A FREE DOWNLOADABLE E-MAGAZINE Vol II * March 2009 * Issuse III
Meditation leads to Ultimate Flowering
Introducing various Masters & Dimensions of Spiritual Sojourn
TM
“I am the Way, the Truth and the Light”
www.taoshobuddhameditations.com
MEDITATION TIMES A Free Downloadable Monthly E-Magazine A PRODUCTION OF www.taoshobuddhameditations.com Published by: www.taoshobuddhameditations.com Country of Origin: Trinidad & Tobago, West Indies. Chief Editor/Graphics Layout & Design: Swami Anand Neelambar Editorial Team: Swami Anand Neelambar, Taoshobuddha, Ma Prem Sutra Contributors: Sufi Lakshmi Sahai, Professor Rattan Lal Hangloo, Swami Dhyan Yatri, Pt. Mahendra Maharaj
In This Issue The Ultimate Beatitude Editorial
For Queries, Comments, and Suggestions and to submit Contributions, you can email the following persons:
Taoshobuddha: taoshobuddha@gmail.com Swami Anand Neelamabr avatar411@gmail.com
Spirit of the Law The Mystical Way of Jesus Extract from Khalil Gibran Jesus – the Forgotten Key of Transformation Jesus and Sufi Stories
You can also visit www.youtube.com and check our meditations. Keyword: taoshobuddha01 The Meditation Times is available free to download from www.scribd.com
Jesus in India: Why Jesus belongs to the East Now or Never Seek Jesus the Being of Eternity The Lost Years of Jesus – the Life of Saint Issa Jesus the Man and Christ the Godhead Condemn ye not that ye be not condemned
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Let Thy Will Prevail – Message of Nanak Thy Compassion is Boundless and Infinite Cooking Taoshobuddha Way Hanuman Chalisa A Mystical Dimension Understanding Anger Finding the Eternal Within
In our Next Issue The Way of Nanak Birth of Baisakhi
meditation times 2009 MARCH
the ultimate beatitude
Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. This is one of the most fundamental beatitude that was uttered by Jesus the Christ. This statement is comparable to the sutra on nothingness by the Buddha. This beatitude is the ultimate teaching of Jesus the Christ. If this beatitude is understood there is no need to go into the other beatitudes. This is the only beatitude wherein Jesus uses the present tense. It reveals the precise attitude needed to attain the kingdom of heaven. For theirs IS the kingdom of heaven. It is here now. There is no postponement, there is no future projection. Man lives in the lament of the past and hope of the future. It is very rare to come across a person who is actually present to the present. Such persons are enlightened beings. Blessed are the poor in spirit ; those who have come to realize the vast empty sky of non-being. No self, no form, no ego, no word, no knowledge - just pure emptiness. Only they are eligible to enter the kingdom of heaven. And what is this kingdom of heaven? The kingdom of heaven is the beatific vision of the oneness of existence. Jesus says I and my father in heaven are one. The Upanishads declare aham brahmasmi . Jesus learnt the secrets of existence from his mystical intuition in the East. His beatitudes are really the essential message of the mystics of the Upanishads. His real authentic contribution was his satsangh with the common people and the transforming effect that radiated from his presence. He was truly a Midas. He transformed ordinary stones into gold. His magic continues to vibrate the elements of existence. The aura of mystics lingers throughout eternity to assist any seeker to sojourn on the pathless path to enlightenment. This beatitude is a rare gem. It has not been understood by Christians and cannot be understood by Christians. Being a Christian is the antithesis of Christ Consciousness. To understand the beatitudes of Jesus one needs a totally radical revolution of introspective insights. A mere ritualistic religious persuasion will not do. One needs commitment and involvement. One needs the satsangh of a mystic so that the lotus of ecstasy can blossom in the presence of such an enlightened master..
editorial
ďź´ his month we explore the hidden mysteries of the Rabboni Jesus the Christ. His life is one shrouded in mystery and mysticism. He appeared unknown in the darkness of night and inexplicably vanished from a tomb after death . Many chapters of his short life have been purposefully left out from the established Church bearing his name. But these chapters cannot be erased from the Akashic records. Mystics from every tradition and from all centuries after his dissappearance have been able to unravel the hidden secrets of his life and teachings. These remain unknown by the church-goers and by the establishment We present some of these aspects culled from various mystic masters. Our effort continues to be to make meditation accessible to all and every seeker along the pathless sojourn. We are a tavern along the journey. Any one can come rest for awhile gather his efforts and then continue his pilgrimage to nowhere. Though Meditation belongs to no particular tradition, one enters from the doors of a tradition. During his sojourn he comes to realize that the tradition was what was preventing him from taking the journey in the first place. One must inevitably break free from the bonds of any tradition in the quest for life eternal. We invite you to come on this mystical rendezvous with us.
meditation times
March 2009
SPIRIT OF THE LAW “Everything on earth lives according to the law of nature, does not prescribe an eternal, permanent solution to and from that law emerges the glory and joy of liberty; but a problem. In fact each response to a challenge is fresh man is denied this fortune, because he set for the God- and spontaneous. The response is out of awareness given soul a limited and earthly law of his own. He made and understanding. for himself strict rules. Man built a narrow and painful prison in which he secluded his affections and desires. He dug out a deep grave in which he buried his heart and its purpose. If an individual, through the dictates of his soul, declares his withdrawal from society and violates the law, his fellowmen will say he is a rebel worthy of exile, or an infamous creature worthy of execution.” Kahlil Gibran
“And the priests and men of letters brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, they said unto him, ‘Rabboni, this woman has been taken into adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commands us, that she should be stoned to death: but what do you say should be her punishment?’ This they said, tempting him that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted himself, and said unto then, ‘He that is without sin among you, let him cast a stone at her.’ And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman was standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but he woman, he said unto her, ‘woman, where are those, thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee?’ She said, ‘no man, Lord.’ And Jesus said unto her, ‘neither do I condemn thee. Go in peace and sin no more’.” HOLY BIBLE
Jesus is a man of awareness and understanding. His response and interpretation to the Law of Moses was tremendously revolutionary. None of the priests could fathom the depths at which Jesus responded to this enigma. His response is really magical, alchemical. It totally transformed the entire scenario. The priests themselves were caught in their own trap. You cannot delude a man of enlightenment. Not only were the priests stunned; but the woman was also bewildered. She must have thought “today, I am a dead woman; if not, then certainly condemned by this man of God.” The reply of Jesus to this woman was radically revolutionary in the entire scheme of religion. No other religion could possible dare offer a pardon to the sins of this woman. She herself felt guilty and burdened and perhaps wanted to be stoned to atone for her faults.
This man Jesus had not only turned the tables on the priestly mob but caused this woman to go into an introspective flight of consciousness. And she emerged stainless and pure. Here is a man that has given her respect; perhaps for the first time in her life. He says, “neither do I condemn thee. Go in peace and sin no more.” Jesus had by this simple act of non-judging created a dynamic catalyst into the conscience of the priests and the woman. However, only the woman was transformed. The priests merely escaped from the opportunity for self transformation. And this is the situation with all priests. They are not really interested his is one of the most significant parables in the life in the inner alchemy. They are more concerned with of Jesus the Christ. It shows the precise dichotomy in social reform. This method can never work. The society the interpretations of the Law. One system is of the can only improve if individuals are more responsible outer meaning and application. It deals specifically and awake to the spiritual dimension of life. with the letter of the Law and cannot even consider the inner significance. Whilst the other system is The entire mission and ministry of Rabboni Jesus the wholly concerned with the inner blossoming of the Christ can be surmised in one sentence - “Attain to Law. This system sees into the heart of the situation consciousness of thyself and perform all actions from and makes an application relevant to the moment. It that spontaneity.”
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THE mystical way of Jesus The alchemy of seven churches
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he phenomenon of Jesus the Christ is unique in the entire world of Mystics; there is no evidence to validate his historicity. Yet there is much inner mystery that lends credit to his existence. In fact he can be said to exist as well as not exist. He exists for those who have attained a higher, inner dimension of consciousness. And he exist not for whose consciousness is still at the water level and have not been transformed into “wine”. Jesus the Christ cannot be known by a study of the Bible; that is precisely the way to miss him. Mystics cannot be known or studied; there is no biography or autobiography of a mystic. Mystics are only revealed to sincere seekers who are on a sojourn and who have attained a new dimension in understanding the inner secrets of transformation of consciousness. Moses taught Moral Law and civilises man. Jesus the Christ gave insights into the Divine Law and spiritualises man. One can follow the letter of the law and remain the same idiotic religious person. There is no transformation and inner alchemy. There is no entry into the kingdom of heaven. One lives in hell despite one’s belief and one’s ritualistic practices. Beliefs and rituals cannot assist one in transforming the animalistic, barbaric instincts into human intelligence and divine intuition. A radical inner alchemical transformation is what is needed to revolutionize the base consciousness. This alchemy is what is taught by Jesus the Christ in his parable of the seven churches. These indicate seven stages towards the manifestation of the Christ Consciousness.
Now the third stage is CATHARSIS. After the old beliefs have been proved futile and made discontinuous; the pot washed and cleaned. Your ego has to dissolve. The reason destroyed. You have to be beheaded. You become a vast innocent sky. An emotional outburst is the outcome. Like a volcanic overflow, the lava of suppressed and repressed feelings comes to the surface. It is a situation of insanity. This is the poison that has to be removed before the pot of your being can be filled with the bliss. This is followed by the fourth stage of CATASTROPHE. The reason is gone. The heart is erupting emotional lava. The head is in a state of catalepsy. The heart is in a state of catharsis. The ego is disintegrated. This is the situation of catastrophe. This stage is referred to as the dark night of the soul. Hopelessness arises. One feels utterly lost. The fifth stage is of the CROSS. The ego that is clinging to fragments of the being has to die. When ego dies completely there is no more identification with the body and mind. It is a stage of ‘neti neti’. There is a death of all that is finite and dualistic. A beautiful moment of inner fulfilment and utter emptiness! One is on the verge of the abyss. That is the situation in which Jesus found himself on the cross. Everyone on the sojourn of self transformation has to pass through these stages. Jesus says that everyone has to carry one’s cross on one’s own shoulders.
The first stage is CATALYTIC. The presence of Jesus the Christ was a catalyst. In his company something of the miraculous, the mysterious, the mystical, touches the heart and starts vibrating the sleeping, dormant, innate consciousness. Like the presence of the Sun that cause the flowers to blossom in the dawn. This is known as satsangh in the Vedanta traditions.
The sixth and penultimate stage is CONVERSION. Death is a prerequisite of resurrection. Only when the ego dies in you, can God become alive to you. When the seed dies then is the tree born. Jesus the son of Man dies on the cross and Jesus the Christ the son of God is resurrected. Conversion is a stage of Satyam Shivam Sundaram – Truth, Goodness and Beauty.
The second stage is CATALEPSY. This simply implies the suspension of the old. You have to be made totally discontinuous with the past. You cannot transform with those rotten, neurotic systems and beliefs and rituals. It is like your mind is filled with poison; before anything nectarine (amrita) can be poured in, the poison must be emptied.
The seventh stage of our sojourn culminates in CHRIST CONSCIOUSNESS. One becomes one with existence. You have arrived home, into the kingdom of heaven. All darkness disappears and you become a light unto the world. When the sun and the mud meet a lotus is born. The Sun of God merged into the mud of Jesus and the Lotus of Christ was born. Such was the mystical way of Jesus the Christ.
