"Before the people had priests...their
souls were with God."
(Words attributed to Jesus Christ in a Tibetan document discovered
by Nicholas Notovitch)
(Sun setting on an old era--or rising on a new one)
Our Book Store
(an introduction)
Why support our store
(short version)
Why support our store
(longer version)
Jammu Book Store currently has only one of the four books listed there available for immediate purchase. Very soon, the other books will be available for purchase. Hopefully, within a short period of time, we'll have ten high-quality books available for sale.
Those of you who have been with us at The Tomb of Jesus Christ Website since December 10, 1999, know that we have been very sincere in our projects. We are asking for your full support. Naturally, the proceeds from the sales of these high-quality books will go to help our work. The most important thing in this age is reading and the spread of information. That's what we're dedicated to.
The store has a very easy to understand shopping cart system for your convenience. As you know, it is fun receiving books directly at your door. Before long, the winter will be upon us. We hope to have a good supply of books, at least 10, for you well before then. Please spread the news about our book store. Thanks again for your continued support!
Why support our store (the short version)
Research: We need funds to support our attempts to secure documents--particuarly Asian and Indian ancient documents--on the historical Jesus. Purchasing books from our bookstore can help that effort.
The Website: Thus far, sales of our primary book, Saving the Savior, are sufficient to support the upkeep and maintenance of The Tomb of Jesus Christ Website. We'd like to make great improvements, though, and your support can help that. Please tell your friends and associates about our bookstore.
Why support our store (the long version)
Knowledge
Research
The Website
A new age
Knowledge: Intermittently throughout human history, unfortunate periods of darkness emerged. And often, these periods of darkness were sustained by an organized class of priests [I use the word generically, not necessarily to refer to Christian clergy] who usurped the authority of God [or, if you prefer, "the Universe," Jehovah, Yahweh, Allah, etc] by arrogating to themselves power and position that they did not rightly deserve.
Even though the Divine had not fully revealed Itself (as it continues to do to this day, through revealing to us the secrets of nature, in science; through the elevation of our consiousness, particularly in our understanding of the fundamental right to be free; through its facilitation of our reinterpretations of religion and spirituality) the priests created immutable "decrees" and "ordinances" and "declarations" and "fatwas" that, often through their manipulation of the reigning secular power, they imposed on the common people through force, violence and murder. We all know about Galileo.
Another example is the Church "decree" that "declared" that the waters below the equator were not waters at all, but fire. Of course, when European sailors came back from their sailing expeditions reporting that the substance south of the equator was not fire, but water, these and other revelations began to threaten the stranglehold that the priests had on the populace. No longer could they define "truth." No longer could they hoard and limit knowledge and its acquisition. Remember that it was not until the 1960s that the Vatican finally got rid of its notorious Index of Forbidden Books, a list of books that the Vatican had "declared" to be forbidden to read (or even possess!)
Well, although the rise of Euro-intellecutalism and secularism finally overthrew the power of the priests, corrupt priests still exist [read the newspapers]. In Russia, the Russian Orthodox Church has made deals with the Russian government to limit the activities of other religious groups that are entering Russia. Muslim priests (the maulvis) are now directly tied to the events of 9/11, as it has been discovered that many of the "Islamic" madrasas around the world are manned by corrupt and vicious priests who spread their poison to young, impressionable Muslim children, their eventual goal being a stagnant "paradise" run by Islamic priests.
The "ultra-orthodox" Jewish priests have so angered Jews in Israel that, according to Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie, president of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, that they've caused,
"...an entire generation of Israelis to view Judaism with contempt..."
Well, the point is that--and this is particularly true of the West--now that priestdom has been virtually crushed (or at least kept in check), it is a grave mistake not to take advantage of these current freedoms. A lot of blood was spilled, over the course of human history, in the effort to liberate the human mind, heart and soul. And it is extremely sad to say that there probably will be more blood spilled. Those of us who are fortunate enough to possess enough freedom to make our own choices should never take such freedoms for granted.
The books we will present here could not have been written at one time in human history. Even the US, at one time, had a "thought police" segment within the Federal Bureau of Investigation [I believe it was based in Virginia] whose responsibility it was to "filter" books, unbeknownst to the average American. Those days appear to be over within the US (perhaps).
