If the Greeks got most of their philosophy/metaphysics from the eastern doctrines doesn't that render the phrase "start...

No I don't post on /x/. I've only just started getting into the Hindu doctrines but if you could enlighten me further on their Aryan origin that would be great (what books to read for example)

The Arctic home in the Vedas
Rig-Veda

The go-to would be the mahābharata. Then the puranas, which cover the same themes in greater detail. There are a total of eighteen purānas (six for Vishnu, six for Brahma, and six for Śiva). If you dont have time to read all that, you can just read the bhagavad gītā -which is contained in the mahābharata- because it's the conclusion of vedic knowledge: that there is God.
And there are still the four vedas, (t'is said in the śrīmad bhagavatam the mahābharata is the fifth veda) the 108 upanishads, the brahma sutras or vedānta sutras, the ramayāna. And the ones i'm forgeting. Of course i haven't read all that. Yet.
You should start with Prabhupāda. He translated and wrote commentary on bhagavad gita, srimad bhagavatam, and caitanya caritamrita. Among other things. You should look at his books as essays on vedic lit rather than translations, though; as his commentary takes up 70% of the book. But he was nice enough to include the original sanskrit
As for the aryans, some came from the moon and some came from the sun. Manu, said to be the first man, is son of Vivasvan, the sungod. Heh, man is son of the sun... I like to be a zealot literalist, but this could be metaphorical. It could just be that life began as the light from the stars reached the earth...

They probably just didn't think of it, or were unable to. You automatically think of preserving things for the future, and it's extremely easy to do so, literally just shit it onto the internet and it's there forever, but is this really the case for the majority of historical cultures?

>the Greeks got most of their philosophy/metaphysics from the eastern doctrines
The Greek and Indian traditions share an Indo-Aryan foundation, and there was exchange and interplay between the two throughout their history. I'm not aware of any hard evidence that shows ideas originating solely from one dominating the other.
>If anyone it would be the Egyptians
This dynamic is also found between Greeks and Egyptians. It could certainly be argued that the Egyptians had a much stronger one-way influence with the Greeks as compared with the Indians, as you have people like Plato citing Egypt as a source of ancient knowledge.
>
Can you quote some lines from Pyrrho together with relevant Indian philosophy/theology? I wouldn't be surprised if this were true, but I haven't seen anyone present the textual evidence.

>The Arctic Home in the Vedas
That's on my reading list

>Rig-Veda
I have the Griffith translation of the Vedas downloaded, but do you know of any better versions I could find in PDF format?

Checked. I'm currently reaing Adi Sankaras commentary on the Bhagavad Gita an I'm finding it hugely valuable. I'm only 25% of the way through but the wealth of knowledge of already discovered is amazing. I really enjoy the commentary as it's extremely helpful in deciphering the true meaning behind the text. So you recommend Prabhupada's translations and commentaries? Screencapped your post btw, very helpful, thanks

I'd imagine they didn't bother with it because word of mouth travels so much quicker. The idea of spending all the time and resources to write everything down was probably way too much of a hassle when you can just tell a group of people what you know, and that group passes on to another group etc.

Nice. Shankara Acharya was a great vaiśnava (the greatest, if the part about him being Śiva is true) and Prabhupāda praised his work a lot. I havent read him, though i guess if you do you could skip prabhupāda's gita and go straight for the Śrimad Bhagavata Purana, because it starts as a direct follow up of the battle of kurukshetra

By the time of Alexander, the majority of the major Greek philosophers had already lived? After Alexander who’s left? Epicureans and Plutarch? The Stoic? They are Roman.

>if the part about him being Śiva is true
Wow, I didn't know that. I'm thoroughly enjoying it. Know where I can find Prabhupada's translation of Bhagavata Purana?

he’s just saying stupid shit
>indo-aryan
lol

You can freely download him on pdf on the vedabase page. Though i'm a sucker for physical, so i buy my copies from a bookstore near a local iskcon temple. You can buy them from their temples, too (Iskcon was the organization Prabhupāda started to publish his books, and to preach; they opened temples all over the world and had tons of problems after he died. Even when he lived. Many shitters here criticize Prabhupāda because of Iskcons' faults, but i always dismiss them as fifth columnists) You can also look for the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, the entity that actually prints them.

Also, about Shankara. Yes, he is said to be Śiva. That is not uncommon. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who lived only 500 years ago is said to be Krsna, too. I don't know if it's true or not. I mean, our evidence would be texts written by them or about them by their followers (Caitanya didn't write anything). I want to believe it's true, simply because i wouldn't lie with something like that; but even if they weren't God, they made significant contributions to mankind

I've found the vedabase but can't find a link for a download, looks like they can only be read online, unless I'm blind. Yeah I will probably end up buying physical copies of most of the primary texts but at the moment I have an e-reader so I'm trying to make the most out of it. I'm also heading overseas soon so it helps being able to take hundreds of books with me without the hassle of carrying the weight of multiple books. I think that there is definitely a modicum of truth to their claims without a doubt. These men definitely contained a very special spark within them that allowed them to have such a huge impact on the world. Namaste brother, your replies have been very helpful

Om namah shivaya. Thanks for making this thread, OP.

Whether they did or not, the Greeks are generally self-explanatory enough that you don't need to. Most Axial Age texts are.

>no one mentioned Hegesias of Cyrene yet

No problem, friend

Tell us about him. We're just dumping info on this thread

He had practically identical views to the Buddhist outlook on life, viz. that happiness is impossible to achieve and the purpose of life should be to reduce one's suffering. He wrote a book called 'Death by Starvation' which convinced so many people that death was preferable to life that it was banned in Alexandria. Happiness, he said, could not be the goal of life, because it is not attainable, and therefore concluded that the wise person's only goal should be to become free from pain and sorrow.

>Complete happiness cannot possibly exist; for that the body is full of many sensations, and that the mind sympathizes with the body, and is troubled when that is troubled, and also that fortune prevents many things which we cherished in anticipation; so that for all these reasons, perfect happiness eludes our grasp. Moreover, that both life and death are desirable. They also say that there is nothing naturally pleasant or unpleasant, but that owing to want, or rarity, or satiety, some people are pleased and some vexed; and that wealth and poverty have no influence at all on pleasure, for that rich people are not affected by pleasure in a different manner from poor people. In the same way they say that slavery and freedom are things indifferent, if measured by the standard of pleasure, and nobility and baseness of birth, and glory and infamy. They add that, for the foolish person it is expedient to live, but to the wise person it is a matter of indifference; and that the wise person will do everything for his own sake; for that he will not consider any one else of equal importance with himself; and he will see that if he were to obtain ever such great advantages from any one else, they would not be equal to what he could himself bestow.

He is said to have been directly influenced by Indian Buddhist proselytism during the reign of King Ashoka