The Mind Analyses but the Heart Knows
I was born and raised in a Muslim household and studied the Quran for much of my teenage life. Alongside my west African traditions, I attended missionary and bible schools and later delved into the Buddha teachings of the Dharma and the way of Bodhicitta. In the past decade, my quest for spiritual truths led me to new age teachings, astrology and various philosophies of human origins.
I attended a boarding school north of Nigeria at a village within the hills of M’kah which exposed me to many mythical experiences. Bible study was very intensive and students must achieve a passing grade in order to advance to the next grade level. We were required to memorize verses, biblical names and write essays about the scriptures. During the summer months, my father employed private lessons with an Imam where I learned to recite the Quran, Hadiths and the Sunnah.
I was not confused, nor did I notice any contradictions within these religions that I could recall. Instead, I wondered why Christians and Muslims couldn’t get along. Surely, they must see that they are saying the same things?
For these reasons, I sought for integration of knowledge not separation.
What is more likely to be plausible? How can we as a collection of humanity connect the dots to our history and embrace one another as we each hold a piece of the puzzle?
Would GOD, condemn Buddhists only to place Christians on a pedestal? Could we become more whole within ourselves when we maintain a truly open mind, ask the right questions and allow our hearts to guide us to the right answers?
Where did Jesus Wander?
Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. When he was 12 years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it… After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions and all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.” (Luke, II, 41 – 46).
Jesus’ Lost Years
And then what? What happened to the ‘Divine Child’ after he was found teaching the elders in the temple, amazing all with his enlightened knowledge? His trace is lost in the Canonical Gospels, until he reappears around the age of 30. Where was Jesus before the “… 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar [ from 14 to 37 A.D. ] when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea and Herod was governor of the district of Galilee “(Luke, III, 1), until the time during which “Jesus Himself, when He began [His work] was about 30 years old.” (Luke, III, 23)?
Where did a man who left an indelible mark on the history of civilization, culture and the lives of a large part of the Western world spend those very long 17 years? This was a man whose conception and birth are said to have taken place in the most unusual circumstances, when wise magi from the east come to pay homage to him, and whose almost every moment of his last three years of earthly existence is recorded. This was a man who since his 13th birthday, has lost his 18th, 20th and 25th birthdays to oblivion, only to enter the public arena when at the age of 30, “he came therefore from Galilee to Jordan by John, to be baptized by him” (Matthew, III, 13).
Jesus Spent 17 years in Tibet – By Nicolas Notovitch
In 1894, a certain Nicolas Notovitch, born in Crimea in 1858, considered by some to be a doctor and by others to be a journalist and writer – an author of 11 books, some on history and politics – published ‘The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ’, based on his experiences of traveling to Ladakh, a region of Kashmir, bordered by Tibet in the east.
Following the Russian-Turkish war of 1877, on his travels, Notovitch happened to arrive at the gompa – a Buddhist monastery – of Mulbekh, and was welcomed by the local Lama who informed him of ancient scrolls that told of the life, works and miracles of a prophet from Palestine, named Issa, which were preserved in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. Continuing his explorations of the Tibetan territory, he reached the Hemis Monastery, in a Himalayan valley, not far from the town of Leh, capital of the Ladakh territory.
Here, in the monastery dedicated to its founder, called ‘Sangye chi ku sung thung chi ten’, or ‘He who supports the meaning of the precepts of Buddha’, Notovitch questioned the local Lama and discovered that there were indeed ancient manuscripts, originally written in Pali, which came from India and had been brought to Tibet via Nepal. Those preserved in the Hemis Monastery had been translated into Tibetan.
Notovitch grouped the 244 passages in the right sequence, divided them into 14 short chapters and published them in the book ‘The life of the Holy Issa: the best among the sons of man’: “…When Issa reached the age of 13, the age when an Israelite must take his wife, he left his parents’ house in secret, departed from Jerusalem and with some merchants he headed towards the Sind, with the aim of perfecting himself in the Divine Word and to study the laws of the great Buddhas…” (The life of the Holy Issa: Chapter IV passages’ 10 – 13). One may ask does this finally, shed a little light on those very long years of darkness of a man who – at the height of his maturity – would upset Jewish society, their religion and true history?
Jesus in Tibet – Click here more information about the untold travels of Jesus.
Love Integrates, Ego Separates
Most so-called Christians would probably scream blasphemy at the thought that Jesus’s teachings came from Tibet. I have been called many names for insisting on asking the questions and seeking to integrate knowledge.
We live in a culture that insists on concepts and labels whereas the truth simply lives in the knowing of the heart.
My heart knows that the Holy spirit is one and takes many forms, many teachings and within all cultures. All paths lead to love in the end.
May Love be our guide.
