I just finished reading Jesus and the Essenes by Dolores Cannon. That book gave a whole new perspective on Jesus that, it would seem, I had intuitively sensed all along. For one, I have long believed that the true Jesus would not have wanted us to worship him. The Bible says, “Ye are gods.” (John 10:32-42) Although I can’t identify where in the law he is quoting from, this quote displays how it is that we are all just as much Sons of God as he is. The only difference was that he knew it.
It was also said in the Bible that the things Jesus did, we could also do and even greater. The church of my upbringing taught something of this, but not to women. And yet in the story revealed in the book, Jesus was born to Essenes who revered women as equals to men. In the community at Qumran, women were taught in all things along with men. Their intelligence was recognized. And Jesus was taught not only by the Essenes, but by others as well. He traveled throughout the known world to study spirituality from various sources. These travels included Egypt, India, Cathay (China), and England. He no doubt had contact with Hindus, Buddhists, Druids, and whatever was being practiced in Egypt at the time. He would have been trained by all of them. These spiritual traditions all have something to offer in the way of healing methods. It would seem, then, that those who practice Christianity and limit themselves to the Bible are seriously shorting themselves in true Christian potential. Jesus did not limit himself in what he studied, and neither should we.
The book is also very clear in saying that what was done to Jesus on the cross in no way removes our karma. Rather, Jesus’ example shows the way in which we can clear it for ourselves. What I have learned in A Course in Miracles seems to me to be truly given to us from Jesus as a way to learn to forgive ourselves and others. Jesus and the Essenes is fully consistent with it, from what I can see. They are both consistent in teaching that the greatest law is love. Jesus tells us that in the Bible as well.
The idea of what the Resurrection was is different in the book as well. Rather than saying that we will reclaim the body that we had throughout our earth life, the Resurrection appears to be instead a witness of the continuation of life in the spirit world. The way this was discussed in the book does not rule out the idea of a dimensional shift. The story of finding Jesus’ tomb empty is quite different in important points.
The students at Qumran, men and women alike, were taught in the use of energy for healing, among other topics. In Jesus and the Essenes, it tells that Jesus healed by joining in meditation with the one to be healed. There is also an implication that something like Reiki may have been used. The healing methods included the use of energy, something little is made mention of in mainstream churches. If some members of mainstream churches have the gift of healing while others do not, it is in many cases because those who have it happened upon their methods by chance. Some may not even know what it is that they are really doing when they heal.
So, for me to have been looking at different faiths and different healing methods all these years, I have in a way been following Jesus’ example. Some may think that I have denied things that I have learned in my early years in the church of my upbringing, but it really isn’t so. Rather, I have expanded my knowledge beyond what was taught there.
Oh, and here’s a mind-blower. It would seem that Jesus’ relatives went to England after Jesus’ death, to Glastonbury. Joseph of Arimathea was the brother of Mother Mary. Anna, the daughter of Joseph of Arimathea, married the British king’s youngest brother. All of the royal line of British kings and queens, down to the present Queen Elizabeth II, have descended directly from Joseph of Arimathea. My mother has recently reported to us that she has now traced our ancestral line all the way back to the Plantagenet kings. Therefore, it would seem, then, that I am a blood relative of Jesus.