Chapter Seven, part 1–The Ladakh Manuscript

Chapter Seven, part 1, of The Unknown Lives of Jesus and Mary

In 1887, a Russian, Nicholas Notovich, journeyed to India to study Hindu culture. (Today we would call him an anthropologist.) Eventually Notovich arrived in Ladakh on the northern border of India, from whence he intended to return to Russia through Karakorum and Chinese Turkestan. While in Ladakh he was told by the abbot of a Buddhist monastery that manuscripts recording the life of Jesus were to be found in Lhasa–at that time absolutely closed to any “white” man, as was the entire country of Tibet. Despite this prohibition, Notovich determined to force his way to Lhasa in search of the rumored records. While still in Leh, the capital of Ladakh, Notovich visited the monastery of Himis whose abbot informed him that their library contained those manuscripts he wished to find in Lhasa.

Whether justifiably or not, the British government was convinced that the Russians wished to either invade India and make it a part of their empire or that they wanted the Indians to rebel against the British rule and in their independence become an ally of Russia. This being so, every Russian who set foot in India was suspected of being an agitator or spy. (Madame Blavatsky was harassed throughout her years in India by the ignorant and the malicious who insisted that she was a Russian agent, although she was an American citizen.) Learning that the British authorities were beginning to get nervous concerning his presence in Ladakh, Notovich decided to return to India. He had not gone very far when he fell from his horse and broke his leg. This necessitated a return to the Himis monastery.

Taking advantage of his enforced stay in the monastery, Notovich asked that the manuscript on the life of Jesus be brought to him and his interpreter be permitted to read it out to him in Russian. This was done, and he wrote down the interpreter’s words. (We must remember then, that the text that follows is a translation from French that was a translation from Russian that was an impromptu translation from Tibetan!)

Upon returning to Russia he showed the handwritten text to several leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church, including Metropolitan Platon of Kiev. They all advised him not to have it printed as it would cause “problems” and “confusion”–the typical excuses still made by exoteric Christian ecclesiastics to justify withholding the truth.

A year later in Rome Notovich showed his labors to a cardinal who told him its publication would make him enemies (was that a veiled threat?), and concluded by offering to pay him money as compensation for his efforts–evidently a bribe to obtain the text’s suppression. Other encounters garnered the same results.

In time, however, Notovich did publish his findings as The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ. As might be expected it caused a furor–mostly negative–and denunciatory ink flew in all directions. Even the famed Orientalist Max Muller joined in the imprecations. So beleaguered was the abbot of the Himis monastery by those who came with the intentions of stealing and destroying the manuscripts that he refused not only to show them but to even speak on the matter. When the would-be vandals demanded that he at least tell them if such manuscripts were really in the monastery library he would not even answer. Armed only with this they returned home to write diatribes in which the abbot’s silence was cited as proof that Notovich’s book was all fabrication. Some even attempted to prove that Notovich had never been in India. There are always those who do not deem honesty the best policy–especially in religion, and in Christianity particularly.

A generation later in 1922, Swami Abhedananda, a direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Vice-President of the Ramakrishna Mission, went to the Himis monastery and asked to see the manuscript of which Notovich had written. (The Swami had seen and read the book earlier in America.) Because by that time the furor had long ago died down, and also because the Swami was obviously not a curiosity seeker or potential thief or vandal, one of the lamas showed him the manuscript–after assuring him that Notovich’s account of his visit and convalescence in the monastery was completely true. The lama further told the Swami that the manuscript he was showing him was a translation of the original which was kept in the library of the monastery of Marbour near Lhasa. The original text, the lama said, was in Pali, whereas the Himis manuscript was in Tibetan, consisting of fourteen chapters which contain a total of two hundred and twenty four verses. The lama, who knew English, read out some of the verses in English, demonstrating that Notovich’s translation was true and not a fabrication. He further said that the original text was written three or four years after the crucifixion, being compiled from the remembrances of those who had met Jesus, as well as the reports of some merchants who had actually witnessed the crucifixion.

Swami Abhedananda was accompanied by a secretary who also wrote about their visit to Himis and their seeing the book and hearing the testimony of the lamas. So we can feel absolutely sure that Notovich’s account is reliable, and the translation is without fabrication. Because Notovich’s book was so controversial and upsetting to many, it quickly went out of print and has been (usually) vainly sought after for nearly a century. Now it is available in two reprints.

I am going to give you the complete text here. One thing to keep in mind, though, is the fact that this is a third-hand translation and we may not be sure just how accurately we are given the meaning of the original. This means little in the historical parts, but when we come to the words of Jesus it is good to keep this in mind. Also, we are seeing Jesus through Buddhist eyes, so we are getting an interpretation as well as a historical record. Even more, we are getting an interpretive translation by Notovich–perhaps because he felt some of the elements would not be understood by certain-to-be-prejudiced nineteenth century European Christians. For example, in the opening verse Notovich has “the heavens wept,” whereas Swami Abhedananda’s lama-translator rendered it: “the gods shed tears in heaven.” There is a difference. “The heavens wept” frankly makes no sense at all, except as a poetic expression for rain. It could mean that the inhabitants of the heavens wept, but who are they? No doubt Notovich felt it was prudent to omit reference to “gods” lest his readers in their narrow and dim ideas of what constituted monotheism become alienated at the very beginning of their perusal. Unfortunately for us, Swami Abhedananda only set down a portion of the rendering of the text as it was orally translated for him by the lama. However I will give any significant variations in his text.

The Life Of Saint Issa

The Best Of The Sons Of Men

The earth has trembled and the heavens have wept because of a great crime which has been committed in the land of Israel.

Let us not allow some most interesting inferences that are contained in this very first verse to slip by us.

The opening words are: “the earth trembled.” In the Gospel it is recorded that “the earth did quake, and the rocks rent”1 when Jesus left his body. Those who visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem–which also contains the hill of Golgotha–can see for themselves how the rocks of Golgotha were torn apart as though they were papier-mache. When the church was built sections of the rocks were left uncovered so they could be viewed as proofs of the Biblical account.

Why did the earth tremble? Because Mother Earth was tearing her garments in mourning and desolation. This indicates two things: first, the earth is not dead matter but a living entity–something known in the West until the spirit-deadening “learning” of the Renaissance smothered so much of the common wisdom of previous ages. This is also an indication of the validity of astrology. The suns are “ensouled” by entities whose radiations affect all things within their particular solar system. Each planet also has an angelic guardian who radiates subtle energies throughout the system, as well.

The condition of the earth is a reflection of the condition of the consciousnesses that dwell upon the earth. Since man is the dominant species, with the most powerful mind, the collective consciousness (and unconsciousness) of humanity mightily affects the earth. So the ecology of the earth is a direct mirroring of the consciousness of the human race. First comes pollution of consciousness and then comes pollution of environment. There will be no cleaning up or “greening” of our planet until the fundamental consciousness of the human species is cleaned up and restored to its original order. (Though in the meantime we must do the best we can on the external level, too.) So-called “natural disasters” are direct responses to the consciousness in the areas where they occur. This is why when Saint John Maximovitch was living on an island in the Philippines which was right in a “hurricane corridor” where typhoons swept across like clockwork every three weeks, the typhoons would come up to the island, go around one side, and continue on without disturbing even a tree branch. He left the island several years later, and immediately the typhoons began roaring right across the island, flattening everything, as they had before his coming.

The consciousness of Jesus being cosmic, His departure from the earth produced a cataclysmic reaction from the earth itself.

“The heavens”–that is, the dwellers in the astral heavens–“wept.” There are astral regions that are almost exactly like the earth and that are integrated closely with the earth. Whatever takes place on earth produces a reaction in those worlds, and vice versa. Those who dwell in those worlds are keenly aware of the earth and the doings of its inhabitants. Although those planes are far from perfect, those who live there possess much more understanding than those upon the earth. Being destined to return there for further incarnations, they are naturally interested in earthly developments. Thus they grieved at the terrible folly of the killing of Jesus through the collaboration of the religious and civil powers. And, as did Jesus, they grieved for the terrible evil those collaborators were drawing down upon themselves and those who would come after them.

For us upon the earth, because of our mode of life–and especially our diet–the veil between us and those nearer psychic realms seems heavy–even a wall. But to them it is very much like a one-way glass. We may not see them but dimly, yet they see us quite clearly.

Yet, their world is not perfect, for suffering can enter there. The “heavens wept” because those beings can still feel sorrow–which is often more painful than physical injury. Although they are engaged in unselfish and compassionate helping of their lesser brothers, the ego principle still exists within them and can cause them to respond in grief and–yes–even anger. (We have reliable accounts of people who have been verbally rebuked by saints and even on occasion slapped by them!). So we must set our sights higher and aspire to pass far beyond their glorified worlds to the supreme heights where no pain of any kind can arise. Even heaven is beneath the aspirations of the seeker for liberation. In fact, heaven is seen as more dangerous than hell. For any sane person will want to rise out of hell, but few are those wise enough to want to rise above the beauties and enjoyments of heaven.

