Inside Yoga 132 (6/4/15)

Easter celebrates the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, a story which is accepted by so many as Gospel, however, there are some that say that this story reveals an alternative narrative, that Jesus did not die on the cross, but used his yogic skills survive!

The alternative story says that Jesus had travelled to the Indian Subcontinent in the period called his wilderness years, from his late teens to his late 20s, and there he studied and mastered yogic skills such as meditation. At this period Buddhism was a dominant religion in the subcontinent, and there are some who believe he studied Buddhist tantric practices in the Himalayas.

Being a person of exceptional ability, which history does seem to agree on regardless of whether he was the son of god or not, Jesus apparently learnt advanced and esoteric Buddhist and yogic practices, this includes slowing the heart beat down to a point that the person can appear to be dead – it is perhaps important to add that back then there was not the technology to verify if the person is dead or not!

It also includes the skills of levitation, hence the story that Jesus once walked on water, and also, the alchemical abilities to change substances, for example, turning water into wine.

This is, of course, subjective, but there are books and articles about this topic, where some have researched to find proof of this story, which for me is not really the most important point here.

The Easter weekend celebrates the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, and what the alternative theory suggests is that he used his yogic/Buddhist skills to appear dead on the cross by slowing his heart beat and suppressing his breath. He was then buried in a cave which he left after three days – whether he was helped to get out is not so important, but he stayed there in the cave and then left – walking off into the sunset as a movie would have it.

Why did he leave? This theory points out that he had done his work, he had taught his beliefs, and it was time to disappear. He, so this story goes, went back to the Indian subcontinent. He lived there under another name, and is buried in Kashmir – back in the 1990s I visited his grave.

This must sound far-fetched? Perhaps, but then most mystical tales, including Christianity, are filled with allegorical tales which point to a message and a lesson and were not meant to be taken literally.

It is possible to see a lot of the Buddha’s teachings in Christ’s teachings, which does beg the question of why? The trade routes between the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent did exist during Jesus’s lifetime and it is feasible that he was aware of the region and the mystical stories coming from the East. His wilderness years are black hole, so it is possible that he was in the East learning before returning to his homeland to teach what he had learnt?

What is interesting about Easter is it raising the question of rebirth as opposed to resurrection? Rebirth is taught as being a rebirth from one life to the next, but there is also another teaching that refers to rebirth within the same life, and I am not talking about born-again Christians.

The lessons about rebirth ask us to pay attention to the present, and to realise that every moment of our life is a new moment, which does mean we have the capacity to be reborn every moment – to change our life.

This is a way of ridding ourselves of unwanted feelings, thoughts, and situations, the kind of ones that get stuck and plague us to the point of obsession, depression and sickness. The teaching of rebirth is way of showing us how we can start afresh, move on and leave behind the unwanted and troubling aspects of our life.

It requires determination and will power with some of the worst experiences but the point is that why hold on to what hurts us, and why not be reborn without burden?

Jesus left the cave, he left his troubles (he possibly figured that they would try to kill him again if he came back?) and went somewhere else; which perhaps is a bit too dramatic change for most of us, but it does show that we can move on from the negative in our life – it takes just a thought in the end!

As regards reincarnation which is an important aspect of Buddhism, the Dalai Lama had an explanation which I thought was an excellent way of approaching this topic. He said that why not give reincarnation the benefit of doubt? In Buddhist belief our present life affects our next life, it is part of the teachings of how karma works – for every action there is a reaction. So for example, live a bad life where you harm others and are cruel you will be reborn in a suffering life the next. This is why Buddhism places so much emphasis on a peaceful and non-harming way of life.

So the Dalai Lama explained we cannot know if there is reincarnation until we die, so if we have lived a virtuous good life and discover on our death that reincarnation does exist, then we had prepared the way for a fortunate rebirth, and if reincarnation does not exist at least we lived a good life; however, if we live a cruel and bad life, and reincarnation does exist, then at death it is too late to go back and makes amends!

So as Jesus walked off, either to India or to meet his father, bear in mind that every moment we live is a rebirth!

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