Arnaldo Sisson Filho
[Interviewed by Viviane Pereira. Part of the work A Roda e a Cruz: Uma Introdução ao Cristianismo Budista (The Wheel and the Cross: An Introduction to Buddhist Christianity).]
[Note: The quotations in bold and italic are for illustrative purposes and are also part of the work The Wheel and the Cross: An Introduction to Buddhist Christianity.]
“True it is ‘faith that saves,’ but the faith that is without understanding is not faith, but credulity.” (The Story of Anna Kingsford and Edward Maitland and of The “New” Gospel of Interpretation, p. 11)
The Wheel and the Cross – Buddhist Christianity: Is it a new movement or a new religion?
The following exposition, it is important to make clear from the outset, is based on the message of Dr. Anna Kingsford and Edward Maitland, which has been called the “New” Gospel of Interpretation, and is contained in their principal writings.
I believe they were – and still are – true prophets, enlightened souls, or divinely inspired beings, servants of the Divine Beings, Conscious Servants of God.
“But the process includes a point called the Fall. Yielding to the outward impulses of the lower nature ere she is sufficiently strong to resist them, Eve puts forth her hand and plucks the fruit which, as she is spiritual, and it is material – is Matter – is forbidden to her. In other words, and divested of allegory, the Soul, or higher self, falls beneath the power of the lower self and loses the intuition of Spirit and the man, no longer sustained by her, follows her in her fall.
The lower self, with the bodily appetites and reason, becomes sole ruler, and its offspring is Cain, the murderer and even the torturer of his brethren, human and animal. And when Abel, who, as minister of the Soul and her intuitions, represents the prophet, offers to God the “firstlings of his flock,” [Genesis 4:4], namely, the “Lamb” of a pure and gentle heart, makes his appearance, he is forthwith slain by Cain, who, as the slave of sense, offering of the “fruits of the ground,” [Genesis 4:3], or lower nature, represents the priest. (…)
The feud, already referred to, between prophet and priest, as the ministers respectively of the Soul and of sense, of the pure life and of bloodshed, is carried on throughout the whole of the Bible, until it culminates in the murder by priests of the greatest of prophets. For the prophets were not shedders of blood; and all the narratives which represent Moses, Samuel, Elijah, and other prophets as engaged in slaughtering either their own people or the neighbouring tribes – narratives which for their apparent horror are at once a stumbling-block to the faithful and an occasion of scoffing to the unbelievers – represent simply the conflicts of the Soul with the evil tendencies of the man it animates.” (Addresses and Essays on Vegetarianism, pp. 218-219. Emphasis added.)
The Buddhist Christianity emerges as a part – perhaps one of the most important parts – of a rescue of the “New” Gospel of Interpretation and, therefore, as a continuation of the work of these prophets.
Especially in this moment of globalization and the looming threat of unprecedented crises, this rescue is necessary within the landscape of ideas that govern the world, perhaps more than anything else.
That is, I believe that in this era the world needs the rescue of a truly catholic and scientific, universal religion, one that can serve as an example for other religions. And, likewise, I believe that this religion is Buddhist Christianity.
“The Christian Faith is the direct heir of the old Roman faith. Rome was the heir of Greece, and Greece of Egypt, whence the Mosaic dispensation and Hebrew ritual sprang.
Egypt was but the focus of a light whose true fountain and centre was the Orient in general – Ex Oriente Lux. For the East, in every sense, geographically, astronomically, and spiritually, is ever the source of light.
But although originally derived from the East, the Church of our day and country is modelled immediately upon the Greco-Roman mythology, and draws thence all its rites, doctrines, ceremonies, sacraments, and festivals.
Hence the exposition to be given of Esoteric Christianity would deal more especially with the mysteries of the West, their ideas and terminology being more attractive and congenial to us than the inartistic conceptions, the unfamiliar metaphysics, the melancholy spiritualism, and the unsuggestive language of the East.
Drawing its life-blood directly from the pagan faith of the old Occidental world, Christianity more nearly resembles its immediate father and mother than its remote ancestors, and will, therefore, be better expounded by reference to Greek and Roman sources than to their Brahminical and Vedic parallels.
The Christian Church is Catholic, or it is nothing worthy the name of Church at all. For Catholic signifies universal, all-embracing: – the faith everywhere and always received. The prevalent limited view of the term is wrong and mischievous.
The Christian Church was first called Catholic because she enfolded, comprehended, and made her own all the religious past of the whole world, gathering up into and around her central figure of the Christ all the characteristics, legends, and symbols hitherto appertaining to the central figures of preceding dispensations, proclaiming the unity of all human aspiration, and formulating in one grand ecumenical system the doctrines of East and West.
Thus the Catholic Church is Vedic, Buddhist, Zend, and Semitic. She is Egyptian, Hermetic, Pythagorean, and Platonic. She is Scandinavian, Mexican, and Druidic. She is Grecian and Roman.
She is scientific, philosophical, and spiritual.
We find in her teachings the Pantheism of the East, and the individualism of the West. She speaks the language and thinks the thoughts of all the children of men; and in her temple all the gods are shrined.
