Dear Readers – When reading renditions of ancient text, it is important to keep a middle mind. If the mind is too open and unquestioning, the reading becomes a harmful source of superstition. If the mind is too closed and uncompromising, the reading becomes a harmful source of ridicule. The Dialectic of King Milinda is a stunning document which gives deep insight into the origins of our modern world views. Similar to the way the Bible was shaped by a council of Christian bishops convened under the authority of Roman Emperor Constantine I in Nicaea of modern-day Turkey 325 years after the death of Christ – what is popularly understood of Buddhism, such as collected in the Pāli Canon, was once uncertain and hotly debated. Over the next several weeks, we will move through the accumulated layers of human thought and peer into primitive Buddhism and Christianity, looking for core themes and commonalities.