Did Gnosticism influence Buddhism and Hinduism?

Did Gnosticism influence Buddhism and Hinduism?

You are getting the cart several hundred years ahead of the horse.

Love and blessings Don

Christian gnosticism? No, because Hinduism and Buddhism were already long established by then.

No. It was the other way around.

I'm not an expert in any of these three. However, I believe Gnosticism was influenced by some of the ancient near eastern religious systems. In my view, Gnosticism was probably one of the single influences resulting in the systematizing of Christianity. My guess is that near eastern systems were probably influenced to some degree by early Buddhism and Hinduism. Shucks, maybe those early near eastern systems influenced the far eastern religious systems. Maybe someone who really knows their ancient world religions will interject something here.

A historical fact is that Hinduism and its predecessor the Brahmanism predated current history by six thousand years, but since I have a question about the accuracy of their recording system, which there isn't any.

So I have to rely on Buddhism record, in which Buddha constant refer to Brahmanism in his teachings, so they had to be predated and ahead of Buddhism for sure.

Buddhism has the history between 2,500 to 3,500 according to the historians, most Buddhism sects in China accept the Buddhism started between 2500 and 3000 year ahead of current time; and the Tibetan accepted historical Buddha being around anywhere from 3,000 to 3,500 years.

Either of above timing predated Christianity, and influences of Buddhism reached as far as Greece and later Roman Empire. Jesus by historical data is minimum 500 years later than Buddha.

My opinion is Gnosticism retained some Buddhism influence, and Roman Emperor and Catholic Church eliminate record of influences, and even eliminate all mysticism, reincarnation and Karma theories form Gnosticism, and turn it into harmless (to the Catholic church and the Empire) blind faith followers of Christianity.

I believe they have further suppress even the part of Male and Female elements of believe as in Tantric Buddhism, a symbolic representation, and make it outlaw to practice the Gnosticism.

And for all we know, the all famous witch hunt in the middle age, may have been a ruse stratagem to fish out and exterminate the Gnostic followers.