Jesus in India?
The Myth of the Lost Years
by Acharya S
Over the centuries, the claim has repeatedly
been made that Jesus Christ not only walked the earth but also
spent his early and post-crucifixion years in a variety of
places, including Egypt, India, Great Britain, Japan and
America. Indeed, traditions maintain that Jesus, the great
godman of the West, lived, learned, loved and died in such
places. Popular modern literature also purports that Jesus
sired children, who then became the ancestors of various royal
families of Europe, including France and/or elsewhere,
depending on the author. This allegation is extremely
convenient and useful for said European royal families.
Unfortunately for the European claimants, however, India also
has a tradition that Jesus went there and likewise fathered
children. So too does Shingo, Japan, allege that Jesus ended up
there after the crucifixion, having children with a Japanese
wife. Other tales depict Jesus "walking the Americas" or
bopping about Glastonbury, England, with his "uncle," Joseph of
Arimathea. Not all of these tales can be true, obviously,
unless Jesus is polymorphous and phantasmagoric, a perspective
that in reality represents that of the mythologist or
mythicist. To wit, regardless of these fables, or, rather,
because of them, the most reasonable conclusion regarding Jesus
and where he may or may not have been is that he is a mythical
character, not a historical personage who trotted the
globe.
The Groovy Guru
According to legend, Jesus, the great Jewish
sage, spent his "lost years," from between the ages of around
12 to 28 or 30, in India, where, per another tradition, he also
escaped after surviving the crucifixion. The Jesus-was-a-guru
tale was popularized over a century ago by the Russian traveler
Nicholas Notovitch. Notovitch asserted that in 1887, while at
the secluded Hemis or Himis monastery in Ladakh/Tibet, he was
shown a manuscript which discussed the "unknown life" of Jesus,
or "Issa," as he was supposedly called in the East. This "Issa"
text, translated for Notovitch from Tibetan by a monk/lama,
alleged that during his "lost years" Jesus was educated by
yogis in India, Nepal and "the Himalaya Mountains."
Stating that he felt the manuscript to be "true and genuine,"
Notovich maintained its contents were written "immediately
after the Resurrection," while the manuscript itself
purportedly dated from the third century of the Common Era.
Notovitch related that the "two manuscripts" he was shown at
Himis were "compiled from diverse copies written in the
Thibetan tongue, translated from rolls belonging to the Lassa
library and brought from India, Nepal, and Maghada 200 years
after Christ." (Notovitch, 44)
Notovitch's story was challenged by a number of people, which
served to popularize it further. Noted Sanskrit scholar Max
Muller came down hard on Notovitch, concluding that either the
Russian had never gone to Tibet in the first place, and had
concocted the Jesus story, or that waggish Buddhist monks had
played a trick on Notovitch, as Indian priests had done in a
notorious instance concerning the Asiatic Research Society's
Colonel Wilford. Others subsequently journeyed to Himis/Hemis
and witnessed repeated denial by the lamas that Notovitch had
ever been there or that any such manuscript existed. In 1922,
Indian scholar and swami Abhenanda eventually determined for
himself by visiting Himis, gaining the confidence of the lamas
and having the manuscript revealed to him. Other visitors to
Himis, such as mystic Nicholas Roerich, verified the same
story. Aspects of Notovitch's story checked out, and he
apparently did indeed stay at Himis and was shown a manuscript
relating to "Issa."
Notovitch claimed that Indian merchants brought the account of
"Jesus" to Himis, and that they had actually witnessed the
crucifixion. Indeed, the text begins with "This is what is
related on this subject by the merchants who come from Israel,"
reflecting not that "Jesus" lived in India but that the Jesus
tradition was brought to India and Tibet. (Notovitch, 32)
Notovitch's text also did not state that Jesus was specifically
at Himis: In fact, the lama stated that the Issa scrolls "were
brought from India to Nepal, and from Nepal to Thibet." Yet,
upon returning to Himis through later visitors, the story
eventually became morphed into "Your Jesus was here," meaning
at Himis itself. The "one book" or "two manuscripts" became
"three books," which were displayed for the later visitors,
with the implication that there was more to the tale.
