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Date Posted: 03:06:40 10/28/03 Tue
Author: Hendrik - 9 Sep 2003
Subject: Re: Yogananda, Notovitch and nonsense
In reply to: ketch - 8 Sep 2003 's message, "Re: Yogananda, Notovitch and nonsense" on 03:04:03 10/28/03 Tue

After reading this article (March/April 1930 issue of East-West magazine) it seems apparent that Yogananda had Notovitch's book in mind when he referred to Jesus having been to India. He not only expressly refers to Notovitch, but adds: "...no other history of the life of Jesus between the ages of fifteen and thirty has ever been found", probably meaning that he does not know of any either.


Yogananda writes:

"...a strange miracle happened. Just when he was returning fruitlessly to India, he fell from a cliff and broke his leg, and was taken back to the Monastery to receive the necessary care! [...] Because of the custom in Tibet, that a sick guest may have his desire granted when possible, the hospitable Tibetan Priests or Lamas have shown the Sacred Scrolls to one man who is living today."

Notovitch was in Ladakh in late 1887. Professor Douglas visited Ladakh in May/June 1895, that is: seven and a half years later. He had an interview with the Lama of Hemis who held the post of abbot for 15 years at that time; the interview was written down and signed and impressed with a seal by the Lama. According to Douglas this Lama made the impression of being a venerable and trustworthy character.

In the interview the Lama stated that during the last 15 years no European visitor with broken leg had come to Hemis. Nor did he ever read to anyone from documents dealing with the life of Jesus - in fact there were no such documents in his cloister, and he did not know of any such documents anywhere else either. He said that Buddhists knew of Jesus not before missionaries and Europeans came and told them about him. Confronted with details from Notovitch's book, the Lama remarked, "Lies, nothing but lies!"

Douglas also met a German missionary whose name was incidentally Dr. Karl Marx. This man said to have met Notovitch in Leh and treated him medically, but not for a broken leg, but a toothache!


"While the injured man was recovering, the head Lama asked him what he wanted. He said, "Read to me the papyrus scrolls!" From these sacred scrolls he secured conclusive evidence that Jesus Christ's name was Isa, meaning "Lord," which afterwards was pronounced as Jesus."

Conclusive evidence? Grönbold - who is also an expert on Tibetan writing and books - remarks that there were no scrolls in Tibet in former times, only unbound loose sheets of paper fixed between wooden plates.

"Isa" is a common short form for "Ishwara" in Sanskrit, meaning "Lord". "Jesus" is a later - I guess latinized - corruption of "Yeshua" which was a common Aramaic name and the root form for another name, "Joshua".

What has Ishwara to do with Yeshua? Nothing. Grönbold presents a list of how Jesus was/is called in several Asian countries. Unfortunately I cannot reproduce the special characters here, like the several variants of "s" for instance.

Yesua (Aramaic)
Yehoshuah (same as Joshua; Hebraic)
Isa (Arabic)
Yasu (in Christian-Arabic texts)
Yisows (Armenian)
Iyasus (Ethiopian)
Yiso (in Manichaeic texts in Iranian dialects)
Isu (Sogdic)
Yesua or Yesu (in Manichaeic texts in Sogdic)
Ieh-su (Chinese)
I-su (in Manichaeic texts in Chinese)
Ye-zu (Tibetan, Capuchin missionaries)
Yi-su (Tibetan, British and Foreign Bible Society)
Ye-su (Tibetan, Herrnhuter missionaries)
Yisu (Sanskrit, Baptists)
Yesu (Sanskrit, English missionaries)
Yesu (Urdu)


"The Wise Men of the East, or East India, came to confer about Him when He was born, knowing Him to be one of the greatest message-bearers of Truth."

I am not an expert on Biblical source texts, but weren't they originally referred to as "Magi"? This may hint to Persia rather than India.


In the text Yogananda uses the term "Oriental" quite often, as if in an attempt to justify the significance of Indian heritage vs. modern Christianity. In most cases "Oriental" seems to mean "Indian", sometimes it could be interpreted as "Asian", and used in a Jesus-context it could at times be replaced by "Jewish". - There is also mention of "nicknames", probably referring to contemporary anti-Asian tendencies within parts of the USA which caused him trouble.

I believe Yogananda's main object in talking as he did, quoting Notovitch, was to make Western Christians - his main addressees - accept his yoga teaching which was coming from a foreign culture which in those times was still looked at in condescension and mistrust by many people. He says himself: "I am trying to unite the two. [...] It is not possible to separate the Teacher from His nationality without causing great misunderstanding and confusion." I doubt that he ever really cared for historical accuracy, neither here nor elsewhere. Any seeming historical facts that would help illustrate the fundamental unity of Christianity and Hinduism were welcome to him, and he used them, but hardly ever any argument that might speak against the same. From an academic point of view this of course looks like a spurious methodology, but on a psychological level it has proved highly effective.

Yogananda was on a life-long mission, and missionaries have a teaching to sell, and business experience shows that you hardly will sell anything without first distorting the real constituents of the product. First of all you have to make potential buyers feel really good about your product, otherwise they will simply go choosing offers by smarter competitors. You have to convince people, not by rational arguments really based on evidence but by such that will win them over. That was what Yogananda did at his time. Perhaps it was necessary that he did so.

St. Paul dying daily because of his appliance of Kriya Yoga? - Shall I really believe this?

Hendrik

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