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Jesus prophesied,

“With the destruction of the senior family members of the dynasty, the eternal family tradition is vanquished, and thus the descendants become involved in irreligious practice. When irreligion is prominent in the family, O Father, the women of the family become corrupt, and from the moral degradation of womanhood come unwanted progeny. When there is increase of unwanted population, a hellish situation is created both for the family and for those who destroy the family tradition. In such corrupt families, there are no regular offerings of food and water to the Supreme Lord.”

In the ancient system of spiritual society there are many principles of religious tradition to help members of the family mature properly and attain spiritual values. The elder family members are responsible for such purifying process, which are a series of seven transcendental rituals celebrating the passages of life, beginning from conception and birth up to the death ceremony. But on the death of the senior family members, the family traditions of purification may become neglected, and the remaining younger family members may develop irreligious habits and thereby lose their chance for spiritual salvation. With the destruction of the lineage holders of the family spiritual tradition, the rest of the family may become involved in irreligion. Therefore, for no purpose should the older members of the family be disrespected, disobeyed or destroyed.

When irreligion becomes prominent in the family, the women of the family become polluted by unfaithfulness. And from the degradation of womanhood comes unwanted low-class progeny. The deliberate creation of good quality population is the basic principle for peace, prosperity and spiritual progress in human society at large. The principles of the exoteric social institution of the Esoteric Teaching are designed so that good population prevails in society for the general spiritual progress of state and community. These arrangements for good population depend on the chastity and faithfulness of womanhood. As children are vulnerable to deception, women are similarly very susceptible to exploitation and moral degradation. Therefore, both children and women require constant protection, supervision and guidance by the elder members of the family. The women are protected from being misled into adultery by being constantly engaged in various family religious traditions in association with their elders and spiritual teachers.

Women are generally sentimental and not very spiritually intelligent, and therefore are easily deceived and misled by unscrupulous men. So family traditions of religious activities should always engage them, and thus their chastity and devotion will result in good population eligible for participation in spiritual life. On the failure of such spiritual institutions, naturally the women become free to act independently and mix unrestrictedly with men, and the resulting illicit sexual relations create unwanted, sinful population. Irresponsible lusty men also promote adultery in society, and thus unwanted children flood the human race with the result of crime, war and a pandemic of ignorance in society. The increase of unwanted population certainly causes hellish conditions of life both for the family and for those who destroy the family tradition. The evil deeds of those who destroy family traditions and thus give rise to unwanted children ultimately devastate all kinds of community projects and family spiritual welfare activities. The family welfare activities of the social institutions of the Esoteric Teaching are designed to help people attain ultimate salvation.

Therefore, when irresponsible, unenlightened leaders break the family tradition, the result is social chaos, and consequently people in general forget the aim of life: devotional service in God consciousness, Krsna consciousness or Christ consciousness. Such ignorant leaders are spiritually blind, and persons who follow them are certain to be misled into confusion. One may be inclined to desire sinful acts such as the death of one’s own senior relatives when driven by selfish motives. There are many such tragic occurrences in the history of the world. But Jesus, being a saintly devotee of the Lord, was always conscious of spiritual principles and therefore took care to avoid sinful activities. He could foresee that the entire community of the Jews would have to bear the sinful reaction of the evil conspiracy of their leaders, the rabbis and Pharisees. These results would reach far into the future and disrupt the peaceful condition of society all over the world. We are actually experiencing the results of this sinful reaction even today.

Jesus’ Reasoning

Jesus concluded,

“I would consider it better for the descendents of Moses to kill me unarmed and unresisting, rather than to ask You to kill them.”

Jesus was trying to establish a position of non-violence on the principles of material religiosity. He compassionately saw that if the rabbis were allowed to attack him, due to this offense the Lord would punish them severely. The inevitable result of this offense against a pure devotee of the Lord would be the destruction of the elders and spiritual guides of Jewish society: the rabbis descended from Moses and David . When the guardians of spiritual family traditions are destroyed, the traditions important to the spiritual health of society would be neglected, and the whole civilization would glide down into a hellish condition as described above.

Although Jesus’ concern for the spiritual family tradition was certainly correct according to external Scriptural codes of morality, the Lord was more concerned with the esoteric side of religious practice. While the rabbis and Pharisees were following the external principles of religion very strictly, they had become ignorant of the inner or esoteric aspects of spiritual advancement. Thus they were unable to recognize Jesus as a pure devotee and representative of the Lord. They had become more concerned with maintaining their important positions in material society than with the Absolute Truth. Due to their continued offenses the Lord had already decided long ago to destroy them, and Jesus was to be the instrument of His plan.

Jesus knew this, but at the same time he was horrified at the thought of the destruction that would take place. He did not consider that the family religious traditions had become corrupt, and the Lord desired to replace them with a new dispensation of the Esoteric Teaching. Jesus apparently was caught up in material lamentation. He thought that even if he survived the confrontation with the Pharisees and defeated them, he still would be unable to enjoy the result. Having defeated and dishonored his elders, many of whom were his childhood religious teachers, Jesus would not be able to enjoy the flourishing congregation he would thus inherit. Nor, after defeating and dishonoring them, would he be able to share his spiritual success with them. In every alternative, then, Jesus saw only defeat and frustration of his actual mission, which was to uplift the entire human society, including his quarrelsome relatives, to the plane of God consciousness.

Seeing Jesus full of compassion in the Garden of Gethsemane, the Supreme Lord spoke comforting words of transcendental wisdom to him. In very ancient times the Lord killed the demon Madhu, and thus to this day He is called Madhusdana or ‘Killer of Madhu’ by the followers of the Secret Teachings of Jesus. Now in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus wanted Him to kill the demon of doubt that had overtaken him in the discharge of his devotional service. No one in material consciousness knows the proper application of compassion. A person fallen in the dangerous ocean of material nescience cannot be saved simply by rescuing his outer dress—the gross material body. Compassion for the dress of a drowning man is useless.

Therefore bodily compassion, lamentation and tears are all signs of ignorance; compassion for the eternal soul is actual self-realization. One who does not know this and laments for the outward dress of the soul—the material body—laments unnecessarily. Jesus was an advanced transcendentalist, a great sage and spiritual Master Teacher, and for him this kind of conduct was unexpected. The Supreme Lord, however, wanted to show how to dissipate the lamentation of all ignorant people. For this reason He arranged a situation in which Jesus was apparently placed into lamentation so that the Lord could impart the confidential truths of the Esoteric Teaching to save suffering humankind.