Philemon A Greek Apothecary: On Jesus the Master Physician
There are two types of people in this world. There are some who constantly strive to change the conditions of their lives: a poor man strives to get rich, a small-time clerk struggles to become the head of his ďŹ rm, a man living in a tenement wants his own house, another wishes for a more beautiful wife – and so on. They try to change the situation, but the wavelength of their life currents remains the same; there is no change in them whatsoever. Ek Omkar Satnam - Osho
JESUS THE FORGOTTEN KEY OF TRANSFORMATION
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esus that was once an effective key of transformation got somehow forgotten with the passage of time! And eventually we have forgotten this. Let me first explain the significance of key. And why am I referring Jesus as the key for transformation. A key is a device that opens the lock and thus unfolds the inner treasures. Each one of you have treasure deep within locked. And you have forgotten how to use the key to unlock the treasures. Suppose you have a key in our hands as you normally do. You cannot directly understand the purpose of it from the key itself. Also it is not possible to imagine from the key itself that a great treasure is likely to be revealed with its help once you can know how to use the key. There is no hidden indication in the key regarding the treasure. The key itself is closed. Even if you break it or cut it into pieces, you may find the metal of which it is made. And nothing else! However you cannot learn anything about the hidden treasure which the key is capable of revealing. And whenever such a key is preserved for a long time, it only becomes a burden in your life. In life there are many such keys which can open the doors of treasures even today. But unfortunately we neither know anything about those treasures nor about those locks which can be opened. So the key becomes dysfunctional in the passage of time. Jesus is such a key. When you do not know either about the treasures or the locks, then what is left in your hands cannot even be called a key that has brought about transformation in the past. It can only be a key if it opens a lock. This same key may have revealed
treasures sometime in the past, but because today nothing can be unlocked, the key has become a non-functional and a burden. Jesus is such a key that has become non-functional with the passage of time and wrong notions. But even so, somehow we do not feel like throwing it away. The key has left a sort of lingering fragrance in your unconscious mind. Maybe some two thousand years ago that key did open some locks. And in the process treasures were found. The remembrance of that still lingers in the unconscious mind. And this makes you carry the burden of that key to this day. However slowly and slowly you may be persuaded about the uselessness of this key. Still you cannot gather the courage to throw it away. In some unknown corner of your heart there still lingers the hope that someday somehow any lock might be opened with it. Jesus is such a key. Through Jesus many transformed. But you have lost the way to use this key for transformation. Take, for example, temples etc. There is no sect on earth which has not built anything like a temple. It does not matter whatever you call this a Mosque or a church or a Gurudwara or a Temple or a Synagogue. Today it is possible for us to learn something from other sects as well. However there was a time when we did not even know about the existence of other sects, so there was no way to learn from others. The temple is not the fancied outcome of the imagination of some eccentric people. Instead its roots lie somewhere deep in the inner consciousness of man. Man may have lived far
away in a forest, or on a mountain, or in a cave, or on the bank of a river. He may have lived anywhere for that matter. But wherever he has lived man has built something resembling a temple. Something has come out of his consciousness. There is no blind imitation in it. They were not constructed by looking at other temples. So all temples have been of different shapes, structure, and types, but they have always existed. There is a lot of difference between a temple and a Mosque. Their arrangement and planning are quite different from each other. However there is no difference in man’s aspiration or inner urge. Man may be anywhere. Howsoever unfamiliar and unacquainted he is with others; he still carries the same latent seed somewhere in his consciousness. Another thing worth noting is that though thousands of years have passed and you have no clue about the locks or the hidden treasures. Still you continue to carry strange keys as though under the spell of some lingering memory. Despite all the attacks on this – reason tries to shatter it from all sides. The so-called modern intellectual does not accept it. Still the human heart treasures this memory and continues to be fascinated by it. So we ought to remember that though today man is not aware of it, yet somewhere in his unconscious there is a resounding echo which tells us that some locks once used to open. Why is this stored in the unconscious? It is because none of us is new to this world. All of us are born again and again, and there was never a time when we did not exist. What we knew consciously in days past is now, today, unconscious, buried within us under thousands of layers as the unconscious. If in days past we knew the significance and deeper secrets of a temple and experienced the opening of some inner door, then somewhere in the deep recess of the unconscious that memory still lies embedded. The intellect may totally deny its existence. But intellect cannot reach that depth where the memory is retained. So despite all obstacles, despite its appearing
meaningless in every way, this is something which persists, and cannot be removed. It may take new forms, but it continues. This is only possible if we have known something an infinite number of times in our long journey of births and deaths – though we may not remember it today. This is the reason there is the process of incarnations. The very process of the incarnation of the divine on earth made it necessary to have special places in every nook and corner of the world which could serve as special abodes for him. To properly receive some thing, of that nature adequate arrangements have to be made. Let me take an example. Radio waves are passing by all around us. But these cannot be picked up without a radio receiver. Tomorrow, if there was a third world war and if all technology was destroyed but somehow a radio receiver was luckily left intact, you would not want to throw it away. Though you know that you cannot broadcast, or tune in to any program, or even find a technician to repair it, you would not want to throw the radio away. After several generations in your family, if anyone were to ask the use of the radio, none of your family members alive then would be able to reply. They might only say that their fathers and their forefathers were insistent on its being preserved, so they continue to keep it. Their forefathers never told them what it was for. Also they do not know its use and so it is of no help to them now. Even if that radio is dismantled nothing could be known. By opening the radio it could not be known that sometime in the past music and talks could be heard through it. The radio only used to act as a receiving station for some happening elsewhere, but it could pick up the waves and act as a medium to present them as sounds to listeners and thus the process of transformation. So too properly understood Jesus can be the way to your transformation NOW!
JESUS AND SUFI STORIES Among Sufis there is a story about Jesus. However in Christianity there is no mention of this anywhere. There are many such stories about Jesus with the Sufis. None of these stories are found in Christianity. Even Moslems have accounts of some important events in the life of Jesus which are not found in Christianity. This story is recorded by the Sufis as Isah Allehe Salam. Jesus had three disciples who said to him that they had heard about his power to revive the dead. They did not want any salvation or the kingdom of God. Instead they wanted him to tell them the secret of raising the dead so that they could have that power. Jesus told them that they would never be able to use the SECRET for themselves, because once they were dead, how could they use it? How would they benefit in making others come to life? He told them that instead he would show them how not to die at all. But the disciples said that they were not worried about their own deaths. They were interested only in knowing how the dead could be made alive.
Finally Jesus became tired of them and he showed them the method. Immediately all three left him in search for a dead body somewhere, and try out the SECRET before they forgot something or made some mistake. Unfortunately, the first village they reached, they could not find a dead body, so they went to another one, and on the way they found a skeleton. As they could not find a dead body, they thought that they would try the secret on the skeleton. It was the skeleton of a lion. They used the mantra and immediately the lion came to life and killed them all! Sufi say that only such can be the outcome. The curiosity of an unethical mind can take one into great danger. So much secret knowledge was kept hidden so that it would not fall into the wrong hands. Anything given to an ordinary person was given in such a way that they would come to understand them only when they deserved to. The secrets are not given unless the master finds you are ready within. This is why a master waits. And sometimes the waiting and preparation takes lives.
“I have planted a seed in this country: it is already a plant, and I expect it to be a tree very soon. I have got a few hundred followers. I shall make several Sannyasins, and then I go to India, leaving the work to them. The more the Christian priests oppose me, the more I am determined to leave a permanent mark on their country.� Swami Vivekananda (1863 -1902)
Jesus in India: Why Jesus Belongs to the East By SWAMI CHAITANYA KEERTI There's news that Jesus Christ lived in India. According to a new book by the late Paramahansa Yogananda, the three wise men who went to Bethlehem to see Christ when he was born, came from India. According to a Los Angeles Times report, the book titled The Second Coming of Christ: The Resurrection of Christ Within You claims that the three "Indian" wise men named him Isa, or "Lord" in Sanskrit. The book also tells us Jesus practiced yoga and meditation with the great sages in India during from age 13 to 30. In Chapter 27 of the book Beyond Psychology , Osho says: "Jesus himself had travelled to India while he was young. The Bible has no account of him between the age of thirteen to thirty; The Bible has no account of where Jesus had been. This looks strange - a small life - he lived only thirty-three years - and in those thirty-three years The Bible has accounts of only three years, the last three years.
Early life incident "About his earlier life are only two incidents - minor, meaningless. One was of his birth and the coming of the three wise men from the East to pay tribute; and second, his getting lost in the temple of Jerusalem, arguing with rabbis. These are the only two incidents. And then from the ages of 13 to 30, seventeen years, nothing is mentioned - what happened to this man, where he was. "These seventeen years he travelled to Egypt, to India, to Ladakh, to Tibet, and all these places were Buddhist at that time. Buddha had died only five centuries before, and his impact was still very alive. Jesus visited Buddhist monasteries. I have been to a Ladakh monastery which Jesus had visited, and I looked in their records of visitors, which they have kept for two thousand years.
Jesus was here And I asked them if they had a record of all the visitors and their impressions about the monastery. It is one of the most beautiful monasteries, and Jesus stayed there
for almost six months, studying Buddhism from the monks. There are, in their official record, the impressions of Jesus, his signature, the date. He became immensely influenced by Buddhism, so his celibacy, his ascetic attitude, his praise for poverty, his condemnation for riches, was all borrowed ideas from Gautam Buddha."
He did come to India A German theologian Holger Kersten also wrote a book called Jesus Lived in India . It's about Jesus's travels to India, where he first lived from the age of 14 (two years after the last mention of Jesus as a child in the Bible) to the age of 29, just before he returned to Palestine to begin his ministry (where the story in the Bible resumes again). After the crucifixion (he only apparently died) he returned to India, eventually dying in Kashmir and being buried near Srinagar. In the final pages of the book Kersten points out that Christianity as it has come down to us is nothing like what Jesus himself taught.
Christ's Eastern philosophy I feel this is the reason Jesus is widely respected in India, because there's something of eastern mysticism in his teaching. The West is very aggressive, continues to dominate the rest of the world. This is totally against the spirit of Jesus who teaches compassion, forgiveness and love. And it is ironical that he was crucified because he taught this way which was very alien to the Western milieu. The West worships Jesus out of repentance and the East worships Jesus out of understanding - the same way Buddha, Mahavira, Guru Nanak and other eastern mystics are understood. “Extracted from Swami Chaitanya Keerti�
NOW OR NEVER SEEK JESUS THE BEING OF ETERNITY
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ou are now-here. Life is eternal. And bliss is the essence of life that is eternal. There is something that never changes and that symbolically means eternity. The being represents the unchanging element. Ordinarily everything is changing, constantly even rocks are changing. So it is only a metaphor, but it has great significance. You can live either in time or in eternity. Both alternatives are open because there is nothing like destiny, nothing like fate. You are freedom. You come into life without a fate. The future is open, always open. It is not determined when you are born. Each act determines it. In each act dwell your choice, and each step you can change the very direction of your life. Millions of people live in time, for the simple reason that they are born as part of a crowd which knows nothing of eternity. Their parents have lived in time too. Their teachers have lived in time as well. Their leaders and in fact the entire society had lived in time. This is how life moves between birth and death. Hence every child starts imitating. Yes indeed this is the way the child learns. And in the process becomes conditioned. It is rare phenomenon to get out of the rut of time. Only a few people have managed up to now. Not even all the names which are thought to have escaped. Not all the so-called saints and mahatmas and sages! Not more than one per cent of your so-called saints have been able to escape from the prison of time. Although it creates much misery its walls are very invisible; hence there is a desire and longing to get rid of the misery, but you need great intelligence to see that the misery is bound to be there if you choose time as your lifestyle. Time means change. And when everything is changing you cannot cling to anything, you do not have any support, no security. There is no earth underneath your feet, you are on shifting sands; hence one feels afraid worried, anxious, and all this becomes the root cause of one's misery, despair, hopelessness.
But there is a way! Masters have shown the other way. As they have travelled along the way. It matters not be he a Jesus, Mohammad, Rama, Krishna, or anyone else. The outer appearance may differ. However the inner experience remains the same. And the way is not to fight with misery. The way is to get out of the wheel of time. In a way it is very simple, but sometimes the simplest thing, the very obvious thing, is missed because it is too obvious and our eyes are searching for something great, something far away. And it is very close by! Everybody has been told that time consists of three tenses - past, present and future. This is absolutely wrong. Time consists only of past and future. The present is a penetration of eternity. The present does not belong to time. Present is eternal. It is transcendental. To live in the present is to get out of time. Be herenow. Totally herenow! It is to be out of the wheel. And the miracle is that the moment you are out of time you are out of misery. Misery is a by-product of time and bliss is a byproduct of eternity, of timelessness. And one can decide to move into eternity any moment, because it is always there. It is here you come across a Jesus, a Buddha, a Mahabir, a Mahabir sojourning. In fact the past is never there and you go on clinging to it. The future is never there too. But we cling to it. The eternal! And there you will come across the beings of eternity. But we cling to non-entities. And because both our hands are clinging to non-entities we miss exactly what is in the middle of both. The present, the real, the existential! And both our hands are full one hand is full of the past; the other is full of the future. One part of your being is full of memories. And the other part is full of fantasies, dreams, projections. Remember between these two is the very subtle and delicate moment.
It is just like a rose flower. The moment it is crushed, it will be missed. Meditation simply means not to miss it! To get in tune with it is the way of Jesus. Slowly, slowly empty your hands of the past and the future so you can be full of the
now. And as you are full and aware of now you have attained to Jesus. And this is transformation. It brings immense bliss, infinite bliss. It opens the doors of the divine – the eternal. And there you are welcomed by a Jesus.
JESUS LIVED IN INDIA ‘It is simply of vital importance to find again the path to the sources, to the eternal and central truths of Christ's message, which has been shaken almost beyond recognition by the profane ambitions of more or less secular institutions arrogating to themselves a religious authority. This is an attempt to open a way to a new future, firmly founded in the true spiritual and religious sources of the past’. Jesus Lived in India - Holger Kersten
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hus overflows an ecstatic Holger Kersten through ‘Jesus Lived in India’.