I am Vedantist, Buddhist, Hellenist, Hermetic, and Christian, because I am Catholic. For in that one word all Past, Present, and Future are enfolded.
And, as St Augustine and other of the Fathers truly declared, Christianity contains nothing new but its name, having been familiar to the ancients from the beginning. And the various sects, which retain but a portion of Catholic doctrine, are but as incomplete copies of a book from which whole chapters have been torn, or representations of a drama in which some only of the characters and scenes have been retained.” (The Credo of Christendom, pp. 94-96. Emphasis added)
The Buddhist Christianity is a religion, but it’s not exactly new. The expression “The Wheel and the Cross” alludes to the fusion of Buddhism with Christianity. However, in truth, we are not making this fusion, nor are it Dr. Kingsford and Maitland, because this fusion has always existed. They merely rescued this truth that was practically lost or forgotten.
The Buddhist Christianity is still little known at this early 21st century, just like the Gospel of Interpretation, which is also referred to as the “New” Gospel of Interpretation. Analogously to Buddhist Christianity, the “New” Gospel of Interpretation is not something new, only the rescue of something old that was distorted and practically forgotten. Thus, the word “new” is used to define something that has been so distorted and relegated that its rescue seems like something new.
The “New” Gospel of Interpretation is distinguished, on the one hand, by the fact that the message of Dr. Anna Kingsford and Edward Maitland is more focused on interpretation, on opening up, so to speak, the Bibles of the West. The West, as we see, is overwhelmingly influencing the entire world.
On the other hand, it differs in the pioneering spirit and quality – the depth and truthfulness – of the message left by these two prophets. That is, by the greatness of their souls, which was expressed in the purity, compassion, and sacrifice of their lives. Lives dedicated to the upliftment and support of their brothers and sisters, including animals, and which, for this reason, allowed them great fidelity in conveying such an important message.
What is its importance today?
Its importance remains crucial. Perhaps it is even more decisive and urgent today (the beginning of the 21st century) than at the end of the 19th century, or during the 20th century. This is because world problems have worsened considerably. And if it is true, as I believe I can demonstrate, that the root of our great problems lies in the erroneous philosophical-religious foundations of our time – which are reflected in flawed and incompetent laws and institutions, or socio-political systems – then its importance is, in fact, even greater, more crucial, and more urgent today than it was about a century ago.
It is not easy for most people to achieve a clear vision of these broad issues, but this in no way changes the fact that they are of fundamental importance for the future of humanity.
I once heard Mr. Krishnamurti – another great prophet of our time – state that every civilization is founded on a religion. I think Mr. Krishnamurti was referring to the whole comprised of the scriptures, their interpretations, their organizations, their rites and cultural traditions, all this plus a less visible part, but which is by far the most important part, which is the mystical or esoteric part of that religion.
This importance of religion as the foundation of civilization is universal. It applies to the West and the East. We see the example of Egyptian civilization, with its millennia of duration, which unquestionably had as its basis a philosophical-religious matrix. Or Indian civilization, with its several millennia of existence, and which is still there – although rapidly declining before the overwhelming power of Western civilization. This civilization with its great culture – with its castes, its temples, its Yoga, its ashrams (spiritual centers), its astrology, its medicine, its arts, with its glorious and degenerate aspects – has its foundations in Hinduism. A Hinduism with its own great Bibles. The Bibles of the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Mahabharata – where we find the Bhagavad Gita (the Sublime Song) – the Ramayana, and so on. All the great civilizations of the past and present fit this rule of having a philosophical-religious matrix as their foundation.
Could civilization not have its foundation in contemporary scientific philosophy?
Indeed, this question is very pertinent. Why not a philosophical-scientific foundation? As far as I can see, our common science, of which humanity is so proud, as if it were a marvel, still presents tremendous weaknesses and limitations and, nowadays, is still completely incapable of properly guiding humanity. It is, in fact, guiding humanity, along with religious priesthood, but towards catastrophes.
Here I would recall Teilhard de Chardin’s phrase: “everything that rises converges”. On the day that common science, which Dr. Kingsford calls “Nescience,” that is, ignorant science, on the day that it is in a position to be the foundation of a true civilization, on that day it will have expanded and elevated itself, it will have converged to meet true philosophy and religion.
This is because the deepest things, by their very nature, can only be truly experienced and known through the inner path, of Silence, Love, and Spirit, and not merely through the faculties of the powers and technicalities external to the Spirit, such as, primarily, concrete thought.
Someday science will reach the level of true science, of Gnosis, or knowledge that reaches the Spirit, the Profound, and not just the superficial. On that day the scientific method will have been expanded and will have freed itself from the limitations, from the “straitjacket” of the dominant scientific methodology of our time.
Currently, therefore, only philosophical-religious knowledge reaches sufficient depth to be the basis of a lasting and harmonious civilization. The science of our day must still be an adjunct, because, however important it may be, it is not yet ready to properly play this leading role.