Although it is not mentioned in this beginning verse, even before the earth quaked at the passing forth of the soul of Jesus from its atmosphere,2 the sun had become darkened (naturally the moon did not shine, either). “From the sixth hour [noon] there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.”3 This darkness was experienced throughout the world. That is, in the parts where there should have been day, the sun did not shine, and in the parts where it would be night in the natural course of things, the moon did not shine. This was not a mere solar eclipse–because of its long duration–and it was recorded in many places. Remembering the darkness, the Emperor Tiberias was convinced by Pilate’s account that Jesus was a divine being. Fearful since it was the Roman government that had crucified Him, he petitioned the Roman Senate to proclaim Jesus a god and put an image of Him in the Pantheon. In this way Tiberias hoped to atone for killing a god, but the Senate did not share his views of Jesus and refused his request. In Athens the people said: “A god has died.” But since they knew of no living god, and feared not having worshipped him, they erected an altar on Mars Hill to placate him, inscribing on the altar: “To The Unknown God.” When Saint Paul saw this altar he asked about the unusual dedication. Hearing the story, he realized that it was unknowingly an altar to Jesus, and explained about Him to the assembled philosophers.4

The sun is not a mass of exploding gas, but the gateway from the physical universe into the astral worlds from which life energy is ever pouring forth to enliven our solar system. The sun has been worshipped from the inception of the human race for this reason. It is the abode of mighty angelic beings presided over by one greater than the rest who is in truth the “god” of the sun. Jesus being King of Angels, they were shaken at His death. Even more, for those three hours the solar system was cut off from the life-bearing powers conveyed by the sun.

A Psalm refers to the sun as a living conscious entity, along with the planets:

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.
There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.
Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,
Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.
His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.5

Read these verses carefully and you will see the basis for astrology, which is the “voice” of the planets and the sun as well as the stars of other solar systems.

The weeping of the dwellers in the heavens and the darkening of the sun and moon took place “because of the great crime just committed in the land of Israel.”

Because we may not have any other occasion for it, let us comment a bit on the objection that the crucifixion of Jesus was not a crime on anyone’s part–including that of Judas–because Jesus was intended to die.

It is certainly true that Jesus was born for the purpose of dying. He told the Apostles on the night of Holy Thursday: “Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.”6 Further: “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.”7

Later in Gethsemane “one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest’s, and smote off his ear. Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of Angels? But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?”8

Then the next morning when Pilate heard from the accusers of Jesus that He claimed to be a Son of God, Pilate “went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer. Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee? Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.”9

This last quotation is most important because Jesus tells Pilate plainly that those who had seized and given him over into Pilate’s hands were guilty of sin. His statement also implies that Pilate is also guilty–although less than the Sanhedrin.

On the roster of those who were guilty of the death of Jesus, Jesus Himself heads the list. His birth, life, death, resurrection, ascension, and His continuing presence as Savior to His disciples are a direct consequence of His transgression as Adam by means of which He plunged the human race into the abyss of death.10 “Since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”11 Having sown death and bondage to rebirth, Adam himself died and was born over until attaining Divine Sonship. Then He returned once more to earth and conquered the principle of death which He had imposed upon His children at the beginning of the creation cycle. Eve, too, did the same, reappearing as Mary the Virgin Mother–not of Christ only, but of all disciples of Christ. She, too, heads the list of the “guilty.”

Next in responsibility comes those members of the Sanhedrin who engineered the arrest and condemnation of Jesus and those who collaborated with them in their efforts.

Pilate, despite his claims to innocence, was certainly guilty of the death of Jesus. For this reason the Nicene Creed attributes the suffering of Christ to Pilate.

There is a guilt worse than that borne by those who brought about the physical death of Jesus. Those who did not accept Him as Messiah, and act upon it by becoming His disciples, were guilty of crucifying their own inner Christ. And that guilt is perpetuated to this day by those who do the same, refusing to take up the inner life and follow it unto their own Christhood. Each time we betray our inner reality as sons of God we become murderers of Christ,12 although we, too, know not what we do.13

Abhedananda’s translation of this first verse is: “The earth trembled and gods shed tears in heaven at the dreadful sins committed by the sons of Israel.” Of course this imputation of guilt is only the opinion of the Buddhist authors.

For they have tortured and there put to death the great and just Issa, in whom dwelt the soul of the universe,…

Abhedananda’s rendering is: “This was because they had inflicted endless pain on the Saint Issa who held within himself the soul of the Universe and did him to death.”

This is an excellent definition of a Christ, a Son of God: one who is united to, participates in, and thereby embodies the perfect consciousness that dwells within the universe. This aspect of the one God is called “the Only Begotten Son” symbolically.14 Although God is absolutely one, yet from our viewpoint Divinity is seen as threefold: the transcendent Father, the imminent Son, and the dynamic Holy Spirit Who manifests as the evolving creation (which is actually a projection or emanation rather than a making of something from nothing). When a spirit becomes united with the Father, the “game” is over, and there is no more manifestation in relativity. Instead that spirit reenters the Bosom of the Father and “shall go no more out.”15 But first, the spirit must become united to either the Only-Begotten Son or the Holy Spirit (Mother) and share in their universal consciousness and life. Then, having manifested that union perfectly, the spirit returns to the Father.

Although Jesus had already united with the Father, because of His special mission He manifested the perfection of the Only-Begotten Son–the “soul of the Universe.” In Hinduism we find the expressions Kutashta Chaitanya and Mahat Tattwa for the same Principle. One way of thinking of the concept is that the Only-Begotten Son is a mirror-image of the Father, the Holy Spirit being the mirror. The Father is the face, and the Son is the reflection of the face. And, as just said, the Holy Spirit is the mirror in which the face is beheld.

In brief: Jesus Christ was a Son of God who manifested the Son of God. This is, of course, completely inconceivable to our unillumined consciousness, and there is simply no sense in trying to make it comprehensible. All “heresies” regarding the nature of Christ have arisen from the attempt. All concepts are partial at best and must never be looked upon as the complete picture.

“Issa” was the Pali or Tibetan form of Isha, which was the spiritual name given to Jesus by His teachers in India. Isha means “the Lord” in the sense of possessing and ruling all things, just as does Pantocrator, a term applied to Jesus by the Greek-speaking Eastern Christians. It usually refers to God, as in the Isha Upanishad.16 Those who received the teachings of Saint Thomas did not call themselves Christians, but referred to themselves as Ishannis, which means “of Isha,” just as Lutheran means “of Luther.” Ishanni could awkwardly, but accurately, be translated “Jesusites” or “Isha-ites.”

…Which was incarnate in a simple mortal in order to do good to men and to exterminate their evil thoughts

Abhedananda: “In him was manifest the soul of the universe to do good to all and to wash away all sinful thoughts.”

In the West we are used to calling anything we like “good,” but in the East–and in Israel at the time of Christ–the word “good” was applied only to God. This is why, when the man called Jesus “good Master,” Jesus rebuked him saying that only God was good, for since the man did not think Jesus was divine it was incorrect for him to flatter Him with that epithet.17 Therefore, “doing good”–as the Gospel says Jesus did–to men meant to bring them into contact with God. But just as even the most powerful magnet cannot draw iron that is caked with mud, human beings also need purification so they will be responsive to the action of divinity upon them. Evil in the form of ignorance is the mud from which we need to be cleansed. Jesus came bearing the deifying power of God within Him both to purify and to perfect His disciples.

First comes the thought, and then comes the deed. Evil thought must be cut off, for it is the root of “sinful” acts. Also, thoughts have a vibration. Evil thoughts, being low and poisonous vibrations, the mind and heart are darkened and poisoned by them even if evil deeds are not manifested. This is why Jesus said that lustful thought is a form of adultery.18

So Jesus did not come to save people from going to hell because of their sins. He came to deliver them from sinning so hell would not be a natural consequence. But Jesus was not just a spiritual medicine or bail bonder. He had more to do for man than merely keep him from doing wrong.

And in order to bring back man degraded by his sins to a life of peace, love, and happiness and to recall to him the one and indivisible Creator, whose mercy is infinite and without bounds.

This is the true purpose of Christ’s advent among us. He wishes to restore us to Paradise–to where we shall arise upon our complete purification–to the “life of peace, love and good,” so that we shall eventually return to the Creator by means of His infinite mercy.

It is most significant that in this Buddhist document that is nearly two thousand years old, and written by Buddhist monks who would certainly be the most conversant with Buddhist thought, we find the concept of God not only as a universal principle of consciousness, but as a Being capable of mercy and love toward human beings. Here we see that God is declared the source of the universe, as well.

Abhedananda’s rendering is: “He had come among men to remind sinners of the infinite compassion of God and bestow on them peace, happiness and divine grace.”

Jesus was most emphatic in expressing the personal caring of God for every being–not just humans. “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.”19 Through the Son the Father, too, is intent upon all of us and calls us in love to return to Him through the Son and the Holy Spirit, His two “hands” which He extends to us in order to rescue us from the ever-tossing sea of relative existence.

Hear what the merchants from Israel relate to us on this subject.

The people of Israel, who dwelt on a fertile soil giving forth two crops a year and who possessed large flocks, excited by their sins the anger of God,…

And here we find Buddhists speaking of sins and the anger of God–of course understood in a correct metaphysical sense and not in the ignorant literalism of contemporary exoteric Christianity.

Who inflicted upon them a terrible chastisement in taking from them their land, their cattle, and their possessions. Israel was reduced to slavery by the powerful and rich pharaohs who then reigned in Egypt.

How difficult it is for us to face the fact that everything negative which happens to us is a direct and precise reaction to our own previous actions and thoughts (including “acts of will”). We readily say: “Well, that is their karma,” when something unpleasant happens to the neighbors, but when it comes to our door we then demand to know why it is happening!

Because we have heard so much of being punished for sins–and because of the type of home life nearly everyone has had, in which parents, despite any disclaimers, punished us because they were personally angered at our actions–we have difficulty thinking of the infliction of unpleasant consequences as a curative measure. Of course, since “the burned child fears the fire,” it is obvious that we “learn to do right” when pain is the result of an act. But we really are not learning to do right at all–only to avoid suffering. Thus there is no truly moral correction as a result. God, however, is not a human parent, and His “chastisement” is worked through the law of action and reaction: karma.

