“And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.”

                                                           Luke 2:52

Jesus The Yogi

by

Austin Perris

  The Christian religion says that God sent his beloved son Jesus as an example of how to be a true human. “Be Christ-like,” they say, and follow in the Lord’s footsteps. However, the example is incomplete without information about how Jesus evolved as a spiritual being.  

There are no references to personal practices that fueled the growth of Christ as a miracle worker. Did aliens abduct him? Did he acquire and consume a magic pill? Did he learn how to access the Tree of Life?

  The years between 14 and 30 are conspicuously missing from the Bible, and this part of his life is crucial to our spiritual growth. Why would the church not share this information?

Humans need this knowledge to complete themselves and their physical and spiritual sides. Could this be why we are not privy to that part of Jesus’ life that reveals the teachings that led to his extraordinary abilities? 

  How did Jesus learn to perform miracles, and where did he learn these secrets? Some say the “East.” Did Jesus visit his friends, the Magi (Doers of Magic), to learn how to become a true human?  

 These “Wise Men” traveled far to meet the parents and newborn Jesus. The journey itself was magical, inspired by a prophecy that announced his coming (Numbers 24:17?), guided by a star that moved from east to west, a star that stopped and hovered over the exact location of the Baby Jesus. Was that it? Is that all they needed? To travel so far to meet a baby and shower him with gifts?

 

  This journey was undoubtedly much more than a simple outing; could it have been accompanied by an invitation leading to secret instructions given to the Christ Child between 12 and 30?

  The possibilities are great, and the spiritual training would have completed Christ, leading to his ability to perform miracles. Did Jesus himself become a “doer of magic?”

  Many have delved into the question of where Jesus was between the ages of 12 and 30. Most agree he was somewhere in the East, learning the secrets of Eastern philosophies and religions.  

Jesus was believed to be a student and teacher of Buddhism and Hinduism, and Brahman Historians documented the journey of Christ from Jerusalem to Benares. 

 

  Nicolas Notovitch, a Russian Doctor, traveled extensively through India and Tibet. On one of his excursions, he was severely injured and was fortunate enough to be treated in a Buddhist Convent, where he was allowed access to a document detailing “The Life of Saint Issa.” 

 Notovitch was told Saint Issa was indeed Jesus Christ and took many notes, recording over two hundred verses from the carefully documented text.

 

Jesus was both a student and a teacher of Buddhism and Hinduism. No wonder the Christians left this out of the Bible; they most certainly would not want it known that the practices of other religions sharpened Jesus’ most extraordinary attributes. This would not go well when teaching the doctrines of Christianity.

  Some believe Jesus was an Essene (the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls). The Essenes were a Jewish sect that differed significantly from the Pharisees and Sadducees. This close-knit community was influential in North Israel, where Jesus grew up. The Essenes, like Jesus, were sometimes referred to as “Nazarenes.”

The Essenes considered Gnostics, were believed to possess secret, esoteric knowledge passed down within their community. This knowledge likely included secrets of healing, prophecy, higher states of consciousness, and hidden teachings about the nature of God and the universe.   

Some feel the Gnostic Gospels are filled with Eastern philosophy and echoes of Hinduism and Buddhism. Could this be more proof that Christ incorporated Eastern religions into his practice?  

Could this be the reason why Christianity worked so hard to rid the world of the Gnostic way of thinking, and where Jesus was and what he was doing during the lost years?

  When reading Elaine Pagel, The Author of “The Gnostic Gospels," we can easily see that the Orthodox Jews and Christians believe a vast difference exists between humans and their maker.  

However, some Gnostic Gospels lean the opposite way, informing us that knowing the self is having knowledge of God and that “the self and the divine are identical.”

  Pagel goes on to report that “the living Jesus” spoken about in these gospels is more concerned about “illusion and enlightenment” than “sin and repentance," as the New Testament would lead us to believe.  

Jesus is depicted more as a spiritual teacher who opens up new avenues of spiritual knowledge than as someone sent down to save us from sin.  

The Jesus Pagel has uncovered sees the initiates who have received spiritual knowledge as “equal,” even “identical” to their Master. This is the exact opposite of what the orthodox Christians believe.  

They have always seen Christ as divine—and above the human being he was sent to as an example of what His Father expected of them.

  Pagel concludes that these gospels expose Jesus as more of a Hindu or Buddhist, sounding much like Eastern philosophies, speaking and living like a practicing yogi.    

When you pick out specific phrases in the Bible, you can see them clearly: “The kingdom of heaven is within.” And, “Look within.” The mention of “…physical and spiritual bodies…” is very Eastern…and very yoga.

  Yoga teaches us to “Know thy self” through self-analysis, to step back and witness our thoughts as they rise and fall in our consciousness. This is the first step in self-discovery in the practice of Yoga.

  Looking within is a typical yoga practice, as is meditation, slowing down thoughts until there are no thoughts and becoming one with all there is. “Be still and know that I am God.”

  Acknowledging physical and spiritual bodies is uniquely Eastern; the attention given to our spirituality is the main focus of yoga. The practice of yoga is the act of uniting with God, and the word yoga itself means union. 

 

  You most certainly did not see these practices in the mainstream Christian approach to being human. The church's primary focus is not discovering your spiritual side and strengthening your spiritual body.  

The church frowned upon spiritual practices that they did not hand down. Look at how they treated the Cathars and, eventually, the Knights Templar for practicing precisely what Jesus taught.

  Pagel points out that Jesus did not see himself as a god above man but as an equal once man had obtained enlightenment. She refers to a passage from The Gospel of Thomas where Jesus says to Thomas: 

“I am not your master because you have drunk; you have become drunk from the bubbling stream which I have measured out... He who will drink from my mouth will become as I am: I shall become he, and the things that are hidden will be revealed to him.”

 

 This language appears to imply that after one learns and applies the ways of the Master, he becomes a master himself, equal to the teacher who taught him; both are part of the whole.

 Jesus saw himself as a teacher, an instructor in self-discovery. Know thyself, discover that you are a spirit in a physical body and that “…the kingdom of heaven is within you.”

  Jesus imparted a secret knowledge: “He who will drink from my mouth will become as I am…” He was speaking of a specific line of thought put into practice that leads to a more profound sense of spirit, a higher level of consciousness, and, ultimately, a clearer understanding of awareness.  

  “…And the things that are hidden will be revealed to him.” The key is to learn the secret steps of initiation that lead to complete and total awareness.

 

  The Cathars, who embraced the exact teachings of Jesus, were viciously tortured and killed in the wicked and horrifying Albigensian Crusade initiated by Pope Innocent I (1209-1229 CE). The Cathars were Christians who refused the Roman Catholic doctrines and believed The Church was created by evil.

  The Cathar spiritual practices were based on:

Equality

Tolerance

Virtue

Vegetarianism

Rightful Thinking and Behavior

Respect for Nature and Others

Meditation

All principles of Saint Issa’s teachings and yoga. 

For video: "Secret Teachings of Jesus" click here