Did Jesus study in India for the "missing" 18 years of His life and then bring back a message reflecting eastern religious thought?
There are many historical informations that places Jesus in India. One of these is the Work of Nicolas Notovitch in Ladakh, India.
Here are "the lost years" of Jesus revealed. In the Bible, Jesus' years between twelve and thirty are left totally blank. No mention is made of his whereabouts or activities.
"The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ" is the result of a trip in the 1890's by Nicolas Notovitch, a Russian, to Tibet, where he found this amazing, ancient manuscript in a lamasery.
He copied the substance of the manuscript, added a colorful account of his dangerous journey, and published the book in France in 1894. This amazing book is now republished, with additional material (commentaries, maps, art work) by Tree of Life Publications. If you are interesting in it e-mail them!
This is a belief-stretching book that reveals the secrets of the Hemis monastery in Ladakh, Northern India. It is here that two Russian scientists become isolated by the winter snows. They then hear of a "western Dalai Lama" of 2000 years earlier! This figure closely correlates to Jesus and his 'missing years'.
In his foreword in his book "The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ" he wrote:
In the course of one of my visits to a Buddhist convent, I learned from the chief Lama that there existed very ancient memoirs, treating of the life of Christ and of the nations of the Occident, in the archives of Lhasa, and that a few of the larger monasteries possessed copies and translations of these precious chronicles.
There being little probability of my early return to this country, I resolved to delay my departure for Europe, and verify these assertions by seeing some of these copies, even though I were obliged to invade every convent as far as Lhasa - a journey far less perilous and difficult to accomplish than we are usually led to believe. [...]
During my sojourn in Leh, the capital of Ladakh, I visisted Hemis, a large convent in the outskirts of the city, where I was informed by the Lama that the monastic libraries contained a few copies of the manuscript in question. [...]
An unfortunate accident, whereby my leg was fractured, furnished me with a totally unexpected pretext to enter the monastery, where I received excellent care and nursing; and I took advantage of my short stay among these monks to obtain the privilege of seeing the manuscripts relating to Christ.
With the aid of my interpreter, who translated from the Tibetan tongue, I carefully transcribed the verses as they were read by the Lama.Entertaining no doubt of the authenticity of
this narrative, written with the utmost precision by Brahmin historians and
Buddhists of India and Nepal, my intention was to publish the translations onf
my return to Europe.
With this object in view, I addressed myself to several well-known
ecclesiastics, requesting them to revise my notes and tell me what they thought
of the matter.
Monsegneur Platon, the celebrated archbishop of Kiev, believed my discovery to be of great importance, but he earnestly tried to dissuade me from giving the memoirs publicity, declaring it would be against my own interest to do so. Why? This the venerable prelate refused to explain. [...]
A year later I chanced to be in Rome. Here I submitted the manuscript to a cardinal standing high in the estimation of the Holy Father. "Why should you print this?" he said, didactically; "nobody will attach much importance to it, and you will create numberless enemies thereby. You are still young, however. If you need money, I can obtain some compensation for these notes, enough to remunerate you for your loss of time and expenditure". Naturally enough, I refused the offer.
In Paris I laid my project before Cardinal Rotelli, whom I had met in Constantinople. He also opposed the publication of my work, under pretext that it would be premature. "The church," he added, "suffers too deeply from this new current of atheistic ideas, and you would only furnish new food to the calumniators and detractors of the evangelical doctrine. I tell you this in the interest of all Christian churches".[...]
[Then] I wrote to M. Jules Simon, and I sought his advice. His reply was that I should judge for myself of the expediency of giving publicity to the memoirs.
I therefore prepared my notes, and now publish them, reserving the right to attest the authenticity of these chronicles. In my commentaries I carefully develop the arguments which prove the good faith and sincerity of the Buddhist compilesrs. It only remains for me to add that before criticising my work scientific societiescan ,without wmuch expense, organize an expedition whose mission it will be to study these manuscripts in the locality in which they are to be found, and thus verify their historical value.
These are some tracks taken from the Gospel written by Buddhists and called:
"THE LIFE OF SAINT ISSA
THE BEST OF THE SONS OF MEN"
The earth has trembled and the heavens have wept, because of the great crime just committed in the land of Israel. (Chapter 1,1)
For they have put to torutre and executed the great just Issa, in whom dwelt the spirit of the world (Chapter 1,2).
Which was incarnated in a simple mortal, that men might be benefited and evil thoughts exterminated thereby (Chapter 1,3).
And that it might bring back to life of peace, of love and happiness, man degraded by sin, and recall to him the only and indivisible Creator whose mercy is boundless and infinite (Chapter 1,4).
