Jesus

[Guest guest]

Dear friends,

 

The list is quiet and I take the liberty of talking about religion. Hinduism,

really called Sanatana Dharma means "ancient law" and even the word "senate" is

connected with it, as "ancient" deciding body of elders of the community.

 

We need a world government. More, we need a world faith. The "ancient law"

recognizes every serious religion or philosophy as a legitimate search for God.

Re-ligion means "reviving a bond" the bond between Man and his Creator. No one

can be "converted" to Hinduism, for as a person born on earth or elsewhere, he

is automatically a "Hindu", comes under the eternal law!

 

Some 12 months ago I moved to a locality which was formerly ruled by communists.

Religion was systematically suppressed. But when I went to the local medical

practitioner, I was received with affection. We spoke about many things and he

said, " You perhaps see God as Krishna, I perhaps as Christ. but I see no

difference!" Here I must mention that "Christ" in German is "Christus", with

the "i" pronounced short as in "in". He was playing with the similarity of

names, which gets lost in English. Many Indians say "Kistna", "Kishna", ... and

Amerindians say "Kachina", the protector!

 

When asked if he was Christ, Sri Sai Baba gave no direct answer but said, "Say

Sai thrice, you´d have said `Isa´ twice; say Isa thrice and you´d have said

Ssi twice. Isa was the Aramaic name of Jesus."

 

Neither Krishna nor Jesus were "entities". They were GOD in human bodies. They

are always there. The Holy Ghost manifests itself repeatedly in many bodies, in

successiuon, simultaneously, in various degrees to keep the cosmos going.

 

We will soon be celebrating Christmas for the last time in this millennium. The

third millennium starts with 2001, NOT 2000, for there was no year called zero!

 

Let us NOW clear our thoughts, get rid of the false notions of the last 200

years; let us understand Christ!

 

The advance of science and technology killed faith. Whereas the top scientists

said they were only trying to understand the laws of God, whom they NEVER

denied, second rate wise guys brought in all sorts of arguments to discredit the

Christmas story, even said Jesus was an invention, not a historical person!

Faced with this attack from mediocre scientists, even theologians started

"de-mythifying" Christ, made a beggar out of the king!

 

All their arguments can be refuted and science itself gives us the answers!

Scientists maintained , a 120 years ago, that a heavier than air machine could

never fly. One year before Neil Armstrong landed on the moon the chief

astronomer of Greewich declared that Man would never reach the moon!... We know

better today!

 

Only during the last decades has the church thought it fit to consult the

synagogue. Many "awkward" passages in the gospels have a simple explanation. The

apocryphal gospels and letters, if read, give us a great deal of information. So

also the visionary infpormatiuon given by people lie Hildegard von Bingen, or

edgar Cayce. The 4 official gospels are not lies, but have not been translated

properly.

 

There is no "mystery" attached to Jesus, except that he was an avatar! Angels

appearing to people and giving messages is not uncommon. I have experienced

this! Already today, with genetic manipulation etc., it is no problem for a

virgin to become a mother. The miracles Jesus performed have been performed by

Sai Baba many times. A miracle is not a negation of the laws of nature, but a

different way of using natural forces. Switching on the light does not cut a

potato. But if he light goes thru a laser generator, I can cut the potato with

its beam - and also the table if I am not careful!

 

A scientist needs an apparatus to "re-organize" the cosmic forces, but some

people - not necessarily "great" souls - can use their bodies and minds to do

so. i have seen many "miracles" performed by otherwise ordinary people: plants

germinating in the hand and growing 6 inches within 30 minutes (Uri Geller),

heavy stones rising up in the air ... a child of 12 softens metal to be like

wax, etc. etc., not to speak of the wonders that Sai Baba performs.

 

There are no valid arguments against the christmas story. But there are doubts.

Apparent discrepancies in the Gospels, missing information, ignorance of Hebrew

and judaic customs etc. have caused confusion. But recent research has found

answers for all challenging questions. Today I wish to write only about the

beginning.

 

The general idea is often that Jesus was born of poor parents, that the parents

were badly treated at Bethlehem, that Mary had to deliver her child in a stall

like an animal, that the child was wrapped in rags!

 

None of this was true! Joseph and Mary belonged to the nobility, members of the

royal family of David. The Romans had pushed the family aside, killed some

members, and had put their man, Herod, on the throne. Those of the true royal

family who survived kept a low profile, so as to be safe. They deliberately

kept away from politics and concentrated on service to the temple. Jesus´uncle

Joseph of Arimathea was a rich merchant who owned ships and had a trade with the

metal mines of England. He is buried at Glastonbury in South England. His wealth

made him very influential in Roman circles too. Jesus and Maria probably

accompanied him on his journeys to England: there are places named after them

near Glastonbury - originating long before England was officially Christianized!

 

Herod had murdered all in his own family, who had David´s blood. Joseph and

Mary were lucky to be alive, probably thanks to having lived with the Essenes.

Prophecies had foretold the imminent arrival of the Messiah, the liberator.

Since they had no religious problem as such, but a very heavy political one, the

Messiah was expected to free Judaea from the Roman yoke and re-establish a

legitimate kingdom, free of the tyrannies of the criminal Herod - who had the

support of the temple priests, whom he "bribed" very generously!

