Who were the wise men? Are you ready for that? Matthew chapter 2. All of us have wondered. I remember when I was a little boy I wondered who those guys were. How many were there?
Their names are given as Caspar, Balthazar, and Melchior.” You’ve probably heard that. And their three skulls, amazingly enough, are said to have been found. Yes, they were found “in the twelfth century by Bishop Reinald of Cologne.” The bishop dug those up and knew right off they were skulls. It’s very clear. And their eyes were still in the sockets fixed toward Bethlehem. Today, believe it or not, friends, they are on exhibit in a priceless casket in a great cathedral in Europe.
The time of the earlier prophets (Adam and Noah) is not known accurately. Even though the scholars of the Bible have tried to estimate the time between Adam and Noah and Noah and Abraham on the basis of the information given in the Bible, yet the information and the estimation made on its basis is not very reliable and, therefore, not much can be said about the times and the time intervals between these prophets.
The time of Abraham’s birth is estimated to be around 1996 B.C. he is estimated to have died at the age of 175. The time of Moses’ birth is estimated at around 1571 BC. If these estimations are correct, then the time between the death of Abraham and the birth of Moses ) is 250 years. Then it was Gautama Buddha, Born in 567 BC, Lumbini, Nepal. It is generally held that Moses died at the age of 120 years (around 1451 B.C.). The year of David’s birth is estimated at around 1085 B.C. This would mean that the time between Moses and David was around 366 years. It is held that David lived for 71 years (died around 1014 B.C.). Jesus was born around 1400 years after David and Muhammad was born about 530 years after the Christ. All in the east. Egypt, Palestine, West bank and Mecca.
All these wise men of God were born in the East. Not a single one of them including their saints was born in west. Here we also see Great names like , Shams Tabraizi, 1185, Tabriz, Iran Jalal uddin Rumi, born in 30 September 1207, Wakhsh or Balkh Khwarezmian. Abū-Muhammad Muslih al-Dīn bin Abdallāh Shīrāzī, better known by his pen-name Saadi, also known as Saadi of Shiraz, 1193, Shiraz, Iran. Bulleh Shah, 1680, Uch, Punjab. Syed Quṭb ad-Dīn Aḥmad Walī Allāh, February 21, 1703, Delhi. Syed Ahmed Shaheed, November 29, 1786, Raebareli, India. Mirzā Ghulām Ahmad Qadiyani, 13, 1835, Qadian, India. Hakeem Nooruddin 1841, Bhera Punjab and many more, specially from the old sub continent,there is a long list of these saints all of them from east none of them from the west.
Theosophists have also often talked, with considerable justification, about the wisdom of the East. The East—particularly Egypt, Palestine, Persia, Indian subcontinent and China—have indeed produced profoundly wise men.
Persian wisdom, although less talked about than the others, has been very influential. That wisdom, expressed through the revolutionary religious system of Zoroaster, influenced early Judaism, and through it later Christianity and Islam.
Wisdom of the East—those of Egypt, Palestine, Persia, Indian sub continent and China—are adapted, each to the culture in which it developed. Yet all of them have important contributions to make to universal human culture. Wisdom is wisdom, whatever its form of expression and emphasis. So the wise in every culture will heed and follow these universal insights into the fundamental nature of reality and of human life.
Theosophists talk less often about the wisdom of the West. Yet Western wisdom also exists. That Western wisdom, which is strongly scientific in one of its phases, is just as true and important as the wisdom of the East. But mostly revolves around the materialistic approach that is also known as worldly knowledge.
The West had two great periods during which it developed what they call wisdom. The first was during the ancient classical age of Greece and Rome, a very rich period in thought and practice, which became the foundation of all Western civilization. These classical movements, which differ significantly among themselves in some ways, share an emphasis on what in East is called the guru-chela relationship. That is, wisdom is imparted, often intuitively rather than by intellectual discussion, by a wise teacher to an eager learner.
The second great period of Western wisdom was during post-medieval times, when Renaissance Humanism, the Scientific Revolution, and the European Enlightenment developed incrementally as its phases. That post-medieval development, with its three phases, is the essential Western wisdom that has spread around the world and provides the lex or Order to complement Eastern lux or Light. This is actually not true wisdom in it spirit it is the knowledge of the worldly or materialistic success.