Our negative karmas do not just produce unpleasantness–they teach. Since we are so intent on disliking and trying to avoid pain we miss the teaching aspect, which is that whatever we do to others will happen to us. Suffering can teach us empathy, letting us know how others feel when we wrong them. Because of our inveterate egocentricity, however, we are mostly blinded to this important aspect of karmic reaping. The fruition of karma should never be looked upon as reward or punishment. It is this interpretation that prevents us from seeing its true nature and benefiting from it. Karma is simple reaction to let us know what is wise and what is foolish.

The worst aspect of our misunderstanding of the law of reaction is the false image we create of God as a severe–and often irritable–tyrant who will “show us” not to do “wrong” by making our lives miserable until we “straighten up” and stop doing what He does not “like.” In Greek, the word amartano, translated “sin,” means “falling short,” but in exoteric Christianity it is erroneously defined as “that which offends God.” In some books we can even read such absurdities as that sin is that which “loses us the friendship of God.” Terrible. It is true, though, that sin “offends” the god within us, the Higher Self, and sometimes scriptures use symbolic language in speaking of these things, hoping that by using terms we know in relation to ordinary life we will at least somewhat perceive the situation regarding spiritual matters.

Much of what follows is told in detail in the Bible, and I suggest you read the more full account there.

These treated the Israelites worse than animals, burdening them with difficult tasks and loading them with chains. They covered their bodies with weals and wounds, without giving them food or permitting them to dwell beneath a roof,

To keep them in a state of continual terror and to deprive them of all human resemblance.

And in their great calamity, the people of Israel remembered their heavenly protector and, addressing themselves to him, implored his grace and mercy.

An illustrious pharaoh then reigned in Egypt who had rendered himself famous by his numerous victories, the riches he had heaped up, and the vast palaces which his slaves had erected for him with their own hands.

This pharaoh had two sons of whom the younger was called Mossa [Moses]. Learned Israelites taught him diverse sciences.

Moses was also an initiate of the Mysteries of Egypt–which originally came from India. (As the adopted grandson of the Pharaoh, Moses was destined to be the head of the Egyptian religion.) So when Jesus, Who had been Moses in a previous birth, went to India He was going to discover His ancient spiritual roots.

And they loved Mossa in Egypt for his goodness and the compassion which he showed to all those who suffered.

Seeing that the Israelites would not, in spite of the intolerable sufferings they were enduring, abandon their God to worship those made by the hand of man, which were gods of the Egyptian nation,…

Here we find Buddhists, who are accused of idolatry by contemporary “Christians,” speak of gods that are no gods at all but the handicraft of humans. This shows that although they use imagery they are in no way idolators–thinking that images are gods.

Mossa believed in their invisible God, who did not let their failing strength give way.

And the Israelitish preceptors excited the ardor of Mossa and had recourse to him, praying him to intercede with the pharaoh his father in favor of their co-religionists.

Abhedananda’s version seems more clear. It is: “It came to his [Moses’] notice that in spite of their endless misery and hardship the sons of Israel had not given up faith in the Lord of the Universe and had not taken to worshipping the petty gods of Egypt. Mossa believed in God whom he considered to be one and indivisible. Priests who acted as teachers to the Israelites prayed to Mossa that he should request his father, the great Pharaoh, to come to the aid of their co-religionists. This they thought would bring good to all.”

This last phrase is especially meaningful. Not only would the Hebrews be benefited by the Egyptians ceasing to oppress them, so would their oppressors–for they would cease creating evil karma for themselves. Whenever anyone does something distasteful to you, remember that you are more fortunate than they, for by their negative action you are reaping bad karma and thus becoming free of it, whereas they are creating bad karma which they must reap in the future. Suffering is their self-made destiny. So it is better to be the one wronged than the one who commits the wrong.

This phrase also tells us that the wise among the Hebrews wanted to help the Egyptians. Rather than hating them they felt compassion for them. This attitude is told about in The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom. Corrie and her sister, Bessie, were put in a Nazi concentration camp. One day a woman guard was beating a woman prisoner to death. Horrified at the prisoner’s sufferings, Corrie said: “Oh, that poor woman!” Bessie responded: “Yes! I pray that God forgives her.” Corrie was astonished that Bessie was feeling sorry for the guard; but Bessie was right. Some time later Bessie said to her: “Corrie, one day the war will be over and we will be out of here. When that time comes we must do something to heal these poor people.” At first Corrie thought Bessie meant their fellow inmates, but further conversation revealed that Bessie meant that they must help heal their Nazi tormentors. Although Bessie died in the camp, Corrie did found a “home” for such people and worked to heal their sick hearts and minds. This is wisdom. “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.…Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.”20

Wherefore the Prince Mossa went to his father, begging him to ameliorate the fate of these unfortunates. But the pharaoh became angered against him and only augmented the torments endured by his slaves.

It happened that a short time after, a great evil visited Egypt. The pestilence came to decimate there both the young and the old, the weak and the strong, and the pharaoh believed in the resentment of his own gods against him.

But the Prince Mossa told his father that it was the God of his slaves who was interceding in favor of these unfortunates in punishing the Egyptians.

The pharaoh then gave to Mossa his son an order to take all the slaves of the Jewish race, to conduct them outside the town, and to found at a great distance from the capital another city where he should dwell with them.

Mossa then made known to the Hebrew slaves that he had set them free in the name of their God, the God of Israel, and he went out with them from the city and from the land of Egypt.

He led them into the land they had lost by their many sins, he gave unto them laws, and enjoined them to pray always to the invisible Creator whose goodness is infinite.

On the death of Prince Mossa, the Israelites rigorously observed his laws, wherefore God recompensed them for the ills to which he had exposed them in Egypt.

Well, which is it? At one time we say that all which befalls us is the reaction of karma, an impersonal, virtually mathematical force, and then we say that God is either punishing or rewarding us. This is a conflict that arises only in the minds of the left-brained, the materially and “logically” oriented. But those of intuitive orientation, or right-brained, know that both are true. For since God is everything, the Law of Karma must be a manifestation of God. For example, if an architect puts a door in a wall, even though each person who comes through must turn the knob, open the door, and walk through it, yet it is also the architect who admits them, for if he had not first placed the door there they would not be able to enter. In the East, Christian and non-Christian, it is understood that God does everything and at the same time does nothing. It all depends on how it is viewed. And a state of consciousness is possible in which both views are transcended.

Their kingdom became the most powerful of all the earth, their kings made famous for their treasures, and a long peace reigned among the people of Israel.

The glory of the riches of Israel spread throughout the earth, and the neighboring nations bore them envy.

The reigns of David and Solomon are being remembered here.

For the Most High himself led the victorious arms of the Hebrews, and the pagans dared not attack them.

Unhappily, as man is not always true to himself, the fidelity of the Israelites to their God did not last long.

They began by forgetting all the favors which he had heaped upon them, invoked but seldom his name, and sought the protection of magicians and sorcerers.

“And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God?”21 That is what Jesus in His incarnation as Isaiah thought about it.

Once again we must not fall into the left-brain trap of rejecting help from psychics because of this and many other verses in the Old Testament that speak censoriously about psychic consultation with those that are ignorant and foolish (and sometimes outright negative). We have already seen that divination is a part of valid religion, but what about psychic “advisers”? The answer is really quite simple: we consult persons with material knowledge and skills for the resolution of material problems, those skilled in psychic matters for psychic problems, and spiritual experts for spiritual problems. And ultimately we seek God for the solution of all problems.

The error of the Hebrews was twofold. They sought out those who were controlled by–or in communication with–low astral spirits, wandering “tramp souls,” earthbound spirits, and even fallen angels. Such control and communication is negative all around. It has no redeeming characteristics. This includes just about all “shamanism.”

Psychics are a different species altogether. A psychic is one whose inner faculties are awakened and who uses those faculties under the aegis of his own will. Although, as any honest psychic will admit, there may be problems as to the accuracy of his interpretation of his psychic perceptions, he is in no way passive. Just the opposite. Through exercise of his will and intelligence he achieves his results. Caution should be used in psychic consultations, but there need be no fear of wrongdoing.

However, just as we should render Caesar and God their respective dues,22 so we should not mistake the psychic for the spiritual realms, nor should we mistake psychic matters for spiritual ones. We should know the place of each and act accordingly. This, too, is wisdom.

Another error of the Hebrews was their attempt to escape the consequences of their actions by psychic means. This is karmic cheating, and never works.

The kings and the captains substituted their own laws for those which Mossa had written down for them. The temple of God and the practice of worship were abandoned. The people gave themselves up to pleasure and lost their original purity.

Several centuries had elapsed since their departure from Egypt when God determined to exercise once more his chastisements upon them.

Strangers began to invade the land of Israel, devastating the country, ruining the villages, and carrying the inhabitants into captivity.

And there came at one time pagans from the country of Romeles [Rome, which was founded by Romulus], on the other side of the sea. They subdued the Hebrews and established among them military leaders who by delegation from Caesar ruled over them.

They destroyed the temples, they forced the inhabitants to cease worshipping the invisible God, and compelled them to sacrifice victims to the pagan deities.

They made warriors of those who had been nobles, the women were torn away from their husbands, and the lower classes, reduced to slavery, were sent by thousands beyond the seas.

As to the children, they were put to the sword. Soon in all the land of Israel naught was heard but groans and lamentations.