Holger is German. And when a German explores something it is so profound and thorough. ‘Jesus Lived in India’ is truth – the eternal truth. It cannot be ignored by any man of substance who has attained to his being. For such a being more or less to live, to love are signs of infiniteness within. You can seek the eternal deep within only through love. Love is a glory from eternity's spheres. However abased, disfigured, and mocked by baser might in an effort to steal the name and shape and ecstasy. But Jesus is still the godhead by which all can change and attain to transformation. For this to happen a mystery needs to wake in our inconscient stuff. Bliss is born that can remake our life. Jesus dwells in us like an unopened flower awaiting a rapid moment of the soul to blossom. The book ‘Jesus lived in India’ is truth and cannot be ignored infinitely. It is a thorough, methodical and authoritative examination of the evidence of Christ's life beyond the Middle East before the Crucifixion and in India and elsewhere after the crucifixion. Holger did exhaustive research into Christ's travels after the Crucifixion, his arrival in India with the Mother Mary and finally his death and entombment in Kashmir. Holger mentions that there are many parallels of Christ's teachings with other religious and cultural traditions and suggests that at least
some of these figures may have been one and the same being. It is not possible to disprove that Christ went to India. Mind and vested interest can go on ignoring truth. But soul can recognize the answering soul. All the available information documenting Christ's life is restricted to the gospels and the work of Church theologians for various known and unknown reasons. One can hardly trust these sources to be objective considering their obvious interest in maintaining the authority of their Church and its grip on the masses. Nicolai Notovich, a Russian scholar and Orientalist was the first to suggest that Christ may have gone to India. In 1887, Notovich, arrived in Kashmir during one of several journeys to the Orient. At the Zoji-la pass Notovich was a guest in a Buddhist monastery, where a monk told him of the bhodisattva saint called ‘Issa’. Notovich was surprised by the remarkable parallels of Issa's teachings and martyrdom with that of Christ's life, teachings and crucifixion. For about sixteen years, Christ travelled through Turkey, Persia, Western Europe and possibly England. He finally arrived with Mary to a place near Kashmir, where she died. After many years living and teaching in Kashmir to an appreciative population, who venerated him as a great prophet,
reformer and saint, he died and was buried in a tomb in Kashmir itself. The first step in Christ's trail after the Crucifixion is found in the Persian scholar F. Mohammed's historical work ‘Jami-ut-tuwarik’ which tells of Christ's arrival in the kingdom of Nisibis, by royal invitation. (Nisibis is today known as Nusaybin in Turkey). This is reiterated in the Imam Abu Jafar Muhammed's ‘Tafsi-Ibn-i-Jamir at-tubri.’ Holger found that in both Turkey and Persia there are ancient stories of a saint called "Yuz Asaf" (‘Leader of the Healed’), whose behavior, miracles and teachings are remarkably similar to that of Christ. The many Islamic and Hindu historical works recording local history and legends of kings, Noblemen and saints of the areas thought to be travelled by Jesus also give evidence of a Christ like man. The Koran, for example, refers to Christ as "Issar". Further east, the Kurdish tribes of Eastern Anatolia have several stories describing Christ's stay in Eastern Turkey after his resurrection. These traditional legends have been ignored by the theological community and the churches. Holger also suggests that prior to Christ's mission in the Middle East; he may have been exposed to Buddhist teachings in Egypt. After his birth in Bethlehem! This accounts for his seventeen missing years after birth. The family fled to Egypt to avoid Herod's persecution. Surprisingly some scholars now acknowledge that Buddhist schools probably existed in Alexandria long before the Christian era. Furthermore clues are drawn from the Apocrypha. There are texts said to have been written by the Apostles but which are not officially accepted by the Church for unknown reasons. Indeed, the Church regards them as heresy since a substantial amount of the Apocrypha directly contradicts Church dogma and theology. The Apocryphal 'Acts and Gospel of Thomas', for example, tell how Christ met Thomas several times after the Crucifixion. In fact they tell us how Christ sent Thomas to teach his methodologies in India. This is confirmed by evidence found in stone inscriptions at Fatehpur Sikri, near the Taj Mahal, Agra in Northern India. These include "Agrapha", which are sayings of Christ. These do not exist in the mainstream Bible. Their grammatical form is almost similar to that of the Apocryphal gospel of Thomas. This is but one example giving credibility to the idea that texts not
recognized by the Church and the organized religion hold important clues about Christ's true life and his teachings. In tracing Christ's movements to India and beyond, Holger also discovered that many of his Teachings, which have been gradually edited out of the modern Bible were originally Eastern in nature. Principles such as karma and re-incarnation, for example, were common knowledge then. And these have been reaffirmed by Christ. Imagine the implications that this discovery holds for Western Christianity and its churches, which have kept Christ in their doctrinal top pockets and have constrained the entire Western culture within the narrow teachings of blind faith, organized religion and original sin! It pains how the church and the organized religions have defaced truth from the common man. Further clues are cited from The Apocryphal Acts of Thomas, and the Gospel of Thomas which are of Syrian origin and have been dated to the 4th Century AD, or possibly earlier. They are Gnostic Scriptures and despite the evidence indicating their authenticity, they are not given credibility by mainstream theologians. In these texts Thomas tells of Christ's appearance in Andrapolis, Paphlagonia (today known as in the extreme north of Anatolia) as a guest of the King of Andrappa. There he met with Thomas who had arrived separately. It is at Andrapolis that Christ instructed Thomas to go to India to begin spreading his teachings. It seems that Christ and Mary then moved along the West coast of Turkey. The proof of this could be an old stopping place for travelers. This is called the ‘Home of Mary’, found along the ancient silk route. From here Christ could easily have entered Europe via France. He may have even travelled as far as the British Isles, for in England there is an ancient oak tree called the ‘Hallowed Tree’ which (says local legend) was planted by Christ himself. These things cannot be understood by logic or blind faith. It is only through inner connection that Holger was able to reach such information as one may call this. Sufis call this ‘Nisbet’. In his travels through Persia (today's Iran) Christ came to be known as Yuz Asaf (leader of the Healed). We know this because a Kashmiri historical document confirms that Isa (the Quranic name for Christ) was in fact also known as Yuz Asaf. The Jami-
uf-Tamarik, Volume II, tells that Yuz Asaf visited Masslige, where he attended the grave of Shem, Noah's son. There are various other accounts such as Agha Mustafa's ‘Awhali Shahaii-i-paras’ that tell of Yuz Asaf's travels and teachings all over Persia. It seems that Yuz Asaf blessed Afghanistan and Pakistan with his presence also. There are for example two plains in Eastern Afghanistan near Gazni and Galalabad, bearing the name of the prophet Yuz Asaf. Again in the Apocryphal Acts of Thomas, Thomas says that he and Christ attended the Court of King Gundafor of Taxila (now Pakistan), in about 47AD, and that eventually both the King and his brother accepted Christ's teachings. Holger claims that there are more than twenty one historical documents that bear witness to the existence of Jesus in Kashmir, where he was known also as Yuz Asaf and Issa. For example the Bhavishya Mahapurana (volume 9 verses 17-32) contains an account of Issa-Masih (Jesus the Messiah). It describes Christ's arrival in the Kashmir region of India and his encounter with King Shalivahana, who ruled the Kushan area (39-50AD), and who entertained Christ as a guest for some time. Christ's life in India, after the crucifixion, challenges current Church teachings at their very foundations. The theology of Saint Paul, the major influence on modern Christianity, is empty fanaticism in the light of this discovery. The historian Mullah Nadini (1413) also recounts a story of Yuz Asaf who was a contemporary to King Gopadatta, and confirms that he also used the name Issar, i.e., Jesus. There is also much historical truth in the towns and villages of Northern India to prove that Jesus and his mother Mary spent time in the area. For instance, at the border of a small town called Mari, there is nearby a mountain called Pindi Point, upon which is an old tomb called Mai Mari da Asthan or ‘The final resting place of Mary’. The tomb is said to be very old and local Muslims venerate it as the grave of Issa's (i.e., Christ's) Mother. The tomb itself is oriented East-West consistent with the Jewish tradition, despite the fact it is within a Muslim area.
Assuming its antiquity, such a tomb could not be Hindu either since the Hindus contemporary to Christ cremated their dead and scattered their ashes as do Hindus today. Following Christ's trail into Kashmir, 40km south of Srinagar, between the villages of Naugam and Nilmge is a meadow called Yuz-Marg (the meadow of Yuz Asaf, i.e,. Jesus). Then there is the sacred building called Aish Muqam, 60km south east of Srinagar and 12km from Bij Bihara. Holger says ‘Aish’ is derived from ‘Issa’ and ‘Muqam’ refers to a place of rest or repose. Within the Aish Muqam is a sacred relic called the ‘Moses Rod’ or the 'Jesus Rod', which local legend says, belonged to Moses himself. Christ is said to also have held it, perhaps to confirm his Mosaic heritage. Above the town of Srinagar is a temple known as ‘The Throne of Solomon’, which dates back to at least 1000BC, which King Gopadatta had restored at about the same time as Christ's advent. The restoration was done by a Persian architect who personally left four inscriptions on the side steps of the temple. The third and fourth inscription read: ‘At this time Yuz Asaf announced his prophetic calling in Year 50 and 4’ and ‘He is Jesus - Prophet of the Sons of Israel’! Herein lays a powerful confirmation of Holger’s theory. Holger suggests that Christ may have travelled to the South of India as well. But finally he returned to Kashmir to die at the age of approximately 80 years. Christ's tomb lies in Srinagar's old town in a building called Rozabal. ‘Rozabal’ is an abbreviation of Rauza Bal, meaning ‘tomb of a prophet’. At the entrance there is an inscription explaining that Yuz Asaf is buried along with another Moslem saint. Both have gravestones which are oriented in NorthSouth direction, according to Moslem tradition. However, through a small opening the true burial chamber can be seen, in which there is the Sarcophagus of Yuz Asaf in East-West (Jewish) orientation! Thus Holger deduces that the tomb of Jesus Christ is in Kashmir!
ROZA BOL, shrine of JESUS in KASHMIR
Shrine of Jesus The Tomb of Jesus is in Srinagar, Kashmir, India. It is located in the ‘Kan Yaar’ district and the site is known as 'Roza Bol' among locals. The site is a dual burial ground, containing the graves of Yus Asaf and Syed Nasir-u-din. According to Professor Hassnain, has studied this tomb in details. Accordingly there are carved footprints on the grave stones and when closely examined, carved images of a crucifix and a rosary. The footprints of Yuz Asaf have what appear to be scars represented on both feet. If one assumes that they are crucifixion scars, then their position is consistent with the scars shown in the Turin Shroud (left foot nailed over right). Crucifixion was not practiced in Asia, so it is quite possible that they were inflicted elsewhere, such as the Middle East. The tomb is called by some as ‘Hazrat Issa Sahib’ or ‘Tomb of the Lord Master Jesus’. Ancient records acknowledge the existence of the tomb as long ago as 112AD. The Grand Mufti, a prominent Muslim Cleric, himself has confirmed that Hazrat Isa Sahib is indeed the tomb of Yuz Asaf! The building covers two tombs. The first dates from around the 1st century AD. The other tomb is more recent. The first tomb is that of a person known as Yus Asaf. The identity of Yus Asaf is a bit of a mystery. It is only a man of Tasawwuf who can really recognize the shrine.
It was in 1979 when I was visiting Kashmir for an academic conference that I was told by a Naqshbandi Sufi Onkar Nath asked me to visit the shrine of Jesus. It is for the interest of general public, when I asked how to find the shrine he responded it is only through inner connection or nisbet that one can discover the shrine of a master. Jesus is a master. To the locals he was a prophet who came to Kashmir from another land and known as a Prince Prophet. There used to be an inscription in a local temple known as the Temple of Solomon that in the year 56 AD Yus Asaf claimed to be Jesus Christ from Palestine. From the direction of the Tomb of Yus Asaf we know that he is of Israelite of Jewish origin. His grave faces east-west which is the Jewish tradition, where as the other grave, is that of the Islamic Holy Man, and faces North - South in the Muslim tradition. Foot carvings were found near by the tomb. These carvings can be seen below. These show strange marks towards the ends of the feet, suggesting whoever made them was trying to put across some unique feature of the man in the tomb. The marks on the feet do not match each other if one foot was placed upon the other. Researchers feel this is a very strong clue in
suggesting the person in the tomb is Jesus, who would have had the scars of Crucifixion on his feet, and this is what is shown in these feet impressions.
