The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ. Levi
nor the rights of man, and God demands that Israel shall reform, and turn again to ways of holiness.
30 And if our people will not hear the voice of God, lo, nations from afar will come and sack Jerusalem, and tear our temple down, and take our people captive into foreign lands.
31 But this will not forever be; though they be scattered far and wide, and wander here and there among the nations of the earth, like sheep that have no shepherd guide,
32 The time will come when God will bring again the captive hosts; for Israel shall return and dwell in peace.
33 And after many years our temple shall be built again, and one whom God will honor, one in whom the pure in heart delights will come and glorify the house of God, and reign in righteousness.
34 When Jesus had thus said, he stepped aside, and all the people were amazed and said, This surely is the Christ.
CHAPTER 20
After the feast. The homeward journey. The missing Jesus. The search for him. His parents find him in the temple. He goes with them to Nazareth. Symbolic meaning of carpenter’s tools.
The great feast of the pasch was ended and the Nazarenes were journeying toward their homes.
2 And they were in Samaria, and Mary said, Where is my son? No one had seen the boy.
3 And Joseph sought among their kindred who were on their way to Galilee; but they had seen him not.
4 Then Joseph, Mary, and a son of Zebedee, returned and sought through all Jerusalem, but they could find him not.
5 And then they went up to the temple courts and asked the guards, Have you seen Jesus, a fair-haired boy, with deep blue eyes, twelve years of age, about these courts?
6 The guards replied, Yes, he is in the temple now disputing with the doctors of the law.
7 And they went in, and found him as the guards had said.
8 And Mary said, Why Jesus, why do you treat your parents thus? Lo, we have sought two days for you. We feared that some great harm had overtaken you.
9 And Jesus said, Do you not know that I must be about my Father’s work?
10 But he went round and pressed the hand of every doctor of the law and said, I trust that we may meet again.
11 And then he went forth with his parents on their way to Nazareth; and when they reached their home he wrought with Joseph as a carpenter.
12 One day as he was bringing forth the tools for work he said,
13 These tools remind me of the ones we handle in the workshop of the mind where things are made of thought and where we build up character.
14 We use the square to measure all our lines, to straighten out the crooked places of the way, and make the corners of our conduct square.
15 We use the compass to draw circles round our passions and desires to keep them in the bounds of righteousness.
16 We use the ax to cut away the knotty, useless and ungainly parts and make the character symmetrical.
17 We use the hammer to drive home the truth, and pound it in until it is a part of every part.
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
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