Jesus In India — Page 126
116 JESUS IN INDIA Messiah, to be his ‘son. ' Another important piece of circumstan- tial evidence in this regard is that in the same book it is recorded that when the infant Rahulta was separated from his mother, a woman whose name was Magdaliyana, and who was a follower of the Buddha acted as the intermediary. It may be noted that the name Magdaliyana is in reality a corrupt form of the name Magdalena, a female follower of Jesus, the Messiah, may peace be on him, mentioned in the Gospels. All this evidence, which has been briefly given, should lead an unbiased mind to the conclusion that Jesus, may peace be on him, must certainly have visited this country. Regardless of all these certain and sure grounds, no intelligent person can afford to disregard the similarity to be found between the teachings and the ceremonial rites of Buddhism and those of Christianity, espe- cially in Tibet. This resemblance is so close and striking that most Christian researchers believe that Buddhism is the Christianity of the East, and Christianity the Buddhism of the West. ¹ Look how amazing it is that just as Jesus, the Messiah, said, I am the Light and I am the Way, so said the very same Buddha. The Gospels call Jesus, the Messiah, the Saviour, the Buddha too calls himself the Saviour-see Lalta Wasatra. And in the Gospels, the birth of Jesus, the Messiah, is said to have happened without a father. Similalry is it written in the life events of the Buddha that he too was in reality born without a father, although apparently, just as Jesus, the Messiah, had a foster father Joseph, so had the Buddha a foster father. Similarly, it is stated that a star appeared at the time 1. See Appendix, extract 9. [Publisher] 2. See Appendix, extract 3. [Publisher]