The second and third chapters tell about the life of Mossa (Moses).
When Issa had attained the age of thirteen, when an Israelite should take a wife, (Chapter 4,10).
The house in whichhis parents dwelt and earned their livelihood in modest labor, became a meeting place for the rich and noble, who desired to gain for a son-in-law the young Issa, already celebrated for his edifying discourses in the name of the Almighty (Chapter 4,11).
It was then that Issa clandestinely left his father's house, went out of Jerusalem, and, in company with some merchants, traveled toward Sindh (Chapter 4,12).
That he might perfect himself in the divine word and study the laws of the great Buddhas (Chapter 4,10).
In the course of his fourteenth year, young Issa, blessed by God, journeyed beyond the sindh and settled among the Aryas in the beloved country of God. (Chapter 5,1).
The fame of his name spread along the Northern Sindh. When he passed through the country of the five rivers and the Rajputan, the worshippers of the God Djaine begged him to remain in theri midst. (Chapter 5,2).
But he left the misguided admirers of Djaine and visited Juggernaut, in the province of Orsis, where the remains of Vyasa-Krishna rest, and where he received a joyous welcome from the white priests of Brahma. (Chapter 5,3).
They taught him to read and understand the Vedas, to heal by prayer, to teach and explain the Holy Scripture, to cast out evil spirits from the body of man and give him back human semblance (Chapter 5,4).
He spent six years in Juggernaut, Rajagriha, Benares, and the other holy cities; all loved him, for Issa leved in peace with the Vaisyas and the Sudras, to whom he taught the Holy Scripture (Chapter 5,5).
[and about the wrong system of castes:]
He strongly denounced the men who robbed their fellow-beings of their rights as men, saying: "God the Father establishes no difference between his children, who are all equally dear to him" (Chapter 5,11).
"They that deprive their brothers of divine happiness shall themselves be deprived of it, and the Brahmans and the Kshatriyas shall become the Sudras with whom the Eternal shall dwell eternally" (Chapter 5,).
"Help the poor, assit the weak, harm no one, do not covet what you have not and what you see in the possession of others" (Chapter 5,27).
The white priests and the warriors becomnig cognizant of the discourse addressed by Issa to the Sudras, resolved upon his death and sent their servants for this purpose in search of the young prophet (Chapter 6,1).
But Issa, warned of this danger by the Sudras, fled in the night from Juggernaut, gained the mountains, and took refuge in the Gothamide Country, the birthplace of the great Buddha Shakyamuni, among the people who adored the only and sublime Brahma (Chapter 6,2).
Six years leater, Issa, whom the Buddha had chosen to spread his holy word, could perfectly explain the sacered rolls (Chapter 6,4).
He then left Nepal and the Himalaya Mountains, descended into the valley of Rajputan and went westward, preaching to divers people of the supreme perfection of man (Chapter 6,5).
[Returning to the West he travelled along Persia and...]
The fame fo Issa's sermons spread to the neighboring countries, and, when he reached Persia, the priests were terrified and forbade the inhabitants to listen to him. (Chapter 8,1).
But when tehy saw that all the villages welcomed him with joy, and eagerly listened to his preaching, they caused his arrest and brought him before the high priest [...] (Chapter 8,2).
After listening to him, the wise men resolved to do him no harm. In the night, while the city was wrapped in slumber, they conducted him outside the walls and left him on the highway, hoping that he might soon become the prey of wild beasts (Chapter 8,23).
But, being protected by the Lord our God, Saint Issa continued his way unmolested (Chapter 8,24).
Issa, whom the Creator had chosen to recall the true God to the people that were plunged in depravities, was twenty-nine years of age when he arrived in the land of Israel (Chapter 9,1).
From this chapter the story is the same of the Gospels:
By order of Governor, the soldiers seized upon Issa and the two thieves whom they conducted to the place of torture, where they nailed them to the crosses they had erected (Chapter 14,1).
All that day, the bodies of Issa and of the two thieves remained suspended, dripping with blood, under the guard of sildiers; the people stood around them, while the parents of the crucified men wept and prayed (Chapter 14,2).
At sunset, the agony of Issa came to an end. He lost consciousness, and the soul of this just man detached itself from his body to become part of the Divinity (Chapter 14,3).
But this gospel ends in a strange different way.
Pilate, however, becoming alarmed at his own actions, gave up the body of the holy man to his relations, who buried him near the place of his execution; the multitude then came to pray over his tomb and filled the air with weeping and wailing (Chapter 14,5).
Three days later the governor sent his soldiers to take up the body of Issa and bury it elsewhere, fearing a general uprising of the people (Chapter 14,6).
