For a period of roughly 20 years, Jesus, my grandfather from another lifetime, disappears from the Biblical narrative! Are we thus to assume that because that part of history is absent from the text that it's not important? Of course not; "Don't be Absurd!" In all actuality, it could mean one of two things: One, it could mean that bit of history had no bearing on the "Gospel of Jesus [ the ] Christ" ( unlikely ), and/or Two, it could, more insidiously, mean that the fallibly human authors of the Greek Scriptures purposefully left out any mention of what might have been at odds with the message they wanted to present ( likely )! Whatever the case may be, I will endeavor, within these few lines, to rebuild a bit of that history.
In this lifetime, I have no memory of my grandfather! Bits & pieces have surfaced here & there, but nothing, as some would say, "concrete". I DO have some inkling that he traveled as far as India, where he met the yogis, learning their wisdom & technique, but that was about the extent of my own wonderings/wanderings. Lately, I have heard that Jesus may have traveled, not only to India, but even farther North & East, as far as China! "Did he meet the Buddha, or more correctly, one ( or more ) of the buddhas, there?" ( as a side note, the term 'the Christ' simply means, "the anointed one", whereas 'the Buddha' means "the awakened ( or 'enlightened" ) one" ) Although Gautama Buddha walked this Earth roughly 500 years prior to Jesus, it should not be too difficult to see his influence in the teachings of the Christ. On that note; you might have heard rumors about the New Testament having been written by the Roman victors, some time after the Fall of Jerusalem in AD70, or more correctly, 70CE. This actually almost makes some sort of sense, for we know from experience that "the victors write the history books". However, as the case may be, whether the account of Jesus we read in the Bible is indeed factual, or whether the Romans did indeed write the New Testament to cast themselves in a more favorable light; the teachings of Jesus are not dissimilar to those of the Buddha.
And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast.
The above quote is from the Gospel of Luke. We hear nothing from Jesus, according to Luke's account, until, at approximately the age of 30, about 18 years later, he is baptized by his cousin. The only clue that Luke gives as to Jesus' activity is at the very end of the above account;
And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.
This, of course is not proof positive that Jesus DID come in contact with the teachings of the Buddha, either in India/China or in Judea, but it is definitely not out of the question, either! Was Jesus a Buddhist, as this ( Buddhist ) website asks? My readers will have to judge that for themselves, but as Jesus stood in opposition to the religious leaders of his own nation, I would have to answer with a resounding "NO"! On the other hand, but in the same vein; "Was Jesus influenced by the teachings of the Buddha?" It would be difficult to say, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that he wasn't!
Jesus was a Jew; that much is clear! As a Jewish boy, at the age of twelve, Jesus would no doubt have been undergoing some kind of rabbinical teaching, if not training. Therefore, reading Luke's account above, we see that Jesus was a dutiful Jew as well, for though he averred that "I must be about My Father’s business", he did not disobey his parents & dutifully went home with them. Although here is where we must stray into the realm of extra-biblical history, it is not without precedent that we do so.
Having left his mother in the capable hands of his father's younger brother, who according to Jewish tradition had married Jesus' mother after Joseph died, Jesus began his Journey of Discovery, traveling ever farther East. Now, as he followed the more familiar trade routes, Jesus began to come in contact with some rather strange teachings. Having been brought up in strict Judaism, these new teachings, though not nearly as stringent as those he had been weaned on, were not totally new either. Having become somewhat familiar with the teachings of Buddhism in his own country, Jesus had ventured out of his comfort zone and gone in search of more of the same principles. More importantly; this Journey was to be one of self-discovery, for now Jesus would get to the heart of the matter, His own Divinity!
Growing up Jewish, of course, Jesus knew, according to the Scriptures he was made to memorize, that man ( kind ) was made in the Divine Image, though the same Scriptures seemed to tell him that Image had been marred by the Fall from Grace of the progenitor of the Hebrew race. He wasn't sure about all that, so when Jesus began to come in contact, more & more with the teachings of Buddhism which point us to our OWN Divinity, that from Within, not Without, he came to understand that, as Divine Beings ourselves, we are only ever separated from that Divinity in our own minds! ( After Jesus returned to Judea, he kept the Faith of his Fathers, although he repudiated the harshness of the Law & rejected the Keepers of the Law, the Pharisees ( not that he rejected the Pharisees themselves; he rejected their way of thinking & acting ) Jesus was still a Jew, as far as religion went, so aside from the stringency that the Pharisees had dogmatized, Jesus was a Law Keeper himself!
Of Jesus' time in the Far East, I have no memory, but it is enough to know that Jesus learned to know Himself through the Journey He took. Jesus never, in so many words, claimed to be Divine, though He DID claim that the 'God' He had been taught to worship was His Father. Obviously, the dogmatic Keepers of the Law took issue with that & had Him executed because of it, but even so, Jesus readily forgave them for what they did because they knew not their OWN Divinity & so did not recognize His!
Some time ago, I wrote a piece called 'Jesus; the Lost Years'. At the time of my writing, I did not know everything I know now ( still not much ), but, I had gotten an inkling of what might have happened those many centuries ago. This is a bit cliche' by now, but Jesus did not come to start a new religion; he came to show us that we are innately Divine. Jesus even told His disciples "he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater [ works ] than these he will do"! Whether, therefore, one is a Christian or a Buddhist, Hindu or Muslim, we must remember that we are ALL Divine: we all have that same Spirit Within. The problem is that most of us have forgotten Who We are. "If we cannot remember who WE are, how then will we EVER see that Image when we look into THEIR eyes?"
Namaste' & Blessed Be!
Sage Charles
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