Tom Luxsox Coins

Formative Years

The Lost Years of Jesus

Among the authors of the four gospels of the Bible, neither St Mark or St John make any reference to the life led by Jesus before he began his ministry. St Matthew limits his account to the birth of Jesus, and the subsequent flight by Joseph and Mary to Egypt in order to escape the death warrant issued by Herod. 

St Luke is the only apostle who makes any mention of the early years of Jesus. In Chapter 2 of his gospel, he mentions that it was the custom of Joseph and Mary to go up to Jerusalem every year to celebrate the feast of the Passover. Jesus naturally accompanied them on these pilgrimages.

On one particular occasion, when Jesus was twelve years old, Joseph and Mary began their return journey to Nazareth after the festival had ended. But after travelling about a day, they discovered to their dismay that Jesus was not with them.

Hurriedly retracing their footsteps to Jerusalem, they found Jesus in the temple, three days later, "sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers." 

When Mary confronted Jesus, demanding to know why he had caused them such anxiety, he replied: "How is it that ye sought me? Know ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" (Luke 2: 46-49)

Despite the fact that Jesus makes it clear in this response that the time had come to begin "his Father's work", most interpreters of the Bible have assumed that Jesus was referring to his father Joseph and his work as a carpenter.

They believe that Jesus returned to Nazareth with his parents following this episode, as St Luke describes, and that he continued to live there working with his father as a carpenter for the next eighteen years. 

The absence of any other reference in the Bible to the missing years of Jesus between the ages of twelve and thirty, continues to pose a mystery to those scholars who seek a deeper understanding of the formative years of Jesus, and of his further spiritual development.  

For these scholars it seems clear that if Jesus was able to astonish the religious elders at the temple with his grasp of spiritual matters and the profundity of his answers at the tender age of twelve, it would be highly unlikely that he would simply return to Nazareth and lead a life of obscurity for the next eighteen years.

The problem confronting these researchers is that no written record exists among the Jewish writers of those times about any other events in the life of Jesus during those intervening years. But there may be an unexpected answer to this mystery. Maybe Jesus did not remain in Nazareth as these Biblical scholars have assumed.

Perhaps Jesus left Judea and travelled to other lands in search of greater spiritual wisdom. This could well be the case, for there is ample written evidence elsewhere to show that Jesus did in fact leave Israel and travel to the East. These records indicate that his travels took him to such places as Nepal, India and Tibet.

In 1908, a book was published which claimed to reveal the truth about the lost years of Jesus, and how he spent the eighteen years leading up to his baptism by John in the river Jordan, which began the ministry that is described in the four gospels of the Bible.

The book was called "The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ". It was written by an obscure American preacher by the name of Levi H. Dowling. Dowling claimed that the material contained in his book was obtained from his reading of the Akashic Records, which was the same source used by the "sleeping prophet" Edgar Cayce.

Dowling, or "Levi" as he preferred to be called, was born in Belleville, Ohio, in May 1844, and died in August, 1911. Being the son of an immigrant preacher Levi grew up in a highly religious family, and from an early age developed a deep zeal for spiritual understanding.

Levi began preaching at the age of sixteen. At the age of twenty he joined the U.S Army as a Chaplain, and served in this capacity until the end of the Civil War. He then went on to graduate from two medical colleges and practised medicine until he retired to concentrate on his writing.

Early in his life Levi had experienced a vision in which he was told that he would "build a white city". This vision repeated itself three times over the next few years. It was only later in his life that he realised that the "white city" was in fact his book about the life of Jesus.

In his "Aquarian Gospel", Levi described the episode where the young Jesus remained behind in the temple while his parents returned to Nazareth without him. According to Levi, one of the people who witnessed his discussions with the priests of the temple was a wealthy Indian Prince by the name of Ravanna.

Ravanna had come to Jerusalem with a group of Brahmin priests in order to gain a better understanding of the spiritual teachings of the Jews. Hearing the young Jesus speak, he was so captivated by his wisdom and understanding that he followed him back to Nazareth.

There, Ravanna met with Joseph and Mary and asked if Jesus might be allowed to travel back to India under his personal protection. Although they feared for the safety of their son, the young Jesus implored his parents that he be permitted to do so.

And so it was that Jesus joined Ravanna and his party as they travelled back to Orissa. During the years that he spent in India, Jesus was able to study the "Vedas" (Sacred Sanskrit texts), and learn at the feet of the "Rishis" (Enlightened Masters) of the East.

According to the "Aquarian Gospel" written by Levi, Jesus lived in India for many years before moving on to visit the peoples of Nepal and Tibet. Finally, at the age of twenty-nine, he set off on the return journey back to the land of his birth.

It should come as no surprise that the "Aquarian Gospel" composed by Levi was ignored by the Church, and he himself was attacked as a charlatan. To this day, Biblical scholars consider the book to be an apocryphal work unworthy of serious study.

Yet there remains one significant coda to this story. When Western explorers visited Tibet in the latter part of the nineteenth century, they came across records of a Jewish "Rishi" who had once lived in the East, and had astonished all who met with him with his eloquence and his profound insight into the human heart

In 1894, fourteen years before the American preacher Levi Dowling published his account of "The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ", a Russian doctor and former Cossack officer by the name of Nicolas Notovitch startled the world with a publication of his own. It was called "The Unknown Life of Christ".

