BrokenEye3 t1_j9nspij wrote on February 23, 2023 at 8:08 AM

Reply to comment by You_Bore_Me_ in TIL about Saint Josaphat (aka Būdhasaf), a legendary Christian saint whose life is based on Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. His life story tells of how Josaphat, a son of an Indian kind that persecuted the Christian Church in his kingdom, converted to Christianity. by kweenllama

Um... the Gautama Buddha was a historical person. Whether the (likely highly idealized) accounts of his life are representative of the man as he really was, I can't say, and whether he was truly enlightened I suppose depends on your beliefs, but he did live.

That said, all myths are based at least in part on other myths. It's unavoidable.

You_Bore_Me_ t1_j9o7hmz wrote on February 23, 2023 at 11:31 AM

Buddha never existed. Buddhists can't even agree on what century he supposedly existed. There's more evidence for the historicity of figures like King Arthur or Moses, and both of those men are regarded as mythological.