Jesus In India — Page 118
108 JESUS IN INDIA is stated concerning Metteya Buddha, which in reality is Messiah, that the first Christian missionaries, having heard and seen at first hand conditions obtaining in Tibet, came to the conclusion that in the ancient books of the Lamas there were to be found traces of the Christian religion. Again, on the same page, it is stated that there is no doubt that these ancient authorities believed that the disciples of Jesus, the Messiah, were still alive when the Christian teaching reached this place. On page 171 it is stated that there is not the slightest doubt that at that time everybody was eagerly waiting for the great Saviour to appear. Tacitus says that it was not only the Jews who were responsible for this belief, but Buddhism itself had laid the foundation for it, i. e. , it prophesied the coming of the Metteya in this country. Furthermore, the author of this English work says in a note: The books Pitakattayan and Attha- Katha contain the clear prophecy concerning the appearance of yet another Buddha, whose advent would take place a thousand years after the time of Gautama or Sakhiya Muni. Gautama him- self states, that I am the 25th Buddha and Bagwa Metteyya is yet to come, that is to say, after me, in this country, will come one whose name will be Metteyya and he will be fair-skinned. The English author goes on to say that the word Metteyya has a strik- ing resemblance to Messiah. ¹ In short, Gautama Buddha clearly states in this prophecy that a Messiah was going to come in his country, among his people and among those who believe in him. This was indeed the reason why the followers of Buddhism had all the time been waiting for the Messiah to appear in their country. And the Buddha, in his prophecy, concerning the Buddha who 1. See Appendix, extract 6 [Publisher]