The sixth century B.C. was a time of creative spiritual upheaval in most of the major civilizations of antiquity. Within a hundred years on either side we have Confucius in China, Zoroaster in Persia, the pre-Socratic philosophers of ancient Greece, and the later prophets of Israel. These were also times of cultural expansion, when centers of civilization in Europe and Asia were expanding their spheres of influence in commerce and colonization. In the Buddha’s time at least sixteen kingdoms and republics lay along the Ganges and against the Himalayan foothills, part of an increasingly active
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