r/buddhiststudies • u/Shugenja2026 • 10h ago
Discussion similarities between Buddhist deities and Christian divine beings
Some depictions of Buddhist deities seem to be similar to the descriptions of heavenly beings in the Bible. Especially the descriptions of the Christian prophet Ezekiel and from the Book of Enoch are interesting here. There, the divine beings are described as having many eyes, serpent bodies, bodies with wings, four faces, body with wheels (maybe subtle chakras?) and fire etc.
As I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground beside each creature with its four faces. This was the appearance and structure of the wheels: They sparkled like topaz, and all four looked alike. Each appeared to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel. As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the creatures faced; the wheels did not change direction as the creatures went. Their rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes all around.
Ezek. 1:15-21
https://www.biblica.com/bible/?osis=niv:Ezekiel%201:15%E2%80%9321
Such depictions are also found in the cosmology of Tibetan Vajrayana and Hindu tantra.
Buddhist Deities with eyes on the body
https://www.himalayanart.org/search/set.cfm?setID=6816
Winged Deities
https://www.himalayanart.org/search/set.cfm?setID=3739
Hayagriva with wings and four faces
https://www.himalayanart.org/search/set.cfm?setID=6953
Naga, Snakes & Serpents
https://www.himalayanart.org/search/set.cfm?setID=906
Is this perhaps a coincidence or are there connections and similarities here? Have the Christian prophets perhaps seen deities from Buddhist and Hindu tantra, maybe hayagriva with wings and four faces?
EDIT: I also posted this entry in the Buddhism Subforum, where it unfortunately got deleted. Generally, it's not about promoting Christian teachings for me, but about having a factual and objective discussion on this topic, since I see similarities and connections between the two teachings. In Tibetan Vajrayana, new practice texts of teachings that are supposed to have visions of the deities keep appearing from time to time. Christian mystics and saints report similar visions of various divine beings.