Although subsequent visitors were presented such texts, none
but Nicholas Roerich's son, George, could read them. By his
translation, Roerich was evidently shown the same text as
Notovitch. Thus, it appears that there was only one text at
Himis, and that it did not state that Issa himself was ever at
the monastery. Furthermore, that one text is based on hearsay
provided by passing merchants and does not at all represent an
"eyewitness" account of "Jesus" in India and Tibet, although
the impression is given that this and other texts do constitute
such records.
Also, Notovitch asked if "Issa" was reputed to be a saint, and
was informed that "the people ignore his very existence" and
that the lamas who have studied the scrolls "alone know of
him." These remarks are a far cry from Roerich's claim that the
tale of "Christ" in India and other parts of Asia was to be
found widespread. They also contradict to the Tibetan text's
own assertion that Issa's "fame spread everywhere" and that
Persia and surrounding countries "resounded with prophecies" of
Issa, thus causing the Persian priesthood to be terrified of
him. This latter element sounds like typical mythmaking,
especially since there were similar prophecies of godmen for
centuries, if not millennia, prior to Christ's purported
advent, particularly in India.
Moreover, the "originals" of the scrolls housed at the Tibetan
capital, Lhasa, were composed in Pali, while the Himis library
contained one copy in Tibetan. Yet, the Tibetan alphabet was
developed by the king who "reigned in the days of Mohammed";
hence, nothing could have been written in Tibetan prior to the
7th century. Although older texts were composed in Sanskrit or
Pali, it is clear that the actual physical manuscript revealed
to Notovitch could not have existed before the 7th century. In
fact, it would appear that very few Tibetan texts date to
before the 9th century. In any event, the manuscript itself
certainly did not date from the third century, although it
could represent tradition transmitted over the centuries.
While Notovitch claimed the Issa story dated to shortly after
"the Resurrection," in it there is no mention of the
resurrection, and the tale ends with Issa's death. In this
regard, the text depicts the "Jews," whom it calls
"Israelites," in a favorable light, and is "the only
[manuscript] ever to charge the Romans ["pagans"] solely for
Jesus' execution." Unlike others, this account does not have
Jesus being resuscitated and then returning to India, to father
children and live a long life.
Notovitch's modern editor, Frank Muccie, relates that the
manuscript states, "Pilate is responsible for removing Jesus'
body from the tomb," noting that this development somehow does
not "mean the resurrection hope is invalid." He then says:
"By the third century A.D., there were no fewer than 25
different versions of Jesus' death and resurrection! Some have
him not being put to death at all, some have him revived back
to life, and some have Jesus living on to old age and dying in
Egypt!" (Notovitch, 6)
Obviously, not all of these 25 or more accounts can be "true
and genuine," and such a development casts doubt on the
historicity of one and all.
Moreover, it is interesting that Notovitch spent six days in
the "Vale of Kashmir," in its capital, Srinagar, "city of the
sun," where the purported tomb of "Jesus," the wandering
prophet Yuz Asaf, is shown to tourists. Yet, the Russian
traveler apparently never heard of the tomb, known as the "Roza
Bal" or "Rauzabal" shrine, as he does not mention it in his
writings concerning the Tibetan text, where its inclusion
certainly would have been judicious in demonstrating that Jesus
lived in India! Perhaps, however, as a believing Christian
Notovitch ignored this tale, much as the devout do today and
much as skeptics may do with other fables concerning
Christ.
Possessing the priestly touch of sculpted footprints "with nail
marks" over the grave, the Roza Bal shrine may seem convincing
to the uninitiated, who are unaware of the world's
well-developed priestcraft. This "artifact" is another in a
long line of so-called relics, like the 20+ shrouds or the
multiple foreskins of Christ. In reality, there were many
"footprints of the gods" in ancient times--and a number of
Indian gods are depicted with nail holes in their feet.
