The Real Story of the 3 Wise Men

Christmas secrets you probably didn’t know

In Tibetan Buddhism the lineage of the Dalai Lama follows the principles of reincarnation. It is believed that the Dalai Lama can choose the human body into which he is born in his next incarnation. It is the responsibility of the holiest High Lamas of the Gelgupa Tradition to find the Dalai Lama in his next incarnation. Before the current Dalai Lama kicks the bucket he usually leaves clues as to where his next incarnation can be found.

The High Lamas take these clues into consideration as well as clues they may derive from dreams and various other ‘signs.’ They will follow their inner guidance to search for the new incarnation of their beloved Dalai Lama. They will travel to areas suggested by the various signs and clues and search for the baby that might be the reincarnated Dalai Lama.

And when they find a young child who may very well be the reincarnated Dalai Lama they will conduct tests to verify whether or not the kid is the true reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. They will consult their oracles and pray for guidance but they will also bring along some objects that the previous Dalai Lama was fond of before he kicked the bucket. They would place those objects that the previous Dalai Lama was fond of, as well as some objects that had no significance, before the potential new baby Dalai Lama. If the little kid reached for the objects that the previous Dalai Lama was fond of rather than the test objects that held no significance then that was considered a positive sign that the kid was the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama.

Well, Tibetan Buddhism was not the first religion to employ these tactics to find their new leader; the reincarnation of their previous leader. While Buddhism was centuries older than Christianity and Islam, it certainly was not the oldest religion on the planet. (Although it should be noted that all religions prior to Christianity and Islam considered reincarnation as a matter of fact.)

One of the oldest religions on the planet that is actually still practiced is Zoroastrianism. Zoroastrianism is centuries older than Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity, and Islam. The exact beginning of this religion is debatable and uncertain. It was started by a fellow named Zoroaster (also know as Zarathustra). It was perhaps one of the first religions to proclaim a ‘Supreme God’ as well as ‘free will.’ Today there are no more than about 200,000 people still practicing this ancient religion, almost all of whom live in either Iran or India.

For many centuries the Zoroastrians followed the same concept of reincarnation that the Tibetan Buddhists follow. The original Zoroaster continued to reincarnate with clues as to how he could be found and the top hierarchy of the Zoroastrians would find him and return him to power. Just like the Tibetan Dalai Lamas continued to reincarnate in Tibet, Zoroaster continued to reincarnate in Persia where he first started the religion.

But after six incarnations he told his followers that in his next incarnation he would be born in a foreign land. He left clues including precise astrological calculations. Those calculations showed that he would not be born again for a long time.

It was a very long time but the highest priests of Zoroastrianism held on to this knowledge. When the time finally came they made precise calculations and determined that their leader was being reborn in a land to the west/southwest. So the leaders hopped on their camels and began a long voyage to a place that would someday be known as the Middle East.

They arrived at a certain desert town known as Bethlehem. Their astrological calculations along with their intuition told them that they had arrived at the approximate location of the rebirth of their spiritual leader. They asked around to find out if there had been any recent births and found out that a kid had just been born.

The Zoroastrian spiritual leaders followed the directions and arrived at where this new kid was born. Just like the Tibetan Buddhists who were looking for their Dalai Lama, the Zoroastrian leaders pulled out the objects that the last Zoroaster was fond of as well as some objects of no significance and they presented them to the newborn kid. (These would much later be known as the gifts of the Wise Men.)

While ignoring the control objects, the baby got all giggly when he smelled the frankincense the Persian Zoroastrians brought. Frankincense happened to be the favorite smell of the last Zoroaster. The same thing happened with myrrh.

The three Zoroastrian leaders (later known as the three wise men) were convinced that they had found the reincarnation of their spiritual leader. They turned to the parents of this new kid and proclaimed, “Your little boy is the heir to the Zoroastrian throne of Persia. When he is old enough he may come to our land and we will submit to his leadership. He is very special. He is a king-to-be. He is our spiritual leader.”

The parents looked at each other with great excitement, apprehension and bewilderment. As the kid grew up he exhibited astonishing feats of miracles and wisdom. Perhaps he really was the reincarnation of a great spiritual leader. When the kid was old enough his parents told him of the invitation of the Zoroastrian wise men to claim the throne of Persia but the kid scoffed at that….

He had other plans.

Copyright by White Feather. All Rights Reserved.