Source of Teachings

2002-9-9 05:26:00

John C writes:
Question. John seems to be teaching the basic doctrines of Buddhism and showing Joe how they parallel the teachings of Christ. Did Christ teach something which corresponds to the Middle Way?

JJ
Jesus hinted at the Middle Way in the following scripture about the supposed straight and narrow path:

"Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." Matt 7:13-14

The Greek word STENOS (for strait) here implies restriction or cramped. In other words, the gate that leads to destruction seems to be open wide with a worn and wide path leading to it, easy to spot, and the obvious one to take but the gate that leads to life is barely open and difficult to squeeze through and the path leading to it barely visible and one must observe with high awareness to follow it.

This reminds me of the words of Robert Frost:

"Two paths diverged in a wood and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference."

John C
And, if so, since John is a disciple of Christ, why isn't he teaching doctrine X, as taught be the Christ, and saying, "oh by the way, Buddha also taught this doctrine, which is known as the Middle Way..."?

JJ
Because he is teaching a core doctrine of the Buddha at this time.

The members of the brotherhood have thousands of years of experience under their belt and synthesize the teachings of all the great teachers of the past as well as pass on new views of their own. They are certainly not restricted in their learning and expertise to one small lifetime or one book of scripture. Neither are they limited to religion for many are likely to teach science, architecture, literature etc if it furthers the cause of the Great Plan.

John C
And if the Christ did not teach this doctrine, why not? He must have, otherwise how could John have learned it in order to teach Joe?

JJ
All the members of the Brotherhood know far more than the few paragraphs in the Bible attributed to Christ. They all learn the same way we do plus they have access to many texts not available to us. In addition they have encounters with advanced beings that we do not have, but most important is that they are finely tuned to the Oneness Principle where knowledge of all true principles is available.


Evil cannot recognize good.
Helena Roerich