54. Vedic roots of Christianity
In his conversations with John Hislop, Sathya Sai Baba said that when Jesus Christ was a young man, he went to India, where he traveled through the Himalayas for several years. He also visited Iran and Central Asia. In those distant times, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism and Buddhism were practiced in this part of the world.
Zoroastrianism has survived to this day in Iran, but it is more prevalent in western India. At the time of Jesus Christ there were many different schools of Buddhism in Central Asia and Pakistan, including the ancient Vedic tradition.
Sathya Sai Baba also told John Hislop that when Jesus Christ traveled through Iran and India, the locals sometimes mistook him for an ordinary vagabond, but some recognized him as a great spiritual teacher. Think about the amazing details.
Sathya Sai Baba said that during the journey, Jesus Christ did not have money, so he sometimes traveled on carts with trade caravans that helped him move from city to city. He had no money for food and he ate what the locals offered him. Again, what amazing details!
Only the Avatar could tell, in such detail, about the life of Jesus Christ and the circumstances of his journey. One gets the impression that Sathya Sai Baba, having overcome space and time, spoke about the travels of Jesus Christ, as if he himself was personally present during the journey of Jesus Christ to India.
In his lectures, Sathya Sai Baba said that the full spiritual awakening of Jesus Christ took place in India. Fully realizing his divinity, Jesus Christ returned to Palestine in order to begin to preach the spiritual path to his students and followers.
Sathya Sai Baba said that for five years Jesus Christ practiced meditation in the Himalayas, in Kashmir, where he met many high spiritual teachers. In Kashmir, Jesus Christ studied the depths of Vedic and Buddhist philosophy.
The founders of the Biblical tradition were the greatest mystics and prophets, such as Abraham and Moses. It would be a mistake to believe that they were the first to realize the unity of God and the first to formulate the doctrine of a single God – Monotheism.
Long before the emergence of the Biblical tradition, the oneness of God was the essential foundation of Vedic religious philosophy. A large number of gods and goddesses in the Vedic tradition do not contradict the doctrine of the unity of God. All the gods and goddesses in the Vedas symbolize various aspects and qualities of the Divine Consciousness and Cosmic Energy.
Throughout his life, Sathya Sai Baba repeatedly testified that Jesus Christ lived in India for many years, where he studied philosophy and meditation. The question arises, why is it so important for us to know that Jesus Christ spent many years in India? How important is it to know?
For me, this information is extremely important and invaluable because it points to the Vedic philosophical roots and Buddhist moral foundations of Christianity.