Teachers of Jesus
“In Lassa of Tibet there was a master’s temple, rich in manuscripts of ancient lore. The Indian sage had read these manuscripts, and he revealed to Jesus many of the secret lessons they contained; but Jesus wished to read them for himself” (Aquarian Gospel 36:1, 2).
The significant part of this verse is the fact that Jesus had many, many teachers. Beginning with his supernatural mother, he was taught by the wisest of many lands. Buddha said that no one was his friend who claimed he taught what he did not teach, or who denied that he taught what he actually did teach. It is the same with Jesus. To mythologize (lie) about him and claim he is the creator of the world and omniscient God is to rob him of the honor he rightly deserves. He is one like us who struggled and persevered, ascending the ladder of evolution until he fully became a god within God. He was truly a jagadguru, a universal teacher, drawing from the legitimate spiritual traditions of the world, of which he was the perfect embodiment.
Recognition
“Now, Meng-ste, greatest sage of all the farther East, was in this temple of Tibet. The path across Emodus heights was difficult; but Jesus started on his way, and Vidyapati sent with him a trusted guide. And Vidyapati sent a message to Meng-ste, in which he told about the Hebrew sage, and spoke for him a welcome by the temple priests. Now, after many days, and perils great, the guide and Jesus reached the Lassa temple in Tibet. And Meng-ste opened wide the temple doors, and all the priests and masters gave a welcome to the Hebrew sage”(Aquarian Gospel 36:3-7).
It is amazing how the Eastern peoples have the ability to recognize spiritual stature even in those “from outside” (the term used colloquially in India for foreigners).
One time when eating in a restaurant in Chicago a very special Greek Orthodox man asked me: “Why do people in India come up and touch you when you are walking down the street?” This astonished me, as Indians do not at all touch others as it is considered impolite. “When did they do this?” I asked back. “When I was in Delhi as a representative of the Greek Orthodox Youth of the World Council of Churches, people kept coming up and touching me gently as I was walking along.” This kept me quiet for a bit, and then I asked: “Were you walking with other non-Indians when this happened?” “Yes.” “Did they touch them, too?” “No. I hadn’t really thought of it before, but they only touched me.” Aha! So I explained the matter: they had intuited his spiritual character.
Whenever a friend of mine, a very advanced disciple of Yogananda, would walk down the street anywhere in India people would start coming from all sides and begin walking along with her, gazing at her in reverence, until a huge crowd would be moving along together.
At the beginning of my very first cycle-rickshaw ride in India, the rickshaw man told the Indian friend who was with me: “I won’t charge you much since he is a sannyasi.” I was dressed in shirt, trousers, and pullover sweater with a “Joe College” haircut. Yet he sensed that it would not be long until the sadhu garb would be worn by me and my name changed as well.
If the East can recognize mere yogis from the West, how much more did they “see” and revere Jesus the Christ, in their midst. As we see from The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ, the Buddhists recognized Jesus wherever he went, as today nearly all truly religious people of the world feel a kinship with him unless Churchians have so befouled his name that they cannot separate him from those that pretend to follow him.
Spiritual roots
“And Jesus had access to all the sacred manuscripts, and, with the help of Meng-ste, read them all” (Aquarian Gospel 36:8).
Again we see that Jesus drew from the wells of all the world’s spiritual traditions.
“And Meng-ste often talked with Jesus of the coming age, and of the sacred service best adapted to the people of the age” (Aquarian Gospel 36:9).
The master teachers of India certainly shaped the thought and teaching of Jesus, instructing him in the ways he should present his wisdom to the world.
The Himis Monastery
“In Lassa Jesus did not teach. When he finished all his studies in the temple schools he journeyed toward the West. In many villages he tarried for a time and taught. At last he reached the pass, and in the Ladak city, Leh, he was received with favor by the monks, the merchants, and the men of low estate. And in the monastery he abode, and taught; and then he sought the common people in the marts of trade; and there he taught” (Aquarian Gospel 36:10-12).
