The Greatest Story Never Told: An Advanced Understanding of Christianity

Copyright © 2013 Audrey Carr.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

iUniverse books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

iUniverse LLC

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.iuniverse.com

1-800-Authors (1-800-288-4677)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4917-0600-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4917-0599-5 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4917-0598-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013919547

iUniverse rev. date: 12/06/2013

Contents

Part One The Greatest Story Never Told

Introduction The Jesus Mystery

I. Early YearsEssenes

II. Missing Years Jesus Lived in India

III. The Real Story Beyond the Myth

Part Two The Advanced Understanding

IV. Gnosticism The Secret Teaching

V. Enlightenment The Kingdom of Heaven

VI. Meditation The Gap Between the Breaths

VII. The Real Gospel Knowing the One Here-Present

Conclusion

Bibliography

For

Gayle, Jeff, Susan

and families

A Tribute

to

Robert Allen Sohl

1941-2005

More than forty years ago, the author(s) of this book were drawn together like a magnet in pursuit of spiritual enlightenment. Their teachers were enlightened masters, thousands of books from every spiritual tradition, and a verbal dialectic that arose from their multifaceted relationship. Along the way, they were given some amazing insights that have never been shared with others.

Mr. Sohl majored in Western Philosophy and Religion at Occidental College in Los Angeles, and then he pursued a master’s program in Eastern Religion and Philosophy at the University of Hawaii. In the seventies, two books were co-authored with Ms. Carr and published by the New American Library of New York: The Gospel According to Zen and Games Zen Masters Play. The books sold worldwide for many years and became Zen classics. Then, during a long process of Self-discovery, the hidden story of Jesus began to emerge. Simultaneously, a pattern in nature of eight ego-archetypes was uncovered that is connected to the Genetic Code and to the ancient I-Ching. Seeing the personality types more clearly, Jesus began to come into focus.

Although Mr. Sohl’s original intention was to be a Christian theologian, those dreams were irrevocably altered as the amazing story was discovered, which is presented to you in the following pages. On fire with a quest for truth, book after book was found from both East and West that uncovered the story and riddle of Jesus that very few others had solved. The combination of reading, discussion, and practicing the meditation techniques of the masters revealed The Greatest Story Never Told.

At the age of sixty-four, Robert Sohl died of a heart attack. He left behind a huge library of books; his notes and unfinished manuscripts; and the vision, passion, and understanding that the two authors shared. Therefore, it is with the deepest devotion and gratitude that this book, envisioned so many years ago, is in tribute to him.

Now it is time to share the story with you.

Jesus said:

Don’t ever stop seeking

            until you find.

When you find, you will be troubled . . . .

And then—will remember who you are:

            King of the All!

—The Gospel of Thomas

*    *    *

Illustrations and Acknowledgements

Cover: Photo of Jesus Christ, miraculously materialized by Sathya Sai Baba over a computer print-out of the image of Jesus on the Shroud of Turin

Map of the first trip Jesus made to India, between 13-27 A.D. On page 62, in A Search for the Historical Jesus by Professor Fida Hassnain, published by Gateway Books, Bath, UK, 1994

Map of Jesus’ final journey to India after 36 A.D. Page 141, from A Search for the Historical Jesus by Professor Fida Hassnain, Gateway Books

Photo of Rozabal—the tomb of Jesus in Kashmir (by Lino Cremon). Page 174, from A Search for the Historical Jesus by Professor Fida Hassnain, Gateway Books

Identifying stone footprints in the tomb of Jesus, showing the hole-marks from Crucifixion.

Photo by Nisar Hassnain, found on page 180 in A Search for the Historical Jesus by Professor Fida Hassnain, Gateway Books

Jesus in Meditation—Copy of painting by Larry Smith

Author photos

Note: Verses from The Gospel of Thomas and Meister Eckhart are the author’s translations

Grateful acknowledgement to Gateway Books, for the use of the four illustrations from A Search for the Historical Jesus, by Fida Hassnain, and to all the many additional sources in the book, that have contributed to the authenticity of the message.

Personal gratitude to Lance Hays for his ongoing love, support and follow-up toward the completion of this project.

Part One

The Greatest Story Never Told

Introduction

The Jesus Mystery

In the early spring of 1947, a young Bedouin boy was herding goats on a cliff of the shore of the Dead Sea. Throwing a rock into a cave, he heard something break inside. That sound heralded the beginning of a new era, for it broke not only a jar inside the cave, but also the myth of Christianity.

When archaeologists began digging up scrolls from the ancient past regarding the story of Jesus, a new understanding was unearthed at the same time. Like a giant puzzle that had never been completed, new pieces have been discovered year after year that have gradually revealed a most amazing story that has been kept a secret for more than two thousand years!

