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Chapter 17
Jesus talks with the rabbi of the synagogue of Nazareth. He criticies the narrowness of Jewish thought.
1. Now, Rabbi Barachia of the synagogue of Nazareth, was aid to Mary in the teaching of her son.
2. One morning after service in the synagogue the rabbi said to Jesus as he sat in silent thought, Which is the greatest of the Ten Commands?
3. And Jesus said, I do not see a greatest of the Ten Commands. I see a golden cord that runs through all the Ten Commands that binds them fast and makes them one.
4. This cord is love, and it belongs to every word of all the Ten Commands.
5. If one is full of love he can do nothing else than worship God; for God is love.
6. If one is full of love, he cannot kill; he cannot falsely testify; he cannot covet; can do naught but honour God and man.
7. If one is full of love he does not need commands of any kind.
8. And Rabbi Barachia said, Your words are seasoned with the salt of wisdom that is from above. Who is the teacher who has opened up this truth to you.
9. And Jesus said, I do not know that any teacher opens up this truth for me. It seems to me that truth was never shut; that it was always opened up, for truth is one and it is everywhere.
10. And if we open up the windows of our minds the truth will enter in and make herself at home; for truth can find her way through any crevice, any window, any open door.
11. The rabbi said, What hand is strong enough to open up the windows and the doors of mind so truth can enter in?
12. And Jesus said, It seems to me that love, the golden cord that binds the Ten Commands in one, is strong enough to open any human door so that the truth can enter in and cause the heart to understand.
13. Now, in the evening Jesus and his mother sat alone, and Jesus said,
14. The rabbi seems to think that God is partial in his treatment of the sons of men; that Jews are favoured and are blest above all other men.
15. I do not see how God can have his favourites and be just.
16. Are not Samaritans and Greeks and Romans just as much the children of the Holy One as are the Jews?
17. I think the Jews have built a wall about themselves, and they see nothing on the other side of it.
18. They do not know that flowers are blooming over there; that sowing times and reaping times belong to anybody but the Jews.
19. It surely would be well if we could break down these barriers down so that the Jews might see that God has other children that are just as greatly blest.
20. I want to go from Jewry land and meet my kin in other countries of my Fatherland.
Chapter 18
Jesus at a feast in Jerusalem. Is grieved by the cruelties of the sacrificers. Appeals to Hillel, who sympathises with him. He remains in the temple a year.
1. The great feast of the Jews was on, and Joseph, Mary and their son, and many of their kin, went to Jerusalem. The child was ten years old.
2. And Jesus watched the butchers kill the lambs and birds and burn them on the altar in the name of God.
3. HIs tender heart was shocked at this display of cruelty; he asked the serving priest, What is the purpose of this slaughter of the beasts and birds? Why do you burn their flesh before the Lord?
4. The priest replied, This is our sacrifice for sin. God has commanded us to do these things, and said that in these sacrifices all our sins are blotted out.
5. And Jesus said, Will you be kind enough to tell when God proclaimed that sins are blotted out by sacrifice of any kind?
6. Did not David say that God requires a sacrifice for sin? that it is a sin itself to bring before his face burnt offerings, as offerings for sin? Did not Isaiah say the same?
7. The priest replied, My child you are beside yourself. Do you know more about the laws of God than all the priests of Israel? This is no place for boys to show their wit.
8. But Jesus heeded not his taunts; he went to Hillel, chief of the Sanhedrim, and he said to him,
9. Rabboni, I would like to talk with you; I am disturbed about this service of the pascal feast. I thought the temple was the house of God where love and kindness dwell.
10. Do you not hear the bleating of those lambs, the pleading of those doves that men are killing over there? Do you not smell that awful stench that comes from burning flesh?
11. Can man be kind and just, and still be filled with cruelty?
12. A God that takes delight in sacrifice, in blood and burning flesh, is not my Father- God.
13. I want to find a God of love, and you, my master, you are wise, and surely you can tell me where to find the God of love.
14. But Hillel could not give an answer to the child. His heart was stirred with sympathy. He called the child to him; he laid his hand upon his head and wept.
15. He said, There is a God of love, and you shall come with me; and hand in hand we will go forth and find the God of love.
16. And Jesus said, Why need we go? I thought that God was everywhere. Can we not purify our hearts and drive out cruelty, and every wicked thought, and make within, a temple where the God of love can dwell?
17. The master of the great Sanhedrim felt as though he was himself the child, and that before him stood Rabboni, master of the higher law.
18. He said within himself, This child is surely prophet sent from God.
19. Then Hillel sought the parents of the child, and asked that Jesus might abide with them, and learn the precepts of the law, and all the lessons of the temple priests.
20. His parents gave consent, and Jesus did abide within the holy temple in Jerusalem, and Hillel taught him every day.
21. And every day the master learned from Jesus many lessons of the higher life.
22. The child remained with Hillel in the temple for a year, and then returned unto his home in Nazareth; and there he wrought with Joseph as a carpenter.
