Who Is the Historical Jesus? Bô Yin Râ Explains

We recently published an article on Three Sages entitled “A Personal Testimony: The Light of Jesus Amid Talmudic Darkness.” The article was written by a Jewish man, “Mi-cha-el,” who had converted to Christianity while living in an Orthodox Jewish community in Israel.

A reader provided the following comment: “I think Jesus was a Buddhist after all. Rumours had him dwelling in India's Punjab region for some time, studying Hinduism and Buddhism.”

This comment provides us the opportunity to address a topic we had been planning to discuss for quite a while: “Who Is the Historical Jesus?”

First, let us note that the Three Sages substack does not have as its primary focus religious commentary. Rather it was founded to provide a forum for three men in their seventies to share their ruminations on whatever topic happened to meet their fancy as it may or may not relate to current world events. The contributor of the article you are now reading, Richard C. Cook, is a former U.S. government policy analyst whose main area of expertise is government financial policy. The second contributor, Dr. Fadi Lama, is an engineer, business owner, and geopolitical analyst residing in the Middle East. The third, Dr. Lewis Coleman, is a retired anesthesiologist and medical researcher who has developed the theoretical framework to describe the Mammalian Stress Mechanism as a universal theory of illness and healing. We are all strong critics of the U.S. ideology of endless war for the purpose of world conquest and of the genocide being carried out by the Covid “plandemic.”

Reflecting the present article, “Who Is the Historical Jesus?”, contributor Cook has a longstanding interest in the application of spiritual ideas to possible ways to resolve the crisis that has led to what may be fairly described as a new world war. Specifically, he has explained the crisis as a final push by what he describes as the Anglo-American-Zionist Empire to implement total domination of the entire globe geographically, militarily, economically, and culturally. Reflecting his own personal background and predilections, he has often sought within Jesus’ teachings, including the Beatitudes, for possible counterweights and solutions.

Having said that, it is fair to observe that with respect to the collective West, which is host to the Empire’s main power centers, it is the Christian religion that historically has played the largest role among the different world religions within that region. And since the founder of the Christian religion is a man named Jesus who lived in the area that is today called Palestine some 2,000 years ago, it is fair to ask how Jesus might respond to contemporary events. We thus might fairly ask, as many have, “What would Jesus do?” This obviously leads to the question, “Who is the Historical Jesus?”, a question that many readers will admit does not have an easy answer.

The foregoing could easily become the introduction to an entire book. For now, though, we will attempt a brief answer.

First, we’ll point out that it was during the 19^th century, continuing until today, that a movement began which has been called, “the search for the historical Jesus.” The movement was largely led by protestant German scholars who sought to pass beyond the depictions of Jesus and his teachings found in the four Gospels, elaborated by Paul in his epistles, and repeated in the standard church liturgies. Preaching on Biblical themes by Protestant ministers had long sought to present Jesus in a more modern societal context that naturally led to reflection on his true historical identity.

A pinnacle was reached in the writings of the famed German-speaking musician/physician/theologian/missionary Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965), who published his classic The Quest of the Historical Jesus See here. in 1906. He also wrote a book on The Mysticism of Paul the Apostle. See here.

Schweitzer was one of the towering figures of 20^th century world culture, becoming recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952. His experiences as a doctor in Africa led him to becoming a lifelong opponent of Western colonialism and its attendant horrors.

From this point on, I’ll speak in the first person since I am moving into areas of my quite personal perspectives.

I generally don’t view Wikipedia as a reliable source, but a passable article on Schweitzer does seem to have slipped in. See here. He concluded his book on Jesus by writing:

He comes to us as One unknown, without a name, as of old, by the lake-side, He came to those men who knew him not. He speaks to us the same word: 'Follow thou me' and sets us to the task which He has to fulfill for our time. He commands. And to those who obey Him, whether they be wise or simple, He will reveal Himself in the toils, the conflicts, the sufferings which they shall pass through in His fellowship, and as an ineffable mystery, they shall learn in their own experience Who He is.