Present: Rehman Khan, son of Amir Khan, submits that: the kings, the nobles, the ministers and the multitude come from all directions of the kingdom to pay their homage and offerings in cash and kind at the lofty and the holy shrine of Yuz-Asaph, the Prophet, may God bless him. Claims: That he is the only and absolute claimant, entitled to receive the offerings and utilize these, and none else has any right whatsoever on these offerings. Prays: That A writ of injunction be granted to all those who interfere and others be restrained from interfering with his rights.
FOOT IMPRESSION
Verdict Now: this court, after obtaining evidence, concludes as under: It has been established that during the reign of Raja Gopadatta, who got built many temples and got repaired, especially, the Throne of Solomon on the hill of Solomon, YuzAsaph came to the valley. Prince by descent, he was pious and saintly and had given up earthly pursuits. He spent all his time in prayers and meditation. The people of Kashmir, having become idolaters after the great flood of Noah, the God Almighty sent YuzAsaph as a Prophet to the people of Kashmir. He proclaimed oneness of God till he passed away. YuzAsaph was buried at Khanyar on the banks of the lake, and the shrine is known as Rozabal. In the year 871 A.H. Syed Nasir-ud-Din, a descendant of Imam Musa-Raza, was also buried besides the grave of Yuz-Asaph.
Letter of Maulvi Abdullah, inhabitant of Kashmir (For the public benefit this is published in this poster along with a sketch of the tomb of Jesus ) From the humble Abdullah to Huzoor Masih Mauood [ Masih Mauood means,Promised Messiah ] Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah-hi wa barakatu-hu, According to your order, this humble one went to that very place in Srinagar, that is, the sacred shrine and tomb of Prince Yuz Asaf, the prophet of Allah, peace be upon him, and tried to make investigations
as far as was possible. I spoke to the older and aged people and also made enquiries in every respect from those who frequent the shrine and the people of the locality.
Dear Sir! From these investigations I have discovered that this tomb is, in fact, that of Yuz Asaf, prophet of Allah, peace be upon him. The tomb is located in the neighborhood where Muslims live. No Hindu lives there nor is any Hindu buried there. From the evidence of reliable persons it has been proved that this tomb has been in existence for about 1900 years, and the Muslims hold it in great reverence and respect, and frequently pay a visit to it. The general view is that a venerable messenger is buried in this tomb that came to Kashmir from another country to preach to the people. They say that he lived some 600 years before our Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and the blessings of Allah be upon him. So far it is not known why he came here [See footnote 1 below]. But these facts in any case have been proved and have reached the highest degree of certainty through repeated corroborative testimony that this venerable man who has been named Yuz Asaf by the Muslims of Kashmir is a prophet and moreover is a prince. In this country he is not known by any title of the Hindus, such as Raja, Avtar, Rikhi, Omni, Siddah, etc. On the other hand, everyone agrees in calling him nabi. The word nabi is not common between the followers of Islam and the Israelites, and as in Islam no prophet came after our Holy Prophet Muhammad, nor could one come, therefore the general Muslims of Kashmir are agreed that this prophet is from before Islam. However, they have not yet reached the conclusion that, as the word nabi was common only to the prophets of two nations, that is, the prophets of the Muslims and the Israelites, and in Islam no prophet can come after the Holy Prophet Muhammad, this necessarily fixes that he was an Israelite prophet because no third language has ever used this word. Undoubtedly, this common usage is exclusive to only two languages and two nations [See footnote 2]. But because of the ending of prophet hood, this excludes the Muslim people. Therefore it is clearly proved that this prophet is an Israelite prophet. This first evidence is made even more certain by the historical proof that this prophet lived 600 years before our Holy Prophet, peace and the blessings of Allah be upon him, and it forces the intelligent minds to the conclusion that this prophet was Jesus, peace be upon him, and no one else. For, he is the only Israelite prophet who
lived 600 years before the Holy Prophet. Moreover, this evidence shines even brighter when we consider the repeatedly occurring information that that prophet was also known as Prince, because during this period no prophet was known as prince except Jesus, peace be upon him. Further, the name Yuz Asaf which very much resembles the word Yasu gives yet more strength to all these sure things. By going to that place, evidence has been discovered. As is apparent from the attached sketch, the grave of this prophet is aligned in the north-south direction, and it appears that the head is towards the north and the feet are towards the south. This manner of burial is particular to the Muslims and the People of the Book [Jews]. Supporting evidence is that near this tomb a small distance away is a hill known as Mount Sulaiman. This name shows that some Israelite prophet came here [See footnote 3 below]. It is the height of ignorance to consider this prince-prophet to be a Hindu. This is such an error that it does not even need to be refuted in view of these shining proofs. The word nabi does not exist anywhere in the Sanskrit language, but is exclusive to Hebrew and Arabic, and burial is not a Hindu practice as the Hindus cremate their dead. Therefore, the form of the grave also provides absolute assurance that that prophet was an Israelite. On the western side of the grave there is a hole. People say that there emanates a very fine fragrance out of this hole. This hole is somewhat wide and reaches inside the grave. From this it is concluded that this hole has been kept for some very important purpose. Probably some things are buried in it by way of records. The ordinary people say that it contains a treasure, but this view does not appear to be credible. However, as it is not a custom in any country to keep such a hole in a grave, this makes us believe that there is some great secret in this hole. It is an even more strange matter that this hole has been in existence for hundreds of years. The Shia [of the Shia sect of Islam] people of this city also say that this grave is that of a prophet who came from another country as a traveler and was called by the title of prince. The Shias also showed me a book entitled Ain-ul- Hayat. This book contains a narrative which is quoted on the authority of page 119 of Ibn Babwiyya, the book Ikmal-ud-Din, and
Itmam-ul-Ni mat, but all those narrations are unfounded and senseless tales. The only real fact in this book is that the author accepts that this prophet was a traveler and a prince who came to Kashmir. The location of the tomb of this prince-prophet is as follows. When you come from the Jami a mosque to the street of the Roza Bel Yameen, this sacred shrine will be found ahead there. Behind the left wall of the tomb is a street, and to the right is an old mosque. It appears that this mosque has been built near this shrine in some past age to receive blessing. Besides this mosque are houses of Muslims. There is no sign or trace of any other community. Near the grave of this prophet of Allah in the right-hand corner there is a stone, which has upon it the footprint of a man. It is said that it is the footstep of the messenger. Probably this footprint of this prince-prophet remains as a sign. There are two features of this grave as a reflection of some hidden secrets: first, the hole which is near the grave, and the second the footprint engraved on the stone. The rest of the view of the tomb is shown in the attached sketch. Below is shown the tomb of Isa, peace be upon him, who is also known by the names Yasu, Jesus and Yuz Asaf. According to the testimony of older people in Kashmir, this tomb has existed in the locality Khan Yar of Srinagar for about 1900 years. [Note by Translator: This sketch is on page 171, Ruhani Khaza'in, volume 14] [Footnote 1] By Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad to above letter The Prophet who lived 600 years before our Holy Prophet, peace and the blessings of Allah be upon him, is none other than Jesus, peace be upon him. The change in the form of the word Yasu to become Yuz Asaf is quite credible, for considering that in English [usage] the word Yasu has been made into Jesus, the change to become Yuz Asaf is not more than the change to Jesus. This word has no connection whatsoever with Sanskrit. It appears to be purely Hebrew. As to why Jesus came to this country, the reason is obvious. It is that when the Jews of Palestine did not accept his preaching and attempted to kill him on the cross, then God, in accordance with His promise and also accepting his
prayer, granted Jesus deliverance from the cross. From what is written in the Gospels, it was in the mind of Jesus to take the message of God to those Jews also who had migrated to the countries in India in the time of the destruction brought about by Nebuchadnezzar. It was to fulfill that purpose that he came to this country. Dr. Bernier, the Frenchman, writes in his Travels that many English researchers have forcefully expressed the view that the Muslims of Kashmir are descendants of the Israelites who came to this country in the times of the dispersal of the Jews. Their oval faces, long tunics, and certain customs are evidence of this. Thus it is highly believable that Jesus, having despaired of the Jews of Palestine, would have come to this country to preach to this nation. The Gospel recently written by a Russian traveler, which I have had brought from London, also concurs with my opinion that Jesus certainly came to this country. The accounts of the life of the prophet Yuz Asaf by some writers, whose translations have reached Europe, have put Christian clergymen to great surprise because his teachings much resemble the moral teachings of the Gospels, so much so that many passages appear to be the same. Similarly, the Gospel from Tibet is largely the same as the moral teachings of the Gospels. Therefore, these proofs are not such that a man, with the arrogance of hostility, can refute them at once. On the contrary, the light of truth is to be clearly found in them, and there are so many evidences that looking at them all together leads to the conclusion that this is not a baseless story. The name Yuz Asaf resembling Hebrew, Yuz Asaf being known as nabi which is a word applied only to the Israelite and Islamic prophets, this prophet being called prince, this prophet s qualities being exactly like those of Jesus, his teaching being entirely like the moral teaching of the Gospels, his being buried in the neighborhood of the Muslims, the tomb being said to date back 1900 years, a gospel being uncovered in this age by a European and this gospel clearly proving the coming of Jesus to this country, all these are points which, when considered all together, certainly produce the conclusion that Jesus undoubtedly came to this country and died here. There are so many other evidences in addition to these that I will, Allah willing, write a book devoted to this. [Author note:
[Footnote 2]
Israelite prophet. Considering the time that has been mentioned (as to when he lived), it is decided conclusively that he is Jesus, peace be upon him, and it was he who was known as prince.
By Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad to above letter
[Footnote 3]
The word nabi is exclusive to only two languages, and is not used in any other language of the world. That is, it occurs (1) in Hebrew and (2) in Arabic.
By Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad to above letter
Ghulam Ahmad did write this book, and the entire book is on the Internet]
Besides these, none of the other languages of the world have any connection with this word. So this word which is spoken about Yuz Asaf testifies, like an inscription on the tomb, that this man is either an Israelite prophet or an Islamic prophet. But after the ending of prophethood, no further prophet can come in Islam. Therefore it is settled that he was an
It is not necessary that by Sulaiman is meant the prophet Sulaiman, but it appears that there must have been a leader of the Israelites, whose name was Sulaiman, after whom this hill was called. It is a custom of the Jews, till the present day, that they give names after the names of prophets. In any case, this name also provides proof that the Jewish people have been in Kashmir, for whom it was essential that Jesus come to Kashmir.
Tomb of Jesus Website Comments:
[The reader will note that in footnote 2 above, Ghulam Ahmad states that no prophet can come after Muhammad. Therefore, the inhabitant of the Roza Bal must have been a Jewish prophet. Later, though, as his followers believe, and as Ghulam Ahmad explained, God had repeatedly told Ghulam Ahmad that He (God) had appointed Ghulam Ahmad as a follower-prophet of Muhammad. Ahmadiyya literature reflects that Ghulam Ahmad himself seemed quite stunned by these revelations from God, because, just as other Muslims, he had understood Islam to teach that there could be no prophet of any type coming after Muhammad].
SHRINE OF JESUS
The Lost Years of Jesus The Life of Saint Issa
J
esus is a master. A master is one with the whole. To associate him with a particular country, place and time is human ignorance. Jesus belongs to the entire cosmos. But it hurts to ego. Ego wants to control. When the master is around the priest or ego conspires to crucify him. And when he is no more it is the priest again who establishes organizations in the name of the master. And manipulates his teachings to suit the vested interests! Christianity as we see around is no exception. Remember Jesus was not crucified by bandits. Jesus was conspired by the priestly and the royal community in a much planned way. A master like Jesus cannot be manipulated. But a priest can be.
Ancient scrolls reveal that Jesus spent seventeen years in India and Tibet from age thirteen to age twentynine before returning to Israel. He was then both a student and teacher of Buddhist and Hindu holy men. The story of his journey from Jerusalem to Benares was recorded by Brahman historians. Today they still know him and love him as St. Issa their 'buddha'. This is how I have known Jesus from my school days in a missionary school in India. He is widely known as Issah Massieh or Yeshu.