When you visit our bookstore, just remember the history.
Research: Due to our good fortune of having certain contacts, we are very aware that there exists a wealth of ancient documents that document the historical Jesus--the Jesus who survived the crucifixion and taught all over Asia/India. The problem is time, logistics, and, of course, money. That's always the problem. We have never asked for direct donations, though we are considering using PayPal's donation system for those who wish to donate.
Rather than ask for direct donations, we simply request that you frequent our store and purchase our books. Some of the documents you see at the Ancient and Other Documents page of the website were acquired through our personal funds, though most were given to us from people who understand the importance of this effort, and who wish to make a contribution.
We do not have a budget to travel. We do not wish to mention where, but there are monasteries in certain parts of the world that contain documents, and that we'd like to have a crack at. This involves transportation, equipment (such as computers, scanners, digital cameras, storage media of various types), the employment of professional linguists and translators, and other things. We realize that it will get done--sooner or later--with or without us. Because nobody is going to wait for us. These documents are going to discovered and allowed to surface, and there is no doubt about it. We would, of course, like to be a part of that, though we'd also be happy if others got the job done.
Again, what we ask is that you purchase our books and that you get on the Internet and inform others about our store and our website. This is all that we ask.
The Website: We made it clear from day one (December 10, 1999) that we were not professional web designers (well...ahem...I suppose that's rather obvious). We're trying to find some time to squeeze in some web design courses. But we have no problem with hiring experts to improve the design of our website. Of course, we like the design (we think it's the best on the Internet!) But we're not so stuck on ourselves as to believe that others automatically feel the same way.
For instance, the other day one of our staff was at an Internet cafe, and asked one of the staff of the cafe to look at our website. When she came over, he said to her, "Nice, hey?" She stared at the page (our book store) and said, "Well...Yes, it's very nice...considering that whoever created it was obviously...well...a novice.") Needless to say, he left the cafe immediately and returned home. :-)
Well, luckily, whatever we have lacking web-wise is made up by the countless emails we receive from visitors who thank us--in glowing terms--for presenting this material. And only four times since 1999 has anyone ever suggested that we might want to consider redesigning the site [well...five times, counting that woman at the Internet cafe]. We want the site to be the best--or amongst the best. But none of us had rich parents (or grandparents, for that matter) and are struggling just like many other people.
So, again, all that we ask (at this point) is that you support our book store by purchasing books, and by telling others about our website and store. That would be wonderful.
A New Age: We are not necessarily comfortable with the term, New Age, or New Age Movement. The term in itself is great. But, unfortunately, it has come to mean so much that it now appears to have no meaning at all.
Yet the fact is that we have moved into a new age. There are many who see this and acknowledge it. And there are others who, due to time-honored beliefs and traditions, are unwilling to admit it and acknowledge it. To understand what this new age is about, we believe that one must, of necessity, open one's mind to information that one might have previously dismissed, even if that information is uncomfortable.
Although we hope that our book store will eventually contain books other than those that deal with the historical Jesus, as regards this "new age," understanding the historical Jesus (and even the a-historical Jesus crafted by the priests) is extremely important. Traditionally, two dominant world religions--Christianity and Islam--developed beliefs about Jesus that were, strangely, very similar. On the one hand, the Christians claimed that he was returning to earth in the final days, "in power and glory" to impose an eternal Kingdom of God. Muslims, on the other hand, claimed that he was returning to assist someone named "Imam Mahdi," who would force Islam upon the world.
Apparently, neither interpretation is correct, considering the fact that 2000 years have passed since he was supposed to have "died" and "rose to heaven." [Though Christians insist that "no man knows" the day, according to the Bible, of his "return"]. What does it mean?
The fervent of either group longed for his physical return, as it would, in their minds, signal the end of the personal responsibility, on earth, to use the intellect. Oh, they didn't explicitly state it that way. But that is what it amounted to (as anyone can witness in reading the writings of any of the fervent of either group). No longer would there be a need to do anything--Jesus (or, to the Muslims, Isa) would take care of everything. There would be no debate, because the final arbiter would be here on earth. There would be no pondering; no discerning; no reflection; no difference of opinion. Jesus would take care of everything. And, strangely, the fervent believers in this "perfect" paradise never stopped to think that this picture was, in fact not a perfect one. For, in truth, both the Holy Bible and the Holy Qur'an--the scriptures of Christianity and Islam respectively--demand that the believer, "ponder" or "reflect" or "discern."