Chapter 19
Jesus at the age of twelve in the temple. Disputes with the doctors of the law. Reads from a book of prophecy. By request of Hillel he interprets the prophecies.
1. Again the great feast in Jerusalem was on, and Joseph, Mary and their son were there. THe child was twelve years old.
2. And there were Jews and proselytes from many countries in Jerusalem.
3. And Jesus sat among the priests and doctors in the temple hall.
4. And Jesus opened up a book of prophecy and read:
5. Woe, woe to Ariel, the town where David dwelt! I will dismantle Ariel, and she shall groan and weep:
6. And I will camp against her round about with hostile posts;
7. And I will bring her low and she shall speak out of the earth; with muffled voice like a familiar spirit shall she speak; yea she shall only whisper forth her speech;
8. And foes unnumbered, like the grains of dust, shall come upon her suddenly.
9. The Lord of Hosts will visit her with thunder and with tempest, and with storm; with earthquake, and with devouring flames.
10. Lo, all these people have deserted me. They draw to me with speech, and with their lips they honour me; their hearts are far removed from me; their fear for me is that inspired by man.
11. And I will breath upon my people, Isreal; the wisdom of their wise men shall be lost; the understanding of their prudent men shall not be found.
12. My people seek to hide their counsel from the Lord, so that their works may not be seen. They fain would cover up their works with darkness of the night, and say, Who sees us now? Who knows us now?
13. Poor, foolish men! shall that which has been made say of its maker, He is naught, I made myself?
14. Or shall the pot speak out and say to him, who made the pot, You have no skill; you do not know?
15. But this will not for ever be; the time will come when Lebanon will be a fruitful field, and fruitful fields will be transformed to groves.
16. And on that day the deaf will hear the words of God; the blind will read the Book of God's Remembrance.
17. And suffering ones will be relieved, and they will have abundant joy; and every one that needs will be supplied; and it will come to pass that all the foolish will be wise.
18. The people will return and sanctify the Holy One, and in their heart of hearts, lo, they will reverence him.
19. When Jesus had thus read he put aside the book and said, You masters of the law, will you make plain for us the prophet's words?
20. Now, Hillel sat among the masters of the law, and he stood forth and said, Perhaps our young rabboni who has read the word will be interpreter.
21. And Jesus said, The Ariel of the prophet is our own Jerusalem.
22. By selfishness and cruelty this people has become a stench unto the Elohim.
23. The prophet saw these days from far, and of these times he wrote.
24. Our doctors, lawyers, priests and scribes oppress the poor, while they themselves in luxury live.
25. The sacrifices and the offerings of Israel are but abomination unto God. They only sacrifice that God requires is self.
26. Because of this injustice and this cruelty of man to man, the Holy One has spoken of this commonwealth:
27. Lo, I will overturn, yes, I will overturn, it shall be overturned, and it shall be no more until he comes whose right it is and I will give it unto him.
28. In all the world there is one law of right, and he who breaks that law will suffer grief; for God is just.
29. And Israel has gone far astray; has not regarded justice, nor the rights of man, and God demands that Israel shall reform, and turn again to ways of holiness.
30. And if our people will not hear the voice of God, lo, nations from afar will come and sack Jerusalem, and tear our temple down, and take our people captive into foreign lands.
31. But this will not for ever be; though they be scattered far and wide, and wander here and there among the nations of the earth, like sheep that have no shepherd guide.
32. The time will come when God will bring again the captive hosts; for Israel shall return and dwell in peace.
33. And after many years our temple our temple shall be built again, and one whom God will honour, one in whom the pure in heart delights will come and glorify the house of God, and reign in righteousness.
34. When Jesus had thus said, he stepped aside, and all the people were amazed and said, This surely is the Christ.
Chapter 20
After the feast. The homeward journey. The missing Jesus. The search for him. His parents find him in the temple. He goes with them to Nazareth. Symbolic meaning of carpenter's tools.
1. The great feast of the pasch was ended and the Nazarenes were journeying towards their homes.
2. And they were in Samaria, and Mary said, Where is my son? No one had seen the boy.
3. And Joseph sought among their kindred who were on their way to Galilee; but they had seen him not.
4. Then Joseph, Mary, and a son of Zebedee, returned and sought through all Jerusalem, but they could find him not.
5. And then they went up to the temple courts and asked the guards, Have you seen Jesus, a fair-haired boy, with deep blue eyes, twelve years of age, about these courts?
6. The guards replied, Yes, he is in the temple now disputing with the doctors of the law.
7. And they went in, and found him as the guards had said.
8. And Mary said, Why Jesus, why do you treat your parents thus? Lo, we have sought two days for you. We feared that some great harm had overtaken you.