Also, "Yuz Asaf" is not equivalent to "Jesus" but to "Joseph,"
which was often a title of a priest and not a name. In fact,
Eastern scholars such as Dr. S. Radhakrishnan state that the
name "Joseph" or "Joasaph" is "derived from Bodhisattva, the
technical name for one destined to obtain the dignity of a
Buddha." (Prajnanananda, 107) Thus, this tomb of a Bodhisattva
could belong to any of thousands of such holy men. In like
regard, the purported graves of "Jesus" and "his brother" in
Japan are in reality those of a 16th-century Christian
missionary and his brother.
The legends regarding Jesus's tomb in Srinagar, and that of the
Virgin Mary in Kashgar, are apparently of Islamic origin. Such
a creation would serve a couple of purposes: 1. That, as
asserted in the Koran, Jesus was not the "son of God" but a
mortal prophet, whose body was buried in Kashmir; and 2. that
some presumably Moslem people are his descendants.
Proponents of the Jesus-in-India theory hold up a number of
other texts and artifacts they maintain "prove" not only
Jesus's existence on Earth but also his presence in India. When
such texts and artifacts are closely examined, they serve as no
evidence at all, except of priestcraft. With one or two
possible exceptions originating to a few centuries earlier, the
Eastern texts regarding "Issa" seem to be late writings, some
dating to the 15th and 18th centuries, based on traditions, not
eyewitness accounts. Some of the "documents" are obviously
fictitious, and others are downright ridiculous, such as the
Bhavishya Mahapurana. A number of these texts merely relate the
basic gospel story with embellishments depending on what the
storyteller is attempting to accomplish.
Although some of the writings appear to be of Hindu origin, the
attack by "Issa" on the Vedas and Brahmans, as in the Notovitch
text, represents Buddhist propaganda. It appears that Buddhists
were trying to demonstrate that Jesus, the great wise man of
the West, was influenced by Buddhism, even having been taught
by "Buddha," an eternal disincarnate entity. In this regard,
the Notovitch text states, "Six years later, Issa, whom the
Buddha had chosen to spread his holy word, could perfectly
explain the sacred rolls." (Notovitch, 35) In this way, Buddha
usurps Jesus, becoming the Jewish teacher's guru.
That the text has been used as propaganda to raise Buddha and
Buddhism over Christ and Christianity is further validated by
Notovitch's foreword, in which he related that the lama told
him, "The only error of the Christians is that after adopting
the great doctrine of Buddha, they, at the very outset,
completed separated themselves from him and created another
Dalai-Lama…" This "Dalai-Lama," the monk subsequently informed
the Russian, is the Pope. Concerning Christ, the lama
continued, "Buddha did, indeed, incarnate himself with his
intelligence in the sacred person of Issa, who, without the aid
of fire and sword, went forth to propagate our great and true
religion through the entire world." (Notovitch, 20) Hence,
Eastern traditions regarding Jesus are designed to show that
Jesus is Buddha and that Christianity is an offshoot of ancient
Eastern wisdom.
Nevertheless, the Notovitch text itself may have been composed
originally by proselytizing Christians who attempted to use the
natives' belief in Buddha in order to increase Christ's
stature. These missionaries may have been appealing to women to
follow "Issa," as the text puts great emphasis on women, whose
status in India and elsewhere has been abysmally low. The text
would also appeal to the Sudras or Pariahs, since it has Issa
preaching on their behalf. These groups are targeted to this
day by Christian missionaries in India.
Considering that many missionaries, travelers and scholars have
been keenly aware of the numerous and profound similarities
between the Tibetan and Catholic religions, it would not be
surprising if this Issa fable were created in order to show
that the Tibetan religion is merely a foreign derivative of the
"true universal religion," i.e., Catholicism. The resemblances
between various Indian sects and Christianity likewise led to
tales about the Christian missionaries Thomas, Bartholomew and
Pantaenus also proselytizing in India. Like the Jesus-in-India
myth, there are other explanations for the resemblances, which
are addressed in detail in my book Suns of God: Krishna, Buddha and Christ
Unveiled. In short, the major explanation is
that the "Christian" religion and savior were already in
India long before the alleged advent of Jesus.
