LENT begins: "Jesus of the Apocalypse"

Penguin.co.uk; Diego Rivers, Pat Macpherson, Dhr.Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

How could God let this happen on Ash Wednesday/St. Valentine's Day of Love! (AP)

Buddhism -- which is far older than Christianity, and which is rooted in Vedic tradition, which is far older than Judaism and the Abrahamic (a-Brahmanic) traditions -- has a Lent called the Rains Retreat (Vas or Vassa). It is incumbent on monastics and a choice for lay practitioners, who spend more time in the temple practicing more precepts, meditation, and hearing teachings. Lent starts today.

• For Lent many Christians commit to fasting, as well as giving up certain luxuries to emulate the sacrifice of Jesus' 40-day journey into the desert. Many Christians also add a Lenten spiritual discipline, such as meditation or reading a daily devotional or praying through a Lenten calendar, to draw themselves nearer to God. The Stations of the Cross, a devotional commemoration of Jesus carrying his cross as punishment by Romans, are often observed. Many Roman Catholics and some Protestants solemnly observe this event. Throughout Christendom, some adherents mark the season with the traditional abstention from the consumption of meat (or only on Fridays or only on Good Friday), most notably among Roman Catholics (or whatever the Pope says). More
• Decoding the Lost Science of Prayer and Prophecy

Keep the ancient traditions and observances

The weekly Buddhist "sabbath" day is called the uposatha or lunar observance "fasting" day, which means not eating after noon and eating only vegetarian food. Could it be a mere coincidence that this is an ancient custom the Buddha advocated and something Christianity/Catholicism just happened to start doing?

There are three world religions: Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam. All of them have a fasting period. In Ancient Christian Ethiopia (possibly once part of a vast African area called "Israel" and "Cush"), the whole country fasts for 40 days. But fast does not mean go without eating; it means go without eating dead animals. There is such a thing as Christian vegetarianism. And Islam practices its "fast" by not eating during the day and breaking the fast with family at night.

All of these are beautiful traditions, healthy for the faster and life-saving for the animals and environment. Sadly, modern folk do not much care for ancient traditions. Fortunately, the smaller Theravada school of Buddhism tries to adhere to all of the Buddha's ancient rules and customs.

BOOK: Jesus of the Apocalypse

In her controversial earlier bestseller, Jesus the Man, Australian scholar Barbara Thiering first showed how the pesher method of "decoding" (interpreting) two separate levels of meaning found in the Dead Sea Scrolls could be used by applying it to the Christian Gospels.

It presented a completely new historical interpretation of the life of Jesus [of Nazareth called the "Anointed One" or] Christ.

Now in a new work of remarkable research and scholarship, Thiering sets out to unravel the mysteries that have long surrounded the elusive complexities of the biblical Book of Revelation.

Who died and made you God?

"It was not," she writes, "about vision and apocalypse, but about the profoundly important history of the Christian movement from AD 1 to AD 114."
 
In Jesus of the Apocalypse, Thiering presents a new and significant view of the development of Christianity from the time of the crucifixion until the second century AD.

Aryan JC Superstar

She argues that Jesus was no solitary preacher appearing suddenly on the shores of Lake [or Sea of] Galilee. He was a central figure in a major political movement to overthrow the pagan Roman Empire.

Although crucified, Jesus did NOT die on the cross. He, and subsequently his sons, played an important role in the evolution of the new underground religion which was developing out of Judaism.
 

Great read: Zealot (R. Aslan)

With detective-like perseverance Theiring unfolds the mystery of words, meanings, and places that have been allowed to pass unchallenged, including a radical new interpretation of such mystical themes as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the Seven Seals. the Beast whose number is 666 [actually at times a different number], and the Great Harlot clothed in scarlet and purple.

In so doing, Thiering provides an absorbing and enlightening background to a period that has so often been seen more through the implications of scripture than the facts of history. More