BBC documentary claims Jesus was a Buddhist monk named Issa who spent 16+ years in India and Tibet

The life story of the most famous person who has ever lived is, in fact, filled with a mysterious gaping hole. From the age of 13 to 29 there is no Biblical, Western, or Middle Eastern record of Jesus‘s whereabouts or activities in Palestine. Known as “The Lost Years,” this gaping hole remained a mystery until one explorer’s remarkable discovery in 1887.

In the late 19th century a Russian doctor named Nicolas Notovitch traveled extensively throughout India, Tibet, and Afghanistan. He chronicled his experiences and discoveries in his 1894 book The Unknown Life of Christ. At one point during his voyage, Notovitch broke his leg in 1887 and recuperated at the Tibetan Buddhist Monastery of Hemis in the city of Leh, at the very top of India. It was here where monks showed Notovitch two large yellowed volumes of a document written in Tibetan, entitled The Life of Saint Issa. During his time at the monastery, Notovitch translated the document which tells the true story of a child named Jesus (i.e. Issa = “son of God”) born in the first century to a poor family in Israel. Jesus was referred to as “the son of God” by the Vedic scholars who tutored him in the sacred Buddhist texts from the age of 13 to 29. Notovitch translated 200 of the 224 verses from the document.

During his time at the monastery in 1887, one lama explained to Notovitch the full scope and extreme level of enlightenment that Jesus had reached. “Issa [Jesus] is a great prophet, one of the first after the twenty-two Buddhas,” the lama tells Notovitch. “He is greater than any one of all the Dalai Lamas, for he constitutes part of the spirituality of our Lord. It is he who has enlightened you, who has brought back within the pale of religion the souls of the frivolous, and who has allowed each human being to distinguish between good and evil. His name and his acts are recorded in our sacred writings. And in reading of his wondrous existence, passed in the midst of an erring and wayward people, we weep at the horrible sin of the pagans who, after having tortured him, put him to death.”

The discovery of Jesus’s time in India lines up perfectly with The Lost Years of Jesus, as well as with the degree of significance of his birth in the Middle East. When a great Buddhist, or Holy Man (i.e. Lama), dies, wise men consult the stars and other omens and set off — often on extraordinarily long journeys — to find the infant who is the reincarnation of the Lama. When the child is old enough he is taken away from his parents and educated in the Buddhist faith. Experts speculate that this is the foundational origin of the story of the Three Wise Men, and it is now believed Jesus was taken to India at 13 and taught as a Buddhist. At the time, Buddhism was already a 500-year-old religion and Christianity, of course, had not even begun.

“Jesus is said to have visited our land and Kashmir to study Buddhism. He was inspired by the laws and wisdom of Buddha,” a senior lama of the Hemis monastery told the IANS news agency. The head of the Drukpa Buddhist sect, Gwalyang Drukpa, who heads the Hemis monastery, also confirms the story. The 224 verses have since been documented by others, including Russian philosopher and scientist, Nicholas Roerich, who in 1952 recorded accounts of Jesus’s time at the monastery. “Jesus passed his time in several ancient cities of India such as Benares or Varanasi. Everyone loved him because Issa dwelt in peace with the Vaishyas and Shudras whom he instructed and helped,” writes Roerich.

Jesus spent some time teaching in the ancient holy cities of Jagannath (Puri), Benares (in Uttar Pradesh), and Rajagriha (in Bihar), which provoked the Brahmins to excommunicate him which forced him to flee to the Himalayas where he spent another six years studying Buddhism.

German scholar, Holger Kersten, also writes of the early years of Jesus in India in the book Jesus Lived In India. “The lad arrives in a region of the Sindh (along the river Indus) in the company of merchants,” writes Kersten. “He settled among the Aryans with the intention of perfecting himself and learning from the laws of the great Buddha. He travelled extensively through the land of the five rivers (Punjab), stayed briefly with the Jains before proceeding to Jagannath.”

And in the BBC documentary, Jesus Was A Buddhist Monk, experts theorize that Jesus escaped his crucifixion, and in his mid-late 30s he returned to the land he loved so much. He not only escaped death, but he also visited with the Jewish settlers in Afghanistan who had escaped similar tyranny of the Jewish emperor Nebuchadnezzar. Locals confirm that Jesus spent the next several years in the Kashmir Valley where he lived happily until his death at 80-years-old. With sixteen years of his youth spent in the region, as well as approximately his last 45, that means Jesus spent a total of roughy 61 to 65 years of his life in India, Tibet, and the neighboring area. Locals believe he is buried at the RozaBal shrine at Srinagar in India-controlled Kashmir. The BBC visited the shrine and you can read about what they found HERE.