By calling Issa "Jesus" or "Christ," modern writers have
cemented in the readers' minds that the correlation is
absolute, an erroneous conclusion. In reality, the name "Issa,"
"Isa" or "Isha" is a title and simply means "lord," "god" or
"master," often referring to the Indian god Lord Shiva: "'Isha'
or 'the Lord' is another name of Siva…" (Prajnanananda, 19)
Furthermore, Prof. Nunos de Santos says, "…a god variously
named Issa, Isha, Ichtos, Iesus, Ieshuah, Joshuah, Jesus, etc.,
is indisputably originally from India." He also states,
"Ishvara (Ishwar) is widely worshipped in the Far East, being
also called Isha (or Ishana) in India, Issara in Pali, Isuan in
Thai, Jizu (or Jizai) in Japanese, and so on."
"Isa" is likewise another name for Chandra, the Indian moon
god, as well as for Shiva's Egyptian counterpart, the
soli-lunar god Osiris, also called Iswara in India:
"Iswara, or Isa, and Isani, or Isisi, are…unquestionably the
Osiris and Isis of Egypt. Iswara, Siva, or Hara (for these are
his names among nearly a thousand more) united with Isi,
represent the secondary causes, whatever they may be, of
natural phenomena; and principally those of temporary
destruction and regeneration." (Moor, 151)
Numerous ancient legends, recorded for example in the writings
of Diodorus Siculus during the first century BCE, depict Osiris
as traveling all over the East, as well as the rest of the
world, during the millennia when he reigned as Egypt's favorite
deity. Osiris, or Isa, it should be noted, was put to death and
resurrected, among many other correspondences to the Christ
myth. Osiris/Isa too had a number of tombs in various places,
especially in Egypt but likely also in India. However, Osiris
was not a "real person" but a fertility and sun god. What
mythologists recognize is that it was not a "historical Osiris"
but his myth that made it to India and diverse places. As in
the case of Osiris, the same phenomenon occurred regarding
"Jesus," who is, in the end, a remake of Osiris, among
others.
The title "Isa" or "Issa" could apply to others, and is a
common name even today. Indeed, some part of these
Jesus-in-India tales may revolve around the famed Greek sage
Apollonius of Tyana. Not a few persons over the centuries have
noted the similarities between the lives of Apollonius and
Christ, and even in ancient times Christians were accused of
plagiarizing the Apollonius legend.
The Issa myth apparently represents a Christianization of
legends regarding Osiris, Shiva, Apollonius and other gods and
"Bodhisattvas," by the Nestorians, an early Christian sect who
lived in India and elsewhere, and may well have spread the
syncretistic fable to other Asian ports of call. Indeed,
Nicholas Roerich himself surmised that the ancient Nestorian
sect spread the tales in the East:
"We heard several versions of this legend which has spread
widely through Ladak, Sinkiang and Mongolia, but all versions
agree on one point, that during His absence, Christ was in
India and Asia…. Perhaps [this legend] is of Nestorian origin."
(Prophet, 261)
Roerich also stated, "Whoever doubts too completely that such
legends about the Christ life exist in Asia, probably does not
realize what an immense influence the Nestorians have had in
all parts of Asia and how many so-called Apocryphal legends
they spread in the most ancient times." (Roerich, 89) In
addition, George Roerich even proposed that there was a
"floating colony" of Nestorians in Ladakh itself "during the
eighth to tenth centuries," which could well be when the
Notovitch text was composed. Roerich, one of the main writers
whose works have led to the Jesus-in-India theory, almost
invariably and misleadingly substitutes "Jesus" or "Christ" for
"Issa," when Issa could be a number of individuals, mythical
and historical.
