Sensei of Shambala - Anastasia Novykh (english novels for students .txt) 📗

buried in the city of Shrinagar, the capital of Kashimir, where He settled down in His last years. This picturesque place is located between two lakes at the foot of the Himalayas. His tomb is located in a crypt of the tomb Rozabal, which means ‘the tomb of the prophet.’”
“Maybe that really happened. But it is impossible to prove that there are remains of Jesus’ body in that tomb.”
“Why is it impossible? It can be proved. There are some traces of the crucifixion left. In particular, scratches on the bones of the hands, on the feet, and even traces from a spear on the ribs. Moreover, He has a badly healed fracture in the distal half of the right tibial diaphysis.”
“A fracture? Was His leg broken during the execution?”
“Oh, there is no connection to the execution. It happened much later when Christ was rather old. That is why I draw your attention to the fact that the fracture is specific, it is badly knit. It proves that Issa lived until His old age.”
“What about the idea that Jesus rose into the sky in a body?”
“Obviously such an insertion was necessary for someone to make in order to strengthen his flock’s belief in the material nature. And in general, you should read the Bible more attentively: out of four Gospels, only two of them mention the Ascension. It the Gospels according to St. Matthew and St. John, they write about Jesus’ meeting with His pupils on a mountain. And in the Gospels according to St. John, it is even written that, after this meeting, Jesus left with His favorite pupil. There are numerous mentions of Issa staying in the East after His crucifixion. This information is kept not only in the East, but also in the Vatican library.
“Let’s say you are right. But if that happened in bad times, then why not tell people the truth now, if you say that there are numerous mentions of Jesus staying in the East and these documents confirm it. The time has completely changed.”
“Time has changed, but people strive for authority just as they did thousands of years ago. Can you imagine what it would mean for the top religious leaders to tell people the truth and show the world the historical documents they hide so carefully? It would be a great catastrophe for them! It would undermine all the foundations of their religion, would shake belief of the novices and their huge flock, and consequently would undermine their authority. Nobody will ever do it. But a human who is in a constant search of knowledge without doubt will come sooner or later across these texts.”
“In general, you may be right,” the novice said thoughtfully. “To tell the truth, I had some doubts concerning the Ascension, but about Pontius Pilate… who would have thought it!”
“Yes, Pontius Pilate deserved the favor of God for his love, but he certainly did more harm than good to Issa,” Sensei said deep in thought. “He doomed Him to more than eighty years of wandering in a body. But obviously that was the payment of Christ for the salvation of Pilate.”
A short silence reigned, with each participant of this conversation plunged into his thoughts. We also stood silently, not daring to interrupt such a fascinating conversation.
“I wonder,” the novice started talking again, “why did Jesus come to the Jews but not to any other nation? Were the people chosen by God? It is written everywhere in the Bible that beginning with Abraham God calls them His favorite people.”
“You see, God has no distinctions of nationalities, color of skin, and so on, as all people are children of God. God loves them all equally. But when one of your children falls ill, you give all your attention and love to this sick child so that he recovers more quickly. The same is true with God. Recall the words of Jesus, ‘They that are in health need not a physician, but they that are sick.’”
“Is the number of His pupils somehow connected to mysticism or numerology? In fact, there were twelve of them and Jesus turns out to be the thirteenth?”
“No, there is no mysticism in it. He simply searched among people for pupils with more or less ripened souls. He was lucky to find at least twelve individuals among those people, but one of them betrayed Him.”
The novice grinned, “Yes, if you follow the words of Jesus in the Bible then you are right, a sick person needs a doctor, not a healthy one. Though today, it seems to me that the whole planet needs a doctor and not just this nation.”
“Absolutely right. Just look at what is going on in our country – materialism has been cultivated for more than seventy years. The slightest freedom of choice appeared and people plunged into various religions like fishes as their spiritual nature also needs to develop. Just look how many new sects, branches, and religions appeared and began to prosper at once.
“In our country, that’s understandable. But take a look at what is going on around the world. Everywhere there is a splash of various religions. People are tossed from one to another. It seems like they like it. Everywhere they are treated well, everywhere they are smiled at, politely spoken to. But the soul rejects their teachings because it needs real knowledge, because it wants Freedom, while sects and religions are too limited. They give more food to the mind than to the soul. The souls feel that under this trumpery, this externally ‘authentic’ shell, the fruit itself is rotten. That’s why the soul trembles, while man is tossing in search of wholly ripe fruit.”