In 1894 Nicolas Notovitch published a book called The Unknown Life of Christ which contained the records of the Unknown Years of Jesus. It always happens that a master has to keep him in No skeptic or man of intellect secrecy form the cryptic. can really reach the inner core Many come by the master but of the master. On your own “No skeptic or man of none could reach him. Such you cannot discover truth. It is intellect can really reach the moments come in the life of only a chosen one can really almost all the masters. Nanak unravel such mysteries. inner core of the master.� is said to have disappeared in Nischolas was such a person the river Bain for three days. who was chosen by Jesus Holy Prophet ascended to himself to unfold the hidden mysteries of Jesus. Truth remains veiled for the heavens during Miraj to appear in front of Allah. They have attained to inner being. And in such a state of skeptic. inner oneness truth unfolds itself. In the life of Jesus there are two significant periods which have not been accounted for by Theologians Nicholas was a Russian doctor who journeyed and the Christian Churches for various reasons of extensively throughout Afghanistan, India, and Tibet. Nicholas journeyed through the lovely passes of keeping a control on the gullible masses. Bolan, over the Punjab, down into the arid rocky land The first period comes when the family fled Israel of Ladakh, and into the majestic Himalayan Vale of because of the fears of King Herod. And then Kashmir. During one of his journeys he was visiting suddenly after seventeen years the ministry of Jesus Leh, the capital of Ladakh, near the Buddhist Convent begins at the age of twenty nine to last only for three Himis. years. On the banks of river Jordon Moses is initiating the people and all of a sudden Jesus appears. This He had an accident and his leg broke. This gave him the unscheduled opportunity to stay for a while at the much is accounted for in the Bible.
Himis Convent. It was there that Nicholas learned that there existed ancient records of the life of Jesus Christ. In the course of his visit at the great convent, he located a Tibetan translation of the legend and carefully noted in his carnet de voyage over two hundred verses from the curious document known as „The Life of St. Issa.‟ He was shown two large yellowed volumes containing the biography of St. Issa.
He passed his time in several ancient cities of India such as Benaras. All loved him because Issa dwelt in peace with Vaishyas and Shudras whom he instructed and helped. But the Brahmins and Kshatriyas told him that Brahma forbade those to approach who were created out of his womb and feet. The Vaishyas were however allowed to listen to the Vedas only on holidays and the Shudras were forbidden not only to be present at the reading of the Vedas, but could not even look at them.
Nicholas dedicated a member of his party to translate the Tibetan volumes while he carefully noted each verse in the back pages of his journal. When he returned to the western world there was much controversy as to the authenticity “Issa taught equality of the document. He was accused of creating a hoax and was and said that man had ridiculed as an imposter. In his filled the temples with defense he encouraged a scientific expedition to prove the original his abominations.” Tibetan documents existed. One of his skeptics was Swami Abhedananda. Abhedananda journeyed into the arctic region of the Himalayas, determined to find a copy of the Himis manuscript or to expose the fraud. His book of travels, entitled ‘Kashmir O Tibetti’, tells of a visit to the Himis gonpa and includes a Bengali translation of two hundred twenty-four verses essentially the same as the Nicholas‟ text. Abhedananda was thereby convinced of the authenticity of the Issa legend. Map of Jesus's eastern travels Source: Summit University Press In 1925, another Russian named Nicholas Roerich arrived at Himis. Roerich was a philosopher and a distinguished scientist. He apparently saw the same documents as Notovitch and Abhedananda. And he recorded in his own travel diary the same legend of St. Issa. Speaking of Issa, Roerich quotes legends which have the estimated antiquity of many centuries.
Issa taught equality and said that man had filled the temples with his abominations. In order to pay homage to metals and stones, man sacrificed his fellows in who dwells a spark of the Supreme Spirit. Man demeans those who labor by the sweat of their brows, in order to gain the good will of the sluggard who sits at the lavishly set board. But they who deprive their brothers of the common blessing shall be themselves stripped of it. Vaishas and Shudras were struck with astonishment and asked what they could perform. Issa told them: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Worship not the idols. Do not consider yourself first. Do not humiliate your neighbor. Help the poor. Sustain the feeble. Do evil to no one. Do not covet that which you do not possess and which is possessed by others.
His teachings angered the vested interest and they decided to kill Issa. But Issa, forewarned, departed from this place by night. Afterward, Issa went into Nepal and into the Himalayan Mountains.
On reaching the temple the servitors demanded „Well, perform for us a miracle.‟ At this Issa replied to them: „Miracles made their appearance from the very day when the world was created. He who cannot behold them is deprived of the greatest gift of life. But woe to you, enemies of men, woe unto you, if you await that He should attest his power by miracle.‟ Issa taught that men should not strive to behold the Eternal Spirit with one's own eyes but to feel it with the heart, and to become a pure and worthy soul. „Not only shall you not make human offerings, but you must not slaughter animals, because all is given for the use of man. Do not steal the goods of others, because that would be usurpation from your near one. Do not cheat, that you may in turn not be cheated.‟
his words to the people. „Thou just man,‟ said the disguised servant of the ruler of Jerusalem approaching Issa, „Teach us, should we fulfill the will of Caesar or await the approaching deliverance?‟ But Issa, recognizing the disguised servants, said, „I did not foretell unto you that you would be delivered from Caesar; but I said that the soul which was immersed in sin would be delivered from sin.‟ At this time, an old woman approached the crowd, but was pushed back. Then Issa said, „Revere Woman, mother of the universe,‟ in her lies the truth of creation. She is the foundation of all that is good and beautiful. She is the source of life and death. Upon her depends the existence of man, because she is the
“She is the foundation of all that is good and beautiful. She is the source of life and death.”
„Beware, ye, who divert men from the true path and who fill the people with superstitions and prejudices, who blind the vision of the seeing ones, and who preach subservience to material things.‟ Then Pilate, ruler of Jerusalem, gave orders to lay hands upon the preacher Issa and to deliver him to the judges, without however, arousing the displeasure of the people. But Issa taught: „Do not seek straight paths in darkness, possessed by fear. But gather force and support each other. He who supports his neighbor strengthens himself.‟ I tried to revive the laws of Moses in the hearts of the people. And I say unto you that you do not understand their true meaning because they do not teach revenge but forgiveness. But the meaning of these laws is distorted. Then the ruler sent to Issa his disguised servants that they should watch his actions and report to him about
sustenance of his labors? She gives birth to you in travail, she watches over your growth. Bless her. Honor her. Defend her. Love your wives and honor them, because tomorrow they shall be mothers, and later-progenitors of a whole race. Their love ennobles man, soothes the embittered heart and tames the beast. Wife and mother-they are the adornments of the universe.‟ „As light divides itself from darkness, so does woman possess the gift to divide in man good intent from the thought of evil. Your best thoughts must belong to woman. Gather from them your moral strength, which you must possess to sustain your near ones. Do not humiliate her, for therein you will humiliate yourselves. And all which you will do to mother, to wife, to widow or to another woman in sorrow that shall you also do for the Spirit.‟ Thus continued the teachings of Issa. But the ruler Pilate ordered one of
his servants to make accusation against him. Said Issa: „Not far hence is the time when by the Highest Will the people will become purified and united into one family.‟ And then turning to the ruler, he said, „Why demean thy dignity and teach thy subordinates to live in deceit when even without this thou couldst also have had the means of accusing an innocent one?‟ From another version of the legend, Roerich quotes fragments of thought and evidence of the miraculous. Near Lhasa was a temple of teaching with a wealth of manuscripts. Jesus was to acquaint himself with them. Meng-ste, a great sage of the entire East, was in this temple.
Finally Jesus reached a mountain pass and in the chief city of Ladakh, Leh, he was joyously accepted by monks and people of the lower class. And Jesus taught in the monasteries and in the bazaars (the market places); wherever the simple and the common people gathered he taught. Not far from this place lived a woman whose son had died and she brought him to Jesus. And in the presence of a multitude, Jesus laid his hand on the child, and the child rose healed. And many brought their children and Jesus laid his hands upon them, healing them. Among the Ladakhis, Jesus passed many days, teaching them. And they loved him and when the time of his departure came they sorrowed as children.
Translation by Nicholas Notovitch „The Best of the Sons of Men’
People come to me and say, “Bless us so that we may attain happiness.” There would be no problem if it were so easy, if one man could just bless everyone and they would find happiness. How could my blessings wash away your misery? Try to understand me and not ask for blessings; that would be mere deception. You have given pain and suffering to others, now you must reap the fruits of your actions; and you come to ask for blessings? And your attitude is that you suffer because I do not give you my blessings. No blessings can remove your suffering. If somebody’s blessings help to improve your understanding and sow seeds of love within you; that is more than enough. Sins can be washed away only with love, and suffering can end only when you give happiness to others.
Ek Omkar Satnam - OSHO
JESUS the MAN and CHRIST the GODHEAD This is important to understand that Jesus like any other human being and then exhibited the divineness of his being. This is Sufi way of methodology. Jesus has been condemned. Out of conspiracy between the high priest and the royalty Jesus is condemned and he is to be crucified along with two others who were thieves. Alike the two other criminals Jesus is carrying the cross uphill for crucifixion. As he reaches the hill he is being crucified. Human element dominates. Jesus the son of Mary and Joseph is waiting the miracles to happen. He is expecting the Holy Father to come at the last minute and save him from the cross. The human element is Jesus waits any moment the miracle to happen. Nothing happens. The Holy Father, for who each of his breath pulsates! The final moment has come and no miracle has yet happened. The human element surfaces! Jesus complains: ‘FATHER WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME!’ Such complaint is quite normal and is the function of ego. All the devotees and so called religious one’s are full of ego. And expects miracles to happen because he considers himself a great devotee! Up to this moment Jesus is human – the son of Mary and Joseph. Such is the situation with each one of you. Man is filled with desires. And desires get even more
complicated because of ego. And together these continue to inflict human consciousness. This is the moment of introspection. You are at a threshold of a new beginning. Two paths are open to you now. One is the path of ego – the outward. This is the journey of duality, conflict, and despair. And the other is the way of peace, serenity, harmony and bliss. Jesus calls this as the ‘Kingdom of God’. This is inward journey. Restlessness grips Jesus. This is the moment of explosion. Drop by drop Jesus is falling into oneness. And the precise moment comes. Jesus becomes relaxed. Totally relaxed! Jesus is no more the son of man – the son of Mary and Joseph. Transformation happened. Resurrection happened. Jesus is Christ now. Jesus represents the human element. And Christ represents the absolute consciousness of the spirit. The consciousness of oneness, harmony and bliss! In such precise moment of bliss Jesus the Christ asserts: ‘LET THY WILL PREVAIL!’ This is what the east calls as BUDDHAHOOD or what the west calls as CHRISTHOOD. Names differ. But the inner state remains the same. Inner state of harmony, oneness, bliss, and trust! A master’s birth, death and each event is represents a teaching. Such is the methodology of Jesus as you know him and Christ as I know him. He is harmony between JESUS and the CHRIST. AMEN…
“So I will not say that traditions are useless; I will say they become dangerous if you follow them blindly. Try to understand, imbibe the spirit. Forget the letter, just drink of the spirit. It is certainly dangerous to belong to a religion because that means you are encaged, imprisoned into a certain creed, dogma. You lose your freedom, you lose your inquiry, your exploration.” OSHO
CONDEMN YE NOT THAT YE BE NOT CONDEMNED
J
esus had a unique methodology to transform human consciousness. Let me take you through one such anecdote to explain the way of Jesus through his awareness, understanding, and inner harmony.
the search becomes very easy. When the diagnosis is correct it is not too difficult to find the proper medicine. Diagnosis is half the cure. But if the diagnosis is incorrect, then even vast quantities of medicine will be of no use to you.
‘And the priest and men of letters brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst they said unto him, ‘Rabboni this woman has been taken into adultery in the very act. Now Moses in the law commands us, that she should be stoned to death: but what do you say should be her punished?’
What generally happens is that you become enamored of words, circumstances, and situations. You begin to think. Yes indeed, this is what I have lost. It is God I have lost. It is freedom I have lost. Then you set out on your search of events, circumstances and situations. And it is wrong from the very beginning. As I talk to you, I look into your hearts and I see that the throne within you is unoccupied. The throne is there, and someone must have sat on it at one time or another, but at present he is away, he is wandering somewhere else. Your heart is that throne. However the king, love itself, has left it behind for love is and has gone roaming in some far off place.
This they said, tempting him that they might have to accuse him.