The following day the sepulcher was found open and empty by the multitude; and the rumor immediately spread that the Supreme Judge has sent his angels to take away the mortal remains of the saint in whom dwelt on earth a part of the Divine Spirit (Chapter 14,7).
When this report came to the ears of Pilate he fell into a rage and forbade everyone, under penalty of perpetual slavery, to ever utter the name of Issa and to pray to the Lord for him. (Chapter 14,8).
But the people continued to weep and praise their master aloud; therefore many were placed in captivity, subjected to torutre, and put to death (Chapter 14,9).
And the disciples of Saint Issa left the land of Israel and went in all directions among the pagans, telling them that they must abandon their gross errors, think of the salvation of their souls, and of the perfect felicity in store for men in the enlightened and immaterial world where, in repose and in all his purity, dwells the great Creator in perfect majesty (Chapter 14,10).
Many pagans, their kings and soldiers, listened to these preachers, abandoned their absurd beliefs, deserted their priests and their idols to sing the praises of the all-wise Creator of the universe, the King of kings, whose heart is filled with infinite mercy (Chapter 14,11).
Nicolas Notovitch here explains:
It is only reasonable to suppose that the prudent lieutenant of the Roman Caesar, seeing that the tomb of Jesus was becoming a shrine of universal lamentations and the object of national mourning, and fearing that the memory of this just man might excite discontent and perhaps arouse the entire population against their foreign yoke, should have taken all possible means to divert the public mind from the recollection of Jesus.
For three days, the soldiers placed on guard at the tomb were the butt of the jeers and maledictions of the people, who, braving the danger, came in throngs to adore the great martyr. Pilate therefore ordered his soldiers to remove the body during the night, when the pilgrimages had ceased, and enter it clandestinely in another place, leaving the first tomb open and unguarded, that the people might see that Jesus had disappeared.
But Pilate failed to accomplish this end; for, on the following day, not finding the body of their master in the sepulcher, the Hebrews, who were very superstitious and believed in miracles, declared him resuscitated.
This story has been taken further and in greater detail by Richard G. Patton in his compelling novel "The Autobiography of Jesus of Nazareth and the Missing Years".
There are two scientific books about the life of Issa (Jesus) in the East and after the crucifixion. The first one is "A Search for the Historical Jesus. From Apocryphal, Buddhist, Islamic & Sanskrit Sources" written by Fida M. Hassnain (first published 1994 by Gateway Books, U.K.), the second one is "Jesus lived in India" by Holger Kersten. This German book is a thorough, methodical and authoritative examination of the evidence of Christ's life beyond the Middle East before the Crucifixion, in India and elsewhere after it. There is also an 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.
This is a summary of both books:
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 in Kashmir, teaching 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." Kersten found that in both Turkey and Persia there are ancient stories of a saint called "Yuz Asaf" ("Leader of the Healed"), whose behaviour, 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.
More clues are drawn from the Apocrypha. These are texts said to have been written by the Apostles but which are not officially accepted by the Church. Indeed, the Church regards them as heresy since a substantial amount of the Apocrypha directly contradicts Church dogma and theology.
The Apocryphal 'Acts 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 spirituality in India. This is corroborated by evidence found in the form of stone inscriptions at Fatehpur Sikri, near the Taj Mahal, in Northern India. They include "Agrapha", which are sayings of Christ that don't exist in the mainstream Bible. Their grammatical form is most similar to that of the Apocryphal gospel of Thomas. This is but one example giving credibility to the idea that texts not recognised by the Church hold important clues about Christ's true life and his teachings.
In tracing Christ's movements to India and beyond 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 seem to have been reaffirmed by Christ. Imagine the implications that this discovery holds for Western Christianity and its churches, who have kept Christ in their doctrinal top pockets and have constrained the entire Western culture within the narrow teachings of blind faith, organised religion and original sin!
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 credence 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 entreated Thomas to go to India to begin spreading his teachings. It seems that Christ and Mary then moved along the West coast of Turkey, proof of this could be an old stopping place for travellers 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.
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, ie. 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 (ie 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, ie. Jesus). Then there is the sacred building called Aish Muqam, 60km south east of Srinagar and 12km from Bij Bihara.
"Aish" says Kersten is derived from "Issa" and "Muqam" 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 lies a powerful confirmation of Kersten's theory. Kersten suggests that Christ may have travelled to the South of India also, finally returning 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 North-South 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!
According to Professor Hassnain, who has studied this tomb, 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 practised 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!
Further documentation comes from psychic messages like "The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus Christ", the readings of Edgar Cayce and Ramtha.