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Jesus further reasoned,

“Sin will overcome us if we slay such aggressors. Therefore it is not proper for you to kill the descendents of Moses and our friends. What should we gain, O Father, Husband of the Goddess of Fortune, and how could we be happy by killing our own kinsmen? O Lord of All, although these men, overtaken by greed, see no fault in killing one’s family or quarreling with friends, why should we, with knowledge of the sin, engage in these acts?”

Jesus addressed the Lord as ‘Father’ because the Lord is the origin and maintainer of all beings. And as the Husband of the Goddess of Fortune, He the real object of all pleasures of the senses. By using these significant words, Jesus hints that the Lord should understand what would satisfy Jesus’ senses. But the Lord is not meant for satisfying our senses. However, if we try to satisfy the desires of the Lord, then automatically our own senses become satisfied. This is the mystery of devotional service to the Lord. Materially, everyone wants to satisfy his own senses, and wants God to be the order supplier for such satisfaction. The Lord will satisfy the senses of the living entities as much as they deserve, but not to the extent that they may covet. But when we take the opposite path—trying to satisfy the senses of the Lord without desiring to satisfy our own senses—then all our desires are satisfied by the grace of the Lord. Jesus’ deep affection for community and family members was exhibited due to his natural compassion for them. Therefore he was unwilling to see them destroyed by the Lord’s anger. Everyone wants to enjoy his opulence with his relatives. Jesus feared that if his relatives attacked him, the authorized representative of the Lord, the Lord would kill them all, and thus he would be unable to share his opulence of spiritual enlightenment with them. This is a typical miscalculation of materialistic consciousness.

The transcendental life, however, is different. Since the devotee wants to satisfy the desires of the Lord, he can, Lord willing, enjoy all kinds of opulence for the service of the Lord, and if the Lord is unwilling, he will not accept anything. Jesus did not want to be the cause of the Lord annihilating his relatives. Jesus was thinking like this because he apparently forgot that the Lord had already decided long ago to punish the rabbis and Pharisees, and that he was only to become an instrument for the Lord’s plan. This fact is, of course, disclosed in other books of the Bible. As a natural devotee of the Lord, Jesus did not want the Lord to retaliate against his miscreant relatives, but factually it was the Lord’s plan from long before that they should all be defeated. The devotee of the Lord does not want to retaliate against the wrongdoer, but the Lord does not tolerate any mischief done to the devotee. The Lord can excuse a person who offends Him, but He excuses no one who has harmed His devotee. Therefore the Lord was determined to punish the reprobate rabbis, although Jesus wanted to excuse them.

According to Scriptural injunctions there are six kinds of capital aggressors: 1) a poisoner, 2) an arsonist, 3) one who attacks with deadly weapons, 4) one who plunders riches, 5) one who occupies another’s land, and 6) one who kidnaps another’s wife. No sin is incurred by killing such aggressors. Killing criminal aggressors is quite befitting an ordinary person, but Jesus was not an ordinary man. He was saintly by character, and therefore he wanted to deal with them in saintliness. According to Scriptural law, a saintly person should not slay aggressors, especially those who are also family members. Jesus thought that in this case, the Lord should consider the special type of aggressors, namely his own relatives, rabbis, the Pharisees, etc. Because they were relatives and also religious teachers, Jesus thought that He should not take the severe steps necessary against ordinary aggressors. Besides that, saintly persons are inclined to forgive. Therefore Jesus may have thought that it was not proper for his Father to vanquish the descendants of Moses and David on his account. How could Jesus be happy by becoming the cause of the Lord’s destroying his kinsmen?

Such injunctions of mercy for saintly persons are usually more important than any personal emergency. Jesus considered that rather than invoke the power of the Lord to defeat his kinsmen for personal advantage, it would be better to forgive them on grounds of religion and saintly behavior. He did not, therefore, consider such retaliation profitable simply for temporary bodily happiness. After all, the pleasures derived from the body are impermanent, so why should he risk his eternal salvation by the sin of causing the downfall of his own kinsmen? Jesus wanted to point out to the Lord that, as Husband of the Goddess of Fortune, he should not induce Jesus to take a course of action that would ultimately bring about misfortune. The Lord, however, never brings misfortune to anyone, especially His devotees.

Although Jesus’ relatives’ minds were overtaken by greed and they saw no fault in killing him or persecuting his disciples, how could Jesus, who could see the crime in destroying a family, tolerate these acts of violence? Especially when he foresaw the terrible revenge Lord would wreak on the entire Jewish society as a result. However, a preacher is not supposed to abscond when some rival party confronts him, but defeat them by spiritual power. Under such a moral obligation, Jesus could not refuse to meet the fate designed by the Pharisees, though the ultimate result would be their certain destruction. Jesus compassionately considered that the other party might be blind to the effects of such an offense. He, however, could foresee the evil consequences and therefore could not accept the challenge. According to the highest logic of Scriptural morality, an obligation is actually binding only when the effect is good, but when the effect is destructive, then no one can be bound by obligation. Considering all these pros and cons, Jesus wanted to escape and prevent the terrible carnage that would result from the persecution of his mission.

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When the son of God, Jesus, saw all these different grades of friends and relatives full of animosity, he became overwhelmed with compassion and spoke in a faltering voice:

“My dear Father, my whole body is trembling, and my hair is standing on end. My renunciant’s staff is slipping from my hand, and my skin is burning.”

The ecstatic phenomena, such as trembling of the body, standing of the hair on end, horripilation (goose bumps), loss of external consciousness, faltering of the voice and so on occur either in great spiritual ecstasy or out of great fear in material consciousness. Jesus’ symptoms in this situation are apparently out of material fear—namely, imminent loss of life. Excessive attachment for material things puts a man in a bewildered mental condition, especially at the time of death. Such fearfulness and loss of mental equilibrium in the face of hardship, suffering and death take place in persons who are too affected by material conditions. But there is no fear in transcendental realization and Jesus is the pure devotee on the transcendental platform of consciousness. Therefore Jesus is actually in transcendental ecstasy due to the presence of the Supreme Lord, and only pretending to be fearful in order to provoke the Lord to benefit his disciples by speaking the Esoteric Teaching.