Once this mystical or transcendental dimension (which transcends the concrete mind) is reached, there is an integrative, not fragmenting, consciousness; there is a living reality, there is the loving work, or the Divine Sacrifice, of a group of Servants of the Divine, who are the true heart, the true blood, or life, of a true religion and a true philosophy. It may not be easy to see this issue clearly, but, for me, this is the perceived panorama.
If, therefore, the institutions of a civilization are unjust, cruel, incompetent, and incapable of resolving and harmonizing its major socio-environmental problems – as is clearly the case in our time – then it becomes clear that the basis of all this is the falsehood, the dominant philosophical-religious distortion of that same era. This is a pure and simple fact. Many may not perceive it, may not reach this understanding, but this does not change the situation in any way. Our ignorance is just another element of the panorama, an element that does not change its fundamental determinants.
I think all this will become clearer as we delve deeper and detail more concrete aspects and more specific points. But the general panorama is this, without taking away or adding anything. And, repeating, in the face of this panorama, the importance of the “New” Gospel of Interpretation is crucial for the world as a whole. And this is all the more crucial given how dominant Western cultural institutions, ideas, and values are becoming worldwide, since, as I have already said, the Gospel of Interpretation is primarily focused on the interpretation of Western Bibles.
I will give just one example. It is the case of the great nation that is India. This example can serve as an “ideal type,” as Max Weber would say, to illustrate this point.
India fought bravely to become an independent nation from British rule. Shortly after the end of World War II, it achieved this important and much-desired independence, despite the disaster that was the partition of Pakistan – already a result of the philosophical and political blindness of its leaders.
However, having achieved this independence – with so much heroism, hardship, and tragedy – where did it copy its dominant institutions from, those that discipline the life of the nation as a whole? Precisely from England! It copied the unjust, incompetent, and therefore tragic English liberal democracy. In other words, it remained a “colony,” in philosophical terms, of the main socio-political ideas of the West.
India will never solve its immense problems until it awakens to the inherent falsehood and injustice of this, just as the world will never solve its gigantic problems until it awakens to the inherent falsehood and injustice of these dominant ideas.
This example aims only, as an “ideal type,” to highlight the dominance of the West, its ideas and institutions, more than its armies and economies.
And, in highlighting this, it emphasizes the crucial, decisive importance of the Gospel of Interpretation, because it primarily brings the “opening” of the Sacred Scriptures of the West, of the religious tradition that is at the base of the civilization that is dominating the world, and thus generating its main institutions and its main problems.
What is the reason for treating Christianity and Buddhism as one and the same?
I had always viewed – as almost everyone had up to that point – Buddhism as something separate from Christianity, as different paths, one more oriented towards the East, and the other more towards the West.
Through all my studies of Perennial Philosophy (Hermetic, or Esoteric), I already knew very well that they essentially said practically the same thing, just with different words, for different cultures.
“(…) Both – Buddhism and Christianity – as set forth by their inspired founders, make Brotherhood the one essential of doctrine and of life.” (Helena Blavatsky, quoting J.D. Buck. The Key to Theosophy, p. 18)
“Once the veil of symbolism is lifted from the divine face of Truth, all Churches are akin, and the basic doctrine of all is identical (…). Greek, Hermetic, Buddhist, Vedantist, Christian – all these Lodges of the Mysteries are fundamentally one and identical in doctrine.” (Life of Anna Kingsford, Vol. II, pp. 123-124. Emphasis added)
However, while reading the works of Dr. Kingsford and Maitland, I came across information that was new to me and which I soon realized was simply of paramount importance: that Buddhism and Christianity are not, in fact, two separate things. That the world, in its ignorance, has made them two separate things, but that, in reality, they are one and the same, and only in this way do they acquire their true characteristics.
Did Buddha and Jesus do complementary work?
Following the logic of the “New” Gospel of Interpretation, the Lord Buddha, when he carried out his work, already knew that the mission of reforming the religion that existed at that time, in the part of the world where he lived, India (whose main religion is Hinduism), that this mission, gigantic in itself, was only a part of a larger work.
Hinduism was already a multi-millennial religion, and there was also a multi-millennial civilization founded on this religion. And the Lord Buddha did a work of reforming that already decayed, degenerated religious structure.
Thus, based on the writings of the “New” Gospel of Interpretation, Lord Gautama already knew that another Avatar would come to complement his work, making it truly Catholic (universal): the Lord Christ Jesus.
Similarly, when the Lord Jesus did his work, he did not start from scratch. He worked within the Jewish tradition, making use of the Western tradition (the Mysteries of Egypt, Greece, and Rome, including Pythagoreanism), as well as the work already bequeathed by Lord Gautama, which incorporates and regenerates the entire tradition of the East. In this way, he continued all the good that had already been established.
The real life of the Lord Jesus is little known. We have what the Gospels tell us, plus some Letters of the Apostles, in addition to some extra-canonical references, but much of what we believe we know we do not actually know, because most biblical stories are allegories that do not reflect historical truth.
Not that knowing historical truth is very important in the context of religiosity, because that’s not of great importance: the allegories, parables, and symbolic knowledge that are passed on to us are much more important. They are timeless, they relate to the Soul and speak to the Soul, whereas historical events are temporal, referring to that time, to that culture.