9. And Jesus said, Do you not know that I must be about my Father's work?
10. But he went round and pressed the hand of every doctor of the law and said, I trust that we may meet again.
11. And then he went forth with his parents on their way to Nazareth; and when they reached their home he wrought with Joseph as a carpenter.
12. One day as he was bringing forth the tools for work he said,
13. These tools remind me of the ones we handle in the workshop of the mind where things were made of thought and where we build up character.
14. We use the square to measure all our lines, to straighten out the crooked places of the way, and make the corners of our conduct square.
15. We use the compass to draw circles round our passions and desires to keep them in the bounds of righteousness.
16. We use the axe to cut away the knotty, useless and ungainly parts and make the character symmetrical.
17. We use the hammer to drive home the truth, and pound it in until it is a part of every part.
18. We use the plane to smooth the rough, uneven surfaces of joint, and block, and board that go to build the temple for the truth.
19. The chisel, line, the plummet and the saw all have their uses in the workshop of the mind.
20. And then this ladder with its trinity of steps, faith, hope and love; on it we climb up to the dome of purity in life.
21. And on the twelve-step ladder we ascend until we reach the pinnacle of that which life is spent to build--the Temple of Perfected Man.
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SECTION VI
VAU
Life and Works of Jesus in India
Chapter 21
Ravanna sees Jesus in the temple and is captivated. Hillel tells him about the boy. Ravanna finds Jesus in Nazareth and gives a feast in his honour. Ravanna becomes patron of Jesus, and takes him to India to study the Brahmic religion.
1. A royal prince of India, Ravanna of Orissa in the south, was at the Jewish feast.
2. Ravanna was a man of wealth; and he was just, and with a band of Brahmic priests sought wisdom in the West.
3. When Jesus stood among the Jewish priests and read and spoke, Ravanna heard and was amazed.
4. And when he asked who Jesus was, from whence he came and what he was, chief Hillel said,
5. We call this child the Day Star from on high, for he has come to bring to men a light, the light of life; to lighten up the way of men and to redeem his people, Israel.
6. And Hillel told Ravanna all about the child; about the prophecies concerning him; about the wonders of the night when he was born; about the visit of the magian priests;
7. About the way in which he was protected from the wrath of evil men; about his flight to Egypt-land, and how he then was serving with his father as a carpenter in Nazareth.
8. Ravanna was entranced, and asked to know the way to Nazareth, that he might go and honour such a one as son of God.
9. And with his gorgeous train he journeyed on the way and came to Nazareth of Galilee.
10. He found the object of his search engaged in building dwellings for the sons of men.
11. And when he first saw Jesus he was climbing up a twelve step ladder, and he carried in his hands a compass, square and axe.
12. Ravanna said, All hail, most favoured son of heaven!
13. And at the inn Ravanna made a feast for all the people of the town; and Jesus and his parents were honoured guests.
14. For certain days Ravanna was a guest in Joseph's home on Marmion Way; he sought to learn the secret of the wisdom of the son; but it was all to great for him.
15. And then he asked that he might be the patron of the child; might take him to the East where he could learn the wisdom of the Brahms.
16. And Jesus longed to go that he might learn; and after many days his parents gave consent.
17. Then, with proud heart, Ravanna with his train, began the journey towards the rising sun; and after many days they crossed the Sind, and reached the province of Orissa, and the palace of the prince.
18. The Brahmic priests were glad to welcome home the prince; with favour they received the Jewish boy.
19. And Jesus was accepted as a pupil in the temple Jagannath; and here learned the Vedas and the Manic laws.
20. The Brahmic masters wondered at the clear conceptions of the child, and often were amazed when he explained to them the meaning of the laws.
Chapter 22
The friendship of Jesus and Lamaas. Jesus explains to Lamaas the meaning of truth, man, power, understanding, wisdom, salvation and faith.
1. Among the priests of Jagannath was one who loved the Jewish boy. Lamaas Bramas was the name by which the priest was known.
2. One day as Jesus and Lamaas walked alone in plaza Jagannath, Lamaas said, My Jewish master, what is truth?
3. And Jesus said, Truth is the only thing that changes not.
4. In all the world there are two things; the one is truth; the other falsehood is; and truth is that which is, and falsehood that which seems to be.
5. Now truth is aught, and has no cause, and yet it is the cause of everything.
6. Falsehood is naught, and yet it is the manifest of aught.
7. Whatever has been made will be unmade; that which begins must end.
8. All things that can be seen by human eyes are manifests of aught, are naught, and so must pass away.
9. The things we see are but reflexes just appearing, while the ethers vibrate so and so, and when conditions change they disappear.
10. The Holy Breath is truth; is that which was, and is, and evermore shall be; it cannot change nor pass away.
11. Lamaas said, You answer well; now, what is man?
12. And Jesus said, Man is the truth and falsehood strangely mixed.
13. Man is the Breath made flesh; so truth and falsehood are conjoined in him; and they strive, and naught goes down and man as truth abides.