The sweating of blood from the pores of the skin mentioned earlier in the Biblical text of this story is a very uncommon symptom of great spiritual ecstasy (mah-bhva). It is documented in certain esoteric literatures that describe the advanced symptoms of intense love of Godhead. These books declare that such rare symptoms exist only in the bodies of the greatest devotees or in the transcendental body of the Supreme Lord Himself. However, since Jesus is having a conversation with the Lord, we must conclude that he is not God, but an incarnation of a great devotee especially empowered by God to perform the mission of spreading the Esoteric Teaching among the people of the Western countries. This conclusion is essential to understanding the transcendental personality of Lord Jesus Christ and his relationship to his Father, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Jesus continued, “I am now unable to stand here any longer. I am forgetting myself, and my mind is reeling. I foresee only evil, O Destroyer of Doubt. I do not see how any good can come from being killed by my kinsmen, or Your killing them in retribution. Nor can I, my dear Father, desire any subsequent success, opulent congregation or happiness.”

Jesus, in humbly accepting the role of an ordinary foolish man before his Divine Father, envisioned only painful reverses in the immediate future—he felt that he would not be happy even by gaining victory over his foes. When a man perceives only frustration in his expectations, he feels like he would rather be anyone or anywhere else. Everyone is interested in himself and his own welfare. But one’s real eternal welfare lies in worshiping and serving the Lord. The conditioned soul forgets this, and therefore suffers material reactions to his unfortunate activities. Jesus was apparently showing ignorance of his real self-interest by trying to forestall his destiny according to the Lord’s will. Jesus ostensibly thought that whatever the outcome of the coming struggle, it would only be a cause of lamentation for him. He could not, for the moment, see how any good could come from being killed by his own kinsmen. Nor, because of his sense of righteousness, could he desire victory over them, nor any subsequent success or happiness.

Jesus therefore argued, “O Father, of what avail to us are followers, happiness or even life itself when all those for whom we may desire them are now arrayed against us? O killer of evil-doers, when teachers, fathers, sons, grandfathers and all other relatives are ready to give up their lives and properties by offending Your son, then why should I wish You to kill them, though I may survive? O maintainer of all creatures, I am not prepared to see You destroy them even in exchange for the three worlds, let alone this earth.”

Without knowing that one’s real self-interest is in devotional service to the Lord, conditioned souls are attracted by bodily relationships, hoping to be happy in such temporary, imperfect situations. In such a blind conception of life, they forget that the Lord is the original cause, even of material happiness. In his anxiety, Jesus appears to have forgotten the moral codes for a renunciant. The ancient esoteric Scriptures teach that a person in the renounced order of life who is completely devoted to spiritual culture is eligible to enter into the spiritual world or Kingdom of God at the time of death. Therefore Jesus should have been glad to accept suffering and even martyrdom in the service of the Lord, for that would have guaranteed his eternal liberation from the suffering of material existence.

But the real cause of Jesus’ agitation is that out of profound compassion, he is reluctant to allow his relatives to commit offenses to his divinely ordained mission, thereby ruining their chances of spiritual advancement. For the same reason, he thinks that there would also be no happiness in being victorious over his kinsmen. Any victory could only come by the defeat and humiliation of many senior rabbis, who Jesus humbly regarded as his teachers. Therefore he was temporarily unwilling to go on, just as a person who does not feel hunger is not inclined to cook. Perhaps he imagined escaping into the desert to live a secluded life of frustration. But as a renounced preacher, he required a congregation for his subsistence, because according to the Eastern religious social tradition, renunciants cannot engage themselves in any occupation other than preaching and begging from their congregation. Jesus’ sole opportunity for gaining happiness lay in going through with the Lord’s plan, which for the moment he apparently did not want to do.

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As soon as the Supreme Lord appeared to him, Jesus was cleansed of all material contamination and elevated to his original spiritual position as the Celestial Christ. With mystic vision, he could see the entire situation clearly, as if from above. Jesus could see many high priests, rabbis, Pharisees―elders as respectable as his father and grandfathers, teachers, uncles, brothers, sons, grandsons, friends, and other relatives who would normally be well-wishers, within the party of his enemies—all full of hatred and ready to kill him.

Jesus could clearly see the hatred in the hearts of his enemies, but he did not hate them. And he could also see the fear and unsteadiness in the hearts of his disciples, although they were under the Lord’s protection. This situation was giving him grief, because in both cases it was an illusion due to the influence of ignorance. The Pharisees were the religious scholars of the Jews. They wanted to protect their aristocratic position in Jewish society against the popular movement started by Jesus. Therefore they hated Jesus, although there was no offense on his part. As a pure devotee of the Lord, Jesus had no desire to fight with his fellow Jews, but since the rabbis and Pharisees were never agreeable to any peaceful negotiation, he was forced to preach against them by their very obstinacy. It was an open secret that there was a conspiracy among the rabbis, in collaboration with the local Roman government, to entrap Jesus by evil plans.

Jesus wanted to educate everyone in transcendental knowledge, and thus share the bliss of his enlightenment. But demoniac people are always against spiritual advancement, though they may be in the dress of so-called pious priests, rabbis or other religious authorities and government officials. They made a false case against Jesus, a pure devotee, a genuine representative of God, and sought to entrap him by a conspiracy of counterfeit arguments. All this gave rise to distress within Jesus’ heart, due to compassion. Of course, Jesus’ enemies could not comprehend that he and his sincere disciples inevitably would be victorious over their evil plan by the Lord’s grace. The Pharisees were so proud of their temporal power and ignorant of real spiritual Truth that they would not accept the Lord’s representative, even though he personally appeared before them. Why then did Jesus grieve for them?

In the Secret Teachings of Jesus, the pure devotee is referred to as ‘One who conquers sleep.’ Sleep also means ignorance. So Jesus conquered both sleep and ignorance because of his being the transcendental son of the Lord. As a great devotee of the Lord, he could not forget the Lord even for a moment, because that is the nature of the devotee. Either waking or in sleep, a devotee of the Lord is always thinking of the Lord’s Holy Name, form, abode, qualities and pastimes. And this God consciousness is the source of the highest transcendental ecstasy. Thus a devotee of the Lord can conquer both sleep and ignorance simply by thinking of the Lord constantly. In the language of the Secret Teachings of Jesus this is called God consciousness, or Christ consciousness.

As the Director of the senses and mind of every living entity, the Lord could understand Jesus’ purpose in calling Him to the Garden of Gethsemane. As the Supersoul of all living entities, the Lord could understand everything in Jesus’ mind and heart. As a Father, He wanted to comfort His transcendental son Jesus, and assure him that there was no cause for distress. But He was also concerned about Jesus’ expressed doubts. Did Jesus want to stop there and not go on with executing the Lord’s plan? The Lord never expected such things from his transcendental son. The Lord, who can understand the psychic activities of all beings, thus predicated His teaching in the Garden that night on the conflicting thoughts within Jesus’ mind.

