“I am come to send fire on the earth” (Luke 12:49).
“Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword” (Matthew 10:34).
There is no better evidence of these two statements than the description given in the thirty-first chapter of the Aquarian Gospel:
“The words and works of Jesus caused unrest through all the land. The common people were his friends, believed in him and followed him in throngs. The priests and rulers were afraid of him, his very name sent terror to their hearts. He preached the brotherhood of life, the righteousness of equal rights, and taught the uselessness of priests, and sacrificial rites. He shook the very sand on which the Brahmic system stood; he made the Brahmic idols seem so small, and sacrifice so fraught with sin, that shrines and wheels of prayer were all forgot” (Aquarian Gospel 31:1-5).
A step back in time
Before considering the implications of these verses, we should step back a moment and look at the period of India’s history in which these events occurred. More to the point, we need to look back in time to a better past.
Originally the sages of India taught a simple but profound creed: The all-embracing nature of God, the unity of the individual spirit and God, the evolutionary purpose of the cosmos, and the necessity for each person to achieve liberation from all bondage–especially that of constant birth and death–through perfection of consciousness. Other things were recommended by them as adjuncts–not the least of which was the practice of meditation–but these four principles were ever uppermost in their thinking and way of life.
But at the time of Jesus great degeneration had taken place. Instead of believing in their divine spiritual self-sufficiency, people had come to think that they were dependent on the pleasure and displeasure of “gods” and the priests of those gods that could intercede with them and gain for them material welfare. The single valid goal of spiritual perfection, of enlightenment, had long ago been either forgotten by the masses or relegated to a point far in the future after the living of many lives. The inward look had been abandoned and external religion had arisen in its place. The gods were now represented by stones wrought according to the imagination of sculptors and housed in temples intended to awe the worshippers by their sublime form and the solemn rituals taking place there. People now resorted to these glorified magic shops rather than seeking freedom within.
Jesus, having learned in the Himalayas the pure spiritual tradition (for it has never been erased from India, only obscured and ignored), spoke without hesitation of the foolishness and evil of such spiritual degeneracy and called them back to the vision of the ancient seers.
The result
His words were not without effect as the already-cited verses show. And even more:
“The priests declared that if this Jewish boy should tarry longer in the land a revolution would occur; the common people would arise and kill the priests, and tear the temples down. And so they sent a call abroad, and priests from every province came. Benares was on fire with Brahmic zeal.
“Lamaas from the temple Jagannath, who knew the inner life of Jesus well, was in their midst, and heard the rantings of the priests, and he stood forth and said, My brother priests, take heed, be careful what you do; this is a record-making day. The world is looking on; the very life of Brahmic thought is now on trial. If we are reason-blind; if prejudice be king today; if we resort to beastly force, and dye our hands in blood that may, in sight of Brahm, be innocent and pure, His vengeance may fall down on us; the very rock on which we stand may burst beneath our feet; and our beloved priesthood, and our laws and shrines will go into decay.
“But they would let him speak no more. The wrathful priests rushed up and beat him, spit upon him, called him traitor, threw him, bleeding, to the street. And then confusion reigned; the priests became a mob; the sight of human blood led on to fiendish acts and called for more.
“The rulers, fearing war, sought Jesus, and they found him calmly teaching in the market place. They urged him to depart, that he might save his life; but he refused to go. And then the priests sought cause for his arrest; but he had done no crime. And then false charges were preferred; but when the soldiers went to bring him to the judgement hall they were afraid, because the people stood in his defense. The priests were baffled, and they resolved to take his life by stealth. They found a man who was a murderer by trade, and sent him out by night to slay the object of their wrath” (Aquarian Gospel 31:6-20).
Certainly this was a vivid foreshadowing of what would later take place in Israel.
Buddhism
“Lamaas heard about their plotting and their plans, and sent a messenger to warn his friend; and Jesus hastened to depart. By night he left Benares, and with haste he journeyed to the north; and everywhere, the farmers, merchants and sudras helped him on his way. And after many days he reached the mighty Himalayas, and in the city of Kapi[la]vastu he abode.
“The priests of Buddha opened wide their temple doors for him” (Aquarian Gospel 31:21-24).
The thing to be noted here is the fact that the Buddhists welcomed Jesus among them. This was because Buddhism at that time in India was very different from the Buddhism of today–just as the Hinduism of that time differed from the original teaching. This is historical fact. It is well known that what today is known as Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism were in the minority; that the majority of Buddhists–and Buddhist institutions–were Pudgalavadins who believed in the eternal Self (Atman).
The truth is this: Jesus, like Buddha, was a classical Sankhya yogi with a strong Aryan identification. Just as the ignorant subverted the teachings of Jesus to suit their dim minds, so did the uncomprehending degrade the teachings of Buddha to suit their whims. At the time Jesus was in India, it was the followers of Buddha that were the real proponents of Sanatana Dharma. A perusal of The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ reveals this–especially their theistic outlook. Consequently, Jesus found a spiritual home among them.
Read the next section in the Aquarian Gospel for Yogis: Evolution: The Path of Glory