This is an older article I like to rehighlight every December, about the parallels between Jesus' and Buddha's lives and teachings:
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art46942.asp There is much more, and many theories on whether or not Jesus spent time in the East during the 'lost years' of his life not covered in the Bible. Some people believe Jesus' teachings were actually an attempt to merge Eastern teachings on awakening with traditional Jewish teachings, and that this branch of his teachings is still alive in the gnostic gospels that were excluded from the Bible.
We will probably never know the truth of it. But for me, these parallels in teachings simply point to the truth that spiritual teachers through the ages have attempted to share - that living from love and compassion, and striving to grow more towards that every day, is what human life is about.