Jesus, seeing his Jewish friends and relatives conspiring against him in such a perverted spirit of animosity, felt symptoms of transcendental anxiety out of compassion for their spiritual blindness. Anyone who has genuine devotion to the Lord has all the good qualities found in Godly persons; whereas the non-devotees, however advanced they may be in material qualifications by education and culture, lack all good spiritual qualities beginning with truthfulness, compassion and loving kindness. Jesus could understand that his kinsmen, though intelligent and learned, were devoid of God consciousness and had ignorantly become enemies of his mission. As such, he was overwhelmed by compassion for these fools who had declared war against their own real interest in life. As far as his disciples were concerned, he was naturally sympathetic. But Jesus felt deep compassion even for the opposing party, foreseeing their imminent destruction and the terrible punishment they would have to undergo for their offenses.

Jesus was simply astonished to see the animosity of the rabbis and Pharisees. Practically the whole Jewish aristocratic community, all blood relatives of Jesus, had conspired to stop his preaching mission. This overwhelmed a kind devotee like Jesus. Such symptoms in Jesus were actually not due to weakness but to his kindheartedness, an important characteristic of a pure devotee of the Lord. One who has unflinching devotion for the Personality of Godhead has all the good qualities of the archangels and more. But one who is not a devotee of the Lord has only material qualifications that are of little value. This is because he is hovering on the mental plane without spiritual engagement, and therefore is certain to be attracted by the glare of the material energy and entrapped in an endless regress of material desire and frustration.

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In the symbolism of the ancient wisdom-language of the Secret Teachings of Jesus, the cup stands for the mind, and the drink within the cup for the knowledge or consciousness within the mind. Jesus was begging the Supreme Lord, not to change His plan, but to change his consciousness or state of mind. This is confirmed by Jesus’ ultimate conclusion: “Not as I will, but as You will,” indicating Jesus’ complete surrender to the will of the Lord. The metaphor of the cup indicates that the entire passage should be interpreted as shedding light on the esoteric psychology of the intimate loving relationship between the pure devotee and the Lord.

Unless we change our consciousness, we cannot advance in spiritual life. Spiritual life means developing consciousness of God leading to eternal freedom and bliss; whereas material life means conditioned consciousness limited to the dull, temporary and changeable material mind and senses. The soul perceives the Lord directly through spiritual senses, so the material body is superfluous in the advanced stages of spiritual life. The spiritually advanced devotee does not care for the material tabernacle, except insofar as it is useful to carry out the instructions of the Lord. Therefore Jesus was not lamenting for the body, although from a material perspective it may appear that he was.

To comprehend the significance of the events in the Garden of Gethsemane that night, it is vital to understand that Jesus was trying to create a pretext for the Lord to transmit the eternal Esoteric Teaching anew. He was concerned about his disciples’ immature stage of spiritual advancement. Jesus felt they were unprepared for his imminent disappearance. He was trying to provoke the Lord to appear and bestow the important instructions of the Esoteric Teaching for their benefit. Therefore he invokes the Lord’s presence by pleading for help in dealing with his own mind.

In other words, Jesus humbly takes the position of an ordinary man who is unable to control his mind at the hour of death. He does this both as an example to his disciples of how to pray in times of emergency, and to provide an opportunity for a new dispensation of the Esoteric Teaching. He knew that God always speaks just appropriately for the intelligence of those who are hearing. His real motivation is thus consistent with both his devotional attitude of humility and unconditional compassion, and his special concern for his disciples’ welfare and their impact on the future of humanity.

The appearance of the Lord in the material universe is always a very great and significant event. It is only by such appearances or incarnations of the Lord that we denizens of the material world learn of transcendental knowledge. Unless the Lord reveals Himself by speaking the Esoteric Teaching, we would simply have no other alternative than to speculate about religion and manufacture our own so-called truth, as is going on all over the world at the present moment. Unfortunately, as we have experienced, this leads only to misunderstanding, strife and disaster.

People in material consciousness cannot understand why modern hedonistic culture, based as it is upon limited human intelligence, cannot grant perfect peace and happiness to the living beings. This is because, while materialists may have made some small progress in material science, they are ignorant of the science of God. Therefore spiritual degradation, unrest and suffering are increasing all over the planet. The Lord appears to speak transcendent knowledge of spiritual life just to mitigate the sufferings of all living beings by granting them spiritual peace. This is the only valid process of obtaining real knowledge of Transcendence, which by definition is beyond the observational range of the imperfect material senses and the analytical power of the tiny human mind. Since we cannot see the spiritual world in our present limited state of consciousness, when the Lord appears He reveals knowledge of the unmanifest world. This is the origin of the Esoteric Teaching that underlies and informs all the bona fide religions of the world.

However, we must be intelligent and spiritually advanced enough to see and recognize the Lord when he reveals Himself. Otherwise we will miss Him and lose the opportunity, as did Jesus’ disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane. While Jesus was speaking with the Lord, completely absorbed in the spiritual ecstasy of seeing Him face to face, his disciples were sleeping. This confirms that they did not see the Lord nor feel His presence. Therefore their transcendental senses were as yet unawakened. Not only Jesus’ neophyte disciples, but the entire Jewish elite of Jerusalem missed the appearance of the Lord, who “comes as a thief in the night,” and thus is not exposed to our materially conditioned senses.

Master of the Senses

In the Secret Teachings of Jesus, the Lord is called the ‘Master of the Senses’ because as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he is the actual owner and controller of all the senses in all living bodies. The living entities emanate from Him, therefore the senses of the living entities are also emanations of His senses. The omnipresent Lord, situated in the hearts of all living entities, directs their minds and senses, but since the embodied living entities in the illusion of material consciousness identify with the body, they wrongly think that the bodily senses are operating under their own control. Actually, the Lord directs the senses and awakens the minds of the living entities in proportion to the degree of their surrender unto Him. He does not force Himself on anyone, but reciprocates in response to the sincerity of our desire to know Him as He is.

The non-devotional impersonalist philosophers, and others overwhelmed by the illusion of material consciousness, cannot understand Him or detect His personal presence. But in the case of a pure devotee, the Supreme Lord directly controls his senses and mind, awarding enlightenment, unlimited spiritual pleasure and causeless transcendental knowledge. No one but a pure devotee of the Lord can comprehend how this is possible. The impersonalist philosophers cannot properly understand either the senses of the living entities or the transcendental senses of the Lord, and therefore they concoct various theories that describe all living entities, including the Lord, as ultimately impersonal or senseless. Since there is no such thing as a living entity without senses, in reality it is the impersonal theory that is senseless.

