Reddit mentions of The Shape of Ancient Thought: Comparative Studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies

The Shape of Ancient Thought: Comparative Studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies

Absolutely.

For those interested in the inter-connections between early Greek and Indian philosophy, I can highly recommend Thomas McEvilley's The Shape of Ancient Thought

https://www.amazon.com/Shape-Ancient-Thought-Comparative-Philosophies/dp/1581152035


Highly recommended!

Talk about a good deal: the kindle edition is only 3 bucks! And you don't have to have a kindle to read it; they got PC and mobile apps.

In addition to yumchoumein's books, Thomas McEvilley's The Shape of Ancient Thought addresses at least your related question. Obviously, information about Eastern influences on Presocratic thought is less abundant than Eastern influences on post-Socratic thought (not that information on the latter is abundant). If the latter interests you, though, see the Gymnosophists and the following tidbit from this entry on Cynic influences:

>Perhaps of importance were tales of Indian philosophers, known to later Greeks as the Gymnosophists, who had adopted a strict asceticism together with a disrespect for established laws and customs.

This article - The Yogi who met Socrates - was one article that I read on this that seemed to capture it.

The Wikipedia entry on Greco-Buddhism seems to cover everything mentioned above, which I didn't realise until I had typed it, so it's staying...

I wrote a recent undergraduate essay on Heraclitus in which I discussed the similarity between his thought and the thought of the mystics, both Eastern and Western. Read Heraclitus's fragments amid a few Zen lineage texts and you'll be convinced of the universal character of the mystical experience, but I don't suspect Buddhism of having influenced Heraclitus.

I have been meaning to read this book after I read a NYT article on the author but haven't got around to it yet (it addresses the commonality of Indian and Greek philosophy):


The Shape of Ancient Thought: Comparative Studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies


A video that might get you interested:


Thomas McEvilley on 'The Shape of Ancient Thought'


About the author:


Thomas McEvilley

NYT article


Edit: Also, check out this blog by Bibhu Dev Misra for very insightful/interesting articles:

Myths, Symbols and Mysteries

I've read it twice before but I wasn't ready. I'm closer now to being able to parse all the references and implications.

Have you by chance read Thomas McEvilleys "The Shape of Ancient Thought: Comparative Studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies"?

It's not exactly what you asked, but you would probably really enjoy The Shape of Ancient Thought by Thomas McEvilley. "Spanning thirty years of intensive research, this book proves what many scholars could not explain: that today’s Western world must be considered the product of both Greek and Indian thought—Western and Eastern philosophies. Thomas McEvilley explores how trade, imperialism, and migration currents allowed cultural philosophies to intermingle freely throughout India, Egypt, Greece, and the ancient Near East."

https://www.amazon.com/Shape-Ancient-Thought-Comparative-Philosophies/dp/1581152035

>Any literature would be great.

"The Shape of Ancient Thought" is a very detailed comparison between Indian and Greek philosophy starting with the first sources available. Some of McEvilley's arguments have more evidence than others.

https://www.amazon.com/Shape-Ancient-Thought-Comparative-Philosophies/dp/1581152035