In this extreme distress, the people remembered their great God. They implored his grace and besought him to forgive them; and our Father, in his inexhaustible mercy, heard their prayer.

The Buddhist authors had evidently heard about the sufferings of the Jewish people as recorded in the Old Testament and confused those accounts with the situation of Israel under the Romans. The occupation of Israel by Rome was grim and harsh, but nothing that is described here took place under Roman rule.

Now we are ready for the Incarnation of Christ Jesus.

At this time came the moment when the all-merciful Judge elected to become incarnate in a human being.

Abhedananda has: “In His infinite compassion for the sinners the Lord and Father of the World willed to descend on earth in human form.” Here, of course, we must be careful. The simile of the Holy Spirit as a mirror will help us. All the levels of manifestation, from the causal to the material worlds, are like a series of mirrors which reflect the Divine. When the Father “sits upon the heights and looks unto the depths” His “face” is reflected in an infinite series of images. Thus there are many “Father,” “Sons,” and “Holy Spirits,” an innumerable chain of Trinities, Septenaries, and Duodecads.

Since Jesus was “sitting in the throne of the Father”23 He was both the Father and the Son. This is why He told Saint Philip: “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.”24

Does this manuscript perhaps call Jesus “Father of the World” because of His having been Adam, the father of the human race (world)?

And the Eternal Spirit, dwelling in a state of complete inaction and of supreme beatitude, awoke and detached itself for an indefinite period from the Eternal Being,…

Abhedananda: “The eternal spirit without any beginning or end and in a state of complete inaction separated Himself from the all-pervading Supreme Soul and came to assume the form of a human being.”

Can it be that Jesus was in a state of transcendent inaction, and yet manifested in relativity and acted without changing His status? Again, the left brain just cannot grasp this. But long before, God in His incarnation as Krishna of Brindaban had declared in His words recorded in the Bhagavad Gita that He both acted and did not act simultaneously–it being a matter of consciousness. Furthermore He told his disciple, Arjuna, that for human beings, as well, there is both action in inaction and inaction in action–that this is a problem that must be solved. But it is not a problem of intellectual attitude or concept but of consciousness.

To all appearances, then, He Whom we know as Jesus of Nazareth, though fully established in a permanent state of identity with the Absolute, “aroused and detached Himself for an indefinite time from the Eternal Being,” and “came to assume the form of a human being.” This is a great mystery, but so is our own coming into manifestation from the Bosom of the Father. Actually, the mystery of Christ is our mystery, too. Jesus did not come to reveal Himself to us, but to reveal us to ourselves. That is, He has come to show us how to realize our own divine status. To slavishly worship Jesus while whining that we are sinners is to deny Him. For, as we know well, a Christian is another Christ. Why then do we worship Jesus? To align our consciousness with His so we can catch the divine spark of His illuminated consciousness and come to realize our divine sonship just as did he. Here, too, the simile of lighting candles from an already-lighted candle applies.

…so as to show forth in the guise of humanity the means of self-identification with Divinity and of attaining to eternal felicity,…

Abhedananda: “He descended on earth to show all living creatures the way to unite with God and to attain endless bliss.” Those who become one with God are the followers of Christ–no others. Those who teach in His Name that Christians are all sinners worthy of hell and have no other destiny than to die and go to heaven, eventually to come back into the same–though perfected–human body to live in it forever somewhere (the confident Fundamentalists who insist on this never seem to quite answer that question of where the “resurrected” will live for eternity) and to pass the time flattering God with praises, are liars and anti-Christs. This is strong wording, but Jesus Himself said of them that when they do finally confront Him at the summation which takes place after death, “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.”25 May we never hear those words. (I expect we already have in previous lives.)

…and to demonstrate by example how man may attain moral purity [Abhedananda: holiness of the mind and of how to attain immortality by separating…] and, by separating his soul from its mortal coil, the degree of perfection necessary to enter into the kingdom of heaven, which is unchangeable and where happiness reigns eternal.

Spiritual perfection is not accomplished by saying: “I’m God, you’re God, we’re all God,” or sitting around with joined hands chanting “Om” or some affirmative ditty, hugging one another and “experiencing the God in each other.” It is a matter of purification, for “blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”26

We must learn to separate our consciousness from materiality through meditation. Experiencing immortality in this way, the Christian “dies no more,” but at the destined time of departure from earthly incarnation simply steps out of his body into the “everlasting habitations”27 to which he is no stranger.

The Abhedananda version has “God’s heaven” rather than “Kingdom of God.” Notovich no doubt used this latter since it would be familiar to Christians. But Abhedananda’s wording brings out an important point. There are two types of invisible realms: heavens and hells. But “God’s heaven” is neither of these, but is beyond them all. There are the heavens of men, of angels, and so on, continuing up to the heaven of the Cherubim. None of these are our goal, and Jesus did not come merely to assure our passage into any of them–though we shall pass through them in our upward journey. And that is just it–we are to pass through them, not to dwell in them and identify with them. The idea “I am an angel” is as mistaken as “I am a human being.” Ashoka recorded on a pillar in India that Jesus said: “This world is a bridge. Pass over it, do not build a house on it.” The same is true of all other worlds, as well.

Soon after, a marvelous child was born in the land of Israel, God himself speaking by the mouth of this infant of the frailty [Abhedananda: impermanence] of the body and the grandeur [Abhedananda: glory] of the soul.

No comment needed.

The parents of the newborn child were poor people, belonging by birth to a family of noted piety, who, forgetting their ancient grandeur on earth, praised the name of the Creator and thanked him for the ills with which he saw fit to prove them.

Abhedananda’s rendering is much superior: “The parents of this child were poor but full of piety and born of families noted for their purity and innocence. They cared little for worldly possessions and sang the glory of the Lord. It was their conviction that sorrows and setbacks experienced by them had all been ordained by God in order to test their integrity.”

Spiritual heredity is important. In the East they begin the life of a saint by telling about his grandparents–if not even further back in the family. When I first went to India I was always questioned by those with spiritual savvy about my parents and grandparents. They did it very subtly, but I knew what they were about. So I always told them about the spiritual character of my great-great grandmother and my great grandparents as well. And they were satisfied that my spiritual search was not just a momentary diversion before lapsing backing into “normal” Western materiality.

Whatever we may think of it, it cannot be denied that in the ’sixties there was an awakening throughout the United States within the “hip” movement. But what do we see now? Except for a very small percentage, all those “turned on and tuned in” people have “dropped in” rather than out and have become even more materialistic and pedestrian than their parents–who at least had the excuse of never awakening at all. Lily Tomlin has based some very funny though sadly insightful routines on how these people have moved from some awareness back into the somnolence of material security. One of the most vocal “rebels” of the ’sixties who was synonymous with the whole movement has become a Cub Scout den mother and one of the major financial moguls of this country–as well as recently having become “born again.” And it is doubtful if she even remembers what she once was–or at least strove to be.

Why would this be for all those aspiring “sages”? Because the spiritual material simply was not there. They did not have the inner resources upon which to draw.

This is being written, not for spiritual snobbery or to imply that if your antecedents were not avid seekers for God you will not succeed in your search, but to demonstrate that if you persevere in your spiritual endeavors your descendents will be inclined to the spiritual life and will benefit from the momentum you have begun now. Actually, the vibration you will set up in your karmic aura will ensure that higher souls will be born into your family. One of the purposes of marriage is to provide the body vehicles for evolved souls to come into incarnation.

The family of Jesus was composed of those who paid no attention to their position in the eyes of the world, but who fixed their mind on God, rejoicing in His true glory, and knowing that all which came to them was for their upliftment. As Saint Paul has told us: “All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose”28–which is their deification.

To reward them for not turning aside from the way of truth, God blessed the firstborn of this family. He chose him for his elect and sent him to help those who had fallen into evil and to cure those who suffered.

Abhedananda: “To reward them for their patience and fortitude God blessed their first-born. He had sent him for the redemption of the sinners and the recovery of the diseased to health.”

“Whenever there is a decrease of righteousness [dharma] and there is an increase in unrighteousness [adharma], then I manifest Myself. For the protection of the good and the destruction of evildoers, to establish righteousness [dharma], I am born from age to age.” So says Krishna in the fourth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita.

The divine child, to whom was given the name of Issa, began from his earliest years to speak of the one and indivisible God, exhorting the souls of those gone astray to repentance and the purification of the sins of which they were culpable.

Those who have gone astray, losing their consciousness of spirit, need to return to that consciousness. This alone is true repentance–which literally means “to return back.”

Notice that Jesus exhorted the people to “the purification of the sins.” Sin is a condition of falling short of our divine status. Wrong actions, though called sins, are really the symptoms of the condition of sin, like red spots on the skin are the symptoms of the disease called measles and not the disease itself. But in this instance sins are being spoken of as entities capable of being purified. This makes no sense if we forget that all things, visible and invisible, are whorls of energy, that “habit patterns” are configurations of subtle energies within our psychic levels. Sins in this passage means those bendings and distortions of psychic energies that exist within our psychic bodies like toxins and tumors that impel us to ignorance and evildoing. Feeling sorry about them, crying, and asking for forgiveness from God will accomplish nothing. Rather, we must get busy and dissolve them through purification of consciousness. Otherwise, they will not only keep on existing, they will become compounded from life to life.

People came from all parts to hear him, and they marveled at the discourses proceeding from his childish mouth. All the Israelites were of one accord in saying that the Eternal Spirit dwelt in this child.

This we have not heard so far in the other accounts of His childhood.

