Quote Originally Posted by sanjaya View Post
Well the Pharisees promulgated the hell doctrine, which is probably why it appears in the New Testament. They also were expecting a messiah who would destroy all of the pagan Romas. But they weren't mystics by most standards. The Saducees did not believe in any sort of afterlife and largely were in league with the Romans (that's how they got control of their temple). I don't know too much about the Nazareans or anything at all about the Therapeutae, but I do know that the Essenes had expectations of a messiah who would rid the world of other religions and establish Jewish monotheism as the one true faith. So I don't know how their beliefs could be reconciled with Hinduism. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts, though.
I think you are right, though sometimes now the term 'Essene' is used to refer to the Nazareans, Therapeutae, and Ossaeans, the latter of which is probably just another translation. So you are right if Essenes means 'Ossaeans' but not other 'Essenes.' The Ossaeans were pescatarian, wanted the Jerusalem temple for animal sacrifice, and thought they were 'sons of light' against 'sons of darkness.' The Nazareans were completely vegetarian/vegan and long-haired and there is no evidence they believed what the Ossaeans believed. So I think their beliefs can easily be reconciled with Sanatana Dharma. They are the sect that for various reasons some people consider to have produced Almah Mary & Joseph, John the Baptist (though he was closer to the Ossaeans location,) Yeshua (Jesus,) and several Apostles. The Nazareans survive today in Iraq--called the Nasurai. However their beliefs have changed--now some of them eat meat. The ancestors of those specific ones also did not accept Yeshua as the Messiah.

The Nazarean book Codex Nazaraeus (only in the original language and translated to Latin and French) is said to be mystical and related to esoteric Eastern Philosophy. One (the book?) has the name 'Fetahil' and the other (a pre-Buddhist name meaning 'Buddha' or 'Pranava?') has the name 'Fo.' The 1800s Theosophy founder stated that the Western name ('Fetahil?') was directly derived from the Eastern. I have never come across these but this is a very interesting idea that not only is Judeo-Christian tradition with ethics and long hair sort of like Yoga/Shaivism in those and Kabbalistic ways, but it may be a reoccurence of the Eternal Philosophy if India is the first literate civilization that influenced the rest of Eurasia.

If Fo is not real at least Mazdayasna's Ahura Mazda and the devas is similar, though this is said to have influenced the Pharisees (Parsis?) Monotheism has problems, but who knows if original Mazdayasna was like that, which I guess the Nazareans would have been aware of.

Surely if the Silk Road led to the oldest literary/philosophical country then people elsewhere would not have just used it for trade if they were wise... and if Sanatana Dharma is reasonable it would have been continually spreading among wise people of nearby countries.