14. Again Lamaas asked, What do you say of power?
15. And Jesus said, It is a manifest; is the result of force; it is but naught; it is illusion, nothing more. Force changes not, but power changes as the ethers change.
16. Force is the will of God and is omnipotent, and power is that will in manifest, directed by the Breath.
17. There is power in the winds, a power in the waves, a power in the lightning's stroke, a power in the human arm, a power in the eye.
18. The ethers cause there powers to be, and thought of Elohim, of angel, man, or other thinking thing, directs the force; when it has done its work the power is no more.
19. Again Lamaas asked, Of understanding what have you to say?
20. And Jesus said, It is the rock on which man builds himself; it is the gnosis of the aught and of the naught, of falsehood and of truth.
21. It is the knowledge of the lower self; the sensing of the powers of man himself.
22. Again Lamaas asked, Of wisdom what have you to say?
23. And Jesus said, It is the consciousness that man is aught; that God and man are one;
24. That naught is naught; that power is but illusion; that heaven and earth and hell are not above, around, below, but in; which in the light of aught becomes the naught, and God is all.
25. Lamaas asked, Pray, what is faith?
26. And Jesus said, Faith is the surety of the omnipotence of God and man; the certainty that man will reach the deific life.
27. Salvation is a ladder reaching from the heart of man to heart of God.
28. It has three steps; Belief is first, and this is what man thinks, perhaps, is truth.
29. And faith is next, and this is what man knows is truth.
30. Fruition is the last, and this is man himself, the truth.
31. Belief is lost in faith; and in fruition is lost; and man is saved when he has reached deific life; when he and God are one.
Chapter 23
Jesus and Lamaas among the sudras and visyas. In Benares. Jesus becomes a pupil of Udraka. The lessons of Udraka.
1. Now, Jesus with his friend Lamaas went through all the regions of Orissa, and the valley of the Ganges, seeking wisdom from the sudras and the visyas and the masters.
2. Benares of the Ganges was a city rich in culture and in learning; here the two rabbonis tarried many days.
3. And Jesus sought to learn the Hindu art of healing, and became the pupil of Udraka, greatest of the Hindu healers.
4. Udraka taught the uses of the waters, plants and earths; of heat and cold; sunshine and shade; of light and dark.
5. He said, The laws of nature are the laws of health, and he who lives according to these laws is never sick.
6. Transgression of these laws is sin, and he who sins is sick.
7. He who obeys the laws, maintains an equilibrium in all his parts, and thus insures true harmony; and harmony is health, while discord is disease.
8. That which produces harmony in all the parts of man is medicine, insuring health.
9. The body is a harpsichord, and when its strings are too relaxed, or are too tense, the instrument is out of tune, the man is sick.
10. Now, everything in nature has been made to meet the wants of man; so everything is found in medical arcanes.
11. And when the harpsichord of man is out of tune the vast expanse of nature may be searched for remedy; there is a cure for every ailment of the flesh.
12. Of course the will of man is remedy supreme; and by the vigorous exercise of will, man way make tense a chord that is relaxed, or may relax one that is too tense, and thus may heal himself.
13. When man has reached the place where he has faith in God, in nature and himself, he knows the Word of power; his word is balm for every wound, is cure for all the ills of life.
14. The healer is the man who can inspire faith. The tongue may speak to human ears, but souls are reached by souls that speak to souls.
15. He is the forceful man whose soul is large, and who can enter into souls, inspiring hope in those who have no hope, and faith in those who have no faith in God, in nature, nor in man.
16. There is no universal balm for those who tread the common walks of life.
17. A thousand things produce inharmony and make men sick; a thousand things may tune the harpsichord, and make men well.
18. That which is medicine for one is poison for another one; so one is healed by what would kill another one.
19. An herb may heal the one; a drink of water may restore another one; a mountain breeze may bring to life one seeming past all help;
20. A coal of fire, or bit of earth, may cure another one; and one may wash in certain streams, or pools, and be made whole.
21. The virtue from the hand or breath may heal a thousand more; but love is queen. Thought, reinforced by love, is God's great sovereign balm.
22. But many of the broken chords in life, and discords that so vex the soul, are caused by evil spirits of the air that men see not; that lead men on through ignorance to break the laws of nature and of God.
23. These powers act like demons, and they speak; they rend the man; they drive him to despair.
24. But he who is a healer, true, is master of the soul, and can, by force of will, control these evil ones.
25. Some spirits of the air are master spirits and are strong, too strong for human power alone; but man has helpers in the higher realms that may be importuned, and they will help to drive the demons out.
26. Of what this great physician said, this is the sum. And Jesus bowed his head in recognition of the wisdom of this master soul, and went his way.