When Issa had attained the age of thirteen years, the epoch when an Israelite should take a wife,…

Often at a very young age a ceremony of betrothal would be performed which was as legally binding as the later marriage rite itself.

…the house where his parents earned their living by carrying on a modest trade began to be a place of meeting for rich and noble people, desirous of having for a son-in-law the young Issa, already famous for his edifying discourses in the name of the Almighty.

Then it was that Issa left the parental house in secret, departed from Jerusalem, and with the merchants set out towards Sind,

With the object of perfecting Himself in the Divine Word and of studying the laws of the great Buddhas.

Abhedananda: “Issa was unwilling to marry. He had already earned fame through his expounding the true nature of God. At the proposal of marriage he resolved to leave the house of his father in secret. At this time his great desire was to achieve full realization of god-head and learn religion [dharma?] at the feet of those who had attained perfection through meditation.”

Of course Jesus knew that He had to be engaged in His destined work.29 Moreover, it was His Virgin Mother Who was to be His partner in that destiny. Since in Paradise She had been brought forth from His body as Adam,30 now He had come forth from Her as Her Son. This was all part of the balancing out of His and Her karmic forces.

Jesus knew two things, as is demonstrated by these verses. He knew that to attain perfection one must learn the ways of divine unfoldment from qualified teachers. He further knew that qualified teachers were those who had themselves evolved through interior work–namely, meditation. Without these two elements spiritual life remains an unfulfilled hope.

If Jesus, Who was born perfect, needed teachers to awaken that perfection for its manifestation, who can feel himself exempt from the same need? Egotists are free to make up their own philosophy and be their own teachers or claim to be in direct contact with the Highest. But by their lack of fruits shall we know them.31 The saints and masters of all ages have first been disciples. Just as the physical human race has been maintained by parents engendering children, so it is in the “race” of seekers. They, too, are born from spiritual parentage. Just as the stork does not bring babies, nor are they found in cabbage patches, so saints and masters are not self-produced, but are “birthed” by the wisdom of others who have trod the way before them. We must be taught, as Saint Paul emphasizes in his epistles.32

There are also those who like to sit around in idleness, saying: “When the student is ready the teacher appears.” But Jesus was not such a one. He arose and went to seek out the Masters of Wisdom who were living in the Himalayas. Thus:

In the course of his fourteenth year, the young Issa, blessed of God, came on this side of Sind and established himself among the Aryas in the land beloved of God.

The land where the holy live (Aryavarta) is itself holy, truly cherished of God and men of wisdom.

Crossing the Indus river, Jesus came into the land known as Sindh, which is now in Pakistan. Abhedananda has: “At the age of fourteen he crossed Sind and entered the holy land of the Aryans.” Aryans are not a racial or national group, but “those who strive upward”–the literal meaning of the word.

Fame spread the reputation of this marvelous child throughout the length of northern Sind, and when he crossed the country of the five rivers and the Rajputana, the devotees of the god Jaine prayed him to dwell among them.

Abhedananda’s version is quite interesting: “As he was passing all along through the land of the five rivers, his benign appearance, face radiating peace and comely forehead attracted Jain devotees who knew him to be one who had received blessings from God Himself.” Sometimes you can judge a book by its cover.

Something must have been accidently left out by the lama reading to Notovich, for Abhedananda has: “And they [the Jains] requested him to stay with them in their monastery. But he turned down their request. At this time he did not like to accept anyone’s service.”

Unfortunately we are coming to the end of Abhedananda’s record. The final verses–which are versions of the first two verses in the following text of Notovich are: “In course of time he arrived at Jagannath Dham [Puri], the abode of Vyasa Krishna, and became the disciple of the Brahmins. He endeared himself to all and learnt how to read, understand and expound the Vedas.”

How interesting that the expression “Jagannath Dham” is found in Abhedananda’s reading. It means “the abode of Jagannath.” “Jagannath” means “Lord of the world” and refers to Shiva, Who was the deity worshipped at that time in the great Jagganath Temple, though now it is a Krishna temple. A few years ago when I was in South India I was intrigued to see in a newspaper a similar expression used for Tirupati, the city in which the temple of Vishnu (known as Venkataramana or Venkateshwar) is located. The reporter referred to rains “in the abode of Lord Venkateshwar.” Once again we have the type of thing that maddens left-brain people. The image both is and is not the Lord!

But he left the erring worshippers of Jaine and went to Juggernaut in the country of Orissa, where repose the mortal remains of Vyasa-Krishna and where the white priests of Brahma made him a joyous welcome.

Vyasa Krishna is the father of “modern” Hinduism. That is, about three thousand years ago he codified the Vedas and wrote a tremendous amount of inspired Sanskrit spiritual treatises which are regarded as sacred scriptures of supreme authority by Hindus. Paramount among his works is the Mahabharata, a Sanskrit epic which chronicles the terrible war which destroyed nearly all the warrior caste. This war, known as the Great [Maha] Indian [Bharata] War was fought in Northern India on a plain known as Kurukshetra–the Field of the Kurus. Today there is a major city of the same name nearby. Luckily, the battlefield is still the same, without the encroachment of human settlement. At the place where Krishna gave the teachings known as the Bhagavad Gita (the Song of God) to Arjuna just before the beginning of the battle, there is a small complex of temples and meditation caves. On the exact spot of the divine dialogue a huge marble chariot stands under an ancient tree said to have been there at the time of the Mahabharata war and under which Krishna and Arjuna took shelter from the–even then–ferocious Indian sun. Vyasa was himself a great devotee and a friend of Krishna from His childhood.

The expression “white [shukla] priests” does not refer to the color of their skin, but either to the fact that they were teachers of the Light or that they were priests of the White [Shukla] Yajur Veda. (There is also a Krishna [Black] Yajur Veda. But the term “black” does not mean negative or “black magic.”)

They taught him to read and understand the Vedas, to cure by aid of prayer, to teach, to explain the holy scriptures to the people, and to drive out evil spirits from the bodies of men, restoring unto them their sanity.

Today–and for many centuries previously–those who are not Brahmins are not permitted to learn the Vedas. In some places in South India they are not even allowed to hear them recited. But Jesus was taught the Vedic lore and even made a priest of the Vedas. This means that He became a formal adherent of Hindu Dharma and was looked upon as a Brahmin. Of course the priests recognized that Jesus was special, but that is not sufficient explanation for this. It is contended by Hindu scholars that originally caste had nothing to do with birth but rather with the individual psychology of the person. In contemporary India a person is considered to be of the same caste as his parents (inter-caste marriage is so minimal as to be non-existent), and that is that. So we see from this account that originally caste had nothing to do with nationality or birth. More important, we see that although Jesus was not an initiate of the Essenes, He was an Initiate among the Hindus. This is why Christianity is rooted in Hinduism (and therefore Buddhism). Also important is the fact that Jesus did not reject the worship of Jagannath or the status of the Brahmins, though, as seen below, He rejected caste-ism but not caste when applied correctly. That is itself such a complex subject that it is best not to go into it here.

He passed six years at Juggernaut, at Rajagriha, at Benares, and in the other holy cities.

Rajagriha (Rajgir in Bihar) is the birthplace of the Buddha, and Benares (Varanasi) is the holiest place in India as well as being the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. Benares is to Hinduism what Rome is to Roman Catholics, Jerusalem to Eastern Orthodox Christians, and Mecca to Moslems. Every Hindu wishes to make a pilgrimage to Benares at least once to worship Kashi Vishwanath (Shiva) and the Goddess Annapurna (Parvati). Those who die in Benares and are cremated at the Manikarnika Burning Ghat attain liberation from rebirth, for the radiation of Benares is so intensely holy that when the soul emerges from the body it is automatically purified and set free from the bonds of birth and death. This has been seen by those with the gift of spiritual clairvoyance, and I have observed it myself.

Benares is the heart of Hindu theology, and no teacher is taken seriously unless he has won the approval of the pandits (“learned men”) of Benares. If anyone has a new view he wishes to set forward it must be declared orthodox by the philosopher-priests of Benares. (For a philosophical tenet to be “orthodox” within the framework of Hinduism it must be proven to be consistent with the principles of the Vedas, Upanishads [Vedanta], and Brahma Sutras. This latter text is the original work of Vyasa Krishna, and the other two were arranged–and thus authorized–by him.)

Everyone loved him, for Issa lived in peace with the Vaisyas [the merchant class] and the Sudras [the servant class], whom he instructed in the holy scriptures.

Since even today there can be bitter and even violent altercations between the arch-conservative Hindus of the South and those who merely permit the lower castes to hear the Vedas recited, you can imagine how sharp would be the reaction two thousand years ago when twentieth-century ideas of equality were not even thought of, much less rejected. And Jesus did not just let them hear the scriptures [shastras], He let them become students of the sacred texts.

But the Brahmans [priest class] and the Kshatriyas [warrior class] told him that they were forbidden by the great Para-Brahma to come near to those whom he had created from his side and his feet;…

There is a passage in the Hindu scriptures that describes the Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Shudra castes as originating respectively from the head, arms, thighs, and feet of God. This is of course symbolic of the psychological traits which determine a person’s caste. A consideration of that is not for here, but I can assure you that the passage is correct, though wrong and foolish interpretations of it have prevailed into modern days, and likely will continue so.

…that the Vaisyas were only authorized to hear the reading of the Vedas, and this on festival days only;

That the Sudras were forbidden not only to assist at the reading of the Vedas, but also from contemplating them, for their condition was to serve in perpetuity as slaves to the Brahmans, the Kshatriyas, and even the Vaisyas.