“Christianity, then, was introduced into the world with a special relation to the great religions of the East, and under the same divine control. And so far from being intended as a rival and supplanter of Buddhism, it was the direct and necessary sequel to that system; and the two are but parts of one continuous, harmonious whole, whereof the later division is but the indispensable supplement and complement of the earlier. (…)
But for Buddha, Jesus could not have been, nor would he have sufficed the whole man; for the man must have the Mind illuminated before the Affections can be kindled. Nor would Buddha have been complete without Jesus. Buddha completed the regeneration of the Mind; and by his doctrine and practice men are prepared for the grace which comes by Jesus. Wherefore no man can be, properly, Christian, who is not also, and first, Buddhist.
Thus the two religions constitute, respectively, the exterior and interior of the same Gospel, the foundation being in Buddhism – the term including Pythagoreanism – and the illumination in Christianity. And as without Christianity Buddhism is incomplete, so without Buddhism Christianity is unintelligible.” (The Perfect Way; or, the Finding of Christ, pp. 250-251)
Today, we have very probable information that Jesus lived for a long time with the Essenes – and this group had a very strong Buddhist influence. They had this living connection with Buddhism. Over time, this connection was lost because of materialism and ignorance of the world. Neither the Buddhists nor those who continued the Christian tradition wanted to know much about it, with serious consequences for both.
What is the situation today of Buddhism and Christianity?
According to the “New” Gospel of Interpretation, these traditions find themselves in a deplorable situation. They are two traditions that should never have been separated, but continued as one single, universal catholic (universal) religious tradition, personified in the Gospels by the figure of Jesus Christ. It was the degeneration of both that led to this separation, which prevented the clear understanding that they, in reality, comprise a single great religious current.
“Now one of the most deplorable features of Ecclesiasticism is its habitual intolerance of all other faiths and religious systems, despite their antiquity, authenticity, fundamental similarity, and standing.
It regards them not as friends, but as rivals and foes; not to be understood, appreciated, and – in part at least – assimilated, but to be ignored, depreciated, or controverted.
This attitude Ecclesiasticism credits to itself as zeal for its own particular tenets, while it is in fact nothing, but the intolerance born of ignorance. (…)
This precise attitude towards that particular system of religion, Buddhism, which preceded the advent of Christianity by some five or six centuries has been little short of suicidal to the real success of the latter, having proved disastrous to its hold on all save the ignorant or elementary, the prejudiced, and the conventional classes still dominated by Ecclesiasticism.” (The Living Truth in Christianity, p. 26)
Are there references by Jesus to Buddhism, to Buddha?
I don’t believe there are explicit citations in the Gospels, parables, Epistles, and Revelation. But there are allegorical references, such as when Christ Jesus says:
“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me – just as the Father knows me and I know the Father – and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.” (John 10:14-16. Emphasis added).
Following the spirit of the “New” Gospel of Interpretation, the Lord Jesus must have made many references to the Lord Buddha and to Buddhism, even if publicly, only with allegories (Matthew 13:34), but the true interpretation of the allegories has been lost. We can get a sense of what was lost by considering the period when the Lord Jesus was among the Essenes, where this connection with Buddhism was evident, for example, in the issue of brotherhood with animals and, consequently, vegetarianism, which was rigorously followed by the Essenes. All of this was practically lost for many centuries, and only recently has it been recovered.
Is there evidence of Jesus’ connection with the Essenes?
As far as I know, this connection between the Lord Jesus and the Essenes is today, even scientifically, considered practically certain. This knowledge became more solid with the discoveries of the Dead Sea Scrolls (Qumran) and the papyri of Upper Egypt (Nag Hammadi). Many papyri were discovered in the last century that mention a character, a leader cited as the Teacher of Righteousness. It is believed that these papyri are referring to the Lord Jesus.
“These systems were two in number, or rather were as two modes or expressions of the one system, the establishment of which constituted the “Message” which preceded Christianity by the cyclical period of six hundred years. This was the Message of which the “Angels” were represented in the Buddha Gautama and Pythagoras.
Of these two nearly contemporary prophets and redeemers, the system was, both in doctrine and in practice, essentially one and the same. And their relation to the system of Jesus, as its necessary pioneers and forerunners, finds recognition in the Gospels under the allegory of the Transfiguration.
For the forms beheld in this – of Moses and Elias – are the Hebrew correspondences of Buddha and Pythagoras. And they are described as beheld by the three Apostles in whom respectively are typified the functions severally fulfilled by Pythagoras, Buddha, and Jesus; namely, Works, Understanding, and Love, or Body, Mind, and Heart.
And by their association on the Mount is denoted the junction of all three elements, and the completion of the whole system comprising them, in Jesus as the representative of the Heart or Innermost, and as in a special sense the ‘beloved Son of God.’” (The Perfect Way; or, the Finding of Christ, pp. 250-251)
To better understand how probable this relationship between the Lord Jesus and the Essenes is considered, it suffices to cite a recent reference made by Pope Benedict XVI, who, in addition to being a scholar on these matters, is also known for being quite conservative in doctrinal terms:
Surprising Homily with New Historical Hypotheses About Easter
[Benedict XVI during the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, which he presided over in the Basilica of St. John Lateran, cathedral of the diocese of Rome, on the afternoon of Holy Thursday.]