“I’m sorry, but you mentioned that time is beginning to shrink. What do you mean by that?”
“It was predicted by the ancients,” Sensei explained, “and even Jesus said that, ‘And except those days should be shortened, there would no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.’ That is, when mankind as a whole faces the key choice or, as it is said in eschatology, when they stand on the threshold of divine justice, one of the main attributes of this time will be its compression. Basically, nothing will radically change. As the clock showed 24 hours per day, it will continue showing it. The calendar will remain as it is, and there will still be 365 days per year. But inside of the soul, something will start to tremble and the human will feel this shortage of time. He will notice that time runs faster; a day flies by as if an instant, a month flies by as if a week, years fly by as if months. Time will become more compressed and dense. It is a certain signal, a sign for the soul.”
“Yes,” the interlocutor said thoughtfully, “perhaps the predictions of the prophets are beginning to come true. But this is a prediction of the Second Advent. Is this time really coming? How can I find out that Christ has come? Do you remember that when Jesus came for the first time, nobody believed for a long time that He was truly the Son of God. And now just look, many people name themselves Christs or say that they were sent by Christ as the Comforter. On the one hand, all of them say it is true according to the Bible, but on the other hand there is no trust in them. How can one tell the true Christ from the false Savior?”
“It is extremely easy. In fact, the Bible says that Jesus resurrected the dead and that it was enough for a sick person just to touch His clothes to recover. Judging from this, I think the most appropriate thing would be to use the Zen practice. For this purpose, it is enough to take a big and firm stick and to hit with all your force the one who names himself Christ. If the stick blossoms after that, it will mean that it was Christ. If that does not happen, it will mean that he was only an adventurer. In that case, it would be nice to hit him one more time so that he does not take other people's glory again.”
We stood silently for some seconds and thought over the words we had heard. First, the novice took it seriously. But when he got the sense of these words, he burst out laughing with all his heart, and the crowd laughed as well.
“Perhaps that is the most effective method,” he said with a smile. “But seriously?”
“To put it seriously, you should not wait for Jesus to come as a human, for He will come as the Son of God into people's souls. And He will reign one thousand years as the King sitting on a throne of not only our souls but also our minds. Recall His words in the Gospel according to St. John, ‘God is a Spirit’; ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no man cometh to the Father, but by me’; ‘And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and will be in you’; ‘At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.’”
The novice was silent for a while and then asked, “I wonder whether there will be an end to the world? Recently, the most different dates began to appear in newspapers. Our sect, as I understand, tries to match this date with predictions of various astrologists pointing to the date of the parade of the planets. So, I wonder when the Apocalypse will come, when will we appear before the justice of God at last?”
“You know, for two thousand years people have been waiting for the Armageddon and the Second Advent of Christ. Almost all religions are based on this idea that as soon as tomorrow the world will end and those who are not in their rows will all die in Gehenna. What I can tell you about this? Each human in his life experiences his personal Armageddon, but not everyone wins it and not even everyone understands that he faces this Armageddon. Therefore, you should not be afraid of the Apocalypse that will come for everybody, for it is easier to die all together. The main thing is to win your personal Armageddon and not to appear in that crowd.”
“That's right! I myself thought that we should do something now because it is unknown what will happen tomorrow. To tell the truth, the words you have spoken have somehow relieved my soul. This absolute uncertainty, all these horror stories are already getting on my nerves. But yet, I do not understand what religion you profess?”
“I do not profess and do not belong to any religion. I belong only to God,” Sensei replied simply.
After that, the conversation turned to more frank topics concerning the novice personally. I had the impression that the guy talked with Sensei as if they were alone in the universe. He told Sensei more and more about himself, about his life, as though there was no silent crowd, as though it had dissolved in the night. It seemed to me that both interlocutors were two tired wanderers who met by chance under a star's infinity. They were mutually absorbed in this conversation about the eternal, about the essence of things, as if all restrictions of space and time had disappeared.
“…It’s so amazing. You know, recently, for some reason, I was unlucky