It is not surprising, then, that the monks of the Himis monastery in Leh wrote the life of Jesus which we know as The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ.
Healing
“Not far away a woman lived, whose infant son was sick nigh unto death. The doctors had declared, There is no hope; the child must die. The woman heard that Jesus was a teacher sent from God, and she believed that he had power to heal her son. And so she clasped the dying infant in her arms and ran with haste and asked to see the man of God.
“When Jesus saw her faith he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, My Father-God, let power divine o’ershadow me, and let the Holy Breath fill full this child that it may live. And in the presence of the multitude he laid his hand upon the child and said, Good woman you are blest; your faith has saved your son. And then the child was well.
“The people were astonished and they said, This surely is the Holy One made flesh, for man alone cannot rebuke a fever thus and save a child from death. Then many of the people brought their sick, and Jesus spoke the Word, and they were healed.
“Among the Ladaks Jesus tarried many days; he taught them how to heal; how sins are blotted out, and how to make on earth a heaven of joy. The people loved him for his words and works, and when he must depart they grieved as children grieve when mother goes away” (Aquarian Gospel 36:13-23).
There are some facts about healing–whether physical, mental, or spiritual–that are found in these verses. I think we are all familiar with Michaelangelo’s painting of the creation of Adam in which Adam extends his forefinger to be touched by the forefinger of God. This is a profound symbolism of spiritual birth-creation. Man and God must “touch” at that point where they are identical: Spirit. Then life flows between them both. This is the glory of yoga–it is the science of the Divine Touch. Action is required on both the finite and infinite levels of Being, and yoga shows us just how that is done–not in a haphazard emotional way or in prayer implying helplessness on the part of the yogi, but with the intelligent application of the eternal principles revealed at the beginning of the human race to those highly evolved souls that first came into physical embodiment. Wonder of wonders, that same knowledge has been handed on unbrokenly throughout the succeeding ages, and is as valid and effective today as it was then.
My Father-God, let power divine o’ershadow me, and let the Holy Breath fill full this child that it may live. If the Holy Spirit was not in the child, then no act of Jesus could bring it to life. Healing is possible only because it is already in potential form within each one of us. All forms of healing are but revelations of what is present inside. But that, too, must be stirred up and awakened. The greatest master in the world can do nothing with those who are dormant inside. Awakening takes place only when the inner consciousness is already active on unseen levels, just waiting for the catalyst to bring it forth. Jesus’ call: “Lazarus, come forth” (John 11:43), would have produced no effect if Lazarus had not been alive, awaiting the command to emerge. It is the same in all aspects of spiritual life. Unless the potential is there and it is the time for awakening, nothing will happen. That is why Jesus said: “ I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me” (John 17:9). “The world” has always been a hopeless cause.
Jesus did not pretend to be unique and possess unique powers. That is why he could teach the people themselves how to heal with the Word–with Om–and how to expunge their sins with the same Word to “make on earth a heaven of joy. ”
In the scorned Middle Ages, European Christians often prayed to “Jesus, my Mother,” for the masters embody all the aspects of God. That is why when Jesus left that part of Ladakh “they grieved as children grieve when mother goes away.” This attitude exists even today in Tibet, for the title “Lama” given to the monks means “Mother.”
A parable and a prophecy
Now Jesus spoke a parable that might be called a spiritual tragedy–one which applies even today, and which applied then to some of the religionists of India, and certainly to those who would clamor for his death later on in Israel.
“And on the morning when he started on his way the multitudes were there to press his hand. To them he spoke a parable; he said, A certain king so loved the people of his land that he sent forth his only son with precious gifts for all. The son went everywhere and scattered forth the gifts with lavish hand. But there were priests who ministered at shrines of foreign gods, who were not pleased because the king did not through them bestow the gifts” (Aquarian Gospel 36:24-27).