The word “slaves” is a completely wrong translation, for we have no record that the Hindus have at any time in their history practiced slavery. Notovich was no doubt thinking of the situation of the peasants in Russia who were something between outright slaves and indentured servants. Although they could be bought and sold by landowners it was more like the buying and selling of American baseball players. Practically speaking they were more slaves than free, and Notovich assumed that was the earlier position of the shudras. The shudras were servants, but were paid for their services, just as are menial laborers in this country.

By “servant” [shudra] was meant any type of unskilled laborer. Shudras were very important in their function and could become wealthy. The only religious prohibitions laid on them was that concerning Vedic study. Shudras could worship in temples and function as normal Hindus. Since in this century most Hindus are not even interested in learning Sanskrit and studying the scriptures formally, they very likely were not particularly interested at the time of Jesus, either. The situation would be like members of a church that were not allowed to own a Bible or attend theological seminary. Not particularly oppressive. Since books were rare and only used by scholars, no one but the brahmins had them anyway, so again a shudra would not feel particularly deprived.

What is this situation with Jesus all about then? He was acting on the principle that a person can have his spiritual consciousness awakened and progress from one spiritual state to one higher. Although the assignment of caste at that time was according to individual makeup and not hereditary, still once it was assigned that was it. But Jesus, Who later on was going to take some pretty dim fishermen and turn them into masters, knew that a person could dramatically evolve in consciousness within one lifetime. So He was going to the most backward and opening the avenue to their spiritual transformation.

But the brahmins and kshatriyas considered that Jesus was denying the fact of the shudras’ (and vaishyas’) spiritual level. What He was doing was objectionable to them for they saw His actions as liable to create confusion and even hypocrisy. And it is true that we must work on our own level, not pretending to be either above or below our actual status. We should not condemn those who protested to Jesus, for although they knew He was great they did not realize that He had the ability to give those of lower caste “the power to become the sons of God.”33

“‘Death only can set them free from their servitude’ has said Para-Brahma. Leave them then and come and worship with us the gods, who will become incensed against thee if thou dost disobey them.”

Again this is not meant oppressively, but because they really thought Jesus was going to harm the vaishyas and shudras in the long run.

But Issa listened not to their discourses and betook him to the Sudras, preaching against the Brahmans and the Kshatriyas.

He inveighed against the act of a man arrogating to himself the power to deprive his fellow beings of their rights of humanity, “for,” said he, “God the Father makes no difference between his children; all to him are equally dear.”

Issa denied the divine origin of the Vedas and the Puranas. “For,” taught he to his followers, “a law has already been given to man to guide him in his actions;…

The Vedas are sometimes called “shabda Brahman”–Sound God (or Spoken God). In the Bhagavad Gita Krishna had insisted that the Vedas were indeed sacred but needed to be superseded since they dealt only with the externals of religion and not with enlightenment. He even said that just as a pond is useless when the countryside is flooded, so the Vedas are useless to the enlightened. This is because the Vedas are part of what is known as the karma-khanda–that is, they deal only with meritorious deeds which produce a “happy heaven” for a while after death and an easy earthly life later on. They do not help a person return to God, but urge a person to work for both heavenly and earthly enjoyments rather than divine realization. So what Jesus said was not new–only momentarily forgotten. Also, it is not authentic Hinduism to consider the Vedas divine. They are inspired of God but they are hardly God Himself. Before we disdain the mistaken attitude of the brahmins toward the Vedas let us not forget the Bibliolatry of Christian Fundamentalists who are often even more absurd in their adulation of the Bible as a “saving” force.

The Puranas were also written by Vyasa–any literate Hindu should have known that. (Naimisharanya–the modern Nimsar–where he wrote them is a sacred place of pilgrimage and was well known to all Hindus, at least by name). So to claim that they were written by God–in the way Fundamentalists claim the Bible was virtually written or at least dictated word-for-word by God–was not even legitimate Hinduism.

It is true: there is only one divine “scripture,” and that is the aspiration toward divinity which is innate–“written”–within the soul of each one of us. According to the Kabbalah, the real “word of God” is the call: “Return, ye children of men.”34 The lesser scriptures are expansions and interpretations of that primal urge. This is why authentic Christianity does not emphasize intellectual concepts, but is intent on esoteric practice. Even writings like this are meaningful only if they keep us reminded of the necessity for our return to the Bosom of the Father and help purify our minds for the process of return.

“…fear thy God, bend the knee before him only, and bring to him alone the offerings which proceed from thy gains.”

The outrageous greed of televangelists and other religious opportunists in the West seems like extreme understatement when compared with the greed of the temple brahmins in much of India. I have seen them scream curses at fellow brahmins who would not help them in intimidating simple pilgrims into giving them great sums of money. Their lying and cheating is legendary among the Hindus. I have had first-hand experience of their rapacity. At the same time I have encountered brahmin priests who were utterly unselfish and even generous to devoted worshippers–refusing any kind of donations, insisting that they were servants of God and would be rewarded by Him. But the other kind is more common in the places of pilgrimage. I knew a disciple of Sri Sarada Devi who was beaten by the priests of Jagannath so severely that his thigh was broken. They did this because he would not let them intimidate an American and take all (literally) his money from him. He never recovered fully from the injury. This is not a rare incident, I am most sad to say.

Jesus told the simple people to resist the greed of the professional priests and instead give their offerings to God by engaging in one-to-one acts of charity.

Issa denied the Trimurti and the incarnation of Para-Brahma in Vishnu, Siva, and other gods, for said he:

“The Judge Eternal, the Eternal Spirit, comprehends the one and indivisible soul of the universe, which alone creates, contains, and vivifies all.

“He alone has willed and created, he alone has existed since all eternity, and his existence will have no end. He has no equal either in the heavens or on earth.”

Here we come into the labyrinth of Hindu cosmology. Just as in esoteric Christianity we have many Trinities, etc., so in Hinduism there are many Trinities as well, known as Trimurtis, which means “Three Forms,” literally. But the two terms are synonymous. Today in modern Hinduism when the names of Vishnu and Shiva are used, it is Maha-Vishnu and Sada-Shiva–divine aspects–that are meant. But at the time of Jesus it was the lesser beings who preside over certain aspects of the three lowers worlds that were meant by those names. Although they should be respected and even honored for their high evolutionary status they were not God any more than angels and archangels are God in Christian cosmology. Jesus was making this clear to His hearers, and it was not appreciated, for the priests preferred that the people remain confined to the karma-khanda–the realm of these “deities”–and not be taught of the higher aspects of God.

The rituals of the karma-khanda, as has been pointed out, have only the purpose of perpetuating continual rebirth interspersed with sojourns in an earth-like heaven. The karma from such rituals has two evil effects. It creates the idea of human beings as performing cattle that need to placate God to get material enjoyments, as trained animals are rewarded with food by their keepers. Thus it completely obscures the destiny of humans as divine flames of the One Fire. Also the meritorious karma from those rituals actually compels a person to take rebirth. We are always thinking of bad karma as undesirable, but good karma is just as binding–and blinding–to us. Bad karma is an iron chain and good karma is a gold chain. Both make us slaves to rebirth and keep us from returning to God.

“The Great Creator has not shared his power with any living being, still less with inanimate objects, as they have taught to you; for he alone possesses omnipotence.”

There were–and are–animistic elements in Hinduism that are either exaggerations of the nature of objects that convey high or purifying vibrations, or completely fabricated superstitions. For example, meteorites were (are) often worshipped because they “came from heaven.” (I have visited temples where these rocks are worshipped. Usually they are painted garish red and have china eyes and mouths stuck on them to give them a more “godlike” appearance.) Immense stones have sometimes been declared deities. Plants are often elevated to divine honors, and on occasion both men and women are married to them! This is the underside of Hinduism and is only to be expected since it has had so many millennia to gather the barnacles of ignorance. Much of this has disappeared since the last century, but enough remains to be disturbing–especially in some rural areas where the brahmins are only slightly more literate than the lowest classes.

Jesus was not denouncing “Hindu idolatry,” because at that time no images were used in Hindu worship. Rather, a seat was placed for the deity, who was then called by mantras and asked to accept the worship. A worthy brahmin could see the god through clairvoyance. (This is still the practice of the Hindus of Java.) Sometimes a mystical diagram known as a yantra was worshipped, but its symbolic nature was well understood. (In South India, even though images have been set up in the temples, they are not really worshipped. Instead the yantra of the deity–which is usually kept at the feet of the image, unseen by the devotees–is worshipped.) So this passage should not be construed as a fulmination against “idols.” The truth is, the Hindu use of images is a post-Christian phenomenon.

“He willed it and the world appeared. In a divine thought, he gathered together the waters, separating from them the dry portion of the globe. He is the principle of the mysterious existence of man, in whom he has breathed a part of his Being.”

Note that Jesus does not teach that the world was made from nothing. His words imply the truth that the creation is a thought, not “solid matter”–something that does not exist, anyway.

“And he has subordinated to man the earth, the waters, the beasts, and all that he has created and that he himself preserves in immutable order, fixing for each thing the length of its duration.

“The anger of God will soon be let loose against man; for he has forgotten his Creator, he has filled his temples with abominations, and he worships a crowd of creatures which God has made subordinate to him.

“For to do honor to stones and metals, he sacrifices human beings, in whom dwells a part of the spirit of the Most High.”