The Lord has different names according to His different activities and qualities. In the Garden of Gethsemane the Lord directly controlled the spiritualized senses of Jesus, thus stimulating intense symptoms of ecstatic love in Jesus’ body and recalling His particular name of ‘Master of the Senses.’ The purpose of Jesus’ dialog with his Father, the infallible Lord, was to get Him to reveal the confidential purpose of eternal religion—the Esoteric Teaching—to his disciples. Although the Lord is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the Supreme Controller, He accepted this task in the service of His transcendental son out of His causeless mercy and boundless unconditional love. He never fails in His affection for His devotees, and thus He is also called the ‘Infallible One.’ He felt responsible to carry out Jesus’ request, and as a loving Father he did not hesitate to do so.

Although in this pastime the Lord accepted the position of a spiritual Master Teacher at Jesus’ request, His supreme position as universal Father was never challenged. In all circumstances, He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Lord of the total senses. But the Lord was reciprocating His devotee’s love. The relationship between the Lord and His servitor is very sweet and transcendental. The devotee is always ready to render service to the Lord, and similarly the Lord is always seeking an opportunity to render service to His devotee. He actually takes greater pleasure in His pure devotees’ ordering Him than he does in being the order-giver Himself. Since He is always the supreme Master and Controller, everyone is under His order, and no one is above Him. But when He finds that a pure devotee is ordering Him, although He is the infallible Master of all beings, He derives spiritual pleasure from this paradox of loving intimacy. This is the esoteric transcendental psychology of the relationship between the Lord and His pure devotee in the ecstasy of spiritual love.

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To understand the character and motivation of Jesus, we must first accept that he is a pure devotee of the Lord. He has no desire for material sense gratification, intellectual philosophical knowledge or even liberation. He is so advanced he is ready to sacrifice everything for the purposes of his beloved Father, the Lord. Yet for the sake of his disciples, he adopted the role of an ordinary ignorant man and pretended to be in anxiety and illusion. Jesus did this to invoke the Lord’s mercy upon them. He wanted to gain the Lord’s special instructions and blessings to empower his disciples to teach the Absolute Truth to the fallen people of this materialistic age. It is extremely difficult to teach spiritual life or God consciousness in the present historical cycle without distortion, especially in the Western countries. Jesus wanted the Lord to deliver a new dispensation of the eternal Absolute Truth, specially adapted to present conditions, so that even the most fallen materialistic people could understand these important transcendental Truths.

The first sentences of this apparently simple but profound story set the stage for the sacred talks to follow:

And he came out, and went, as he was wont, to the mount of Olives; and his disciples also followed him. And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation.

And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed… [Luke 22:39-41 KJV]

The Garden of Gethsemane was a favorite meditation place of Jesus. He came there many times to pray to the Lord. Therefore it was a comfortable scene to his disciples, who were used to resting while Jesus prayed. But this time was special, for Jesus already knew that he was betrayed and what was to occur early the next morning. On this night, Jesus was approaching his prayer with unprecedented intensity, because he knew that he and his disciples were soon to undergo the greatest test. The disappearance of the empowered representative of the Lord from this world always opens the gates of chaos, and unscrupulous persons take advantage of this to advance their own interest under the guise of religious teaching. Jesus therefore asked his closest disciples to remain alert while he invoked the presence of the Supreme Lord, so they would benefit by receiving the special Teaching the Lord was going to reveal.

The Lord appears in the material world to protect His pure devotees, to accept their loving service unto Him, and to respond to their heartfelt pleas for help. A pure devotee can invoke the presence of the Lord at any time, and the Lord responds to him just like an ordinary parent or friend. The father of a young child is certainly in a superior position, yet when his son calls in distress the father immediately comes to help. Similarly, the Supreme Lord is the Father of all living entities, who are therefore His dependent children. Yet He is always responsive to the loving call of His pure devotee who feels helpless and completely dependent upon His kind mercy.

Death is an extremely difficult time for everyone but a pure devotee of the Lord. Only the pure devotee has nothing to lose and everything to gain by giving up the material body. Others whose lives are riddled with sinful activity not only suffer the loss of everything near and dear to them, but also have nothing to look forward to except a hellish existence after death. But the devotee knows that after death he will be reunited with his most beloved Lord. Therefore he is not disturbed by the prospect of death; indeed, he welcomes it enthusiastically.

Jesus wanted the Lord to take responsibility for his disciples because he knew the Lord’s plan. Jesus was soon to leave this world and his disciples would have to carry on without his physical presence. Nevertheless they were at an immature stage of spiritual development and unready to carry on the exalted esoteric tradition of transcendental knowledge. Therefore Jesus wanted to ask the Lord to protect them directly. Of course, the Supreme Personality of Godhead is already protecting all living entities, but this is an example of the sweet personal dealings between the devotee and the Lord. Jesus knew that he would be unable to complete his disciples’ transcendental education; therefore he personally called upon his Father, the Lord, for assistance.

The next part of the Gospel story reads, “And going forward a little, he fell on his face praying.” [Matt 26:39]

This text is a little difficult for the ordinary person to understand, because it refers to a level of spiritual practice beyond our common exoteric experience. In the West, it is customary to kneel while praying; but in the context of the Secret Teachings of Jesus, it is understood that one is supposed to fall down on the ground in complete surrender before the Lord and his spiritual Master Teacher. To show proper respect to the omnipotent Lord and his personal earthly representative the spiritual Master Teacher, one is supposed to offer complete obeisance with eight parts of the body: the two legs, the two arms, the belly, the chest, the head and with one’s words. This is called dandavats, or falling down like a stick.

“And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him…” [Genesis 17.3 KJV]

This is the transcendental etiquette, and here we see that Jesus Christ observes the customary procedure. One who does not comply with this tradition is considered uncultured and unfit to approach the Lord directly or associate with the members of the Inner Circle of Christ. However, anyone who offers proper respect to the spiritual Master Teacher and to the Lord very easily obtains their complete mercy, and advances quickly in spiritual life and devotion.

“And he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy;” [Mark 14:33 KJV]

The bulk of the disciples could not enter the Inner Circle because they were not yet qualified to be Initiates. Only Peter, James and John could go deeper into the Garden with Jesus. As the Path of the Teaching ascends toward the presence of the Supreme Lord, it becomes so narrow only one can pass. Only Jesus could enter the Inner Circle and come into the Presence of God, because only he was qualified by personal realization of the Absolute Truth. Even Peter, James and John could not follow Jesus all the way.