What kind of "perfect" paradise would prevent the need to exercise a dimension of the human entity that God Himself had told the believers to exercise? Such a "perfect" paradise would be perfect only for the priests, who wanted to exercise power over the people. (Incidentally, we make a distinction, as is made clear in the Preface of Saving the Savior, between these vicious priests and the good priests who are sincere).
So, this is why it is important to understand who Jesus really was. The "Jesus" of the priests is false. Were he true, the evolution in human consciousness that we are all witnessing would not have taken place. Because what sense would it make for God to allow this evolution of human consciousness--this continuous march towards the liberation of the human heart, mind and soul--but then send "Jesus" to put a halt to that, sitting on a thrown dictating terms?
Since the "Jesus" of the priests was not able to keep up with the evolution of human consciousness, he has become obsolete. We are no longer in the age of the "Jesus" of the priests. Even many of the enlightened priests know that (Thomas Sheehan, Robert Funk, Reverend John Shelby Spong, Reverend Furlong of Ireland, etc.) We have entered a new age. More correctly, we have resumed the path that God charted out for us.
Our book store is going to present books that not only accommodate this new age, but that can chart a path for the sojourner--a resumption of the path towards God, without the interference of priests. Or, as an ancient Buddhist document of Tibet quoted Jesus as stating when he fought with the priests of Zoroastrianism in Persia,
"Before the people had priests...their souls were with God."
That is what our bookstore is about: offering books that allow you to chart your path; books that liberate you from the Age of the Priests. But it is important to understand that the real Jesus is not out of the picture. That is where our book store comes in. Through reading books that expose us to the Jesus of the East, we become familiar with a Jesus who had no intention of being the focus of our prayers (except that we prayed for his soul); a Jesus who, in fact, offered a prescription of personal responsibility for one's spiritual path towards God, devoid of any intermediaries. Indeed, that is what all the great prophets and teachers were about: liberation. This is why it is not necessary that I point to Jesus as the model. But, in his capacity as a spiritual liberator, he is a model, as were all of the prophets and messengers.
So, as we chart this new course together in this new age, it is not necessary to discard Jesus. It is not necessary to condemn him as a "false god." (He knew he wasn't God, false or otherwise). As the Age of the Priest closes (hopefully for good), guideposts appear everywhere. What we hope to do is simply serve as your book store where you can find the gems that shine and illuminate the path ahead of you.
Last, the closing of the Age of the Priests does not mean that all spiritual guides and teachers should be dismissed outright. We would like to give one example, though it is very difficult for us to do so, considering the fact that since we started our website in 1999 we have steadfastly avoided the appearance of aligning ourselves with any particular spiritual "master" or spiritual guide or sect or ism. This is why our website includes Hindu, Buddhist, Afghani, Gnostic and other viewpoints on the historical Jesus.
But it is simply impossible not to mention this important spiritual guide as a perfect example of someone who liberated himself from the priest class, as well as amassed a following of tens of millions of people around the world who did the same: Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908). There is probably not a single individual in modern history who became the very center of scorn and hatred from members of several major religions (Hinduism, Christianity, and even the priests of his own religion, Islam) in his own country, India--much the same way that Jesus became the center of scorn and hatred of the Jewish priests of Israel, the Zoroastrian priests of Persia and the Hindu priests of India.
But, again, we are not here to promote any ism or any individual or any sect. We mention Hazrat Ahmad because of his boldness; his integrity; his persistence (to his death) in opposing the priests, and, indeed, his astonishing triumph in his own lifetime, just as Jesus triumphed in surviving the crucifixion. And if the Divine wills (and if you make the effort), you too will triumph, just as Jesus said:
| "Those who seek should not stop seeking until they find. When they find, they will be disturbed. When they are disturbed, they will marvel, and will reign over all. And after they have reigned they will rest." |
A modern version by an unknown thinker says,
"The truth will set you free. But first it will piss you off"
Yours,
The Tomb Master