So, returning to the statement, “I think Jesus was a Buddhist after all,” I wish to refer to the source on which I have relied for spiritual guidance for the past decade, which is Bô Yin Râ, a man I have come to honor as perhaps the most important spiritual teacher of the modern age.

Bô Yin Râ was born on November 25, 1876, in Aschaffenburg, a small city in the Franconia region of northern Bavaria in Germany. His birth name was Joseph Anton Schneider, later appended with the “Franken” suffix to become Joseph Anton Schneiderfranken. Raised in a devout Roman Catholic family, he became a professional landscape artist, traveled extensively in Southern Europe, and was initiated into a worldwide spiritual fraternity whose center is in the East, near the Himalayas. During his lifetime, he published a cycle of spiritual books entitled Hortus Conclusus, the “Gated Garden.” The cycle contains a complete teaching of spiritual development adapted especially to Western seekers. During his lifetime he gained a readership, largely within the German-speaking world, of over a million people. Today his writings are being translated into numerous languages, including English.

I will not say more here about Bô Yin Râ’s biography but will refer the reader to several previous articles published about him and his teachings on the Three Sages substack. Click here.

Within the substack is a short article on “Who Is Jesus Christ” that we published on November 12, 2024. This article reads as follows:

I just want to introduce this topic to the readers of the Three Sages substack, though I don’t have time to elaborate on it very much right now.

I recently made a comment to a reader who had broached the topic of the Christian religion that it’s my own view that St. Paul was the founder of Christianity whereas Jesus was the savior of humanity.

People are certainly free to accept or reject Christianity, or any other religion, but no one can reject Jesus for the simple reason that he has already accomplished his mission and opened the door for salvation even for those who may never even have heard of him!

I began searching for Jesus around the time I was 18 years old. This was after I had stopped going to church but had begun to think seriously for myself. That was 60 years ago.

Eventually I was led to the writings of German spiritual author Bô Yin Râ and have begun to publish some short articles about Bô Yin Râ on Three Sages, including transcripts of some chapters from his books; specifically on “Karma” and “War and Peace.” I have also published reviews of some of his books, such as “The Book on the Living God” and “The Book on Life Beyond.”

To make a long story short, Bô Yin Râ, who lived as Joseph Anton Schneiderfranken from 1876-1943, was/is a member of the same order of divine/human “Mediators” as Jesus was/is. Another name for this group is the “Luminaries.” At any given time, there are Luminaries living in human mortal bodies to provide spiritual energy/guidance to people open to their help.

Above the Luminaries are divine beings who live in the spiritual world that surrounds and interpenetrates the material world of terrestrial existence. Some of these beings are “saints” or “angels” who once lived on earth, while others are beings who never had to experience the “fall” into material existence that we mortals suffer through.

That’s all I am going to try to explain for now. Please take a look at what Bô Yin Râ has to say. He makes it clear that all divinely-inspired religions have the same core meaning. But he also advises against anyone’s trying to start a new religion and specifically warns us against people who claim to be doing so.

So on the topic of “I think Jesus was a Buddhist after all,” Bô Yin Râ writes that Jesus indeed was taught by spiritual figures from the East. But he writes further that Jesus never left his home in Palestine to undertake the lengthy travels required to meet them. He writes that the teachers from the East traveled instead to visit Jesus on his home territory of Galilee where he grew up in the town of Nazareth. Bô Yin Râ writes that Jesus first encountered one of them along the shores of the Sea of Galilee when he was a young man working as a carpenter in the city of Capernaum.

As indicated in the earlier article cited above, the figure who came to Jesus was a representative of the spiritual body known as the Luminaries. In the Christmas story with which we are all familiar, the Luminaries are depicted as the “Three Wise Men,” the “Kings” from the East who followed the Star to find the newborn Jesus lying in a manger in Bethlehem.

