In 1894, Nicolas Notovich,
a Russian aristocrat, published a book in French titled The Unknown Life of Jesus, which claims that during his unknown younger
years, Jesus left Galilee for India where he studied with Hindus and Buddhists
before returning to Galilee.
Nikolai Aleksandrovich
Notovich, also known as Nicolas Notovich (1858 - 1916), was a Jewish journalist
and adventurer from Crimea. He also wrote books on the role of Russia in war.
Sometime after the
Ottoman-Russian War (1877 - 1879), Notovich set out on a journey to explore the
Middle East and Far East. In 1887, he reached India, Nepal and Tibet. During
his time in Tibet, Notovich learned there were several sets of scrolls of the
Life of Jesus in India during his teenage years.
During his journey through
northern India, Notovich broke his leg and was recovering from the injury at
the Hemis monastery, a few miles outside of the city of Leh in the Ladakh
region of northern India. The monastery is in a location some 11,000 feet above
sea level.
While there, Notovich was
shown a copy of an ancient Buddhist manuscript that described the life of
Jesus, from his teenage years to the age of 26, describing his life in Tibet
and India during this period. The chief lama at the Hemis Monastery told
Notovich of the manuscript, which was then read to him, through an interpreter.
The manuscript (Life of
Saint Issa, Best of the Sons of Men) referred to Jesus as "Issa"
which resembles the Arabic name "Isa" written in the Koran that is
the name of Jesus in Arabic (the language of Jesus) to refer to Jesus -- in
Sanskrit, "Isa" means "The Lord."
The Tibetan version of the
Life of Issa had been translated from the Pali, the native language of the
Indian subcontinent, also the language of early Buddhism, into the Tibetan
language. It consisted of detached verses -- Notovich wrote his account of the
early years of Jesus in 24 chapters, consisting of 244 short paragraphs.
The Life of Issa, written 3
to 4 years after the death of Jesus, based on the accounts of wandering
merchants who witnessed the Crucifixion and reports of Tibetans with local
knowledge of Jesus in the area, contains the following scenario:
- The deliverance of the people in Egypt by Moses
- The conquest of Palestine by the Romans:
- The birth of Jesus
- At age 13, rather than take a wife, Jesus leaves home to travel with a caravan of merchants to the Sindh region of western India where he spends 6 years living among the Buddhists, learning the Pali language and mastering their religious texts.
- Jesus spends 6 years studying and teaching at Jaganath and other holy cities. His actions create a conflict with the priests (Brahmins) and the warriors (Kshatriyas) for teaching the Vedas (holy scriptures, composed in Vedic Sanskrit) to the lower classes of laborers and farmers (Sudras and Vaisvas) who were only allowed to hear the Vedas during festivals and judicial processes. The Brahmins (priests) objected to allowing Jesus to teach the holy scriptures to the lower classes, compelling Jesus to preach against the Brahmins and Kshatriyas, who then plot the death of Jesus. Warned by the Sudras, Jesus leaves Jganath and travels to the birthplace of the Buddha at foothills of the Himalayan Mountains in southern Nepal.
- At age 29, Jesus returns to his own country and continues preaching for 3 years. He visits Jerusalem, where he falls in disfavor of the Jewish leaders and incurs the wrath of Pontius Pilate. Jesus is arrested for blasphemy by claiming to be the son of God and crucified on the cross.
Notovich's story of his
journey and the text of "The Unknown Life of Jesus" was published in
French is 1894 and later translated into English, Italian, Spanish and German.
Soon thereafter, as often
happens when someone publishes new information about Jesus Christ or any other
religious dogma, controversy ensued.
Historians and religious figures assumed that either Notovich was a
fraud or a liar or was duped by Buddhist monks as a victim of their jokes.
Historian Max Muller wrote
a letter to the head lama at the Hemis Monastery, inquiring about Notovich's
story and the manuscript about the missing years of Jesus. The head lama
replied that there had been no Western visitor at the monastery in the past 15
years in which the lama had been there and that there were no documents
relating to Notovich's story.
In 1922, Swami Abhedananda
visited the Hemis Monastery to investigate the Notovich claims which he had
learned of the previous year in the USA.
The lamas indeed confirmed
that Notovich had been brought to the monastery with a broken leg and was
nursed there for a month and a half. The lamas also confirmed that the
manuscript about Jesus was shown to Notovich and the contents were interpreted
so he would be able to translate the text into Russian.
Swami Abhedananda also
learned that the original manuscript was in the Pali language at the monastery
at Marbour, near Lhasa. The manuscript preserved at the Hemis Monastery was in
the Tibetan language and translated for Notovich. Swami Abhedananda was shown
the manuscript, which had 14 chapters, containing 223 slokas (Hindu prayers or
couplets) and he included some of the verses in his travelogue.
Upon his return to Bengal,
Swami Abhedananda asked his assistant to prepare a manuscript of the
travelogue, based on the extensive notes he had taken during his journey. The
manuscript was published in a monthly series in a publication of the
Ramakrishna Vedanta Samiti and subsequently published in book form in Bengali.
The fifth edition of the
book in English was published in 1987, which includes an Appendix containing
the English version, translated from French, of Notovich's Life of Saint Issa.
In 1951, U.S. Supreme Court
Justice, William O. Douglas, travelled to Hemis and wrote of his experience,
substantiating Notovich's claims.
Edward F. Noack, a Fellow
of the Royal Geographical Society of London and author of Amidst Ice and Nomads of High Asia, has made 18 expeditions into
the Tibetan, Bhutan, Ladakh region since 1958 whereby he was told by a lama at
the Hemis Monastery that a manuscript relating to the story of Jesus on a pilgrimage
to the region was locked in the storeroom.
In 1975, Dr. Roberrt S.
Ravicz, professor of anthrpology at California State University, was told by an
eminent Ladakhi physician and friend that there were documents at the Hemis
Monastery confirming that Jesus had been at the monastery.
There are 112 parallels
between the teachings of Buddha and the teachings of Jesus. Plus, the major
parables attributed to Jesus are all also found in the teachings of Buddha.
Thus, there seems to be
validity in the existence of the manuscript.
A spiritual life, which is
all around us at all times, leads us deeper into it.
Religion is belief in
someone else's experience -- Spirituality is having your own experience.
Religion is for those
afraid of going to hell -- Spirituality is for those who have already been
there.
May the Force be with you.
___________
Quote for the Day --
“Every religion
is true one way or another. It is true when understood metaphorically. But when
it gets stuck in its own metaphors, interpreting them as facts, then you are in
trouble.” Joseph Campbell
___________
Bret Burquest is the author
of 11 books. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a few dogs and where the
Promised Land is everywhere.
___________
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