Vatican City, Thursday, April 5, 2007
“It was a surprising homily, in which the Pope, a theologian, harmonized moments of meditation with the latest historical investigations carried out on the Qumran manuscripts, found in the Dead Sea in 1947, which are still studied today and offer new hypotheses about Easter.
His aim was to show the novelty introduced by Christ’s Easter to the Jewish Passover, in which a lamb was sacrificed in remembrance of the liberation of the chosen people from slavery in Egypt.
In all probability, Jesus followed the calendar observed by the Essenes of Qumran, a strict Jewish sect in opposition to the priestly power of Jerusalem, which in some respects remains mysterious to historians,” he explained. The Holy Father.
According to this interpretation, “not yet accepted by all,” as he himself stated, Jesus “celebrated Passover with his disciples probably according to the Qumran calendar, that is, ‘at least one day before’ the traditional Passover feast, ‘at the time of the immolation of the lambs,’ as the Gospel of St. John says, something that seemed to contradict the narrative of the other three evangelists.
Cardinal Albert Vanhoye SJ, former rector of the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, explained that in Jesus’ time, the Essene calendar was more traditional than the more recent one adopted by the priests of Jerusalem, although this does not mean that Jesus was part of the Essenes.
This implies, added Benedict XVI, that Jesus celebrated Passover “without a lamb, like the Qumran community, which did not recognize Herod’s temple and was waiting for the new temple.” (Zenit website – The World Seen from Rome, 05/04/2007).
Even though we don’t have full scientific proof, there is a lot of information that comes from mystical tradition, appearing in the texts of various authors.
When Dr. Anna Kingsford, for example, says that she was with the Lord Jesus during that life in Palestine, this is clearly not information corroborated by contemporary science. It is mystical information, and you will accept it or not based on a series of other inferences you make about that person’s life, whether the other things she said make sense or not, whether the context of that person’s work is relevant or not. When you conclude that it is relevant, you realize that she would have no reason to say something false on such a serious matter. So you accept that information, at least as a strong hypothesis.
“I am now shown the truth respecting the birth of Jesus. It was most certainly an ordinary birth. I see that quite distinctly. The names are all altered. The birth-name of Jesus is not Jesus, or anything like it. Nothing is real as I have thought it. Very little happens as related. The losing and finding in the temple and the feeding of the five thousand are allegories of which the signification is spiritual. The miracles of the raising of the ruler’s daughter and widow’s son are real facts.” (Clothed with the Sun, p. 84)
“This morning between sleeping and waking I saw myself, together with many other persons, walking with Jesus in the fields round about.” (Clothed with the Sun, p. 87)
In the world of religions, the Masters say that this question of conventional scientificism should take a back seat. Among other reasons, because of the very limitations of the scientific method. When we speak of something with a mystical foundation, we refer to an experience of an internal, mystical nature.
The word “mystical” comes from the root that appears in several languages, such as the French “muet”, the Portuguese “mudo”, the English “mute” – meaning without speech, or with closed lips, keeping silent, not speaking. That is, this is a reality that you access not through discursive knowledge – which is scientifically called epistemological, that which can be written, that which can be intellectually transmitted – which is an essential component of the contemporary scientific method. We are talking about something that begins when you, allegorically, close your lips.
Common feeling is still tied to our senses. Mystical traditions tell us that we have latent faculties within us that are like “super senses,” and that these faculties, when awakened and actualized, open the gates of heaven, in the allegorical sense of the word.
We are beginning to speak of things that modern science cannot reach. We are referring to conventional, academic science, which society knows and values, and not to Science with a capital “S,” which means true knowledge or Gnosis. This science of the world, of academia, is limited, a science with a lowercase “s,” so to speak. When we speak of true Science, we open mental doors and windows to deeper and more comprehensive knowledge.
The same happens with the world’s religions: they are generally not true religions. The same is true of philosophy, which today is, in general, merely an academic discipline. The word philosophy means lover of wisdom, friend of Sophia, of Wisdom.
“Wisdom Is Seated at the Door of Those Who Love Her
Radiant and never-fading is Wisdom; she is easily discerned by those who love her and is found by those who search for her.
She hastens to make herself known to those who desire her.
He who rises early to seek her will not have to toil, for he will discover her seated at his door.
To meditate on her is to achieve perfection in understanding, and he who is vigilant in seeking after her will soon be free from care.
For she herself goes about seeking those who are worthy of her, and she graciously appears to them as they tread life’s paths, meeting them with all benevolence.
The beginning of Wisdom is a sincere desire for instruction, and concern for learning is evidence of love for her; but love for her is shown by keeping her laws, and observing her laws brings the assurance of incorruptibility.
