Yogi Ramacharaka

At the end of our first lesson we left Joseph, Mary and the infant Jesus in Egypt - the land to which they had flown to escape the wrath of the tyrant Herod. They dwelt in Egypt for a few years, until the death of Herod. Then Joseph retraced his steps and returned toward his own country, bringing with him his wife and the babe.

For some reasons unknown to those familiar with the legends and traditions, Joseph decided not to locate in Judea, but instead bent his way toward the coast and returned to Nazareth, where Mary and he had originally met and become betrothed. And so in Nazareth - the humble little mountain town - the boyhood days of Jesus were spent; the grinding poverty of the family being relieved (according to the occult legends) by the yearly presents of gold from the hands of disguised messengers of the Magi.

The traditions relate that Jesus began His study of the Hebrew Law when He was but five years of age. It is related that He displayed an unusual ability and talent in the direction of mastering, not only the text, but also the spirit of the Hebrew Scripture - and far outstripped His fellow students.

It is also related that He displayed an early impatience at the dreary formalism of His Hebrew teachers and a disposition to go right to the heart of the text before Him, that He might discern the spirit animating it. So much was this the case that He frequently brought down upon His head the censure of His instructors, who overlooked the spirit of the teachings in their devotion to the forms and words.

Nazareth was an old-fashioned place, and it and its inhabitants were made the target for the jests and witticisms of the people of Judea. The word "Nazarene" was synonymous with "lout," "boor," "peasant," etc., to the residents of the more fashionable regions. The very remoteness of the town served to separate it in spirit from the rest of the country.

But this very remoteness played an important part in the early life of Jesus. Nazareth, by reason of its peculiar location, was on the line of several caravan routes. Travelers from many lands traveled through the town and rested there overnight, or sometimes for several days.

Travelers from Samaria, Jerusalem, Damascus, Greece, Rome, Arabia, Syria, Persia, Phoenicia and other lands mingled with the Nazarenes. And the traditions relate that Jesus, the child, would steal away and talk with such of these travelers as were versed in occult and mystic lore and would imbibe from their varied founts of learning, until He was as thoroughly informed on these subjects as many a mystic of middle-age.

The traditions have it that the boy would often delight and astonish these traveling occultists with His wonderful insight into their secret doctrines and knowledge. And it is also told that some of the wisest of these, seeing the nature of the child, would overstay their allotted time of sojourn, that they might add here and there to the various parts of general occult lore possessed by the child. It is also taught that the Magi informed some of these travelers, regarding the boy, that they might impart to him some truth or teaching for which He was ready.

And so the boy grew in knowledge and wisdom, day-by-day, year-by-year, until finally there occurred an event in His life - which has since been the subject of greatest interest to all Christians and students of the New Testament, but which - without the above explanation - is not readily understood.

The Feast of the Passover occurred in its allotted time of the year- -April- when Jesus was in his thirteenth year. This feast was one of the most important in the Jewish calendar, and its observance was held as a most sacred duty by all Hebrews. It was the feast set down for the remembrance and perpetuation of that most important event in the history of the Jewish people - when the Angel of Death swept over all of Egypt's land... smiting the first-born child of every house of the natives... high and low... but sparing all the houses of the captive Hebrews... who marked their door-sills with the sacrificial blood... as a token of their faith. This is no place to give the explanation of this apparently miraculous event - which students now know to be due to natural causes. We merely mention it in passing.

The Law-givers of Israel had appointed the Feast of the Passover as a perpetual symbol of this event - so important, by the nation - and every self-respecting Jew felt obligated to take part in the observance and sacrament. Every pious Jew made it a point to perform a pilgrimage to Jerusalem at the time of the Feast of the Passover, if he could in any way manage to do so.

At the time of the Passover celebration of which we are speaking, Jesus had just entered into His thirteenth year, which age entitled Him, under the ecclesiastical law, to the privilege of sitting with the adult men of His race at the Passover supper, and also to publicly join with the male congregation in the thanksgiving service in the synagogues.

And so on this year, He accompanied His father and mother to Jerusalem and made His second visit to the Holy City. It will be remembered that His first visit there was made when, as an infant, He was carried thither from Bethlehem in His mother's arms, in accordance with the Jewish law - and at which time an aged priest and an old prophetess had publicly acknowledged the divine nature of the child.

The father, mother and child (the divine trinity of Human relationship) traveled slowly over the highway that led from Nazareth to Jerusalem. The father and mother were concerned with the details of the journey, mingled with pious thoughts concerning the sacred feast in which they were to take part. But the boy's mind was far away from the things that were occupying his parent's thoughts. He was thinking over the deep mystic truths which He had so readily absorbed during the past few years, and He was looking forward in delightful anticipation to His expected meeting with the older mystics in the temples and public places of Jerusalem.