But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted The search himself, and said unto them, ‘He that is without sin among you possible. Every let him cast a stone at her.’
child
The search for love is possible. Every child is born with love. is born with love. And again he stooped down, and Before you can search for wrote on the ground. And they something you have to lose it, and which heard it being convicted although every child is born with by their own conscience went out one by one, love it gets lost along the way, somewhere in the beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and course of his upbringing. Education, society and Jesus was left alone, and the woman was standing culture play important roles in this process. in the midst. And because of this lost love a sort of vacuum or And when Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw emptiness is created within you. You are in search of none but the woman he said unto her, ‘woman that love – not of God. You have never met God. But if where are those - thine accusers? Hath no man you regain love then you are standing at His door. condemned thee?’ You have never known God. He is unknown to you. You cannot search for Him. To search for someone, She said ‘no man my lord.’ there must be some kind of relationship, some kind of And Jesus said unto her, ‘Neither do I condemn acquaintance. And you have no such familiarity with thee. Go in peace and sin no more.’ God. THE HOLY BIBLE A few things first need to be understood. Jesus is a being of tremendous understanding. Love is his of transformation. To Jesus love is God. Jesus alike other masters is a physician! Physician not of the body but of the heart! And the master’s first task is to make it clear to you what it is you are seeking. Then
Love is truth. Truth surrounds you. How will you find it? Truth is there already. And the basic problem is that Truth surrounds you. How will you find it? Truth is there already! However you have no vision. The sun is always shining but you are blind. What should a blind man seek? The sun or sight! If you have no sight, even if the sun is sitting next to you what will
you do? You will not be able to see it; you will remain in darkness. Sight is needed. That sight is love. God is ever-present. He is all around you. But you have lost your vision; you have lost the means of experiencing Him.
inner serenity and peace understanding descends. Such an understanding is that of a master. Or oneness with the whole! The mind is shaky. It will always remain indecisive. If you wait for a decision by the mind you will never be able to do anything. To remain in indecision is the way of the mind. It will always remain divided, broken into parts. Some parts will be for something and other parts will be against it. Within the mind there is always a civil war or turmoil. There is always an internal conflict, or duel going on. What is this duality? It is important to understand its roots. In you there are three things, three factors. One is your body. Your body is a fact; it has a material existence. And then there is the flow of consciousness within you. This is your ATMA, or soul or spirit.
Love is the ability to experience. Love is sensitivity. Love brings understanding of cosmic oneness. Love is the experience in which all your impurities are washed away and you throw open all your doors, all your gates. Then whosoever stands at your door is no longer an enemy or a friend but a beloved, and you open your door to him. Then you do not condemn anyone. When you begin to feel the whole world is yours, when you begin to see the beloved in whosoever comes to your door, when you no longer see strangers or enemies, when you begin to see only friends everywhere – when this phenomenon takes And in between these two is the mind. The mind is place in you, know that you have found love. And for not a reality. It is a false thing. It is a little bit body the man who has found love what else remains to be and a little bit soul. Precisely it is a situation created found? The man who has found love has found the between the two. It cannot be total. It is always key to the door of God. Then divided. Always remains with you no longer condemn any one side or the other. And so one. You understand that Never hope for your mind to it remains partly with the actions are like dried leaves body and partly with the soul. fallen from the tree of It is created by the union of be quiet. It does not know consciousness. Then you these two, and so it can never would like to transform be totally with the body. how to be at peace. anyone that comes in your company. The desire to be a saint, to be a holy person, is hidden in Love is lost because of your mind and its everyone. It is even hidden in the mind of the greatest conditionings, dogmas, and knowledge. Remember sinner. Whenever you are going to do something the mind is never sick nor is it ever healthy. The mind terrible – even though you may have been doing it for itself IS sickness. It is never quiet and so it is lives – the mind will caution you not to. It will say, ‘Do meaningless to say that it is restless. Restlessness is not do this. It is bad.’ If the mind were only body, then the very nature and the texture of the mind. The mind nothing would be bad. At the body’s level nothing is can never become mad because only one who is not good or bad. Neither holy act nor sin can exist. mad can become a lunatic. And the mind itself is madness. In the case of the enlightened man both disappear and for the ignorant man neither exists. For the The mind will always remain unsteady, because ignorant man, there is no possibility of the existence unsteadiness is its nature. If a wave does not move, it of good or bad, and the enlightened man has reached will cease to be a wave. It is called a wave because it a place where both of these are left far behind. Jesus is moving. A wave always remains in motion. What is such a being. For him nothing is sin. Each situation would a silent wave be? The existence of the wave is is the opportunity for transformation and the in its motion, in its restlessness. continuation of inner journey. Never hope for your mind to be quiet. It does not know how to be at peace. As long as the mind is there, there is certain to be restlessness. When the mind is no more, what remains is peace. The absence of mind is peace – to be in no-mind is peace. In that state of
When you are at prayer or at worship the mind will ask, ‘Why are you wasting your time?’ When you are going to steal something, or commit a theft, or condemn someone or something the mind will ask, ‘Why are you committing a sin?’ And when you give
something away in charity the mind will ask, ‘Why are you throwing your money away unnecessarily?’ Then you are in a great fix trying to figure out what the mind really wants. The mind is like a bridge joining the two banks – the bank of the body and the bank of the soul. Half of the mind is on either side, and so there will always be a problem. If you follow the mind you will always be unsteady. Whatsoever you do, bad or good, the mind will repent it. Then you will fall into great difficulty and confusion. Then you will be at a loss to know what to do. When you are in good spirits you lean to one side, and when those good spirits have left you, you lean to the other. In between the two you are torn to pieces, just as a rock is reduced to dust between the stones of a gristmill. Now we will enter the Sutras: ‘And the priest and men of letters brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst they said unto him, ‘Rabboni this woman has been taken into adultery
It is grace that descends and it is the effort that has to move upwards. in the very act. Jesus had his unique way of teaching. And whenever a master appears he is always new and fresh. Like a fresh breeze he comes. The mind always finds conflict with the new. Moses was the Jewish master. His ways differ from that of Jesus. Moses worked with different set of people. The time and circumstances were different as well. He initiated people with water. He will take the people to river Jordan and thus will initiate. Moses used to say, I initiate with water he who comes after me is mightier than I and he will initiate you with fire. Apparently the two ways seem to be in conflict. However there is no difference between the inner states of Moses and Jesus. Both have reached to the same source. For initiation there are two way. One is the way of water and the other is the way of fire. Both have been used by the master. There is no conflict. Let me take you deeper in the two ways. Water represents the descent of consciousness. And fire represents the
ascent of consciousness. It all depends on the inner growth of the individual aspirant. People are at different levels of inner growth. In some the soil has to be prepared. While in others the soil is ready then the seed is to be planted. Still in others these two stages are finished then the seed has to be watered. And so on! It is only a master who has reached to the very core of his being will be able to determine the technique of transformation by looking at the individual. The moment an aspirant comes in front the entire inner state is revealed. It is grace that descends and it is the effort that has to move upwards. Grace is the way of surrender. And effort is the way of struggle. Grace descends from above. And effort begins from below. Out of these evolves two ways of inner transformation. When the fire is lit the flames goes up in the air. And all that is superfluous gets burnt. And water begins to evaporate. And then the water vapors go up in the atmosphere. Naqshbandi Sufi masters use this second method of transformation. First emotions are corrected. This is done with the understanding of love. Love really understood becomes a force of transformation to reckon with. And misunderstood love becomes the path of self destruction. Two things happen simultaneously. The fire from below and the descent of grace from above! And the place where the descent of grace and the ascent of the fire of love meet one another is called SACRED HEART. This is the seat of spirit. This is the seat of Jesus. The priest and the learned represent mind. Mind is conflict and misunderstanding. Mind always creates confusion. The priests have nothing to do with inner transformation or inner state. They remain on the surface. On the surface arises a myriad wave. Waves arise on the surface of the ocean. Ocean is one. Deep within the womb of the ocean is oneness. Therefore the priest and the learned ones brought this woman who is found in adultery. Not only had they brought the woman their intention is to create a situation for Jesus. They set the woman in the middle and asked Jesus: ‘Rabboni this woman has been taken into adultery in the very act. Now Moses in the law commands us, that she should be stoned to death: but what do you say should be her punished?’
The priest uses his surface knowledge to understand the ways of Moses and Jesus. On the surface these may look conflicting. However deep within there is no conflict. Between literal meaning and the deep understanding there is fine line of inner awakening. Mind cannot understand this. Therefore it sees everything as conflict. This they said, tempting him that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted himself, and said unto them, ‘He that is without sin among you let him cast a stone at her.’ The priest considers the master just like him. A master may look like you. But deep within him is awakening. Whereas the priest is asleep and unaware within! His intentions are to trap Jesus in a situation. Jesus knew the intentions. With his head facing the ground he created a gesture of writing something. And when the crowd of the priests and the men of letters that had gathered there continued to pester Jesus raised his head looked into the eyes of those gathered there. This is Sufi device. As Jesus looked at them with a deep penetrating vision the glance stirred them to their very core. Remember the consciousness of the crowd is at the lowest ebb. As an individual you will never engage in certain acts that you will not hesitate as part of the crowd. Jesus is aware of the laws of Moses and his way too. The older way says such a woman should be stoned to death. Jesus has to defend the old and then meditatively present the new. Before I go into the way of Jesus it is significant to know something. Who actually is responsible for this woman to enter adultery? It is always the elite and the society that is responsible for such situations. First the society creates a situation for someone to enter adultery and then to clean their image put all the blame on the woman. Such is the situation. This Jesus did not say. However through the silent gesture and the penetrative glance Jesus created this awareness within each one of them. A master knows that it is the society or the crowd that is responsible for such a situation. Raising his head, looking at each one of them gathered there in their spotless garb Jesus said:
Yes indeed it is written in the old law that such a woman be stoned to death. When they heard this all were elated over their victory. But then when Jesus said the next part their conscience was pricked. It was the voice a master and truth was asserting itself. Jesus continued: However it is also written that the first stone be cast by the one who has committed no sin! This is the balance between the old and the new. Only a master like Jesus can do this. This is Sufi way or tariqat. By saying this Jesus not only defended Moses instead presented his way as well. And not .only had that he even hammered the conscience of those gathered. Deep within the crowd knows of its fault. A process of introspection began. And the beginning of catharsis within! And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it being convicted by their own conscience went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman was standing in the midst. This does not imply that all those who gather around such a master are transformed. It is only a rare one who is on the borderline that is really transformed. Saying this Jesus again stooped as if to write something. All the while Jesus did not look at the woman in the midst. The words of Jesus shook the priest and the learned from their ground. The words pricked their conscience. This is the first stage when those who are on the borderline take a one hundred and eighty degree turn. Thus the process of transformation begins. Hearing these penetrating words of Jesus the crowd became aware of their own doings. Deep within each knew that he has sinned. It is only the purest one who has the right to punish. Silence prevailed. Slowly and slowly the crowd began to disperse. All the old and the young who had brought the woman for punishment vanished in an unknown oblivion. As if it was the death toll of the old and dawn of new awakening. All disappeared without uttering a single word in the silence of the night of catharsis.
There remained Jesus alone with his head still stooped to the ground and the woman in the middle. A dawn of new awakening! And when Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman he said unto her, ‘woman where are those - thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee?’ A silence continued. A new breeze, an awakening descended through the woman. Still there was a trembling deep within the woman. Jesus raised his head now. Still he did not look at the woman. Simply not to create any guilt and thus complete the process to transformation! Had Jesus looked into the eyes of the woman it would have given birth to guilt? Without even looking into her eyes Jesus enquired the woman of those who had accused her of adultery. Further he enquired if no man had condemned thee. Although Jesus knew that no one will condemn her yet still he enquired from the woman. This is to create the ground for the energy of the master to flow within. This is to create light within. So that the spirit may not find darkness within! And it may stay there. She said no man my lord.’ And Jesus said unto her, ‘Neither do I condemn thee. Go in peace and sin no more.’ To the enquiry from the Jesus: Hath no man condemned thee! The woman confirmed what Jesus enquired and she said: She said no man my lord.’ This is the first time that the woman recognized the master. Soul recognized the answering soul. The disciple in Mary Magdalene found her master that she was seeking for lives. Love brought down power out of eternity to make of life its new undying base. Her
passion surged a wave from fathomless depth within. Also it leaped to earth from far forgotten heights. However in the process kept its nature of infinity in its sublime purity. Deep within Mary remembered an unforgotten moment of awareness. And something overflowed from deep within On the dumb bosom of this oblivious globe although as unknown beings we seem to meet, our lives are not aliens nor as strangers join. Each life is moved to each other by a causeless force. The soul can recognize its answering soul. Sometimes it does happen that across dividing time and, on life's roads absorbed wrapped traveler, always discovers familiar splendors in an unknown face. This is how it always happens in the beginning. And then touched by the warning finger of love eternal the spirit of Mary recognized its answering soul across dividing time. Wearing a mortal body for delight Mary’s spirit levitated to merge with that of her eternal master. There is a Power within that knows beyond all human knowing. As human beings we are greater than our thoughts, and sometimes earth unveils that vision here. This is what is happening to Mary this very precise moment. A delightful silence prevailed as it overflowed. The spirit recognized the answering spirit. And Jesus said unto her: ‘Neither do I condemn thee. Go in peace and sin no more.’ Just simple words! The woman is transformed. Out of the woman is born a resurrected transformed being of Mary Madeleine. Only this much for now! Love Taoshobuddha.