Jesus talks with the rabbi of the synagogue of Nazareth. He criticies the narrowness of Jewish thought.
1. Now, Rabbi Barachia of the synagogue of Nazareth, was aid to Mary in the teaching of her son.
2. One morning after service in the synagogue the rabbi said to Jesus as he sat in silent thought, Which is the greatest of the Ten Commands?
3. And Jesus said, I do not see a greatest of the Ten Commands. I see a golden cord that runs through all the Ten Commands that binds them fast and makes them one.
4. This cord is love, and it belongs to every word of all the Ten Commands.
5. If one is full of love he can do nothing else than worship God; for God is love.
6. If one is full of love, he cannot kill; he cannot falsely testify; he cannot covet; can do naught but honour God and man.
7. If one is full of love he does not need commands of any kind.
8. And Rabbi Barachia said, Your words are seasoned with the salt of wisdom that is from above. Who is the teacher who has opened up this truth to you.
9. And Jesus said, I do not know that any teacher opens up this truth for me. It seems to me that truth was never shut; that it was always opened up, for truth is one and it is everywhere.
10. And if we open up the windows of our minds the truth will enter in and make herself at home; for truth can find her way through any crevice, any window, any open door.
11. The rabbi said, What hand is strong enough to open up the windows and the doors of mind so truth can enter in?
12. And Jesus said, It seems to me that love, the golden cord that binds the Ten Commands in one, is strong enough to open any human door so that the truth can enter in and cause the heart to understand.
13. Now, in the evening Jesus and his mother sat alone, and Jesus said,
14. The rabbi seems to think that God is partial in his treatment of the sons of men; that Jews are favoured and are blest above all other men.
15. I do not see how God can have his favourites and be just.
16. Are not Samaritans and Greeks and Romans just as much the children of the Holy One as are the Jews?
17. I think the Jews have built a wall about themselves, and they see nothing on the other side of it.
18. They do not know that flowers are blooming over there; that sowing times and reaping times belong to anybody but the Jews.
19. It surely would be well if we could break down these barriers down so that the Jews might see that God has other children that are just as greatly blest.
20. I want to go from Jewry land and meet my kin in other countries of my Fatherland.
Chapter 18
Jesus at a feast in Jerusalem. Is grieved by the cruelties of the sacrificers. Appeals to Hillel, who sympathises with him. He remains in the temple a year.
1. The great feast of the Jews was on, and Joseph, Mary and their son, and many of their kin, went to Jerusalem. The child was ten years old.
2. And Jesus watched the butchers kill the lambs and birds and burn them on the altar in the name of God.
3. HIs tender heart was shocked at this display of cruelty; he asked the serving priest, What is the purpose of this slaughter of the beasts and birds? Why do you burn their flesh before the Lord?
4. The priest replied, This is our sacrifice for sin. God has commanded us to do these things, and said that in these sacrifices all our sins are blotted out.
5. And Jesus said, Will you be kind enough to tell when God proclaimed that sins are blotted out by sacrifice of any kind?
6. Did not David say that God requires a sacrifice for sin? that it is a sin itself to bring before his face burnt offerings, as offerings for sin? Did not Isaiah say the same?
7. The priest replied, My child you are beside yourself. Do you know more about the laws of God than all the priests of Israel? This is no place for boys to show their wit.
8. But Jesus heeded not his taunts; he went to Hillel, chief of the Sanhedrim, and he said to him,
9. Rabboni, I would like to talk with you; I am disturbed about this service of the pascal feast. I thought the temple was the house of God where love and kindness dwell.
10. Do you not hear the bleating of those lambs, the pleading of those doves that men are killing over there? Do you not smell that awful stench that comes from burning flesh?
11. Can man be kind and just, and still be filled with cruelty?
12. A God that takes delight in sacrifice, in blood and burning flesh, is not my Father- God.
13. I want to find a God of love, and you, my master, you are wise, and surely you can tell me where to find the God of love.
14. But Hillel could not give an answer to the child. His heart was stirred with sympathy. He called the child to him; he laid his hand upon his head and wept.
15. He said, There is a God of love, and you shall come with me; and hand in hand we will go forth and find the God of love.
16. And Jesus said, Why need we go? I thought that God was everywhere. Can we not purify our hearts and drive out cruelty, and every wicked thought, and make within, a temple where the God of love can dwell?
17. The master of the great Sanhedrim felt as though he was himself the child, and that before him stood Rabboni, master of the higher law.
18. He said within himself, This child is surely prophet sent from God.
19. Then Hillel sought the parents of the child, and asked that Jesus might abide with them, and learn the precepts of the law, and all the lessons of the temple priests.
20. His parents gave consent, and Jesus did abide within the holy temple in Jerusalem, and Hillel taught him every day.
21. And every day the master learned from Jesus many lessons of the higher life.
22. The child remained with Hillel in the temple for a year, and then returned unto his home in Nazareth; and there he wrought with Joseph as a carpenter.