Professional religionists are always like this: they hate whoever encroaches on their “territory” or who dares to show them up as the empty souls they are. Christians are the absolute worse offenders, screeching about “the one true Church outside of which there is no salvation” and of course no spiritual life or holiness. It is interesting to see how “the Church” has replaced Jesus as savior. But Jesus said two thousand years ago: “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:22, 23).
I was brought up in a narrow-minded church that condemned everyone but themselves by simply saying forcefully when other churches were being favorably spoken of: “Well, they aren’t with ‘the saints’!” And that ended the discussion. Accusing people of holding “heresies” was another ploy. I know of more than one yoga cult that give the kiss of death by stating: “They aren’t with…” and filling in their name. (Often they just say: “They aren’t with The Work.”) “He has left the guru” is a sure way to get the loyal sheepwits in the cult to run for the exit–even when it is not true.
Here is Jesus’ attitude: “John said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we forbad him, because he followeth not with us. And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us” (Luke 9:49, 50). Odd, how different “the Body of Christ” can be from Christ himself!
“And so they sought to cause the people all to hate the son. They said, These gifts are not of any worth; they are but counterfeits. And so the people threw the precious gems, and gold and silver in the streets. They caught the son and beat him, spit upon him, drove him from their midst” (Aquarian Gospel 36:28, 29).
That pretty well sums up what Christianity does to Christ–and often what other religions do to their prophet or deity. The function of much religionists is to drive God from their midst.
“The son resented not their insults and their cruelties; but thus he prayed, My Father-God, forgive these creatures of thy hand; they are but slaves; they know not what they do. And while they yet were beating him he gave them food, and blest them with a boundless love” (Aquarian Gospel 36:30, 31).
The reminds me vividly of a conversation I once had with a saint who had been closely associated with Gandhi. When I spoke of the blasphemy and corruption of so much that called itself Christianity, she smiled and said: “No matter how corrupt the servants may be, the master will not leave the house.” And we see this is so. Whenever anyone in those churches turn to Jesus with a sincere heart and a pure intent, they “find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). Saints are to be found in many churches. Even in the church in which I was raised I found humble, loving children of God, some of whom worked great miracles and, like Moses, conversed with God “face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend” (Exodus 33:11). In the twentieth century two of the greatest spiritual luminaries were the stigmatists Teresa Neuman and Padre Pio–both viewed by the Church with suspicion and even fear. Padre Pio was forbidden to preach! So the love of Jesus cannot be stymied by the ways of the ignorant “Officers of the Law.”
“In certain cities was the son received with joy, and he would gladly have remained to bless the homes; but he could tarry not, for he must carry gifts to every one in all the king’s domain.
“And Jesus said, My Father-God is king of all mankind, and he has sent me forth with all the bounties of his matchless love and boundless wealth. To all the people of all lands, lo, I must bear these gifts–this water and this bread of life. I go my way, but we will meet again; for in my Fatherland is room for all; I will prepare a place for you. And Jesus raised his hand in silent benediction; then he went his way” (Aquarian Gospel 36:32-36).
J. B. Phillips wrote a book entitled Your God Is Too Small–an apt title. God is too big for most religion. Here we see this in Jesus’ words, especially: “in my Fatherland is room for all.” True saints are seen to have this insight even if their professed religion is much narrower in scope.
The miracle-working stigmatist, Teresa Neuman of Bavaria, said to a acquaintance of mine, a monastic disciple of Yogananda: “I am so glad you are a Catholic.” When he protested that he was not, she told him: “You do not understand what I mean. There are people who go to Mass every Sunday, but their hearts are closed to God. They are not Catholics. And there are people in the world who have never even heard the Name of Jesus, but their hearts are open to God. They are Catholics. And you are a Catholic!” How could he then deny the wisdom of a saint? Nor should we.
Read the next section in the Aquarian Gospel for Yogis: Words to the Worthy