The Secret Teachings of Jesus assert that Lord Jesus Christ is an empowered incarnation of the Celestial Christ, the secondary creator, sent to the earth planet by the Supreme Lord to perform an important service to Him. Lord Jesus Christ is unique among all beings in this universe because his body is emanated or expanded directly from the transcendental body of the Lord before the creation of the planetary systems of this material universe. Therefore, although the Lord is certainly the spiritual Father of all living entities, Jesus Christ is especially known as the transcendental son of God.

The question then arises that, considering the exalted position and advanced spiritual consciousness of Lord Jesus Christ, how is it that he lamented his imminent persecution and crucifixion? Was he afraid of death? Did he doubt his eternal spiritual identity because of some material ignorance? Was his spiritual development less than perfect? Otherwise, why was he begging, “All things are possible for You, take this cup from me”? Was Jesus asking the Lord to change His plan? If Jesus knew the future and the nature of the conspiracy against him, why didn’t he simply use his mystic powers to escape? These are all legitimate questions in the mind of the inquisitive student.

Listen

Most people have heard the story of Jesus and his disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane. The core teaching of this familiar account from the Gospels is that when in difficulty, one should approach the spiritual Master Teacher or God to pray for advice and inspiration. The Lord will respond, either directly or through the spiritual Master Teacher, resolving the sincere disciple’s difficulty. This tenet is actually an integral part of the Esoteric Teaching, the original spiritual source from which all the bona fide religions in the world are derived. Therefore it is universally relevant to all Godly people, regardless of their doctrinal orientation or level of attainment in self-realization.

However, this pastime also contains a much more profound meaning. There is a clue to its deeper layer of significance in the fact that Jesus’ disciples could not remain awake while he prayed. The unenlightened person can hardly appreciate the personal presence of God, or the timeless secret teachings He reveals when He appears in this world. As the Lord states in His Esoteric Teaching, “The time of awakening for the self-realized soul is night for ordinary beings.” Therefore, although a spiritual event of universal significance was happening right before them, the neophyte disciples who later recorded Jesus’ life in the Gospels and started the original Christian religion could not remain alert.

They slept despite the fact that God was present, engaged in an intense personal dialog with His son and intimate disciple Jesus Christ. This inattention is revealed in the Gospels; or rather, in what is omitted from the Gospels. After all, the writers could not possibly have recorded what was happening while they were asleep. Therefore in the Gospels’ version of the story, Jesus goes from protesting “My Father, all things are possible for You, take this cup from me,” to capitulating, “Yet, not as I will, but as You will,” in a single verse [Luke 22:42].

A great soul like Jesus does not so easily doubt the order of the Lord, which is his life and soul. If Jesus had doubts (“Take this cup”), they must have been significant. Significant doubts are not easily erased. One gets the feeling that a lot of dialog is absent from the Biblical narration; indeed, the Lord’s side of the conversation is completely missing. Except for a brief mention of the appearance of the Lord of Heaven to Jesus, only statements and actions of Jesus appear in the Gospels.

This is consistent with the observation that the disciples were inattentive and unaware of God’s presence. They were dozing, and only half awoke when Jesus cried out to his Father in prayer. Alas, the Gospels, for all their beauty and value, are not perfect; they omit many important pastimes of Jesus. Another glaring dereliction is the entire story of Jesus’ young manhood. The Gospels narrate a few precious pastimes of Jesus as a child, and then suddenly skip to his preaching activities as a grown man. Twenty years or so are utterly missing from the Gospels’ account of Jesus’ life.

However, this is not the case with other records. The Secret Teachings of Jesus narrate Jesus’ early travels throughout the ancient world, notably to Egypt and India, where he took instruction and received initiation and recognition from many spiritual authorities. Not surprisingly, the Secret Teachings of Jesus contain a similar, but more complete version of the Gethsemane story as well.

After the Last Supper

The Gospels’ version of the story begins just after the Last Supper, when the disciples followed Jesus out into the countryside to pray:

And he came out, and went, as he was wont, to the mount of Olives; and his disciples also followed him. And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation.

And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.

And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

And when he rose up from prayer, and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow, And said unto them, Why sleep ye? rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. [Luke 22:39-46 KJV]

There are many important lessons to be learned from this Gospel story. The age-old custom of those in the spiritual and renounced orders of life is to seek the shelter of nature’s pure atmosphere for spiritual activities. The cities, towns and villages are always more or less polluted by people’s sinful activities of selfish sense gratification. For this reason Jesus’ initiating spiritual Master Teacher, John the Baptist, refused to enter the towns even for preaching purposes. He used to remain outside the town walls in the pasturing grounds (eremo in the original Greek), and the people had to come out to see him. Therefore after the Last Supper, Jesus wanted to leave the contaminated atmosphere of the town and commune with God in the purity of the countryside, without the distracting influences of material sense gratification and sinful life.

Spiritual life has nothing to do with bodily sense gratification; indeed, the two are mutually exclusive. One cannot work hard to maintain the values of bodily enjoyment and at the same time become a self-realized or God-realized soul. That is contradictory. Spiritual life means the renunciation of gross bodily pleasures as far as possible, and realization of a higher source of pleasure in relationship with God and His pure devotees. This is actual spiritual life. It is not dry, it is full of pleasure—but that pleasure is on the spiritual platform, not the bodily platform. Jesus is the prototype of a renunciant. He is not at all interested in material pleasure, for he has realized a higher source of pleasure in loving devotional service to the Lord. His greatest joy is in sharing his special relationship with God. In this story we find a perfect instance of the spiritual relationship of mutual love, surrender and service between the devotee and the Lord.

One should therefore study the confidential Secret Teachings of Jesus very carefully—if possible, with the help and guidance of a self-realized devotee of the Lord—and try to understand it without blind doctrinal criticism or personally motivated misinterpretations. The example of proper understanding is illustrated in the way Jesus accepted instruction directly from the Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane, transforming his initial lamentation and hesitation into joyful, enthusiastic surrender. If someone is fortunate enough to understand the Secret Teachings of Jesus without twisting it to justify his personal desires, then he surpasses all conventional religious studies and ordinary Scriptural wisdom. One will find in the stories and parables of the Secret Teachings of Jesus all that is contained in the ordinary teachings of religion, but the deeply inquiring reader will also find much wisdom not to be found anywhere else. That is the specific standard of the Secret Teachings of Jesus. It is the perfect theistic science because the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Supreme Lord, directly speaks it for the pleasure and benefit of His devotees.