Indeed, Roerich further declared, "The teachings of India were
famed far and wide; let us even recall the description of the
life of Appolonius [sic] of Tyana and his visits to Hindu
sages." (Roerich, 119) Again, one likely scenario regarding
"Issa" ("Lord" or "Master") is that, whatever part of his tale
is "historical," it refers to Apollonius.
As is well known, Apollonius was not alone in his journeys to
the East. Decades and centuries prior to the Christian era,
there was much intercourse between India and the West,
including the famous journey by Pythagoras and the Alexandrian
incursion. As another pertinent example, one of the seats of
Mandeanism, a Christian baptist sect, was Maisan, a
Mesopotamian city colonized by Indians. As Dr. Rudolph Otto
relates:
"…Indian caravans passed through Maisan and likewise Nabatea.
Indian merchants, wherever they went, were importers and
missionaries of Indian ideas. There need be no surprise
therefore if direct Indian imports are found in the
syncretistic medley of Mandean Gnosis." (Prajnanananda, 41)
Space does not permit us to recount the numerous authorities
who are in agreement as to the westward spread of Indian and
Buddhist concepts centuries before and into the Christian era.
A number of them may be found in Prajnanananda's book,
including a "Mr. Cust," who evinced that trade between India
and Yemen "was established not later than 1000 B.C." Yemen is
very close to Israel, and by the first century ce there were
plenty of Indians in the Roman Empire.
Despite the popularity of the Jesus-in-India tale, the claim is
not accepted by mainstream authorities, either Christian or
secular. The tale's proponents assert that scholars reject
Jesus in India because of Western imperialism and the inability
to accept that Christ could have been influenced by Buddhism.
In the case of mythicists, however, the reason Jesus is denied
as having gone to India is because he is a pagan sun god remade
into a Jewish "human" messiah. Thus, it is not a question of a
"historical Jesus" being in India and the East but of a variety
of solar cults that worshipped a similar deity with similar
rituals, doctrines and myths.
Jesus the Druid?
Another nation in which the native sun god
was usurped by the Jewish Son of God was Britain, where the
ancient Druidism was likewise appropriated by the later
Christianity. While the Indian theory asserts the Jewish sage
spent his entire early years there, the British tale of Jesus
has him travel in his youth to Glastonbury in order to learn
from the Druids. The story goes that many of the tin miners in
Britain at the time of Jesus's alleged advent were Jewish,
which is sensible since British tin-mining was highly valued by
the Jews' Phoenician predecessors and cousins. One such miner
was purportedly Jesus's "uncle" Joseph of Arimathea, who, along
with Jesus, allegedly founded the first Christian church at
Glastonbury. Certainly there were Jews in England at the time
of Jesus's supposed existence, as there were diffused
throughout much of the world. However, the fact that
Glastonbury was a "great Pagan sanctuary" in pre-Christian
times makes this story suspicious as mythmaking and
propaganda.
Among other things, Glastonbury was purportedly the seat of the
"Holy Grail" or sacred chalice, a pre-Christian concept, and
has been equated with the mythical pagan paradise Avalon.
Legend holds that St. Patrick died in Glastonbury around 472
CE. However, since it is evident that "St. Patrick" is an
ancient Irish god turned into a Christian saint, it would seem
that this apocryphal story represents an approximation of when
Christianity really began to circulate in England, "killing"
the pagan gods.
The Glastonbury legends further hold that King Arthur and Queen
Guinevere were likewise buried there, and that Arthur and the
Knights of the Round Table were descended from Joseph of
Arimathea. These tales appear to have been created in order to
give Arthur Jewish ancestry and a divine pedigree as a
descendant of King David, bestowing upon the British kings the
divine right to rule as "true Israelites." Indeed, one of the
Jesus-in-Britain proponents, devout Christian/British Israelite
E. Raymond Capt, writes about the presence of both Jesus and
Paul in Britain, and discusses the "remarkable prediction of
Britain's glorious inheritance." Thus, the legend serves to
establish British supremacy, as Great Britain is destined to
inherit the biblical promise of God's kingdom on Earth to the
descendants of the "Lost Tribes," the true sheep of Israel.