(Source: Realize Minds)

Delivering Amazon packages to the top of the world

With big ambitions in India, the retail giant has recruited hundreds of small businesses to get packages to the most remote customers — including those 11,562 feet up in the Himalayas.

Perched high in the Himalayas, near India’s border with China, the tiny town of Leh sometimes seems as if it has been left behind by modern technology. Internet and cellphone service is spotty, the two roads to the outside world are snowed in every winter, and Buddhist monasteries compete with military outposts for prime mountaintop locations.

But early each morning, the convenience of the digital age arrives, by way of a plane carrying 15 to 20 bags of packages from Amazon. At an elevation of 11,562 feet, Leh is the highest spot in the world where the company offers speedy delivery.

The main square of Leh, India, a Himalayan town where Amazon started offering doorstep delivery last fall.

When the plane arrives from New Delhi, it is met by employees from Amazon’s local delivery partner, Incredible Himalaya, who then shuttle the packages by van to a modest warehouse nearby. Eshay Rangdol, 26, the nephew of the owner, helps oversee the sorting of the packages and delivers many of them himself.

The couriers must follow exacting standards set by Amazon, from wearing closed-toe shoes and being neatly groomed to displaying their ID cards and carrying a fully charged cellphone.

Eshay Rangdol getting ready, in an Amazon office in Leh, to deliver packages that had been flown in from New Delhi.

Amazon began offering doorstep delivery in this region last fall, as part of an effort to better serve the remotest corners of India. Sales volume in Leh is up twelvefold since Incredible Himalaya took over deliveries from the postal service, which was much slower and required customers to pick up packages at the post office.

Local delivery partners like Incredible Himalaya are vital to the American company’s global strategy, especially as it tries to diversify beyond traditional package delivery companies like United Parcel Service or FedEx. Last week, Amazon announced a program to entice more small businesses to join the company’s delivery network in the United States.

Another courier for Incredible Himalaya, which is Amazon's local delivery partner.

Leh is geographically and culturally close to Tibet, a region controlled by China. Buddhist monasteries tend to the religious needs of the town’s 30,000 residents, while military units guard the still-disputed border with China.

Mr. Rangdol and the other couriers get to the shoppers via motorcycle and scooter. When the snow is heavy in the winter, they will occasionally use a car. But two wheels are generally better than four to navigate Leh’s narrow, bumpy roads and dodge the ubiquitous cows. 

A motorcycle makes it easier for Mr. Rangdol to get around, especially with all the bumps — not to mention the cows — in the roads.

Skalzing Dolma, a frequent Amazon customer, was Mr. Rangdol’s first stop on a recent day, receiving a delivery of bedsheets and eye shadow.

With few choices in Leh's stores, cosmetics and clothing are popular purchases for Amazon customers like Skalzing Dolma.

Ms. Dolma has bought everything from clothing to kitchen appliances on Amazon and estimated that she has spent a total of 100,000 rupees, or around $1,500, on the site. With few choices in Leh stores, cosmetics and clothing are popular categories for Amazon here.

Orders typically arrive in five to seven days, slower than the two-day delivery that Amazon’s big-city customers receive but quicker than the monthlong journey they often took with the post office.

With a baby due in July, Rigzin Dolker, who used to work at call centers in Delhi, finds Amazon to be far more convenient than trekking into town. She has been buying baby clothes and makeup from the company.

Buying from Amazon spares Rigzin Dolker, who is expecting a baby in July, from having to trek into town.

Fortunately for Amazon, the local soldiers and monks are big customers. Thinley Odzer, a monk at the tiny Kartse Monastery, received a backpack. In the past, he has bought mobile phone cases and parts for his motorbike.

Monks like Thinley Odzer at the Kartse Monastery, as well as local soldiers, are big Amazon customers.

Leh hardly seems like the kind of market that would appeal to a global e-commerce giant like Amazon. Internet service — essential to placing an order — cuts out frequently during the best of times and goes down entirely for weeks or months during winter, when the trunk line to Srinagar, the state capital, is damaged under the snow.

But Amazon takes the long view. E-commerce is spreading globally, and India is a prime battleground, where customers are just beginning to shop online and loyalties are not yet established. Walmart recently announced plans to buy a controlling interest in India’s leading e-commerce company, Flipkart, allowing it to challenge Amazon directly for the wallets of Indian consumers.

Amazon may never make money shipping products by air to customers in Leh. But the idea is that profits from dense urban areas like Mumbai and Delhi will subsidize service to more remote ones.

“We want to make delivery convenient to where our customers are,” said Tim Collins, Amazon’s vice president of global logistics. “Over time, the economics will work themselves out.”

The strategy rankles Leh merchants like Nawang Shispa, owner of Tsering Electronics, who said his sales of phones and accessories had dropped 10 percent since Amazon started quicker delivery to the community.