Listen

Just as white sunlight transmitted through colored gels appears in many different colors, the original Absolute Truth is modified by the medium through which it is revealed. The language used by Jesus or Mohamed or Vyasadeva, the compiler of the Vedas, may differ, and their culture, methods of worship and teaching techniques may seem worlds apart, but all the prophets are striving to communicate substantially the same message to different audiences in different times, places and conditions. Naturally, the details of their teachings vary. I call the direct revelation of the complete Absolute Truth about God the Esoteric Teaching, and this original Teaching is transmitted or reflected in varying degrees of completeness and accuracy in all the religions and philosophies of the world.

Then, do we have any hope of receiving the original message of God—the Esoteric Teaching—unaltered? Certainly: the Supreme Lord is omnipotent, and can do anything He wishes. If God wants to descend to this world and personally reveal His message to anyone, who is to stop Him? Some people may object that it is impossible for God to appear in the material world and communicate His message directly. Indeed, the Roman church declared gnosis a capital heresy despite that fact that Paul was converted by Jesus in a vision. But what is impossible for God? If the son of God, Jesus Christ, can appear in the womb of a virgin, then why is it impossible for the Father to reveal Himself in any way He likes? Of course, when He appears we may not recognize or understand Him, but that is a different problem. When Jesus Christ appeared, the mainstream rabbis and Pharisees refused to acknowledge him, even though he was the perfect fulfillment of many prophecies in their own Scriptures that they could easily quote from memory. Similarly, there is no certainty that our contemporary Christians would recognize or acknowledge God, even if He appeared directly before their eyes.

Actually, of course the Supreme Lord, the Father of all, can appear anywhere He wishes, or reveal Himself to anyone He wants at any time. His will is infallible, His powers inexhaustible. Certainly He has appeared many times in this world, and these historical incidents are recorded in all the Scriptures of all religions, including the Bible. For example, the ancient Vedic religious epic Mahabharata describes the advent and pastimes of Lord Sri Krsna, the incarnation of the original Supreme Personality of Godhead, in what is now called India (formerly Bharata) about 5,000 years ago. The most popular and beloved section of Mahabharata is the famous Bhagavad-gita, or Song of God.

In Bhagavad-gita, Lord Krsna has inspired billions of devotees with an exposition of the spiritual Truths of life that is comprehensive yet succinct, highly elevated yet practical in its universal applicability. It is the best example in the world’s spiritual literature of God appearing in this material world and enlightening His devotee. Even better, Bhagavad-gita was recorded verbatim by the sage Vyasadeva, himself an incarnation of God, and transmitted to us through the strict Vedic system of disciplic succession without any change. Therefore, it is a complete and literal record of God’s description of Himself and directions on how to approach and worship Him.

The circumstances in which Lord Krsna spoke Bhagavad-gita to His friend and devotee Arjuna exactly parallel Jesus’ situation in the Garden of Gethsemane. The devotee is put into demanding circumstances where he must make a difficult sacrifice, and in his perplexity, seeks the reliable shelter of the Lord’s counsel. In Bhagavad-gita, the Lord replies to Arjuna at length and elegantly solves his problem. In the process, He expounds a wonderful non-sectarian overview of the entire field of religion and self-realization.

Although the authors and editors of the Gospels did not see fit to transmit to us all that transpired between the Lord and Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane on that fateful night, since Jesus was approaching the very same Supreme Lord with a very similar problem, he must have received a very similar answer.

When I recognized this, I saw an opportunity to apply the message of Bhagavad-gita to fill one of the most tantalizing gaps in the story of the Gospels. The result is the volume you are reading. I beg the reader to be patient with my adaptation, and understand the purpose of the changes I have made to a text and exegesis held sacred by many. In 1976 I wrote my Spiritual Master, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, “I am concerned about my Christian relatives and friends, who because of sectarian considerations will never study Bhagavad-gita As It Is or your other wonderful books, or chant the Holy Name of Krsna. If they chant the name of Jesus Christ will they receive the same or similar benefit?” Srila Prabhupada replied in the following inspiring words: “I can give you all guidance and direction for there are millions of Christians in the world today. We are not concerned with how, so much as the fact that one must develop his dormant love for God. This is alright that you will chant the names of Christ for after all he was the representative of God. People are lost due to not following a bona fide religious system. If you can revive their God consciousness that will be very good service.” [letter 76-09-08]

This work and my book Here Be Wisdom are humble attempts to respond to this instruction. They also attempt to fill an aching need for the many inquisitive Christians who, like me, may lie awake at night wondering how the Lord changed Jesus’ mind in the Garden of Gethsemane and set his course aright for the immense sacrifice he was about to make. Certainly there are many errors herein, both in concept and execution, that will be apparent to the discriminating reader. I accept full responsibility for them and beg the readers’ tolerance and forgiveness. I have experienced throughout my life that the Vedic tradition of the Esoteric Teaching offers the best solutions to the practical difficulties and spiritual problems of human life. We may never know exactly what the Lord said to Jesus the night before his trial and crucifixion, but in this work we have applied the best of the Vedic esoteric wisdom to this difficult question. I sincerely hope the reader will find substantial spiritual inspiration and guidance in these pages, and be encouraged to become a better Christian by following the authentic path of Lord Jesus Christ.

Listen

That one may find more of Jesus Christ in the teachings of the East than in conventional Christianity today should not be too surprising. After all, Jesus was far more a product of the Eastern spiritual tradition than of Western theological speculation. He inhabited a cultural environment with a moral perspective that would seem quite alien and restrictively austere to most contemporary Westerners. The recent discovery and translation of the Nag Hammadi (Dead Sea) scrolls have contributed quite a bit of evidence to this line of reasoning. The well-known history of the Roman Church also underscores the indubitable fact that we do not have access to the complete, unedited Gospels. As a result, most objective religious scholars now agree that the content and style of modern Christianity owe far more to Paul, Constantine and Aristotle than to Jesus.

For example, there are many gaps, both large and small, in the biography of Jesus recounted in the Gospels. What did Jesus do between the age of twelve, when he strayed from his bar mitzvah party to confound the rabbis in the Temple, and when he was initiated by John the Baptist and began his preaching mission about the age of 30? Why is important background information—such as the social and religious contexts of Jesus’ appearance and activities detailed in the Nag Hammadi books, and the etymological derivation of the title ‘Christ’—absent from the Bible, and indeed the entire Christian scholastic tradition? Another serious omission concerns the most significant encounter of Jesus Christ with the Supreme Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night of the Last Supper. Jesus goes from protesting, “Take this cup,” to acceding, “Thy will, not my will,” in about two verses. Why did Jesus appear to weaken in his hour of greatest tribulation? What happened to change his mind, ease his doubts and strengthen his determination? The astute reader may identify hundreds of such gaps and inconsistencies, large and small, in the books of the Bible.