Chapter 19
Jesus at the age of twelve in the temple. Disputes with the doctors of the law. Reads from a book of prophecy. By request of Hillel he interprets the prophecies.
1. Again the great feast in Jerusalem was on, and Joseph, Mary and their son were there. THe child was twelve years old.
2. And there were Jews and proselytes from many countries in Jerusalem.
3. And Jesus sat among the priests and doctors in the temple hall.
4. And Jesus opened up a book of prophecy and read:
5. Woe, woe to Ariel, the town where David dwelt! I will dismantle Ariel, and she shall groan and weep:
6. And I will camp against her round about with hostile posts;
7. And I will bring her low and she shall speak out of the earth; with muffled voice like a familiar spirit shall she speak; yea she shall only whisper forth her speech;
8. And foes unnumbered, like the grains of dust, shall come upon her suddenly.
9. The Lord of Hosts will visit her with thunder and with tempest, and with storm; with earthquake, and with devouring flames.
10. Lo, all these people have deserted me. They draw to me with speech, and with their lips they honour me; their hearts are far removed from me; their fear for me is that inspired by man.
11. And I will breath upon my people, Isreal; the wisdom of their wise men shall be lost; the understanding of their prudent men shall not be found.
12. My people seek to hide their counsel from the Lord, so that their works may not be seen. They fain would cover up their works with darkness of the night, and say, Who sees us now? Who knows us now?
13. Poor, foolish men! shall that which has been made say of its maker, He is naught, I made myself?
14. Or shall the pot speak out and say to him, who made the pot, You have no skill; you do not know?
15. But this will not for ever be; the time will come when Lebanon will be a fruitful field, and fruitful fields will be transformed to groves.
16. And on that day the deaf will hear the words of God; the blind will read the Book of God's Remembrance.
17. And suffering ones will be relieved, and they will have abundant joy; and every one that needs will be supplied; and it will come to pass that all the foolish will be wise.
18. The people will return and sanctify the Holy One, and in their heart of hearts, lo, they will reverence him.
19. When Jesus had thus read he put aside the book and said, You masters of the law, will you make plain for us the prophet's words?
20. Now, Hillel sat among the masters of the law, and he stood forth and said, Perhaps our young rabboni who has read the word will be interpreter.
21. And Jesus said, The Ariel of the prophet is our own Jerusalem.
22. By selfishness and cruelty this people has become a stench unto the Elohim.
23. The prophet saw these days from far, and of these times he wrote.
24. Our doctors, lawyers, priests and scribes oppress the poor, while they themselves in luxury live.
25. The sacrifices and the offerings of Israel are but abomination unto God. They only sacrifice that God requires is self.
26. Because of this injustice and this cruelty of man to man, the Holy One has spoken of this commonwealth:
27. Lo, I will overturn, yes, I will overturn, it shall be overturned, and it shall be no more until he comes whose right it is and I will give it unto him.
28. In all the world there is one law of right, and he who breaks that law will suffer grief; for God is just.
29. And Israel has gone far astray; has not regarded justice, nor the rights of man, and God demands that Israel shall reform, and turn again to ways of holiness.
30. And if our people will not hear the voice of God, lo, nations from afar will come and sack Jerusalem, and tear our temple down, and take our people captive into foreign lands.
31. But this will not for ever be; though they be scattered far and wide, and wander here and there among the nations of the earth, like sheep that have no shepherd guide.
32. The time will come when God will bring again the captive hosts; for Israel shall return and dwell in peace.
33. And after many years our temple our temple shall be built again, and one whom God will honour, one in whom the pure in heart delights will come and glorify the house of God, and reign in righteousness.
34. When Jesus had thus said, he stepped aside, and all the people were amazed and said, This surely is the Christ.
Chapter 20
After the feast. The homeward journey. The missing Jesus. The search for him. His parents find him in the temple. He goes with them to Nazareth. Symbolic meaning of carpenter's tools.
1. The great feast of the pasch was ended and the Nazarenes were journeying towards their homes.
2. And they were in Samaria, and Mary said, Where is my son? No one had seen the boy.
3. And Joseph sought among their kindred who were on their way to Galilee; but they had seen him not.
4. Then Joseph, Mary, and a son of Zebedee, returned and sought through all Jerusalem, but they could find him not.
5. And then they went up to the temple courts and asked the guards, Have you seen Jesus, a fair-haired boy, with deep blue eyes, twelve years of age, about these courts?
6. The guards replied, Yes, he is in the temple now disputing with the doctors of the law.
7. And they went in, and found him as the guards had said.
8. And Mary said, Why Jesus, why do you treat your parents thus? Lo, we have sought two days for you. We feared that some great harm had overtaken you.