“No discovery becomes a heritage in religion. Buddha discovered, but that does not mean you can simply follow the Buddha. Buddha was unique, you are unique in your own right, so how Buddha has entered into truth is not going to help you. You are a different kind of house; the doors may be in different directions. If you simply follow Buddha blindly, that very following will be misleading.” OSHO
JAPJI SAHIB Songs of Nanak
‘Symphony of the Being’
Taoshobuddha
LET THY WILL PREVAIL MESSAGE OF NANAK An ecstatic Nanak sings: Hukum Rajai Chalana Nanak Likhiya Naal… Whatever appeals to You let that alone Happen! ‘Hukum Rajai Chalna Nanak Likhiya Naal.’ What is Hukum? Literally it means the order or the command. Nothing will happen by your doing. When you are false then all that evolves will definitely be false as well. It matters not if you are speaking truth. To Nanak Hukum implies the cosmic law, the synergetic harmony. Before I explain this, an anecdote: Once Nanak stayed in a village! The chief of the village had a religious function. Entire village was invited. Nanak was also invited. Nanak did not go. Instead he stayed at the place of a poor carpenter Laloo. Several times the chief send the message for Nanak. But he did not go. Ultimately the chief came himself. At his request Nanak accompanied him to his place. However Nanak refused the pure sanctified food. The food was prepared by the chefs who took a bath with holy waters before starting the cooking. At this Nanak said now that you insist bring your food and he asked Laloo to bring his dry rotis or bread without any vegetables. It is said Nanak took the dry food of Laloo in one hand and in another hand he took the delicious food of the chief and squeezed. It is said from Laloo’s food the stream of milk came out; whereas from the food of the chief blood came out. This is symbolic. I do not know it if happened this way or not. It is significant. If you are dishonest it does not matter if you bathe or wash the vegetable in pure and holy water. If your life is that of
dishonesty, falsehood, exploitation and torture then every grain of your food is soaked in blood. It is not important if this really happened or not. However the anecdote is very significant. And gives an important message! Nanak Says nothing will happen on your own. When you are dishonest this will become part of you. You will speak truth only if this benefits your dishonesty. Even your truth will harm others. Nanak says leave everything on him. Let Thy will prevail. Whatever condition or state he keeps you remain pleased. His commandment or way becomes your way. Accept all that is happening. Flow with life. Life is given by God. Only he knows what is good and what is not. Be in harmony. Behind every happening there is a cosmic law, a meaning, a secret. Thy wish is my command. Then you will find that suddenly an inner harmony, oneness and silence begins to descend. No more worries. You are the part of this cosmic harmony. What is the worry? The worry is that you are not in harmony with all that is happening. The only sutra of peace in the East from LauTzu to Nanak is ‘TOTAL ACCEPTABILITY.’ Omar Khayyam says: Moving finger writes and having writ moves on. Nanak says:
Hukum Rajai Chalna Nanak Likhiya Naal.
There is a law the cosmic law. Everything happens according to this cosmic law. Flow with this cosmic law. You can float in the sky that Nanak calls as ‘Ek Omkar Satnam.’ And there is only one methodology-the Hukum the wish of God. Once it happened. In Bulkh there was chief Ibrahim. He had a slave who was very vibrant and loving. Ibrahim brought him home. Because of his ways Ibrahim fell in love with the slave. Ibrahim enquired how he wants to remain, what would he like to eat etc. It is said the reply of the slave was beautiful. The slave replied, ‘My wish does not matter. Whatever the master wants really matters. I am your slave and you are my master.’
It is said with this reply Ibrahim’s life transformed. He bows down to the slave. Ibrahim got the secret that he had been searching for so long. This is ‘hukum rajai chalana Nanak likhiya naal.’ This is Nanak’s methodology to attain inner oneness, harmony and bliss. Thus Nanak blocked all doors for ego. First Nanak emphasizes the ‘Guru kripa or parsad’ and now he gave the next one: ‘hukum rajai chalana Nanak likhiya naal.’ Be within the existential law! Flow with the Ultimate will! He alone knows what is right! This is the way of surrender! Only this much for now!
In all dimensions of life the mode of travel is different. You can cross an ocean with a boat, but you cannot use it to cross the land. No matter how good a sailor you are, no matter how many seas you may have crossed, or how great your knowledge of the ocean, you cannot sail your boat on the road. Now because of this boat your whole journey comes to a halt. You could even have walked and arrived one day on foot, but now you are stuck with this boat around your neck, so to say. You may try to apply your knowledge and experience of sailing to land, you may have crossed vast oceans, but this small bit of dry land will defeat you for your boat is useless on land, and you don’t abandon it. This is exactly what is happening. The boat of ego is a useful vehicle in the world of samsara, the world of objects. You cannot take a step without the ego. Trying to make your way in life without the ego leads to grief; for it is a race of egos. All striving is in the I. The greater the ego, the greater the success. That this success ultimately turns into defeat is a different matter. But in the material world arrogance wins; the psychosis of arrogance is always victorious for this is a world of maniacs. If however you begin on the path of God with this ego, you shall err. You may have been successful in the material world, your ego may have made a Napoleon, an Alexander of you, but do not make the mistake of carrying the ego along with you on this journey towards God. It becomes a hindrance that you will be caught and bound by. Having boarded the boat, you will simply sit becalmed in it. It won’t sail. The journey is impossible.
OSHO
Thy compassion is boundless and infinite How long shall your grace descend, how long shall you shower thy mercy, on thy eternal servant? Neelambar sings: Thy compassion is boundless and infinite. One whose mind is empty of all thoughts, is filled with thy sweet remembrance. Only such a celebration can give impetus to life’s sojourn on the pathless path. Thy compassion is boundless and infinite. What criterion gains his favour? What actions secure his glance? His Grace is bestowed for all who seek His pleasure. He bequeaths his fathomless benediction to those who sing his nama. Ek omkar is the satnam That resonates the entire cosmos. One who hears the echoes of eternity in the inner sanctum of his being attains the sanctuary of immaculate peace. Sing his satnam Sing his satnam Sing his satnam Oh fool Sing his satnam What better way to celebrate his compassion and attain his favour than by singing the celestial song of existence. Thy compassion is boundless and infinite.
COOKING TAOSHOBUDDHA WAY MA PREM SUTRA
RECIPE OF THE MONTH
VEGETABLE SAMOSA
INGREDIENTS: FOR SHELL: All purpose flour (Maida) 1 cup Water to knead dough Oil 4tbsp Salt to taste Ajwain (optional) 1/4th tsp. Baking Soda (optional) one pinch FOR STUFFING: Potatoes (boiled, peeled & diced) 4-5 medium Green Peas 1/2 cup Green Chilies (finely chopped) 1-2 Ginger (crushed or finely chopped) 1/2tsp Cumin seed whole 1tbs Coriander finely chopped1tbsp Few chopped Cashews (optional) Few Raisins (optional) crushed coriander seeds 2 Tbs
Salt to taste Red chili powder to taste Dry Mango powder( Amchur or anardana) (optional)* 1/2 tsp. Cottage cheese 2Tbs
Note: You can use chaat masala, or tamarind pulp (the only problem is that tamarind pulp will turn the mix dark)
METHODOLOGY: SHELL: 1. 2. 3. 4.
Mix all the ingredients (salt, oil, Ajwain, baking soda) well except water. Add a little water at a time. Pat and knead well for several times into soft pliable dough. Cover it with moist Muslin cloth and keep aside for 15 minutes to allow it to settle.
FOR FILLING: 1. Heat oil in frying pot. Add cumin seed and crackle these. Add chopped ginger, and chillies. SautĂŠ for a few mins. 2. Now add diced potatoes. Mix well and cook for a few mins. 3. Add all dry masalas (salt, chili powder, mango powder, and mix well. 4. Add green peas, cashews and raisins and mix well. 5. Add coriander and keep aside.
METHODLOLGY 1. 2. 3. 4.
5. 6. 7. 8.
Divide the dough into 16 equal portions Roll one portion at a time into a 5"-6" diameter circle. Divide it into two parts by cutting diagonally into two semi-circle. Now take one semi circle and fold it like acone using water to the straight edge. And then fold to form a cone. This requires a little experience. It is very easy to learn or. Place a spoon of filling in the cone and seal the third side using a drop of water. Heat oil in a Kadhai a shallow wok like pot and deep fry till golden brown (fry on a medium flame). Serve Samosa hot with chutney of your choice Green coriander, mint or mixed chutney, tamarind chutney.
HANUMAN CHALISA A MYSTICAL DIMENSION AN UPCOMING STERLING PAPERBACK BY SWAMI ANAND NEELAMBER Swami Anand is a beautiful being. One whose beauty reflects through every composition that overflows. His coming is a so called mystery. Indeed the coming of any being to the master may appear a mystery. Yet indeed it is an embodiment of Sufi assertion “when the disciple is ready Master appears”. It was in 2007 when I was busy with ‘Meditation: the Way to Self Realization’ and “The Secrets of Bhakti’ that he asked me to write something on Hanuman Chalisa. I told him to wait until I return from India. And when I returned in Feb of 2008 he again mentioned of this. At this I told him to write Hanuman Chalisa himself. This startled him and mentioned of his inability and that he will take years. I told him, ‘I simply asked you to write. You are an instrument only. Once you begin everything will descend.’ The work began. It took only three weeks for this work of 108 pages to finish. Now that the work is over! Not only finishing this work, the end has unfolded another dimension of the work - his insights into scriptures and many unknown dimensions. These will be made available through the upcoming works. For now delve into these mystical dimensions of Swami Anand.
MEDITATION THE ULTIMATE IN
HEALING
A SERIES OF 27 HEALING MEDITATION TO BALANCE BODY AND MIND
TAOSHOBUDDHA Compiled by MA DHYAN NAINEE Edited by SWAMI ANAND NEELAMBAR
UNDERSTANDING ANGER ANGER IS THE OUTCOME OF EGO AND SEX! BOTH SEX AND EGO ARE THE FUNCTIONS OF THE MIND. LACK OF UNDERSTANDING THIS LEADS TO THE SPATE OF ANGER!! WITHOUT IGNORANCE EGO CEASES TO EXIST! AND WITHOUT EGO IGNORANCE AND ANGER HAS NO VALUE NO USE!
I
SONG ETERNAL- BHAGAVAD GITA - AN ENCHANTING IMPOSSIBILITY -TAOSHOBUDDHA
n the process of inward journey understanding anger is essential. Anger cannot be managed. In doing so anger goes deep in the subconscious layer! There it is nourished and nurtured. Suppressed by social norms, cultural values and traditions anger gains strength and momentum! Unwanted it expresses itself even when the circumstance does not call far. Thus in the process of its evolution anger goes on gaining momentum. And explodes like a force. And when anger gains momentum it brings with it fear, ignorance and violence. Fear is the outcome of ignorance. Ignorance is the ornament of ego. Together these nourish and nurture anger. Without ignorance ego ceases to exist. And without ego ignorance and anger has no value no use. Remember when light of awareness and understanding descends ignorance disappears in the oblivion. And thus vanishes the ego. Thereafter what remains is the light of truth. Anger dissolves in that light. However in the absence, despondency and agitation breeds in human mind! Filled with negativities life full of anger goes on unabated. Because of unfulfilled desires, lack of understanding of sex energy and its transcendence a process breeds in human mind. Anger is the outcome of this. And you continue to drown in the valley of darkness. Anger is the downward movement of existential bio energy. When this bio energy manifests through the lower psycho centers it breeds negativities. Without clearing such negativities journey to higher reams is impossible. This existential bio energy is given to you to first understand its purpose. Understand the techniques to allow the upward journey. In the process of upward
movement light descends. You attain not only fulfillment through sex you transcend it as well. One day you come into life through the functioning of this energy through the sex center. And through this center as well you transcend beyond sex one day. You attain inner harmony at physical, emotional, and intellectual level. What a benediction? Without such an understanding and balance between the physical, emotional, and intellectual level harmony does not happen. And without harmony within emotions play a devil’s role. And to such a being is always denied harmony’s peaceful existence. Anger can be managed somehow. Management of anger is impossible without suppression. And anything suppressed gains strength. Becomes a force impossible to reckon with! The first criterion is to understand this. And in that understanding itself the process of its dissolution begins. A conscious catharsis is the sure way to dissolve anger. Many techniques are there for catharsis. However this is an individual process. There are generalized techniques. However individualized techniques are more effective. These are designed to suit the individual needs. Master penetrates your unconscious and sub-conscious layers and designs the technique suitable to your growth and thus sets the process of transformation. Allow an understanding to dawn in you. The process of dissolution of anger will certainly begin. Understand anger! Allow it to dissolve!! Only this much for now!!