Adding to this notion, it was asserted that Mary's mother, Ann,
lived in Glastonbury, and that Mary herself was buried there.
After Christ's death, the story goes, Joseph was accompanied by
Mary, the risen Lazarus and his sisters, Mary Magdalene and a
number of other "saints." Unluckily for the Mary-in-Britain
fable, other legends place her burial in Kashmir, as noted, and
in Bethlehem, Ephesus and Gethsemane. Naturally, logic would
dictate that, were Mary a real person, she would not be buried
in more than one place. The reason why "Mary" appears all over
is that she is the ubiquitous ancient Goddess turned into a
Jewish maiden.
Concerning the British gods, Capt states that the Druidic
trinity was composed of three "Beli" (cf. the Semitic Baal, Bal
or Bel). Interestingly, "Yesu" (also "Hesus") was the name of
the Druid "coming Saviour of the future." (Capt, 9, 10) Capt
then naively remarks, "Druidism thus anticipated Christianity
and pointed to the coming Saviour under the very name by which
Christ was called." In reality, Christianity copied and
incorporated countless elements of numerous religions within
the Roman Empire and beyond. Moreover, per the Catholic
missionary Huc, who traversed India, Tibet and other parts of
Asia, "Yesu" was also a name of the expected avatar of the
Hindu god Vishnu, of which Krishna was an avatar.
The Druidic inhabitants of "Glastonbury Lake Village" were
highly skilled woodworkers and carpenters; hence, their god was
a woodworker and carpenter named Yesu/Esus/Hesus, long prior
the Christian era. When one understands the brotherhood and its
priestcraft, it is not surprising that Jews who purportedly
lived in the very heart of Druidism--the fabled Avalon
itself--and who would know about the future Druid savior and
other doctrines, would return from Palestine with tales that
"the" Messiah by that very name had been born in Judea.
In addition, the first "church" at Glastonbury was supposedly
"circular…with the twelve huts of the other disciples forming a
circle around it." (Capt, 42) Many Pagan temples had a similar
astrological blueprint, i.e., the circle of the Zodiac, and it
is clear that Glastonbury's sanctuary was appropriated by the
mythical Christ and fictive Twelve, as the original Druid
"church" was likely founded in the name of their patron
carpenter god, Yesu/Hesus, long prior to the alleged advent of
the Jewish savior. Indeed, Christianity is but a Judaized
rehash of Paganism, with the astrotheological pagan gods turned
into the Jewish Son of God, his disciples and a slew of saints.
Ergo the tales of Glastonbury and elsewhere.
The reason for all this apparent chicanery can be summed up by
Capt's words: "There can be no doubt that the Glastonbury Abbey
is the oldest, continuous Christian foundation in the world."
As we have seen, and would continue to see in The Christ Conspiracy,
Suns of God and other books,
this claim of primacy is commonplace and has at its
foundation not the "historical truth" but a powerful
political and economic agenda. In actuality, scholars have
repeatedly discredited these traditions regarding Jesus and
Joseph in Glastonbury as having been devised in the 12th
century by monks trying to entice pilgrims and their tourist
money. (Capt, 107)
This myth was apparently created in order to establish the
supremacy of the church at Glastonbury, as well as explain why
Jesus and his purported teachings were so similar to the god(s)
and doctrines of the Druids. The Druids in turn supposedly
received their instruction from Pythagoras, who himself had
traveled to India. Since the Druidic and Vedic priesthoods,
language and culture are one at root, separating perhaps three
millennia prior to the Christian era (Ellis), it does not
surprise us that "Jesus" legends are found in both India and
Britain. In fact, such a godman and doctrines already existed
in Britain for centuries, if not millennia, prior to the
Christian era. By having "Jesus" and/or Paul establish a church
in what is "the center of the Druidic faith in Britain," the
Jewish/Israelite version of the tale thus usurped the native
religion. Also, Druidism was a thorn in the side of the Romans,
who could not totally rule Britain so long as it existed;
hence, it would benefit the eventual Roman Church to have their
supposed founder personally consecrate Britain.
