The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ

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.

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 honor. Ravanna becomes patron of Jesus, and takes him to India to study the Brahmic religion.

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 honor 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 ax.

12 Ravanna said, All hail, most favored 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 the honored 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 too 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 toward 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 favor they received the Jewish boy.

19 And Jesus was accepted as a pupil in the temple Jagannath; and here he 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.

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 then 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 a 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 these 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?