9. And Jesus said, Do you not know that I must be about my Father's work?
10. But he went round and pressed the hand of every doctor of the law and said, I trust that we may meet again.
11. And then he went forth with his parents on their way to Nazareth; and when they reached their home he wrought with Joseph as a carpenter.
12. One day as he was bringing forth the tools for work he said,
13. These tools remind me of the ones we handle in the workshop of the mind where things were made of thought and where we build up character.
14. We use the square to measure all our lines, to straighten out the crooked places of the way, and make the corners of our conduct square.
15. We use the compass to draw circles round our passions and desires to keep them in the bounds of righteousness.
16. We use the axe to cut away the knotty, useless and ungainly parts and make the character symmetrical.
17. We use the hammer to drive home the truth, and pound it in until it is a part of every part.
18. We use the plane to smooth the rough, uneven surfaces of joint, and block, and board that go to build the temple for the truth.
19. The chisel, line, the plummet and the saw all have their uses in the workshop of the mind.
20. And then this ladder with its trinity of steps, faith, hope and love; on it we climb up to the dome of purity in life.
21. And on the twelve-step ladder we ascend until we reach the pinnacle of that which life is spent to build--the Temple of Perfected Man.
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SECTION VI
VAU
Life and Works of Jesus in India
Chapter 21
Ravanna sees Jesus in the temple and is captivated. Hillel tells him about the boy. Ravanna finds Jesus in Nazareth and gives a feast in his honour. Ravanna becomes patron of Jesus, and takes him to India to study the Brahmic religion.
1. A royal prince of India, Ravanna of Orissa in the south, was at the Jewish feast.
2. Ravanna was a man of wealth; and he was just, and with a band of Brahmic priests sought wisdom in the West.
3. When Jesus stood among the Jewish priests and read and spoke, Ravanna heard and was amazed.
4. And when he asked who Jesus was, from whence he came and what he was, chief Hillel said,
5. We call this child the Day Star from on high, for he has come to bring to men a light, the light of life; to lighten up the way of men and to redeem his people, Israel.
6. And Hillel told Ravanna all about the child; about the prophecies concerning him; about the wonders of the night when he was born; about the visit of the magian priests;
7. About the way in which he was protected from the wrath of evil men; about his flight to Egypt-land, and how he then was serving with his father as a carpenter in Nazareth.
8. Ravanna was entranced, and asked to know the way to Nazareth, that he might go and honour such a one as son of God.
9. And with his gorgeous train he journeyed on the way and came to Nazareth of Galilee.
10. He found the object of his search engaged in building dwellings for the sons of men.
11. And when he first saw Jesus he was climbing up a twelve step ladder, and he carried in his hands a compass, square and axe.
12. Ravanna said, All hail, most favoured son of heaven!
13. And at the inn Ravanna made a feast for all the people of the town; and Jesus and his parents were honoured guests.
14. For certain days Ravanna was a guest in Joseph's home on Marmion Way; he sought to learn the secret of the wisdom of the son; but it was all to great for him.
15. And then he asked that he might be the patron of the child; might take him to the East where he could learn the wisdom of the Brahms.
16. And Jesus longed to go that he might learn; and after many days his parents gave consent.
17. Then, with proud heart, Ravanna with his train, began the journey towards the rising sun; and after many days they crossed the Sind, and reached the province of Orissa, and the palace of the prince.
18. The Brahmic priests were glad to welcome home the prince; with favour they received the Jewish boy.
19. And Jesus was accepted as a pupil in the temple Jagannath; and here learned the Vedas and the Manic laws.
20. The Brahmic masters wondered at the clear conceptions of the child, and often were amazed when he explained to them the meaning of the laws.
Chapter 22
The friendship of Jesus and Lamaas. Jesus explains to Lamaas the meaning of truth, man, power, understanding, wisdom, salvation and faith.
1. Among the priests of Jagannath was one who loved the Jewish boy. Lamaas Bramas was the name by which the priest was known.
2. One day as Jesus and Lamaas walked alone in plaza Jagannath, Lamaas said, My Jewish master, what is truth?
3. And Jesus said, Truth is the only thing that changes not.
4. In all the world there are two things; the one is truth; the other falsehood is; and truth is that which is, and falsehood that which seems to be.
5. Now truth is aught, and has no cause, and yet it is the cause of everything.
6. Falsehood is naught, and yet it is the manifest of aught.
7. Whatever has been made will be unmade; that which begins must end.
8. All things that can be seen by human eyes are manifests of aught, are naught, and so must pass away.
9. The things we see are but reflexes just appearing, while the ethers vibrate so and so, and when conditions change they disappear.
10. The Holy Breath is truth; is that which was, and is, and evermore shall be; it cannot change nor pass away.
11. Lamaas said, You answer well; now, what is man?
12. And Jesus said, Man is the truth and falsehood strangely mixed.
13. Man is the Breath made flesh; so truth and falsehood are conjoined in him; and they strive, and naught goes down and man as truth abides.
