Jesus in Rome: 7. trips outside Rome

The Urantia Book

document 132

7. trips outside Rome

Jesus, Gonod and Ganid made five trips from Rome to visit several attractions in nearby and distant surroundings. During his visit to the northern Italian lakes Jesus had the long talk with Ganid concerning the impossibility of teaching a man about God if the man does not want to know God. They had met by chance with a thoughtless pagan way to the lakes, and Ganid was surprised that Jesus did not follow its usual to engage in a conversation with this man that led naturally to the discussion of spiritual matters practice. When Ganid asked his teacher why so little interest in this pagan, Jesus answered:

"Ganid, the man was not hungry for truth. I was not dissatisfied with himself. He was not ready to ask for help, the eyes of his mind were not open to receive light for the soul. That man was not ripe for the harvest of salvation; you have to give more time for the trials and difficulties of life to prepare him for wisdom and superior knowledge. Or, if we could take to live with us, maybe we could by our way of life show the heavenly Father, and perhaps much what our life would bring God's children who would have to ask ourselves about our Father. You can not reveal God to those who seek it; you can not lead to the joy of salvation to the souls who do not want to be saved. It is necessary that man might yearn for the truth as a result of life experiences, or you want to know God as a result of contact with the lives of those who have known the divine Father before another human being can act as means to lead to the mortal to the heavenly Father. If we know God, our real task on earth is to live so that the Father may be revealed in our lives, and so all people who seek God will see the Father and ask for our help to find out more about the God that way finds expression in our lives. "

It was during a visit to Switzerland in the mountains, during a conversation that Jesus had a full day with the father and son about Buddhism. Many times Ganid had done to Jesus direct questions about Buddha, yet always getting more or less evasive answers. Now, in the presence of his son, the father asked Jesus a direct question about Buddha, and he received a direct reply. Gonod said, "I'd really like to know what you think of Buddha." Jesus answered:

"Your Buddha was much better than your Buddhism. Buddha was a great man, even a prophet to his people, but he was an orphan prophet; I mean by this that soon lost sight of his spiritual Father, the heavenly Father. His experience was tragic. He tried to live and teach as a messenger of God, but without God. Buddha steered his ship of salvation almost to the safe harbor, to the entrance of the port of salvation of mortals, but there, as the charts were wrong, the good ship ran aground. There has been for these many generations, motionless, almost hopelessly stranded. There have also been many of your people for all these years. Live a short distance of the safe waters of rest, but they refuse to enter because the noble craft of the good Buddha will beached mishap occurred precisely at the harbor entrance. Buddhist peoples never will enter the harbor unless they abandon the philosophic craft of their prophet and cling to his noble spirit. If your people had remained faithful to the spirit of Buddha, and would have long ago entered the harbor of spiritual tranquility, rest the soul and the assurance of salvation.

"You see, Gonod, Buddha knew God in spirit but failed to clearly discover him in mind; the Jews discovered God in mind but did not know mostly know him in spirit. Today, Buddhists give tumbles into a philosophy without God, while my people are piteously enslaved to the fear of a God without a saving philosophy of life and freedom. You have a philosophy without God; Jews have a God but lack much of a philosophy of life relevant. Buddha, failing to see God as a spirit and as a Father, failed to provide in his teaching the moral energy and the powerful spiritual impulse that must have a religion whether to switch to a race and has to exalt a nation. "

Then he exclaimed Ganid: "Teacher, you and I we form a new religion, a religion that is good enough for India and big enough for Rome, and maybe we can switch you to the Jews for Yahweh." And Jesus replied:  "Ganid, religions are not made. Mature man religions for long periods of time, while the revelations of God on earth gleam in the lives of the men who reveal God to their fellows. "  But they did not understand the meaning of these prophetic words.

That night when they went to bed, Ganid could not sleep. He spoke at length with his father and finally said, "You know, father, I sometimes think Joshua is a prophet." His father only sleepily replied to him: "My son, there are others."

From that day, for the rest of his natural life, Ganid continued to develop a religion itself. In his mind he was deeply touched by the generosity, fairness and tolerance of Jesus. In all of them talks about philosophy and religion this youth never experienced feelings of resentment or reactions of antagonism.

What a scene for contemplation of heavenly intelligences !, this show young Indian proposing to the Creator of a universe that they make a new religion! Although the young man did not know, they were actually forming a new and everlasting religion at the same time and place-this new way of salvation, the revelation of God to man through Jesus and in Jesus. What the young man wanted most to do he was unconsciously doing at that time. So, and that is, forever. What an enlightened and reflective human imagination, which has received education and spiritual guidance, sincerely and selflessly wants to do and be, becomes measurably creative in accordance with the degree of mortal dedication to the divine execution of the will of the Father. When man is associated with God, they can and do occur,