The "Lost Years" Are Astrotheological
Over the centuries Jesus's so-called "lost
years" and post-crucifixion life have provided much fodder for
the fertile human imagination, leading to speculation, legends,
traditions and myths that the great godman and sage lived and
studied in a variety of places. Once the fable of Christ became
popular, numerous towns, villages, cities and nations wished to
establish some sort of connection. Instead of recognizing that
such a significant omission as Jesus's "lost years" is an
indication of the mythical nature of the tale, individuals
using typical priestcraft have come up with countless
extraordinary adventures of the "historical Jesus."
Unfortunately for the believers, however, not only is the
gospel story itself but so too are these Jesus-the-Globetrotter
tales mere deluding smoke and mirrors, and the reason for the
gap in Jesus's biography is because he was not a "real person"
but a pagan sun god turned into a Jewish messiah. In the mythos
revolving around the sun god, there need be no accounting for
"lost years," as the "age" of 12 represents the sun at high
noon, while the 28 or 30 represents the days of the lunar or
solar months, respectively.
When religions are investigated with a profound knowledge of
mythology, the correspondences are clearly revealed, and it
becomes evident that it is not the case that this miracleworker
or that godman traveled to this place or that, as has been
rumored to have occurred with just about every god or goddess.
In actuality, it is the legends, traditions and myths
concerning these gods, godmen or gurus that have been spread
far and wide by their proponents, priests and propagandists. As
was the case with the missionary and his brother in Japan, who
were taken for the object of worship they were proselytizing,
so has it developed in other parts of the world over the
millennia concerning not only Jesus but also many other
deities, such as the virgin-born, crucified Mexican god
Quetzalcoatl, whose similar "life" and religion led to claims
that "Jesus" was in America. The reason for the similarities,
however, is because both Jesus and Quetzalcoatl are sun gods
with the same attendant holidays and practices.
In the final analysis, it is not possible that Jesus could have
lived years after the crucifixion, fathered children and died
in several different places, as legends represent. The past
explanation for such discrepancies has been metaphysical,
deeming Jesus to be multidimensional and capable of
simultaneous incarnations in various locations. Such an
explanation, of course, will not satisfy the skeptic and
scientist. Or the mythologist, who simply knows better, because
she or he has studied in depth the products of the human mind.
Because the basic story of Christ revolves around the sun,
which was highly esteemed the world over beginning many
millennia ago, the myth is likewise found around the globe. To
the basic mythos and ritual were added various embellishments
according to the place and era, and for a variety of reasons.
In the end, Jesus the Globetrotter is a not a historical
personage who magically appeared all over the world,
bi-locating and flying on the backs of birds. "Jesus Christ" is
mythical creature, to be found globally only between the pages
of a book.
Sources:
Capt, E. Raymond, The Traditions of Glastonbury,
Artisan, 1983
Ellis, Peter B., "Our Druid Cousins,"
www.hinduism-today.com/2000/2/2000-2-16.html
Huc, M. L'Abbé, Christianity in China, Tartary, and
Thibet, I, London, Longman & Co., 1857
Moor, Edward, Simpson, ed., The Hindu Pantheon,
Indological Book House, India, 1968
Notovitch, Nicholas, The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ,
Tree of Life Publications, CA, 1980
Nunos de Santos, Arysio, "The Unknown Life of Jesus
Christ--Comments,"
www.rickrichards.com/jc/JesusComment2.html
Prajnanananda, Swami, Christ the Saviour and the Christ
Myth, Calcutta, 1984
Prophet, Elizabeth Clare, The Lost Years of Jesus,
Summit University Press, 1984
Roerich, Nicholas, Altai-Himalaya, Adventures
Unlimited, 2001
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