This broadminded analytical viewpoint, unfortunately, has not yet filtered down to the average lay Christian. No doubt the leaders of churches and other Christian organizations find it convenient to shield their followers from these baffling questions and awkward truths, which certainly call for a complete reassessment of the core teachings and practices of the Christian Church. But again, it is not my purpose here to criticize or argue with anyone’s beliefs. Rather, I would simply point out to the reader who may never have thought along these lines before that there is a lot more to know about Jesus Christ and God than can be contained in any one book or any sectarian line of religious doctrine. Can we find clues to these gaps in our knowledge in the ancient esoteric traditions?

I would also like to highlight the existence of the field of meta-religion: those essential understandings and teachings common to most, if not all, bona fide religions that predate, permeate and underlie all religious, theological and philosophical paths of human development, often in the form of unstated assumptions. As philosophers often point out, we human beings have no independent method of ascertaining objective truth. Our own senses lie to us constantly. For example, objects that are close to us appear larger than those of the same size that are far away. The apparent color and shape of an object change with the angle of view, or with the light at different times of day. Our minds are no more reliable. Our values can and do change as we learn about life through experience. The theories and doctrines of science may seem solid and dependable, until one day a new theory is proven and displaces them. What seems like a wise and beneficial course of action to us today may appear foolish and destructive tomorrow, as material conditions change.

If we are ever to arrive at perfect knowledge and understanding, especially in areas beyond the jurisdiction of the human mind and senses by definition— such as the nature of the soul, the confidential purposes and ways of God and the eternal Truths of the spiritual world—this information cannot be discovered by human efforts but must be revealed to us from sources higher than human. Therefore all religions posit the process of revelation as fundamental. God must reveal Himself through some agency—whether directly to a chosen prophet, or indirectly through inspired Scriptures—if we imperfect, illusioned human beings are ever to know the real Absolute Truth.

Here lies the kernel of the conflicts among religions: each such revelation seems to differ with all the others, and each teacher’s interpretation of the same revelation also differs from others. Yet we can reason that God is, by definition, one. Therefore the Truth about God should also be one, and not admit conflicting revelations and interpretations. Certainly there is great significance in this line of thought, which I explore more deeply in my book Search for the Absolute Truth. Yet to reconcile the apparent disparity between the Absolute Truth—which reason says must be one, and one alone—and the endless variety of religious and spiritual teachings is not difficult.

Listen

When one sees a book or weblog about Lord Jesus Christ, it is natural to assume that it is written by a Christian. While I am certainly a Christian, I am a Christian of a very different sort than most readers may have encountered. Let me explain.

I grew up in a conventional Episcopal church and was very active as a choirboy, acolyte and lay reader. However, almost from the beginning of my childhood I could perceive profound differences between the principles and actions of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Gospels, and the behavior and attitudes of all but a few rare Christians. After all, Jesus Christ was a strict renunciant, but almost all Christians today, including the clergy, are householders with no taste for celibacy or austerity.

He had no home, and eschewed the comforts of family life for the rigors of traveling and preaching; but today’s Christians prefer to live in luxurious houses with all convenient amenities. Jesus dedicated his life to healing people and preaching the message of God, traveling on foot throughout the ancient world; whereas most of his modern followers drive expensive late-model vehicles on missions of economic aggrandizement and personal pleasure. Instead of making regular retreats to the wilderness to fast and pray, today’s Christians spend their annual vacations at expensive luxury resorts.

Jesus Christ, as the leader and messiah of the Essene sect of Jews, was a strict vegetarian; yet his contemporary professed disciples eat any kind of meat, even unclean foods like pork, and veal, which requires extreme cruelty to young calves to produce. Lord Jesus was the perfect example of unconditional spiritual love and sacrifice, but it was obvious to my vision even as a child that selfish materialistic interests motivate most modern professional clergy and laymen. Lord Jesus Christ willingly accepted death in the prime of his life to serve the desire of his Father the Lord, whereas the Christians I knew fought death with every weapon of medical science and technology, delaying the inevitable as long as their health insurance paid the bills.

These observations, and many more like them, led me at a tender age to conclude that most ostensible Christians were actually followers of Jesus Christ in name only; and that the church and its ministers edited and diluted the message of Jesus Christ to cater to the understanding and expectations of the majority of their congregation. For example, when was the last time you heard a sermon on the verse: “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God”? Does anyone really believe the fashionable ‘abundance theology’ preached in most churches today is authored by Jesus Christ, the son of man who had no place to lay his head? The Lord does indeed promise to grant all the desires of His devotees, but why should we approach the Supreme Godhead in fervent prayer and invoke His solemn promise, merely to beg selfishly for money and other transitory material blessings? Why not ask Him for really valuable things that only He can provide: eternal spiritual benedictions like unconditional spiritual love, transcendental wisdom and pure devotional service? And when was the last time you went to church and encountered an ecstatic crowd, dancing and chanting psalms and the Holy Name of the Lord with drums, high-sounding cymbals and trumpets as in the days of King David? All the best traditional spiritual practices are recorded in the Bible, but how many Christians actually perform them? Have the exalted teachings of Jesus Christ become merely a prop for our unfettered material greed? And will we vainly try to make the Supreme Lord the servant of our gross desires, instead of actually following in the footsteps of Jesus and sacrificing everything to worship and serve the Lord as the Supreme Master?

Whether this materialistic degeneration and theological distortion occurred deliberately or accidentally, consciously or unconsciously was and is not the issue. It is not my purpose here to cast blame for this situation; that will not benefit anyone. Nevertheless, recognizing the unfortunate materialistic trend in the Christian religion was by far the most significant event of my formative years. This realization inspired in me an intense search for others who had made similar observations and attained similar insights, in the hope that I could find an association of the faithful who followed the teachings of Jesus Christ without attenuation or adulteration by the ideas of the world. This search soon led me beyond the sectarian borders of Christianity to the more inclusive monastic and philosophical traditions of the East—not the watered-down ‘New Age’ versions popular in the West, nor the materialistic polytheism now known as ‘Hinduism’ (a term of Muslim origin), but the original Vedic Vaisnava tradition. I accepted an exalted spiritual Master Teacher, studied in traditional monastic communities in India, earned advanced initiations in these traditions, and found in them a philosophical rigor and strict adherence to the universal fundamentals of religious life— truthfulness, purity, nonviolence, simplicity, austerity, devotion and careful discrimination among different levels of spiritual Truth—qualities that were very attractive to my mind and pleasing to my heart.