civilization west of India that we call Gandhara (corresponding to modern-day Pakistan), it is an incredibly important civilization for Buddhism and, especially, Tibetan Buddhism as it is credited as being the birthplace of one of the most important and foundational figures of that religion, Padmasambhava, who is sometimes called "the second Buddha."

It is thanks to Greco-Roman culture that Buddhism went from being aniconic to having statues of the Buddha. Prior to that influence, the Buddha was represented with a lotus flower, an empty throne, an eight-spoked wheel, etc. It was the Greeks of Gandhara that first depicted him in statue form and now Buddhist statues are a common sight across all Buddhist traditions.

Interestingly, Herakles was transferred over into Buddhism as one of the earliest Dharmapalas ("Dharma Protectors") and was named Vajrapani. His role was to protect the Buddha and he is shown in art wielding a club while standing close to the Buddha.

Unfortunately, the Gandharan civilization did not survive the Muslim invasions, and all of Buddhism was nearly wiped out because of them reaching far into India. We don't know what Greco-Buddhism could have become, but it's something I have been off-and-on obsessed with as a concept for many years (partially because my ancestry is Greco-Roman).

From time to time, people will wander into r/Buddhism and ask about "Buddhist pagans" and they often get some thoughtful responses. Though "Buddhist pagan" isn't a term I would use given the derogatory and inaccurate application of the term "pagan" when it comes to Hellenism.

I thought I would start this submission to reach out to you Hellenes and Hellenic-enthusiasts who might be curious or interested in this topic. I really don't know anything more than what I've outlined here, and I really love to imagine and speculate about how my fellow Mahayana Buddhists may have interpreted the Theoi and other Greek divinities. If the way Buddhism influenced indigenous Tibetan and Chinese spiritual traditions are any indication, I am certain that many would be considered Bodhisattvas, Buddhas, Dharmapalas, and other important figures. (I'm of the personal opinion that Aether is a cognate of the primordial Adi-Buddha, as an example.)

May this message find you all well!

༺ ཨོཾ་མ་ཎི་པདྨེ་ཧཱུྃ

so i was in an anthropology class and my teacher talked about the fact that many Native American groups have a circular view of time. this got me wondering about how the Greco-Roman religion does not seem to have a Ragnarok-like conclusion nor does it have a cyclical view of time like a lot faiths in the Vedic tradition.

so did the Greco-Roman world have an apocalypse and if not did Greco-Roman writers make any sort of predictions about their future

I'm interested in playing a game as Bactria or Kucha or somewhere and working towards becoming primarily Buddhist at some point. Is this possible at all? If it is, how do I go about pulling it off?

I'm doing a project for Art History and remembered Greco-Bactria. A really unique place. I saw such a statue in a documentary once and really need to find information on that statue.

If you think I would have better luck in a different sub, please show me the way.

Thanks!

There are tons of allusions to this, like Pyrrho and Alexander's other philosophers, but never mentions of specific texts actually from Afghanistan or other places on the Easternmost reaches of their expansion. I'm most interested in period literary sources, if any.