Comfortable dowagers driving to church three times on Sunday would be astonished to learn that the essence of Christianity is in this passage. Its meaning has quite passed away from Protestantism, almost from Christendom. The "Lalita Vistara" fully shows what that meaning is. Without Buddhism it would be lost. Jesus was an Essene, and the Essene, like the Indian Yogi, sought to obtain divine union and the "gifts of the Spirit" by solitary reverie in retired spots. In what is called the "Monastery of our Lord" on the Quarantania, a cell is shown with rude frescoes of Jesus and Satan. There, according to tradition, the demoniac hauntings that all mystics speak of occurred.
A novice in Yoga has a guru, or teacher. Buddha, in riding away from the palace by and by reached a jungle near Vaisalî. He at once put himself under a Brahmin Yogi named Arâta Kâlâma, but his spiritual insight developed so rapidly that in a short time the Yogi offered to Buddha, the arghya, the offering of rice, flowers, sesamun, etc., that the humble novice usually presents to his instructor, and asked him to teach instead of learning. (Foucaux, "Lalita Vistara," p. 228.)
M. Ernest de Bunsen, in his work, "The Angel Messiah," says that Buddha, like Christ, commenced preaching at thirty years of age. He certainly must have preached at Vaisalî, for five young men became his disciples there, and exhorted him to go on with his teaching. ("Lalita Vistara," p. 236.) He was twenty-nine when he left the palace, therefore he might well have preached at thirty. He did not turn the wheel of the law until after a six years' meditation under the Tree of Knowledge.
The Buddhist rite of baptism finds its sanction in two incidents in the Buddhist scriptures. In the first, Buddha bathes in the holy river, and Mâra, the evil spirit, tries to prevent him from emerging. In the second, angels administer the holy rite (Abhisheka).
"AND WHEN HE HAD FASTED FORTY DAYS AND FORTY NIGHTS."
Buddha, immediately previous to his great encounter with Mâra, the tempter, fasted forty-nine days and nights. ("Chinese Life," by Wung Puh.)
"COMMAND THAT THESE STONES BE MADE BREAD."
The first temptation of Buddha, when Mâra assailed him under the bo tree, is precisely similar to that of Jesus. His long fast had very nearly killed him. "Sweet creature, you are at the point of death. Sacrifice food." This meant, eat a portion to save your life.