NOTE: SEE SECTION 3 ‘MEDITATION TECHNIQUES’ AND PAGE 260 OF MEDITATION: THE WAY TO SELF REALIZATION BY TAOSHOBUDDHA – A STERLING PAPERBACK 2008 OR SEND EMAIL to taoshobuddha@gmail.com or taoshobuddha@in.com with your query.
FINDING THE ETERNAL WITHIN So what did Jesus teach? I leave it to you to verify this for yourself, since it is not hard to find copies of THE GOSPEL OF THOMAS. The dry desert of Egypt preserved this Gospel from ancient times, and it was only discovered in 1945. It was part of the library of a group of desert "Saints" (a translation of the same word as "Essene"). The one copy of the Gospel of Thomas is in Coptic, the language of Ancient Egypt.
quintessence while one is still alive. Although Joshua clearly believes in an afterlife, he gives no details. He does make it clear that the search for the realm of the imperishable is part of this life, if the seeker is to find ONE. That is exactly what the Saints were doing. Desert Saints: Like mystics of all ages and all cultures, they found it necessary to withdraw from the world, to obtain solitude, for years at a time. The Yogis found solitude in the forest, the Taoist mystics found it in the Say what you will about the mountains, and the Saints found it corruption of the traditional New The illumination of fire gives one a first in the desert and later on Testament, caused by pious fraud remote islands off the coast of vision of life and history as a and mistranslation over the Ireland and Scotland. It is clear to whole, with a single divine millennia – this copy of the me, someone who has experienced Gospels comes straight to us from purpose running through it. This the illumination of fire, that this is Ancient Times. THE GOSPEL OF what Joshu bar Josuf (Jesus) had is what makes one whole (holy). THOMAS is nothing more than himself experienced, and this is "The Sayings of Jesus." There are no miracles, no what he wanted his followers to find. Messiah complex, no Sermon on the Mount (but the Beatitudes are all there), no entry into Jerusalem, no The illumination of fire gives one a vision of life and Crucifixion, and no Resurrection. Indeed, there is history as a whole, with a single divine purpose running nothing internal to the book that would date the time of through it. This is what makes one whole (holy). Christ. He may very well be the "Teacher of Clearly, this was the original meaning of "holy," which Righteousness" of the Judaic Essenes, who may have has a common root with holistic, holographic, whole, lived about 100 BCE. hale and heal. Both men and women withdrew from the Saturnalia of the Roman Empire to become pure and Most of his teaching consists in parables and metaphors holy, and sometimes they returned as great witnesses to about reaching a state of "the X of Y" where X is a word their experiences. Martyr As Witness: The word usually translated as "kingdom" but could also be "martyr" means "witness." This is something the translated "realm" and Y is a word for "sky" usually legalistic Romans could understand. They had no translated as "heaven." Translating ancient metaphors is science, but they had law, and they knew the value of a a tricky business. We have to put ourselves back into good witness. The Emperors persecuted the Christians, that time, and try to imagine how people of that time including former desert hermits. They went fearlessly would understand this metaphor. From the time of and that impressed the materialistic Romans. This gives Aristotle (300 BCE) to the time of Galileo (1600 CE), rise to the second definition of "Saint" as one who was nearly 2000 years, the worldview, the background of all martyred. The more Saints the Romans created, the thought, was that of Aristotle and Ptolemy. It made a more Romans became Christians. large distinction between the heavens (i.e. stars, the moon, the sun, and the planets) and earth. Earth was Early Christianity: During the period of persecution, made of four elements, earth, air, fire, and water, and Christianity was also organizing itself as a religion, with was mutable and perishable. The heavenly bodies were priests and bishops. Peter went to Rome, as did Paul, made of a fifth element (quintessence) which was while Thomas went to India. James evangelized in immutable, imperishable and eternal. Thus, the correct Jerusalem among the Jews. There was a formal, translation of this metaphor is "realm of the hierarchical organization being developed, i.e., the imperishable," or "realm of the quintessence," or "realm church, but there were also the Saints, who were of the eternal." Given that meaning, "the realm of the completely outside any such organization, yet, who eternal is within," a saying found both in the BOOK OF provided the main impetus for the growth of THOMAS and the canonical gospels, makes perfect Christianity. One of the strengths of the early church is sense, to the surprise of Fundamentalists. It makes that it was open to men and women, rich and poor, and perfectly good sense to try to enter the realm of the it practiced charity. It also opened the first orphanages,
the first hospitals, and the first hostels. Even in the Middle Ages, pilgrims and travelers of all kinds stayed at monasteries along the way. Monasteries continued to be the centers of learning, the arts, and even of technology, until the rebirth of trade and of cities and of a middle class. The first wave of pagan barbarians rolled over the Western Roman Empire, but stopped short of Ireland, Wales, and Scotland, possibly because of a Celtic warlord whose battle flag was a "bear," i.e. "Artos" thus giving rise to the Arthurian legends, all of which first appeared in the Celtic Fringe in the 8th and 9th Centuries. The monasteries there created a brief golden age, an age of marvelous manuscripts and fine jewelry. For about a century, they were the only people in Europe who could read and write, both Greek and Latin, and who still had a taste for the classics in those languages, and still had libraries and scriptoria. Thus, they made copies that wound up all over Europe. It was also a culture rich in Saints, some of whom began to evangelize Anglo-Saxon England, Frankish Gaul, and Lombardian Italy. This is how the Irish saved civilization, as described in Thomas Cahill's marvelous little book, HOW THE IRISH SAVED IVILIZATION. One of the last of these Hibernian scholars was Alcuin of York, who started a school and scriptorium for Charlemagne. It eventually became one of the first European universities. Most of the ancient books that have come down through the Middle Ages are Carolingian copies, the first to separate words with a space, and the first to use the Carolingian minuscule, father of "lower case." It is a wonder the Ancients could read their inscriptions, since they were all upper case, all the words were jammed together, and they were very fond of allusions and abbreviations, just as today we are very fond of acronyms. How Did Sunday school Christianity Arise? By pious fraud and forgery. The Popes themselves know this. In her book, THE CHRIST CONSPIRACY, Acharya S introduces us to a vast, little known literature by people who challenge every part of Sunday school tradition. According to the skeptics, the Bible has been under more or less continuous revision from about 170-180 CE (when the oldest parts of the New Testament were written down, according to her) down to the dawn of printing in the 15th Century. The skeptics doubt the huge drama of the passion of Christ, because historians of the time, such as Josephus, make no mention of it. The skeptics do not think the life of Jesus could possibly be set in Galilee of around 30 CE, because Galilee at that time was a rich Roman province, with great cities under construction that are not even mentioned in the Bible.
Nor could he have been from Nazareth since it did not exist in 1 CE, or 30 CE. In addition, the early church fathers, such as Justin Martyr and Marcion make no mention of the four canonical gospels, so they did not exist in the First Century CE. In Paul’s letters, he makes absolutely no mention of the teachings of Jesus. He quotes no parable, no beatitude, none of the teaching about the Kingdom of Heaven. Indeed, no book in the New Testament makes any mention of any other book in the New Testament. Acharya and many skeptics conclude that the Jesus legend is pure myth, and is simply a recycling of Sol Invictus. At the very least, Acharya and other skeptics should teach us to doubt Sunday school tradition. That is why I confine myself to modern philological and archaeological discoveries. The medieval church never had their hands on such things. The catacomb art is interesting for what it shows and what it does not show. The archaeology done under the Altar of St. Peters in Rome during WW II is also very interesting (see THE BONES OF ST. PETER in the bibliography). Neither supports the extreme position of Acharya. Under the altar, archaeologists discovered a First Century tomb, and a small, hidden church in the midst of a pagan cemetery, with a small meeting room, and an adjoining babtistery. They found the bones of a robust man of 70, missing feet and head, wrapped in purple cloth veined with threads of pure gold, hidden inside "the graffiti wall,� part of the Tropaion (the church). Why not the head? Another church in Rome claims that relic. Why no feet? If Nero crucified Peter upside down, as tradition has it, the easiest way to get him down would be to chop off the feet. This suggests that at least some Church traditions are not a fraud. Whether the Romans crucified Yoshua bar Josuf or not is debatable. The Book of Thomas does not mention it, but then this is a book of sayings. Crucifixion would be an unusual punishment for heresy. Usually, the Jews stoned heretics to death, as they eventually did to James. In the Koran, it says Yoshua was not crucified. The Jews keep a record of the several hundred would-be or accused messiahs between 100 BCE and 100 CE, and it includes one Joshu bar Josuf, whose mother was Mary. Joshu was stoned to death. We find no crucifixes in the catacombs, nor any Last Supper, much less a Last Judgment. The earliest crucifix in Christian Art is a crude and obscure figure on the door of the church of Santa Sabina in Rome, dating to the 5th Century CE. What we see in catacomb art is not the crucifix, but Christ in Orisen. This is the T gesture, standing with arms wide open. Do that to a person, and they will come
give you a hug. Do that to the world, alone on a hilltop at dawn, and gain a wonderful epiphany of the innocence and beauty of the world, despite the pain and struggle. It could very well be that the T gesture came first, and was eventually given historicity by the process of myth making, followed by ignorant centuries that took these myths literally. The oldest copies of the New Testament that have survived are the Vatican Codex, and the Sinai Codex, both dating from the 4th Century CE. There seems such a distance between the "Sayings of Yoshua" and even the short version of Mark that one suspects many decades or even centuries had to pass, decades of syncretism and mythologizing.
his way to Damascus, wherein he beheld the risen Christ? This might explain the eventual success of Christianity. If the Shroud of Turin turns out to date from the 1st Century, I might even believe it myself. And it could be authentic. Science has not ruled that out. The Titulus found in Empress Helen’s house in Rome may be authentic and dated to 30 CE. It has "Jesus Christ King of the Jews" written from right to left in Hebrew, Latin and Greek. Here is a second possibility, compatible with the first. Yoshua experienced the illumination of fire, and his teachings on the way to enter the "realm of the imperishable" (Kingdom of Heaven) worked. Those followers who gave up worldly concerns and went off into the desert as Seekers of the illumination of fire often succeeded, and when they returned to the world (or when the world came to them), they were not only holy and wise, but they also had "miraculous" powers, such as healing, or walking on water. The miracles of one age are the science of the next. The age of faith passes, and the age of spiritual science begins.
It is not unusual for religions to begin with the mystical teachings of the founder to a small circle of disciples. As the religion develops, it is not unusual for it to absorb elements from other religions over the centuries (syncretism) and to incorporate fantastic fairy tales that may incorporate some symbolic truth (mythology). I know that somebody sold small fragments of canonical gospels in a So why am I involved in these One can pursue the Way of second Century style to antiquity questions? Because I want you to the Saints and Sufis without dealers. Nothing would be easier to understand the Way of the Saints and being a Christian or Muslim. forge, if one knew the writing style of Sufis. The Sufis were desert saints One can do Yoga without the appropriate decade. One could who liked the pure monotheism of even use ancient papyrus and ink Islam, and so converted when Islam being a Hindu or Buddhist. In prepared in the old way. However, it swept through the deserts of the other words, the path is one does not make a great deal of Middle East in the 7th Century CE. I thing, the religion another. difference to me whether the church am trying to show that the Way of the traditions about the dates of the Saints and Sufis was and is a valid Gospels are true or not. path, one of the seven ways, each equally legitimate if we can scrape away centuries of pious forgery and The Books of the New Testament as we have it were superstition. I could also write treatises on Yoga or selected from a vast variety of "gospels" at the Council Taoism, but others could do it better than I could. There of Nicaea in 325 CE, under pressure from Emperor are ancient traditions of Shamans and Medicine men or Constantine, who brought Christianity out of the women taking many forms in the Americas, in Siberia, catacombs and built it fine basilicas. He broke some and in Hawaii. See the works of Max Freedom Long, major taboos to do so. The Basilica of St. Peter was built for one entrance to that world. Once again, others know over a pagan cemetery (which is still down there!), just far more about it than I do. There is Kabbalah, which so the altar could be placed directly over the tomb of St. also appeals to me. I don’t claim to be an expert on it. I Peter. Constantine meddled in religion primarily for just happen to have figured out the essence of the Saints state reasons. He needed an all-embracing (“Katholos” and Sufis, and can explain to you what "the kingdom of means “all-embracing“) state religion to end divisive heaven" metaphor would have meant in Ancient Times. strife, and to make the Roman Empire more defensible. In this, he succeeded, so that at least the eastern part of One can pursue the Way of the Saints and Sufis without the Empire survived for another thousand years. being a Christian or Muslim. One can do Yoga without being a Hindu or Buddhist. In other words, the path is So, are we to reject the Bible altogether? Did these one thing, the religion another. miraculous events really happen? Was Christ resurrected? Did Paul have a transcendental vision on