Now incorruptibility brings people close to God; thus the desire for Wisdom leads to a kingdom.” (Wisdom, 6:12-20)
When we delve deeper into these themes, considering Religion (Religare), Science (Gnosis), and Philosophy (love of Sophia), we realize that they are centrally based on inner, mystical knowledge.
To reach this stage, we must elevate ourselves. As the French philosopher and theologian Teilhard de Chardin said, “tout ce qui s’elève, converge” – everything that rises converges. If we remain on the periphery, they seem like separate things: science is one thing, philosophy is another, religion is another. When we elevate ourselves, when we delve into the experience of the spiritual, these things converge like rays of light in relation to the Sun.
“Proof” through inner Realization?
Regarding these philosophical-religious themes we are discussing, the proof on which they truly rest, are grounded, and based, is inner, mystical experience – not historical proof, which is full of controversies. In these matters, what matters is whether it has a relevant internal experience, preferably an experience common to several prophets and mystics from different times and places.
This type of “proof” occurs when the person feels and, depending on the person, lives and transforms into that thing. When we dedicate ourselves to these studies, we come to know ourselves and, to some extent, experience these faculties that exist within us.
Through the study and practice of the vast Science of Mysticism (Religion, Yoga, etc.), we come to know that it is possible to develop faculties that enable us to experience this knowledge, whether in the more superficial sense of beginning to see things, hear things, or in the higher sense of gradually transforming ourselves into the very object of knowledge.
True spiritual knowledge is achieved through “fusion.” There is a transformation into the thing and, thus, a transcendence of duality, of the separation between subject and object – and the result is a “fusion,” a becoming the object of knowledge. You and the object of knowledge become one, merge, so to speak. This is the mystical tradition of all times, of all places.
What is the objective of the book “The Wheel and the Cross”?
The main objective of the work The Wheel and the Cross (which this text aims to be a brief introduction to) is to rescue the religious reality that exists behind Christianity and Buddhism. It is to show that they are not two separate things, but rather one and the same religious current.
The book intends to rescue a true religiosity. Buddhism and Christianity are two complementary aspects of the same creed of the same movement. That is, together they complete a reliable and catholic (universal) philosophical-religious map, constituting, internally, a path to the realization of our highest latent faculties and, externally, a proposal for consistent solutions to the great world problems.
And what about the prophets Anna Kingsford and Edward Maitland?
Anna Bonus Kingsford (September 16, 1846 – February 22, 1888) was a remarkable woman in many respects. She wrote books of the greatest value and depth in the fields of religious thought and vegetarianism. She also possessed exceptional talents in other areas: as a physician, and as an activist for women’s rights and vegetarianism, especially as an ardent opponent of vivisection. Despite the constant ill health that accompanied her throughout her short life, Anna Kingsford left invaluable contributions to the well-being of humans and animals.
She was what we would now call psychic from a very young age, being aware of ghosts of the dead, the physical and psychic states of the living, and her premonitions about the impending death of people were always accurate. However, she soon learned to remain silent about her visions in order to avoid inevitable ridicule and the unpleasant advice of the family doctor.
Both traditional Christianity and Materialism harbored at least a distrust of the spirit world, often persecuting people with psychic abilities. Liberating the human spirit from the lethal clutches of false Christianity and gross Materialism became Anna Kingsford’s greatest life goal.
She married Algernon Godfrey Kingsford in 1867. She studied the doctrines of her husband’s Anglicanism, as well as those of Roman Catholicism. In 1870 she joined the Roman Catholic Church, drawn to its rituals and mystical aspects. She then adopted the Christian names Anna Mary Magdalen Maria Johanna. However, she was always critical of the sacerdotalism and materialism of the Church.
Anna dedicated herself to the study of Medicine, aiming to open new paths for other issues such as vegetarianism, and to aid in her fight for other causes she believed in. Women were not accepted as medical students in England at that time, but they could undertake some preliminary studies there. Thus, Anna began her medical studies in 1873 in England, and later went to Paris in 1874 to study medicine, traveled back and forth between Paris and England until receiving her medical degree in 1880.
In her diary, Anna wrote that she had a great ambition to change the world and achieve glory, and that her suffering from poor health was due to karma for her “sins of the flesh” in previous lives.
Anna Kingsford’s life became intertwined with that of Edward Maitland (October 27, 1824 – October 2, 1897), who was the main collaborator on her work. This collaboration began in February 1874 when Edward visited Anna and her husband (in Atcham, where the couple lived), staying there for two weeks.
Algernon did not object to their subsequent (and platonic) relationship. Considering the course of their respective lives, it is not difficult to believe that the mysterious hand of fate brought Anna Kingsford and Edward Maitland together. For example, had Edward’s wife not died quite young, he would not have been free to collaborate with Anna, and perhaps would never have met her, as Edward had married and was living in Australia.
Anna Kingsford was frequently in contact with the “spirit” world, especially during her sleep, and collaborated with Edward Maitland to write what they called their “Illuminations.” In 1881 they gave a series of lectures based on their “Illuminations” to a select audience in London. The following year these lectures were published as “The Perfect Way; or, The Finding of Christ”. It is their magnum opus, and a fourth edition of the book was published in 1909.