It is the body of Luminaries who are in charge of all spirituality on earth. They are also called in the Bible the “Order of Melchizedek.” According to Bô Yin Râ, representatives of the Luminaries stayed near Jesus all the way through his adult life, including after his crucifixion and resurrection. There are two instances in particular where the New Testament discloses the presence of the Luminaries. One is the incident known as the Transfiguration, where the glorified Jesus was seen on a mountain by his disciples Peter, James, and John as he was talking with two angel-like beings they took as Moses and Elijah. The other is the appearance of angel-like beings to Mary and Martha inside the tomb where Jesus had been laid after his physical death but now had disappeared. Bô Yin Râ explains this angel-like manifestation in a chapter in his Book on the Living God. A possible third incident may have been the appearance of an angel to Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane before he was led away to execution.

Several of Bô Yin Râ’s books contain material on Jesus and his teachings, including one entire volume: The Wisdom of St. John. Recently I received from a friend a book in English entitled: Jesus Christ: Discourses on his life and his teaching by Bô Yin Râ, “One of his Brothers in the order after Melchisedec.” A statement on the cover reads: “A compilation by Dr. Taco van der Plaats, from various books of the Hortus Conclusus encompassing the complete spiritual teachings by Bô Yin Râ.” The book is published and copyrighted by Luminium Books Amsterdam.

I will close this article with a quotation by Bô Yin Râ from the end of the first chapter of this book which is titled, “The Luminary’s earthly path.” The quotation, which is provided under the Fair Use doctrine, comes immediately after a description of Jesus’s death on the cross. Readers are invited to see this quotation as an invitation to further study. Bô Yin Râ writes:

But now, as his earthly work appeared to have come to an end, the Master performed that greatest act of love through which he is raised for all those who see the spiritual, sublimely high above all human greatness as the greatest of all men of love who ever walked this earth--and no one can ever come after him who would equal him in his power of love…In this last hour he succeeded in unifying the human beast within him with the power of the spiritual in an absolute unity of feeling, so that he could love as himself those destroying his earthly life in the very moment of destruction.

The invisible earth which carries this globe within it like an egg carries the yolk has been since that sacred and exalted hour delivered for all time from the might of the “prince of this world”—that unseen, transient powerful one who is conscious only of himself and not within the spirit, experiencing himself in the loveless night of matter and seeking to draw everything into his own experience…

Just as he was overcome in this hour, so too can now all the might of darkness on this earth be overcome, by those who know of such might of man and are of “good will”—willing from love.

In his further writings, Bô Yin Râ criticizes the myriad of Christian sects who fight with each other but he also prophecies the coming of a future teacher who will resolve these differences. He also makes clear in his writings that Jesus lives on within the spiritual domain and is in fact “easy to find” by those who seek him.

Richard C. Cook is a retired U.S. federal analyst with extensive experience across various government agencies, including the U.S. Civil Service Commission, FDA, the Carter White House, NASA, and the U.S. Treasury. He is a graduate of the College of William and Mary. As a whistleblower at the time of the Challenger disaster, he exposed the flawed O-ring joints that destroyed the Space Shuttle, documenting his story in the book “Challenger Revealed.” After serving at Treasury, he became a vocal critic of the private finance-controlled monetary system, detailing his concerns in “We Hold These Truths: The Hope of Monetary Reform.” He served as an adviser to the American Monetary Institute and worked with Congressman Dennis Kucinich to advocate for replacing the Federal Reserve with a genuine national currency. See his new book, Our Country, Then and Now, Clarity Press, 2023. Also see his Three Sages Substack and his American Geopolitical Institute articles at https://www.vtforeignpolicy.com/category/agi/.

“Every human enterprise must serve life, must seek to enrich existence on earth, lest man become enslaved where he seeks to establish his dominion!” Bô Yin Râ (Joseph Anton Schneiderfranken, 1876-1943), translation by Posthumus Projects Amsterdam, 2014. Also download the Kober Press edition of The Book on the Living God here.