It must be remembered that, underlying the Jewish ecclesiastical teachings and formalism - which were all that the mass of the people knew - there was a great store of Jewish occultism and Mysticism, known to the few elect. The Kaballah - or Jewish occult writings - were closely studied by the learned Jews; and this work - with other similar teachings - were transmitted verbally from teacher to student, and constituted the Secret Doctrine of the Hebrew religion.

And it was toward the learned teachers of this Secret Doctrine that Jesus directed His mind and steps, although His parents knew it not.

Four or five days were consumed in the journey, and at last the Holy City--Jerusalem--came into full view; the wonderful Temple of Israel, showing plainly above the other buildings. The bands of pilgrims - of which the family of Joseph formed a part - formed into orderly array; and led by flute-players, they solemnly marched into the streets of the Holy City - singing and chanting the Sacred Songs used by the faithful upon this solemn occasion.

And the boy walked with the rest... with bowed head... and eyes that seemed to see things far removed from the scene around them.

The Passover rites were carried out... the duties were performed... the ceremonies were observed. The Passover Feast extended over a full week, of which the first two days were the most important, and during which two days the obligatory ceremonies were performed.

Each family made the offering of the sacrificial lamb. Each family baked and ate the unleavened bread. The beautiful idea of the Passover had degenerated into a horrible feast of blood - for it is related that, upon these occasions, over a quarter-million of poor, innocent lambs were slaughtered and offered up as a sacrifice pleasing to Jehovah - who was supposed to delight in this flood of the blood of innocents.

In pursuance of this barbarous idea, the altars and courts of the Temple of the Living God ran red with the life-blood of these poor creatures, and the hands and garments of the anointed priests of Jehovah were stained - like those of butchers - that the vanity of a barbarous conception of Deity might be fed.

All this for the "Glory of God!" Think of it!

And think of the feeling that must have been aroused in the mystic mind of Jesus at this horrible sight. How His soul must have been outraged at this prostitution of the sacred rite!

And what would have been His thoughts, had He known that - centuries after - a great religion would stand, bearing His name; the followers of which would be carried away with this same false idea of sacrificial blood; which would be voiced in hymns about "A fountain filled with blood - flowing from Immanuel's veins," and about "sinners plunged beneath that bloody flood - losing all their guilty stains?"

Alas, for the prostitution of sacred truths and teachings. No wonder that a people so saturated with the abominable ideas of a Deity delighting in this flow of blood should have afterward put to death the greatest man of their race - a Being who came to bring them the highest mystic and occult truths.

And their prototypes have survived through the centuries - even unto today - insisting upon this idea of blood sacrifice and death atonement; unworthy of any people - except the worshipers of some heathen devil-god in the remote sections of darkest Africa.

Disgusted and outraged by this barbarous sight, Jesus, the boy, stole away from the side of His parents and sought the remote chambers and corridors of the Temple, where were to be found the great teachers of the Law and of the Kaballah, surrounded by their students.

Here the boy sat and listened to the teachings and disputations of the teachers and exponents of the doctrines. From one group to another He wandered, and listened, and pondered, and thought. He compared the teachings and submitted the various ideas to the touchstone of the truth, as He found it within His own mind.

The hours rapidly passed by unnoticed by the boy, who found Himself amidst such congenial environments for the first time. The talks with the travelers of the caravans paled into insignificance when compared with these of the great occult teachers of Israel. For be it remembered that it was the custom of the great teachers of that day to so instruct those who were attracted to their company. And Jerusalem - being the centre of the culture and learning of Israel - the great teachers dwelt there. And so it will be seen that Jesus now found Himself at the very fountain-head of the Hebrew Secret Doctrines - and in the actual presence of the great teachers.

On the third day, there began a breaking-up of the vast gathering of the two-million  people who had made the pilgrimage to the Holy City. Those poorer in purse were the first to leave, after the obligatory rites of the first two days had been performed. And Joseph and Mary were among those preparing to retrace their steps to their distant homes.

Their friends and neighbors gathered together, and the preparations for the return were completed. But at the last moment, the parents discovered that the boy, Jesus, was missing. They were alarmed, but friends told them that their boy had been seen in the company of kinsmen and neighbors traveling along the same road, who had preceded them but a few hours.

Somewhat reassured, the parents left with their company, hoping that they would overtake the boy before nightfall. But when they reached the first station on the caravan route, a village called Beroth, and the night descended upon them, and the boy failed to appear among the neighbors and kinsmen - the parents were sorely distressed.

They slept but little that night, and when the first rays of dawn appeared, they parted from the company and retraced their way back to Jerusalem in search of the boy, apparently lost in the great capital amid the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims.

Every mother and father will enter into the feelings of Joseph and Mary in their frantic return to the city and in their subsequent search for the lost child. They inquired here and there for the boy, but not a trace of him was found. And night came without a ray of hope. And the next day was, likewise, barren of results. And the next day after.

For three days the devoted parents searched high and low for their beloved child - but no word of encouragement came to them.