Still, his salesmen compensate. One of them sold a new Oppo smartphone to Jigmat Amo, 16, by slightly undercutting Amazon’s price. Ms. Amo said she was a bit leery of Amazon after buying a handbag and a pair of ballet shoes from the site that did not look like the pictures.

Liyaqat Ali, owner of the Singay General Store in the main town square, figured that there is room enough for both him and Amazon. He does a brisk business selling groceries and sundries like diapers, which people typically need right away.

“Amazon is new to Leh, and the internet is not so good,” he said. “And if you order something like diapers, you have to wait a week to 10 days.”

Liyaqat Ali, who owns a general store in Leh, said there was still a demand for groceries and other items that customers didn't want to wait for.

Mr. Rangdol said that in addition to delivering packages and managing the delivery warehouse, he taught people how to order on Amazon.

“Before I joined Amazon, my friends called me Eshay,” Mr. Rangdol said. “Now they call me Amazon.”

“Before I joined Amazon, my friends called me Eshay,” he said. “Now they call me Amazon.”
Working with the company is certainly better than his previous job leading tourists on long treks up cold mountains — although he still has to do a bit of climbing with a heavy pack.

(Source: NYT)

Haryana girl cycles solo from Kanyakumari to Khardung La for a green cause

Long-distance cycling is one of the favourite hobbies of Gurugrammers. Across the city, you will find several avid cyclists who cover distances of a few hundred kilometres every day. However, 25-year-old Sunita Chokhen, who lives on the outskirts of the city, has upped the ante by cycling solo for over 4000km from the southern-most point of the country to the northern-most motorable road.

The 25-year-old, who lives in a small town in Rewari, an hour away from Gurgaon, undertook this long journey as part of her plantation drive that saw her plant over 200 saplings in several cities in India. The journey also made her the first Indian woman to cycle solo from Kanyakumari to Khardung La, Leh.

Talking about why she started this journey, Sunita tells us, "I'm not a cyclist but a mountaineer. I climbed Everest in 2011 and have conquered 17 other mountains around the world. Earlier this year, I was on an expedition to an unclimbed mountain in the Himalayas when I noticed how much the region had changed. I had gone for my initial recce of that area in 2012 and since then, the region had seen so much deforestation that I felt bad. That's what compelled me to do something for the environment and the idea of the Kanyakumari to Leh plantation drive shaped up."

On why she chose to cycle instead of using any other mode of transportation, Sunita says, "If I had driven or taken a bike, it would defeat the purpose of an environment-friendly campaign since those vehicles cause pollution. Cycle was the best option."

Sunita started on her 4656km journey from the southern-most point on the mainland - Kanyakumari - on July 15, and ended it at Khardung La, the highest motorable road in the world, over six weeks later.

"It took me 46 days to finish the journey, during which I covered 100-200km every day on my cycle. But more importantly, I planted 220 saplings along the way. I planted some in every city I stopped in from Kanyakumari to Manali. Post Manali, the weather wasn't conducive for plantation so I stopped that," she says.

Sunita spoke to her contacts and friends in several cities and also made new friends in every city she visited, in order to make sure there was someone to look after the saplings she planted there.

She explains, "In every city, I planted the saplings keeping in mind that there was someone to tend after them. I mostly planted them in ashrams, temples, local schools or colleges. Even in open areas, I made sure to get the residents nearby to promise me to water them regularly. The main focus of my journey was not any record but the goal of plantation."

However, the record landed in her lap acci-dentally. She tells us, "Friends told me that I'm the first girl to cycle from Kanyakumari to Kashmir. I didn't believe it at first but then I decided to check and it was indeed the case. But since I hadn't mapped my journey through GPS, I could not apply to Guinness or Limca books. However, I have applied to India Book of Records for a certificate and my application is under review currently. The record is not my goal but a certificate wouldn't hurt."

Sunita, who is also the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao ambassador for Haryana, says that she utilised whatever free time she had in each city in trying to speak to the students there.

"I would walk up to local schools and colleges, tell the administration who I was and what I was doing, and that I wanted to speak to the students for a short time. Surprisingly, about 80% of the schools received me positively and I delivered quite a few short lectures in several schools along the way. I spoke to young girls about the importance of education, taking up sports, and preserving the environment."

Sunita started her cycling expedition from Kanyakumari. Here, she's seen cycling at a place that appears to be in Southern state.

Sunita now says that she will return to mountaineering for a while, but she does have plans to revisit all the places where she has planted her saplings a few years on to check on their progress.

"I want to give the saplings some time to grow and a few years down the line, I will retrace my journey and see how much they have grown. I am curious to see whether my efforts will bear any fruit," she says.

(Source: ToI)