Grievous as it is, it must be acknowledged that some segments of Hindu society practiced human sacrifice, misunderstanding the statement of the scriptures that of all sacrifices human sacrifice (purushamedha) was the most acceptable to God. Of course the scriptures meant the “living sacrifice” of the devotee to which Saint Paul also referred.35 Today, although the number is small, some deluded souls who consider themselves votaries of the Goddess Kali perform human sacrifice–not wantonly, but only sacrificing men of complete physical perfection. On the other hand, the “thugs” of the last two or three centuries (that happily are no more), under pretext of devotion to Kali, killed many people. But they were nothing more than murderous thieves. Even in 1963 I heard stories of human sacrifices from veracious persons–some of whom had firsthand knowledge of their accounts. At that time in an area of Calcutta the police had surrounded the house of the certain Kali Nath Babu with barbed wire and had posted notices throughout the neighborhood warning people about him. They were unable to prove any charges, but knew with a certainly that he had sacrificed more than one hundred people in his underground shrine. A son of one of his followers was attending the school ran by an ashram where I spent quite some time, and he freely spoke of Kali Nath Babu’s vile career, swearing that he had gained mighty psychic powers as a result of his carnage.

As can be seen, Jesus had many wrongs to protest–which He did courageously. Yet these aberrations were only on the “lunatic fringe” of Hinduism. Never were they the norm in India. What was common throughout the subcontinent was the stifling effect of “caste-ism.”

“For he [the human being] humiliates those who work by the sweat of their brow to acquire the favor of an idler seated at his sumptuous board.”

With my own eyes I have seen brahmins drive other brahmins from temples and ashrams simply because they were poor. But for the rich there was always room. This is one reason why Communism has had such a ready hearing in India. Who could blame those who have become exasperated at the greed and oppression of those who should be guides and teachers, giving wisdom–not confusion and pain? The worship of the rich that goes on throughout India in temples and ashrams is not new, alas.

“Those who deprive their brethren of divine happiness shall be deprived of it themselves. The Brahmans and the Kshatriyas shall become the Sudras, and with the Sudras the Eternal shall dwell everlastingly.”

This principle was not realized by those who within the third and fourth centuries after Christ began withholding the fullness of the Christian Gnosis from the people and who in time gathered all power and spiritual responsibility unto themselves, attempting to turn the kingdom of God into a kingdom of earth, making the Mystery School of Jesus into a mighty religious empire which bound rather than set free, and starved rather than fed.36 The results are glaringly obvious today, are they not? Having withheld knowledge, the clergy and leaders of the churches have lost it themselves and even come to the madness of denying that it ever existed. When we look at the various churches, we see that those who vaunt themselves with unrestrained arrogance are–in the spirit–the degraded of the degraded, slaves of slavery, the most ignorant of the ignorant. “We are not Gnostics!” they boast. To them Jesus says: “Thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.”37

“Because in the day of the last judgment the Sudras and the Vaisyas will be forgiven much because of their ignorance, while God, on the contrary, will punish with his wrath those who have arrogated to themselves his rights.”

The Vaisyas and the Sudras were filled with great admiration and asked Issa how they should pray so as not to lose their eternal felicity.

“Worship not the idols, for they hear you not. Listen not to the Vedas, for their truth is counterfeit. Never put yourself in the first place and never humiliate your neighbor.

Here again, by Vedas is meant the karma-khanda, the path of religious materialism.

“Help the poor, support the weak, do ill to no one, and covet not that which thou hast not and which thou seest belongeth to another.”

The white priests and the warriors, becoming acquainted with the discourses of Issa addressed to the Sudras, resolved upon his death and sent with this intent their servants to seek out the young prophet.

The priests of Jagannath are still known for their homicidal ways. I know of a present-day scholar whose life was attempted by their hired assassins several times because he had uncovered the truth that they had killed Sri Krishna Chaitanya, a great sixteenth-century reformer, buried him beneath the stone pavement of the temple, and then told the people that he had merged into the image. (Centuries before, the priests of Venus did the same thing to Apollonius of Tyana, saying that they had seen him enter the shrine of the goddess and ascend to heaven.)

But Issa, warned of his danger by the Sudras, left the neighborhood of Juggernaut by night, reached the mountain, and established himself in the country of Gautamides, the birthplace of the great Buddha Sakyamuni, in the midst of a people worshipping the one and sublime Brahma.

There is no doubt that we are getting a bit of prejudice on the part of the Buddhists toward the Hindus, but it is most remarkable that once again there is the affirmation that Buddhists worship God.

After having perfected himself in the Pali language, the just Issa applied himself to the study of the sacred writings of the Sutras.

Pali–a form of Sanskrit–is the original language of Buddha and of the Buddhist scriptures. (This would not mean that the other scriptures are invalid, only that they are not of Buddha’s composition.)

However the authors of this text may have viewed it, we can certainly see from this that Jesus was a follower and teacher of both Hinduism and Buddhism. This is borne out by the fact that He quotes from both Hindu and Buddhist scriptures in His teachings recorded in the Gospels.

Six years after, Issa, whom the Buddha had elected to spread his holy word, had become a perfect expositor of the sacred writings.

Then he left Nepal and the Himalayan mountains, descended into the valley of Rajputana, and went towards the west, preaching to diverse peoples the supreme perfection of man,…

It is to our loss that nothing is told of Jesus’ residence in Nepal and the Himalayas. According to the authors Jesus spent six years each within the milieu of Hinduism and Buddhism after coming to India at the age of fourteen. This would bring His age up to twenty six only. Since He returned to Israel at the age of thirty, we have four years unaccounted for. Other traditions say they were spent in the Himalayas, and that during the previous twelve years He had periodically spent time there as well. However that may be, according to this account in time He began His return to the west, “preaching to various peoples the possibility of man’s attaining the supreme perfection.”

This truth, that human beings can attain unto the divine perfection–not merely be saved from hell by “accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior”–is the real Gospel of Christ, the “good news” of “Christ in you the hope of glory.”38

Because of “Christian” Fundamentalism our perspective on the Bible is warped, even if we reject the Fundamentalists’ position intellectually. Passages from the Bible which they continually quote have become identified in our minds with their twisted interpretation, even if we do not accept the interpretation. Thus, Jesus’ exhortation to “repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”39 is reduced to a revivalist’s cant in our eyes, when it is actually the same thing as is set down in this account of His life in India. The kingdom of heaven is truly at hand–we need only turn around (the literal meaning of the word translated “repent”) and lay hold on it. No doubt when Jesus used this expression He was thinking of the Buddhist axiom: “Only turn around, and lo! the other shore!” the “other shore” being Nirvana.

…which is–to do good to one’s neighbor, being the sure means of merging oneself rapidly in the Eternal Spirit:…

“But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”40

Just as Jesus paid His karmic debt through His incarnation, life, death, resurrection, and ascension, so must we–according to the nature of our karma which, fortunately, does not have the scope which His did, and does not require us to be world-saviors. But in our own way we must also be, like Christ, “repairers” to compensate for the injuries we have wrought in so many previous lives on this wounded earth.

“…He who shall have regained his original purity,” said Issa, “will die having obtained remission for his sins, and he will have the right to contemplate the majesty of God.”

“Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.”41

In crossing pagan territories, the divine Issa taught that the worship of visible gods was contrary to the law of nature.

First we must understand that now Jesus is traversing the lands between India and Israel, and what He says does not apply to Hinduism.

Again, it is the identification of the realities with the symbols that Jesus is warning the people against. But there is a further dimension, and the following verses bring it out.

“For man,” said he, “has not been permitted to see the image of God, and yet he has made a host of deities in the likeness of the Eternal.”

Although it is common to see symbolic pictures of God the Father as an old man with a beard, seated on a throne, Eastern Christianity holds the original position that in truth God is inconceivable and therefore undepictable. “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.”42 So Saint John the Beloved tells us. No visual imagery or abstract symbols can represent or depict the transcendent God. God can only been “seen” through His incarnations. Therefore we can accurately depict Jesus, saints, and angels, but never God.

By “constructing a host of divinities resembling the Eternal One” Jesus means inventing symbolic images supposedly showing the attributes of God and then calling those symbols “gods.” This does not mean that gods do not exist–the Bible speaks of them, but the real gods are not the imaginary deities Jesus is speaking about–deities invented by those who preferred to degrade God to their level of comprehension rather than rise to see and know God in that divine vision which the perfect have called “divine darkness” and “unknowing.” Again, with the characteristic (seeming) inconsistency of the East, the Fathers have told us that when we see God we will realize that no one can see Him. When we see the ocean we “see” that it cannot all be seen by us. To be completely accurate we can only say we have seen a tiny portion of the ocean, never can we say: “I have seen the ocean.” If we go into outer space, though, we can look down at the earth and see the whole body of water, and then we can see it.

When Saint Thomas was first teaching in South India, many people wanted to get a look at him so they climbed up high on various objects to do so. This inspired the following discourse on the very subject we are considering.

And the Apostle lifted up his eyes, and saw people raised up upon one another that they might see him, and going up to lofty places. And the Apostle saith to them: “Ye men, who are come to the assembly of the Messiah, men who wish to believe in Jesus, take unto yourselves an example from this, that, if ye do not raise yourselves up, ye cannot see me who am little. Me, who am like yourselves, ye are unable to see; Him, who is on high and is found in the depths, how shall ye be able to see, unless ye raise yourselves above your former works, and above the deeds that profit not, and the pleasures that abide not, and the corruptible wealth that remaineth here; and above riches and possessions that perish on the earth, and above garments that decay, and above beauty that becomes old and is disfigured, and above the body, in which all these are included, and which becomes dust, and which all these support? But believe, and trust in our Lord Jesus the Messiah, Him whom we preach, in order that your hope may be in Him, and that in Him ye may live for ever and ever, and that He may be to you a guide in the land of error, and may be to you a haven in the sea of trouble, and may be to you a fountain of living water in the region of thirst, and may be to you a full basket in the place of hunger, and may be a rest to your souls and a healer and giver of life to your bodies.”43

It can be truthfully said that no “man”–i.e., human being or other relative being–can see God, but when we transcend all those conditions and reenter the Bosom of the Father we will see God by being god–incomprehensible as that may be to our limited intellect.