In his essay “In Memoriam to the Rev. G.J.R. Ouseley”, Samuel Hopgood Hart wrote about the work The Perfect Way, quoting Rev. G.J.R. Ouseley himself:
“We had a long talk together, but with some difficulty on account of his deafness. When I told him of my interest in the teaching of The Perfect Way, he said, in his opinion it was “the brightest and best of all revelations that had been given to the World”, but he despaired of the world ever receiving it, because “the world had always rejected the Truth; had always crucified Christ and his doctrine, and would it not do so again?” Of this, however, he was sure; “The Church of the future would be the Church of The Perfect Way.” (Emphasis added)
Maitland compiled some of Anna Kingsford’s “Illuminations” and published them in “Clothed with the Sun” in 1889. Maitland’s final work was a two-volume biography of Anna Kingsford (1896). Anna Kingsford died at noon on February 22, 1888, ending an 18-hour vigil by Maitland at her side. She was buried in Atcham.
For a more complete view of the life and work of these two prophets, I suggest reading two texts written by the main continuator of the work of Dr. Kingsford and Maitland, Samuel Hopgood Hart. These texts were written precisely to give a general idea of the lives of these two prophets [Life and Work of Anna Kingsford and Life and Work of Edward Maitland]. These suggested texts are part of the Supplementary Texts of the work “The Wheel and the Cross”, and are, like much other biographical information, available on the Anna Kingsford website (www.annakingsford.com), where there is a section entirely dedicated to this purpose: Biographical Information and Biographies.
And what about other prophets?
Regarding Buddhist Christianity in our time, we can consider Anna Kingsford and Edward Maitland as its quintessential prophets, although others, such as Madame Blavatsky and Alice Bailey, have certainly contributed with the vast literature they bequeathed to us and the organizations they initiated.
As for the broader subject of the “New” Gospel of Interpretation, and the opening of the world’s Bibles, there have been other prophets whom I consider equally or similarly important, both in the West and the East.
Among these we can mention Helena Blavatsky, Sri Ramakrishna, Annie Besant, Charles Leadbeater, Alice Bailey, and Geoffrey Hodson. It is important to remember that this list does not intend to be exhaustive of the prophets who made relevant contributions to the opening of the world’s Bibles – that is, to the mystical interpretation of the symbols of the Holy Scriptures – and, therefore, to the “New” Gospel of Interpretation.
Are there relevant works by these other prophets?
Helena Blavatsky wrote several important texts. One of them is called The Esoteric Character of the Gospels, and in her main works such as The Secret Doctrine and Isis Unveiled, there are several important passages and chapters that contribute to the opening of the world’s Bibles.
Sri Ramakrishna wrote little, but his followers brought us his thought, as in the example of the work The Gospel of Ramakrishna, where he seeks to show the fundamental identity of the great religious traditions, which is only possible when their symbols are interpreted in the light of mysticism, as he did.
Annie Besant and her partner Charles Leadbeater also wrote several important texts for a mystical understanding of the Scriptures, both Western and Eastern. In the field of Christianity, one could cite Annie Besant’s Esoteric Christianity and Charles Leadbeater’s Christian Gnosis, among others by these same authors.
Alice Bailey, for example, wrote an important work for the “New” Gospel of Interpretation called From Bethlehem to Calvary, where she mystically interprets the main moments in the life of Jesus Christ in the Gospels, showing that these episodes, together, symbolize the path of the Great Initiations and, separately, aspects of each of these Great Initiations.
Geoffrey Hodson also wrote several relevant works on the interpretation of sacred symbols, perhaps the best known and most important being the four-volume work entitled The Hidden Wisdom in the Holy Bible.
I would like to reiterate that this list is not exhaustive, nor is it exhaustive of the works of those mentioned. It merely, as far as we can see, does justice to the names of important prophets and some of their principal works.
And what about the “New” Gospel of Interpretation?
“That which you need on Earth is the interpretation of your Bibles, and of all the Scriptures which contain the hidden wisdom, the mystery of which St. Paul so often speaks as existing from the foundation of the world.” (As in Romans 16:25) (A Message to Earth,. Edited by Edward Maitland, p. 69. Emphasis added).
This is the name given to the philosophical-religious message that seeks to recover the original truth of the great religious traditions, especially those of the West, a message brought to the world, above all, in the writings of Dr. Kingsford and Maitland. As we have said, this does not exclude other prophets, who also made their contributions. But the pioneering works that give the fundamental note are in the writings of these two prophets, who are still so little recognized due to the ignorance and ingratitude of our world.
All of Anna Kingsford’s works are available, free of charges, on her website (www.annakingsford.com), including works of secondary importance that do not belong to the Gospel of Interpretation.
According to Edward Maitland, who founded an organization for the dissemination of this message (the Esoteric Christian Union), the works that were recognized at that time as part of the “New” Gospel of Interpretation are the following:
– The Perfect Way; or, the Finding of Christ. Anna Kingsford and Edward Maitland.