 

There were secret societies - like the zealots - who were planning to ovethrow

Herod. They needed a suitable "king" - and Jesus would have been the ideal crown

prince, being of David´s dynasty thru father and mother. When Mary became

pregnant, after the announcement from the angel, these circles were eagerly

awaiting the birth of the child.

 

The triple conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in 7 B.C. confirmed their hopes.

Saturn stood for Judaea, Jupiter for "King". I´m not sure, but I think a solar

eclipse was also involved. Astrologers in the whole of the Middle East expected

the birth of an "Emperor" , most likely in Judaea. It is stupid to call the

conjunction the "Star of Bethlehem", for the planets never got closer than 24

inches from each other. The Starof B. must have been something else.

 

For the family it was a dangerous situation. So they left Jerusalem and lived in

Nazareth. Joseph was not just a simple carpenter, but an architect and was

pretty well off! He seems to have taught Thomas, who later went to Madras in

India, worked as court architect for the king there and built one of the

earliest churches in the world.

 

The census was a pain in the neck. Joseph and Mary had tried to keep Mary´s

pregnancy very private, so as not to attract Herod´s attention, but now they had

to go on a journey and be seen in public. They did it as quietly as possible,

probably disguised as peasants. The inn-keeper at Bethlehem was a friend, had

reserved a place for them. But an angel appeared to him in a dream and told him

not to keep the couple in his establishment, for the publicity would be

dangerous to the child, in case over-enthususiastic fools proclaimed the arrival

of their new King!

 

It was a common custom for shepherds to keep their sheep in the caves in the

hills during winter. They themselves shared the caves with the sheep or lived in

adjacent caves. The inn-keeper had such friends and organized a cave for Joseph

and Mary, furnished it to be comfortable, put in provisions etc. His daughter

and her girl friend met Joseph and Mary even before they came to the inn, led

them to that cave and stayed with them to act as midwives and help otherwise,

till the family left for Egypt. The shepherds were told to keep quiet about the

birth of Jesus. Incidentally the baby was not wrapped in "rags"!. It is a

common custom in India, even in rich families, to wrap a babe in strips of cloth

torn from well used sarees etc., for they are softer and absorb better than new

cloth!

 

I shall finish this story at Easter time. It was this bizarre political

situation that finally led to the crucifiction.

 

What we should realize is that a king gave up all his claims to royalty, shared

his money and life with the needy, to establish the kingdom of love on earth.

The prophecies were right: a king was born, whose words are respected- if not

followed - all over the world, 2000 years after he lived!

 

Was Christ the son of God? He preferred "Son of Man". All the Jews of Israel

called themselves "Children of God". But Jesus was God, as Son of Man, like

Krishna or Rama or Chaitanya or Sai Baba. He himself said, "My father and I are

one!"

 

For hindus the term "Avatar" is no problem. But for Christians it is, for the

church provides no "logical" answer! Many ask me, "How can the infinite God be

contained in a tiny body?"

 

Today, with micro-chips and slave computers this question is silly. That part of

God in the human body can be in total communication with the Central Computer!

 

But I also give a mathematical analogy. I take a foot-rule and say "Here you see

the numbers 1 to 12 marked on the rule. If I needed to mark all numbers upto

infinity, this ruler must be infinitely long, an impossibility. But I can resort

to a trick: I divide the number ONE by every number, get the reciprocal! Now One

divided by one is one: so I mark off 1 on the scale. 1 divided by 2 gives half,

so I mark it at half an inch. By the time I have 1 divided by 64, I have packed

the values so close, I have no more place, all that is left is the 0 mark! But

since every number has its reciprocal, the infinity of numbers has an infinity

of reciprocals - and must somehow fit into the last stroke at zero! So I have

packed infinity within one inch; but infinity minus 64 is also infinity! So I

have packed infinity into zero!!! A trick, but God has his tricks too.

 

To get back to Jesus.... He showed how to practice what the Gita teaches. The

eucharisty is the highest Advaitha: this is my body, which you eat, this is my

blood, which you drink. EVERYTHING is a manifestation of GOD. The great Jesuit

Teilhard de Chardin celebrated a mass, beginning with the words, "I thank you

for giving me this life. I thank you for having MANIFESTED YOURSELF in so many

forms for my welfare, as food and drink, as air to breathe, as trees and flowers

to delight my eyes, as birds to sing melodies!....."

 

His second message was in the story of the Good Samaritan. He said, "Love your

neighbour as you love yourself!" Someone asked, "Who is my neighbour?". Jesus

answered with the said parable.

 

Read the bible and tell me who the neighbour in the story was. It is a quiz. I

have rarely got the right answer. ..........

 

Hope I have not annoyed anyone with this "speaking from the pulpit!"

 

A final appeal: Let us get away from the terrible commercialization of

Christmas! Stop giving expensive presents. Amongst grown-ups, give only

something symbolic, like a candle, a good book, a record - or what you can make.

For children, give inexpensive things that remind them of nature. Give your

expensive gifts on birthdays, when school terms finish, or just any day to say,

"I saw this and thought you´d like it, for I love you all through the year!"

but let Christmas be the birthday of Jesus officially. (He was probably born on

6. January 6 B.C.)

 

regards,

Mani