Our Ladakh manuscript continues:

“Moreover, it is incompatible with the human conscience to make less matter of the grandeur of divine purity than of animals and objects executed by the hand of man in stone or metal.

“The Eternal Lawgiver is one, there is no other God but he. He has not shared the world with anyone, neither has he informed anyone of his intentions.

“Even as a father would act towards his children, so will God judge men after their deaths according to the laws of his mercy. Never would he so humiliate his child as to transmigrate his soul, as in a purgatory, into the body of an animal.”

Let us go back to Hinduism here, even though Jesus was not speaking to Hindus in this passage. Although the belief has pretty well vanished today, in past times the brahmins attempted to enforce what they felt was “right” by threatening Hindus with horrendous descriptions of hell–not everlasting, but bad enough that nobody would want to go there even for a moment. But their most effective fear-inducing tool was the threat that transgressors would reincarnate in animal form–but with fully human consciousness. The prospect was terrible, for the animals would not be the kind that lead easy lives, but the kind that live in misery and deprivation. So not only would the sinner be frustrated by his limited animal existence, he would live in continual suffering, unable to alleviate it or communicate it to others. It is because of this that Westerners usually think that reincarnation means a random shifting back and forth from animal to human forms. This is not so, nor is it the Hindu view of normal reincarnation. Entering into animal form is considered only to occur as a consequence of extremely evil deeds. Since as humans we create human karma, we have to return in human bodies to reap it. For the principle is that “whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”44 Creating human karma, we reap human karma. However, on occasion human beings do return as animals, especially if they have wilfully caused great suffering to animals. But this is extremely rare–so rare as to almost be nonexistent.

“The heavenly law,” said the Creator by the mouth of lssa, “is opposed to the immolation of human sacrifices to an image or to an animal, for I have consecrated to man all the animals and all that the earth contains.

“All things have been sacrificed to man, who is directly and intimately associated with me his Father, therefore he who shall have stolen from me my child will be severely judged and chastised by the divine law.

“Man is naught before the Eternal Judge, as the animal is naught before man.

“Wherefore I say unto you, Leave your idols and perform not rites which separate you from your Father, associating you with the priests from whom the heavens have turned away.”

Not only were the “gods of the heathen” imaginary, on many occasions they were low astral beings with whom the people linked through their worship. After death their worshippers would then be compelled to enter the low astral regions in which the “gods” dwelt, often becoming their slaves both in those worlds and afterwards in earthly incarnation. Sometimes they were possessed or obsessed by those entities in many subsequent lives. As mentioned previously, The Idyll of the White Lotus is an excellent exposition of this.

“For it is they who have led you from the true God and whose superstitions and cruelties conduce to the perversion of your soul and the loss of all moral sense.”

Contemporary histories from the time of Christ show that His words were neither unjust nor exaggerated. The degeneracy of the Roman Empire was produced directly from the moral decay and spiritual obsession brought about from the degeneration of the religions of the Mediterranean world.

The words of Issa spread among the pagans in the midst of the countries he traversed, and the inhabitants forsook their idols.

Seeing which the priests exacted of him who glorified the name of the true God, reason in the presence of the people for the reproaches he made against them and a demonstration of the nothingness of their idols.

And Issa made answer to them: “If your idols and your animals are powerful and really possessed of supernatural strength, then let them strike me to the earth.”

“Work then a miracle,” replied the priests, “and let thy God confound our gods, if they inspire him with contempt.”

But Issa then said: “The miracles of our God have been worked since the first day when the universe was created, they take place every day and at every moment. Whosoever seeth them not is deprived of one of the fairest gifts of life.”

One of the evils of “natural science” is that it makes us forget the incredible miracle of a single blade of grass, reducing it to something that supposedly is random and without intelligent cause or purpose. “The wonder of the universe” replaces the wonder of God, Whose manifestation the universe is. The handiwork is admired but the Artisan is ignored. Moreover, by taking on this view we render ourselves incapable of seeing–and employing–the material creation as a bridge to God, and instead become caught in it, losing any possibility of decoding its hidden message.

“And it is not against pieces of stone, metal, or wood, which are inanimate, that the anger of God will have full course; but it will fall on men, who, if they desire their salvation, must destroy all the idols they have made.

“Even as a stone and a grain of sand, naught as they are in the sight of man, wait patiently the moment when he shall take and make use of them,

“So man must await the great favor that God shall accord him in his final judgment.”

In both Old and New Testaments the simile of man as clay and God as the potter occurs frequently. This does not mean that we should cultivate passivity, or even “surrender,” in the negative sense that is usually set forth in exoteric Christianity. Clay, when cold or not mixed with enough water, can be impossible to work with. It is, then, our “job” as evolving clay to make ourselves as malleable as possible so we can be formed into the divine likeness as easily and as quickly as possible. Saint Paul says that we are workers together with God for our salvation-perfection.45 That is how it is done. The formative, dynamic power of the Holy Spirit works our transformation according to how transformable we have made–and maintained–ourselves. It is God’s power alone which works the divine alchemy, but it is we who determine and work at being workable. He does everything, and at the same time it is we alone who do it. God calls, but it is man alone who answers. Since the two, God and man, are really one, it is no surprise that it should be so–that “Deep calls unto deep.”46 We are one, though not the same.

“But woe unto you, ye enemies of men, if it be not a favor that you await but rather the wrath of the Divinity–woe unto you if ye expect miracles to bear witness to his power.

“For it will not be the idols that he will annihilate in his anger but those who shall have erected them. Their hearts shall be consumed with eternal fire, and their lacerated bodies shall go to satiate the hunger of wild beasts.

“God will drive the impure from among his flocks, but he will take back to himself those who shall have gone astray through not having recognized the portion of spirituality within them.”

Wow!

Seeing the powerlessness of their priests, the pagans had still greater faith in the sayings of Issa and, fearing the anger of the Divinity, broke their idols to pieces. As for the priests, they fled to escape the vengeance of the populace.

And Issa further taught the pagans not to strive to see the Eternal Spirit with their eyes but to endeavor to feel him in their hearts and by purity of soul to render themselves worthy of his favors.

In the Bhagavad Gita Jesus had surely often read:

Only that yogi
Whose joy is inward,
Inward his peace,
And his vision inward
Shall come to Brahman
And know Nirvana.

“Not only,” said he unto them, “abstain from consuming human sacrifices, but immolate no creature to whom life has been given, for all things that exist have been created for the profit of man.”

Next: Chapter Seven, part 2–The Ladakh Manuscript

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1) Matthew 27:51 [Go back]

2) “Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent.” (Matthew 27:50,51) [Go back]

3) Matthew 27:45 [Go back]

4) “Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious [very religious]. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.” (Acts 17:22,23) [Go back]

5) Psalms 19:1-6 [Go back]

6) John 12:27 [Go back]

7) John 10:17,18 [Go back]

8) Matthew 26:51-53 [Go back]

9) John 19:9-11 [Go back]

10) See Robe of Light. [Go back]

11) I Corinthians 15:21,22 [Go back]

12) “They crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put [him] to an open shame.” (Hebrews 6:6) [Go back]

13) “Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34) [Go back]

14) Again, see Robe of Light. [Go back]

15) Revelation 3:12 [Go back]

16) For the inner meaning and purpose of this name being given to Jesus, see The Christ of India. [Go back]

17) “And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.” (Matthew 19:16,17) [Go back]

18) “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” (matthew 5:27,28) [Go back]

19) Matthew 10:29,30 [Go back]

20) Romans 12:21; I Peter 3:9 [Go back]

21) Isaiah 8:19 [Go back]

22) Mark 12:17 [Go back]

23) “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.” (Revelation 3:21) [Go back]

24) John 14:9 [Go back]

25) Matthew 7:22,23 [Go back]

26) Matthew 5:8 [Go back]

27) Luke 16:9 [Go back]

28) Romans 8:28 [Go back]

29) “And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?” (Luke 2:49) [Go back]

30) “And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; and the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.” (Genesis 2:21,22) [Go back]

31) “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” (Matthew 7:20) [Go back]

32) >In the book of Acts we find this example: “And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet. Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.” (Acts 8:26-31) [Go back]<p
33) John 1:12 [Go back]

34) Psalms 90:3 [Go back]

35) “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” (Romans 12:1) [Go back]

36) I was told by a man who claimed to be a friend of some Cardinals–and therefore in the know–that the Fatima secret which was suppressed contained predictions of terrible misfortunes to come upon the world as well as the following message addressed to the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church: “You have starved the lambs when you should have fed them, and have bound them when you should have set them free.” [Go back]

37) Revelation 3:17 [Go back]

38) Colossians 1:27 [Go back]

39) Matthew 4:17 [Go back]

40) Matthew 22:34-40 [Go back]

41) Matthew 5:8 [Go back]

42) John 1:18 [Go back]

43) The Acts of Thomas, section 37. [Go back]

44) Galatians 6:7 [Go back]

45) II Corinthians 6:1 [Go back]

46) Psalms 42:7 [Go back]