For a young Christian attending Occidental College, hearing about these discoveries for the first time was the beginning of a journey far beyond expectations. The story revealed in these pages is not only about Jesus, but it is also about the author and her quest to find the ultimate truth. A deep spiritual quest can draw one away from family and friends when it challenges the very basis upon which their lives have been built.

From an early age, primary questions were being asked, Who am I? Why am I here? What is life all about? Life was centered on Christianity, but beliefs did not sufficiently answer the questions with anything more than a superficial answer like, You are a child of God. Then one day, while looking within and stilling the mind, from this very moment arose an incredible out-of-body experience of expanded consciousness that answered all those deepest questions simultaneously. There was recognition that it was the ultimate and beyond anything else life had to offer.

It was the first in a series of transforming experiences that literally turned this life around and forced an examination of the religion and Master that were closest to my heart. The Bible was read again, but with new eyes and a new understanding. Finally, there was a firsthand experience of what Jesus had been teaching—beyond myths, beliefs, and interpretation.

Now, after a lifetime of good health and amazing spiritual revelations, I have learned that this body has contracted Lou Gehrig’s Disease (ALS). It is a nerve disorder for which there is no remedy, and which leads to paralysis and death. So, I will probably not be available for the Today Show (haha) or to expand on the information presented here. Hopefully though, the historical, intellectual evidence in the first half of the book, and the inspirational, spiritual message in the second half can stand on its own well enough to open hearts and minds to a greater, expanded, unitary understanding of Christianity and its place in the world.

Jesus was a Hindu-Buddha!

British historian Arnold Toynbee once said that history would record the most significant happening of the twentieth century as the introduction of Buddhism to the West. In the twenty-first century, religious differences will be transcended when people realize that Jesus was not a Christian, but a Hindu-Buddha! The Second Coming of Jesus is not in the future; it is here-now in the understanding of who he has always been: a universal, enlightened God-man with a message for the world that it had never recognized before. Then the world will hear the rock in the cave, as the sound of one hand clapping for Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism are one!

Although there have been many best-selling books and movies about Jesus, none of them have solved the mystery surrounding the life of Jesus. Scholars and ordinary people alike have continued to question, Who was Jesus? Was he a man or a God? Was he a political fanatic or moralistic reformer? What was the rest of his story during the years missing in the biblical accounts? In the past, this mystery has consumed the attention of many famous people who have been unable to accept myth as reality.

In 1913 Albert Schweitzer said, Modern Christianity has to face the possibility that the historicity of Jesus could be revealed at any time. His scholarly colleague, Rudolf Bultmann added dramatically, It wouldn’t shock me in the slightest if the bones of Jesus were found today!

It is unfortunate these two great scholars are no longer with us to hear the story that has finally been discovered. Their words have proven to be far more prophetic than they might have ever imagined.

Thomas Jefferson said, In the New Testament there is internal evidence that parts of it have proceeded from an extraordinary mind; and that other parts are of the fabric of very inferior minds. It is as easy to separate those parts, as to pick out diamonds from dunghills. Like many educated Westerners, past and present, Jefferson recognized the great unevenness in the quality of the New Testament. He also recognized that the Jesus of church dogma could not possibly be the real Jesus of history.

What he did not know is that far more than a hundred passages in the New Testament including The Widow’s Mite, Prodigal Son, and other profound stories and parables, clearly indicate their real roots that can be traced to older Buddhist and Hindu traditions where the teachings of Jesus can be found in the much earlier scriptures.

Although Christian theologians have de-mythologized much of the Bible, unfortunately, they have not only missed the real story, but the greater spiritual message of Jesus. And the reason it has been missed (even though it has always been in plain sight) is that they have been unwilling or unable to accept the universality of Jesus. If they had looked beyond Judaism and Christianity and asked the Hindus, Buddhists, and Muslims what they knew of Jesus, the answers would have been revealed. All the missing pieces of the puzzle are there and have always been available for those able and willing to look.

The great German Goethe said, Imagine not that I am spinning yarns, get up and prove the contrary! The entire ecclesiastical history is a mishmash of error and of power.

The Riddles of Jesus

In the two archaeological discoveries of ancient manuscripts regarding the life of Jesus (the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran and the Nag Hammadi Scriptures in Egypt), the most significant manuscript found was The Gospel of Thomas. Attributed to the brother of Jesus, it reveals the advanced esoteric or secret teaching of Jesus, which had been stamped out by the church and never accessible to the average truth seeker. The Riddles of Jesus, as we called them in our earlier book, are almost identical in nature to riddles of the Zen masters. It is obvious that the kingdom of heaven, to which Jesus constantly referred, was his term for spiritual enlightenment rather than being a fixed place as is commonly accepted from the biblical interpretation. He said, The Kingdom of Heaven is within you, and The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. In other words, it is here-now to be discovered in this moment of awareness. Anyone who is awake to this moment understands, and one who is asleep misses the mark. Or as he put it, it is only for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear. Unfortunately, belief in a fictional story has become a substitute for actualization