Notovitch had travelled extensively throughout Afghanistan, India and Tibet. During one of his journeys to the arid, rocky landscape of Ladakh (Western Tibet), he visited the Buddhist Lamasery of Hemis located on the outskirts of Leh, the capital city of Ladakh.

It was while he was visiting this monastery that he had an accident and broke his leg. This unfortunate injury had the unexpected benefit of allowing Notovitch to stay on at the monastery as a guest of the resident Lamas while he was recovering from his accident. 

It was while he was convalescing at Hemis that Notovitch learned about the existence of ancient records concerning the life of Jesus. He later claimed that he had been shown two volumes of an ancient manuscript, written in Tibetan script, that referred to "The Life of Saint Issa".

Notovitch persuaded the Chief Lama to read this manuscript to him, and through an interpreter, was able to record in his travel journal over two hundred verses that were contained in the manuscript, which the monk claimed had been translated from the original "Pali" (ancient Buddhist) script.

The verses that Notovitch later compiled into a book, referred to a man whom the Tibetans called "Issa" (pronounced "Isha"). It is worth remembering that Jesus originally spoke Aramaic, and that his Hebrew name was "Yeshua".

According to Notovitch, these ancient Tibetan scrolls described the life of "Issa" (Jesus) from the time of his birth up to the time of his death. They told the story of his departure from Jerusalem at the age of thirteen, and his travels across Asia to Benares (then called Kashi).

During the years that Jesus (Issa) spent living in India and Tibet, he was both a student and a teacher. He studied at the feet of the Brahmin Rishis, learning the Hindu Vedas, and in turn passed on his wisdom to all those who turned to him for guidance, regardless of their caste.

Not surprisingly, when Nicolas Notovitch returned to the West and published the book that was based on the notes contained in his travel journal, his work was rejected by the Church. He himself was attacked as a a fraud, and was ridiculed as an imposter.

Chief amongst his critics was the German orientalist Max Muller, a famous scholar and author of such popular works as the 50 volume set entitled "Sacred Books of the East". Muller challenged the existence of these documents, and wrote to the Head of the Hemis monastery himself.

In reply, the Head of the monastery not only claimed that he was unaware of the existence of any manuscript dealing with the life of a man called "Issa", but he even signed a document that denounced Notovitch as an outright liar. Critics of the book were thereby reassured that his entire publication was a fake.

There was, however, one small problem. One of Notovitch's most forthright critics was an Indian skeptic by the name of Swami Ahbedananda. So adamant was he that this manuscript did not exist, that he travelled to the monastery of Hemis himself, determined to expose Notovitch as a fraud.

Upon arrival at Hemis, Swami Ahbedananda was granted the freedom to conduct his own investigation. To his amazement, he found that a manuscript detailing the life of "Issa" did in fact exist, and consisted of 224 verses. Swami Ahbedananda later published a Bengali translation of these verses, and they proved to be virtually identical to the text published earlier by Notovitch.

Swami Ahbedananda left the monastery at Hemis convinced of the existence of the manuscript, and of the authenticity of the legend of "Issa", and the details of his life in Ladakh prior to his return to the land of his birth at the age of twenty-nine.

The validity of the Tibetan manuscript detailing the life of "Issa" was finally confirmed beyond doubt by another Russian traveller in 1925. The renowned painter and oriental philosopher Nicholas Roerich visited Hemis Lamasery and saw for himself this legendary document.

Roerich and his wife Helena had embarked on an extensive expedition throughout India and surrounding countries, researching their spiritual traditions. In August 1925 they arrived in Leh, where they stayed for about a month.

It was during this period that Roerich heard rumors about secret documents concerning the life of Issa (Jesus)that were said to be stored at the nearby Tibetan monastery at Hemis. He subsequently travelled to the monastery and was successful in seeing them for himself.

In 1926 Roerich published notes of his travels under the title Himalaya. In this publication he made specific mention of the fact that the Christ manuscript had been left to decay in the 'darkest place', and that the Lamas based at Hemis displayed little interest in the manuscript. As he wrote:

"Regarding the manuscripts of Christ - first there was a complete denial. Of course denial first comes from the circle of missionaries. Then slowly, little by little, are creeping fragmentary reticent details, difficult to obtain. Finally it appears - that about the manuscripts, the old people in Ladak have heard and know."

"And such documents as manuscripts about Christ and the Book of Chambhalla lie in the 'darkest' place. And the figure of the lama - the compiler of the book - stands like an idol in some sort of fantastic headgear. And how many other relics have perished in dusty corners? For the tantrik-lamas have no interest in them."

About the Author

Allan Colston was born in England and grew up in South Africa. He graduated from the University of Witwatersrand in 1961. From an early age he was drawn to the study of ancient civilizations, and to the prophetic works of these societies. In pursuing these interests he has traveled widely, including South America, India and Tibet. He has lived on four continents, and now makes his home in Vancouver, Canada.

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