14. Again Lamaas asked, What do you say of power?
15. And Jesus said, It is a manifest; is the result of force; it is but naught; it is illusion, nothing more. Force changes not, but power changes as the ethers change.
16. Force is the will of God and is omnipotent, and power is that will in manifest, directed by the Breath.
17. There is power in the winds, a power in the waves, a power in the lightning's stroke, a power in the human arm, a power in the eye.
18. The ethers cause there powers to be, and thought of Elohim, of angel, man, or other thinking thing, directs the force; when it has done its work the power is no more.
19. Again Lamaas asked, Of understanding what have you to say?
20. And Jesus said, It is the rock on which man builds himself; it is the gnosis of the aught and of the naught, of falsehood and of truth.
21. It is the knowledge of the lower self; the sensing of the powers of man himself.
22. Again Lamaas asked, Of wisdom what have you to say?
23. And Jesus said, It is the consciousness that man is aught; that God and man are one;
24. That naught is naught; that power is but illusion; that heaven and earth and hell are not above, around, below, but in; which in the light of aught becomes the naught, and God is all.
25. Lamaas asked, Pray, what is faith?
26. And Jesus said, Faith is the surety of the omnipotence of God and man; the certainty that man will reach the deific life.
27. Salvation is a ladder reaching from the heart of man to heart of God.
28. It has three steps; Belief is first, and this is what man thinks, perhaps, is truth.
29. And faith is next, and this is what man knows is truth.
30. Fruition is the last, and this is man himself, the truth.
31. Belief is lost in faith; and in fruition is lost; and man is saved when he has reached deific life; when he and God are one.
Chapter 23
Jesus and Lamaas among the sudras and visyas. In Benares. Jesus becomes a pupil of Udraka. The lessons of Udraka.
1. Now, Jesus with his friend Lamaas went through all the regions of Orissa, and the valley of the Ganges, seeking wisdom from the sudras and the visyas and the masters.
2. Benares of the Ganges was a city rich in culture and in learning; here the two rabbonis tarried many days.
3. And Jesus sought to learn the Hindu art of healing, and became the pupil of Udraka, greatest of the Hindu healers.
4. Udraka taught the uses of the waters, plants and earths; of heat and cold; sunshine and shade; of light and dark.
5. He said, The laws of nature are the laws of health, and he who lives according to these laws is never sick.
6. Transgression of these laws is sin, and he who sins is sick.
7. He who obeys the laws, maintains an equilibrium in all his parts, and thus insures true harmony; and harmony is health, while discord is disease.
8. That which produces harmony in all the parts of man is medicine, insuring health.
9. The body is a harpsichord, and when its strings are too relaxed, or are too tense, the instrument is out of tune, the man is sick.
10. Now, everything in nature has been made to meet the wants of man; so everything is found in medical arcanes.
11. And when the harpsichord of man is out of tune the vast expanse of nature may be searched for remedy; there is a cure for every ailment of the flesh.
12. Of course the will of man is remedy supreme; and by the vigorous exercise of will, man way make tense a chord that is relaxed, or may relax one that is too tense, and thus may heal himself.
13. When man has reached the place where he has faith in God, in nature and himself, he knows the Word of power; his word is balm for every wound, is cure for all the ills of life.
14. The healer is the man who can inspire faith. The tongue may speak to human ears, but souls are reached by souls that speak to souls.
15. He is the forceful man whose soul is large, and who can enter into souls, inspiring hope in those who have no hope, and faith in those who have no faith in God, in nature, nor in man.
16. There is no universal balm for those who tread the common walks of life.
17. A thousand things produce inharmony and make men sick; a thousand things may tune the harpsichord, and make men well.
18. That which is medicine for one is poison for another one; so one is healed by what would kill another one.
19. An herb may heal the one; a drink of water may restore another one; a mountain breeze may bring to life one seeming past all help;
20. A coal of fire, or bit of earth, may cure another one; and one may wash in certain streams, or pools, and be made whole.
21. The virtue from the hand or breath may heal a thousand more; but love is queen. Thought, reinforced by love, is God's great sovereign balm.
22. But many of the broken chords in life, and discords that so vex the soul, are caused by evil spirits of the air that men see not; that lead men on through ignorance to break the laws of nature and of God.
23. These powers act like demons, and they speak; they rend the man; they drive him to despair.
24. But he who is a healer, true, is master of the soul, and can, by force of will, control these evil ones.
25. Some spirits of the air are master spirits and are strong, too strong for human power alone; but man has helpers in the higher realms that may be importuned, and they will help to drive the demons out.
26. Of what this great physician said, this is the sum. And Jesus bowed his head in recognition of the wisdom of this master soul, and went his way.