Early Years

Essenes

It was not until about one hundred years ago when religiousscriptures from the East were translated into English that we beganto understand that Jesus was not the only God-man, but one ofmany enlightened masters who had realized their divine heritageand oneness with God.

Jesus was called the Nazarene, not because he was from Nazareth,but because he was an Essene. The term Nazarene means "one whoobserves—having an inner or supernatural vision." The Nazareneswere members of one of the Essene groups who lived in monasteriesthat had been founded by Buddhist missionaries sent by the greatEmperor Ashoka from India in 200 BC. They lived apart from thetraditional Jews and outside the boundaries of the town, near theDead Sea, in a quiet community of like-minded people. We nowknow that Jesus was raised in one of these monasteries where bothMary and Joseph were members. The Dead Sea Scrolls were foundnear the Qumran Monastery.

Not considered traditional Jews, they had been influenced bythe teachings of the Buddha, that had arrived two hundred yearsearlier when Ashoka, who had been converted to Buddhism, senteighty thousand missionaries to many areas of the Middle East. Onesuch place was Israel. Although made up of Jews, the communityresembled the Buddhist monasteries in many ways. Most werevegetarians, peace loving, all wore white robes, were knowledgeableabout herbs, and the most advanced were called Therapeutae,because of their remarkable healing abilities. In addition, and mostimportantly, they were on the path of enlightenment and knownas the Sons of Light. So instead of attending regular synagoguesand following the letter of the Jewish Law, as did the Pharisees andSadducees, the Essenes had a different focus.

The Bible never mentions the Essenes, which is surprising, sincethey were highly respected and had quite a following—about fourthousand. The historian Josephus, however, described the Essenes as"men of excellent morals who live throughout the land," and a secretbrotherhood who held meetings in their own monasteries and wereopposed to the Pharisees and Sadducees. The Essenes were not anOrthodox Jewish sect or anything remotely resembling one. Theywere Gnostics, part of the great Gnostic movement that survivedinto the early centuries of the Christian era. This Gnostic, mysticalcommunity, had access to the teachings of the enlightened ones fromHinduism and Buddhism. It was not the only one of its kind, forthere were many other Essene brotherhoods (like the one in Egypt)with whom they were in touch. And, in Northern India, in Kashmir,lived a large community of Jews with similar spiritual leanings, whowere descendents of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. They had foundthe Promised Land after all, but it was in a location where no onein Israel had considering looking. Moses and Solomon are buriedthere, and the descriptions in the Old Testament match the settingof the burial sites in India.

Two thousand years of Orthodox Christianity has paintedGnosticism as a great heresy that threatened the church and thePauline doctrine of God's only son who died to atone for the sinsof the world. But a lie and a secret can only survive for so long.The Egyptian Gnostics (part of the original Christianity lost tothe West and suppressed by the Roman Catholic Church), buriedtheir evidence in the burning sands of Egypt. They did not livelong enough to tell the story, but their scriptures did, having beendiscovered in Nag Hammadi in the middle of the twentieth century.The Nag Hammadi Scriptures only recently translated and madeavailable to the world, revealed the original Gnostic Christianity ofJesus and the Nazarenes, lost and buried for two millennia.

The Dead Sea Scrolls and Nag Hammadi Scriptures reveal aChristianity, which not only preceded Paul, but also reveals the trueGospel of Jesus, John the Baptist, and most of the original disciples.The Pauline version of the mythological God-man who shed hisblood as a sacrificial atonement, could never have survived underhistorical investigation or the competition of the original Gnosticswho knew the truth. So both were conveniently eliminated. The reallife story of Jesus, far more fascinating than the mythical fable ofPaul and the church, was removed from the scrutiny of historians.Although the church prides itself on presenting the historical truth,it is actually a cover-up of the real story!

The ten lost tribes of Israel mentioned in the Old Testament werenever lost at all. They were the ones who found the Promised Landthat Moses had been seeking! They lived and still live in beautifulKashmir in Northern India, the center of Buddhism. Buddhism wasin its flowering period during the time of Jesus, and Kashmir wasthe central meeting place since it was close to Tibet, China, and waseasy to reach on the Silk Road, the main traveling route that woundthrough the Middle East and the Himalayas.

The three Wise Men mentioned in the Bible were no doubtlooking for a reincarnation of the Buddha. They followed the largestar that appeared when Jesus was a young child of two or three.Finding their new Avatar, they had Mary and Joseph promise thatwhen he became the age to begin study, he would journey to theEast to prepare himself for his mission.

The Kashmirian Jews, who had embraced Hinduism andBuddhism, were recognized for their wisdom. Ancient Tantricmeditation practices had come from this holy and beautiful place.In Israel too, there were those who engaged in Tantric practices aspart of their meditation. There was a secret, holy rite called maithunawhere sexual intercourse was a method of transcending male andfemale identification with the body in order to attain oneness withthe all—Transcendent Consciousness. It was probably during oneof these special ceremonies that Jesus was conceived. Mary andJoseph were both members of the Essene community. When youngthirteen-year-old Mary became pregnant, Joseph agreed to raise theboy as his own.

Just as the Tibetan Dalai Lama is chosen, an ancient practicewas to find the Holy One at an early age, even using astrology andastronomy. Since the Buddha had predicted that another GreatMaitreya Buddha would come in five hundred years, the Wise Menfrom the East were expecting his reincarnation and searching theskies for a sign. When Jesus was born, a large star appeared beforethem, and following it, they eventually found the young Jesus.Recognizing him as the expected Holy One, they received a promisefrom his parents that at the age of twelve or thirteen, he would returnto them for his spiritual education to assume the title of Avatar.

In Buddhism, the "Buddha of the Future" is called MaitreyaBuddha. In Judaism, Maitreya translated means Messiah. Herod hadalso heard the story that a Messiah was...