– Clothed with the Sun: Being the Illuminations of Anna (Bonus) Kingsford. Anna Kingsford. Edited by Edward Maitland.
– The Bible’s Own Account of Itself. Edward Maitland.
– The “New Gospel of Interpretation.” Being an Abstract of the Doctrine and a Statement of the Origin, Object, Basis, Method, and Scope of the Esoteric Christian Union. Edward Maitland.
– A Message to Earth. Published anonymously. [Compiler’s note: Probably edited by Edward Maitland.] Published together with writings recognized by the Esoteric Christian Union as belonging to the Gospel of Interpretation.
The following work also contains teachings identical to the works above, regarding origin and character, but mixed with some lighter writings:
– Dreams and Dream Stories. Anna Kingsford. Edited by Edward Maitland. Second edition: George Redway, London, 1888.
We can surely add some more works, published later – which are the following:
– The Story of Anna Kingsford and Edward Maitland and of the New Gospel of Interpretation. Edward Maitland.
– The Life of Anna Kingsford: Her Life, Letters, Diary and Work. Edward Maitland. Two volumes.
– Addresses and Essays on Vegetarianism. This work brings together texts by Anna Kingsford and Edward Maitland. Edited by Samuel Hopgood Hart.
– The Credo of Christendom: and other Addresses and Essays on Esoteric Christianity. This work brings together texts by Anna Kingsford and Edward Maitland. Edited by Samuel Hopgood Hart.
In short, the “New” Gospel of Interpretation is the true and ancient Gospel that is being rescued. Similarly, Buddhist Christianity is the rescue of the true and ancient message of the Lord Christ Jesus and the Lord Buddha Gautama, which, as we have already said, constitute one and the same great tradition, which should never have been separated.
Is Buddhist Christianity the ancient religion that the Gospel of Interpretation came to rescue?
It is believed that Buddhist Christianity, in particular, and the “New” Gospel of Interpretation, in general, constitute the fulfillment, at least to some extent, of the ancient Prophecy of the Dry Bones that regain blood and life:
“The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”
Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath[a] enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet – a vast army.” (Ezekiel, 37:1-10)
Naturally, the current state of Buddhist Christianity signifies and constitutes a new attempt, a new effort, a new impulse – within a rather bleak panorama – to rescue the truth contained in the ancient symbols of this religion. A religion that the world mistakenly believes to be two religions. And this panorama is so bleak that it seems as if something new is being brought about. But, as I said, it is merely a rescue from old and much distorted, or sometimes even forgotten, things.
Thus, there is an urgent need to rescue these symbols that are still present. In conventional science, in materialistic consumerism, in politics, and in worldly art, there is almost nothing that speaks consistently to the Soul of the human being. Therefore, it is necessary to rescue the truth contained in religious symbols.
“Herein the literalists show that they fail to see that to make the “obvious” sense of the Bible its real sense would be to destroy it as a Bible or book of the soul; since as such it must appeal to the soul and not to the senses; and must refer, not to persons, things, and events belonging to the physical plane, but to principles, processes, and states purely spiritual – though expressed in terms derived from the physical plane – using persons, things, and events by way of illustration only.” (“New” Gospel of Interpretation, p. 12. Emphasis added)
I once had an insight. I was in the United States, in the midst of that consumer society, of waste, and I was looking for a Mass to attend. I took a bus, searching, until I found a Catholic school far from where I was. I arrived for the 8:00 AM Mass, and when I entered that church, I saw the children singing, with all those symbols around – the Cross, Our Lady, etc. – I realized, in a flash of inner light: “This place has a lot of idolatry, but compared to the world out there, at least it still has a shell, a veneer of the real thing. In the world there is almost only materialism. Here inside, even with all the idolatry, there is a remnant of sacred things.” That’s a pale summary of the insight.
Is it difficult to find the correct interpretation?
It is indeed difficult to find the correct interpretations of religious symbols in these religious traditions. Not only in Roman Catholicism, but also in other traditions, many sacred forms and symbols are still preserved. If we are sensitive, we will perceive the Divine Light behind all that idolatry, that misunderstanding.
When the priest is officiating, if we pay close attention to what is happening, we will see that very good things still occur, such as the flow of sanctified energies, especially in the Eucharist ceremony. If we can interpret his words in the light of the “New” Gospel of Interpretation, we will realize that these symbols, now distorted, once contained and can again contain knowledge that can save the world from materialism and nihilism, like bones that regain flesh, blood, and life.
Does the living Mystery still exists?
Although much distorted, a Mystery still exists, a real and living ministry and flow of spiritual energies. At least there is more of it there than outside of it, in the world in general. And the sacred symbols, although now somewhat empty, just like the shell or the dried bones, are also present. Even if the Mystery of the living flow of spiritual forces did not exist, if the symbols are there, we must seek to recover their true interpretation, as a duty to our people and as a duty to those Greater than us, who gave and continually give their lives for us. If They made and make this Sacrifice, who are we to deny it?
We need to remove what is false and bring light. This is our duty, both thinking of those who are smaller, “younger,” and those who are greater, “older” than us. We must seek to bring the little light we can to the world.