Thursday, January 5, 2012

Epiphany: The Other Xmas (video)

A. Armoudian, Ashley Wells, Dharmachari Seven, Wisdom Quarterly
Buddhist lamas ("wise men") come from the East for an "epiphany," to see the tulku: Epiphany -- "manifestation," "striking appearance," "vision of God" -- falls on January 6th. It is a Christian feast day that celebrates the revelation of the devaputra as a human being in Jesus Christ. Western Christians commemorate the visitation of the Biblical Magi.

This will be the last mention of Jesus (St. Issa) Christ on Wisdom Quarterly until Dec. 21, 2012 with the expected headline "Second Coming arrives 2,000 years late at Mayan Calendar's end of Age" -- assuming he gets here on time.

Armenian Christians nestled in the Caucasus Mountains call today Xmas Eve. They celebrate St. Issa's Mass on January 6th rather than December 25th.

There are so many Christian sects, schools, and factions (over 200 in the US alone) that is should come as no surprise that there is little agreement about anything and less the further one goes back.



"The Lord" is a figurehead adopting the lore and legend of many "lords" in many more ancient Near Eastern and ancient Indian religions. The Buddhist connections are fascinating. After all, the correspondence between world religions is not a coincidence.
Jesus was a bodhisattva, a "self-sacrificing savior" who returns again and again (through rebirth as a "born again" tulku or Indo-Greek / Bactrian christ child, Maitreya the "messiah" to come). Mahayana Buddhism -- that originated in India and spread West to Afghanistan, Indo-Greece, and up Central Asia to China -- has so many parallels to Christianity that it is amazing that they are not on everyone's minds.

Jesus was in India, exposed to the Vedas and brahmin priests, ordained as a Buddhist monk, grew his hair out like a (Jesus freak) hippie unlike other Jewish Nazarenes.

More importantly, who came to find the tulku, the incarnated bodhisattva? Three "wise men" from the East, often referred to as kings. Three Kings Day commemorates those Buddhist monks of legend searching for a star in the east (in accordance with Astro-Theology). And like the Armenians, Hispanic Christians from Spain to Mexico still celebrate this part of the story/myth on January 6th.



Why should anyone care what Armenian Christians do?
The Armenian Apostolic Church is the world's oldest National Church. It is part of Oriental Orthodoxy and is one of the most ancient Christian communities [situated between India and Israel, along the route Jewish traders and Jesus used to reach their ancient colony in Kashmir]. Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as its official religion in 301 AD in establishing this church. It traces its origins to the missions of Apostles Bartholomew and Thaddeus in the 1st century.

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