This Western wisdom or worldly knowledge is what they call western tradition, which can benefit humanity in the twenty-first century as the modern Western articulation of Theosophical wisdom, now is of roughly the past half millennium differs from both Eastern wisdom and the earlier classical Western wisdom in several ways. This later Western wisdom, actually mere worldly knowledge is public, focuses on this world, centers upon individual human concerns, and requires personal initiative. If we think of wisdom solely as private, other-worldly, collective in emphasis, or transmitted from teacher to learner, we might be inclined to deny that the modern Western tradition is really “wisdom.”
But strangely due to a huge cultural influx with the modern electronic and print media, amateur minds tend to incline towards this so called western wisdom. They are required to understand the real meanings and origin of wisdom and the carriers of that wisdom. Out of the box thinking is essentially required to understand this phenomena.
Their names are given as Caspar, Balthazar, and Melchior.” You’ve probably heard that. And their three skulls, amazingly enough, are said to have been found. Yes, they were found “in the twelfth century by Bishop Reinald of Cologne.” The bishop dug those up and knew right off they were skulls. It’s very clear. And their eyes were still in the sockets fixed toward Bethlehem. Today, believe it or not, friends, they are on exhibit in a priceless casket in a great cathedral in Europe.
Now frankly, folks, the only thing we know about these wise men is some history and what is said in Matthew. We really are very, very limited in terms of specifics. In addition to what we have here in Matthew which is very limited, it says, “There came wise men from the East.” That’s it, folks, right there. We don’t know their names; we don’t know anything from that. But as we put the pieces together, historically, and we do have some very fascinating history of those wise men.
This is where the story ends. There are no more wise men found in west. Men of God did not actually exist in the west. Never were. Men we call wise men are from the east. It all began in the east and east is still the origin.
The very first leader or the wise man of God is believed to be Abraham who was born in c. 2510 BH (c. 1813 BCE) in Hebron, the West Bank, Al-Sham. Abraham plays a prominent role as an example of faith in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Abraham fulfilled all the commandments and trials wherein God nurtured him throughout his lifetime. As a result of his unwavering faith in God, Abraham was promised by God to be a leader to all the nations of the world.
And then after a long line of wise men of God born in the race of Abraham it was Mosses in c. 1400 BCE . Moses in both the Septuagint and the New Testament is a prophet in Abrahamic religions. According to the Hebrew Bible, he was a former Egyptian prince who later in life became a religious leader and lawgiver, to whom the authorship of the Torah, or acquisition of the Torah from Heaven is traditionally attributed. Also called Moshe Rabbenu in Hebrew (מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּנוּ, lit. "Moses our Teacher"), he is the most important prophet in Judaism. He is also an important prophet in Christianity, Islam, Bahá'í Faith as well as a number of other faiths.
The time of Abraham’s birth is estimated to be around 1996 B.C. he is estimated to have died at the age of 175. The time of Moses’ birth is estimated at around 1571 BC. If these estimations are correct, then the time between the death of Abraham and the birth of Moses ) is 250 years. Then it was Gautama Buddha, Born in 567 BC, Lumbini, Nepal. It is generally held that Moses died at the age of 120 years (around 1451 B.C.). The year of David’s birth is estimated at around 1085 B.C. This would mean that the time between Moses and David was around 366 years. It is held that David lived for 71 years (died around 1014 B.C.). Jesus was born around 1400 years after David and Muhammad was born about 530 years after the Christ. All in the east. Egypt, Palestine, West bank and Mecca.
All these wise men of God were born in the East. Not a single one of them including their saints was born in west. Here we also see Great names like , Shams Tabraizi, 1185, Tabriz, Iran Jalal uddin Rumi, born in 30 September 1207, Wakhsh or Balkh Khwarezmian. Abū-Muhammad Muslih al-Dīn bin Abdallāh Shīrāzī, better known by his pen-name Saadi, also known as Saadi of Shiraz, 1193, Shiraz, Iran. Bulleh Shah, 1680, Uch, Punjab. Syed Quṭb ad-Dīn Aḥmad Walī Allāh, February 21, 1703, Delhi. Syed Ahmed Shaheed, November 29, 1786, Raebareli, India. Mirzā Ghulām Ahmad Qadiyani, 13, 1835, Qadian, India. Hakeem Nooruddin 1841, Bhera Punjab and many more, specially from the old sub continent,there is a long list of these saints all of them from east none of them from the west.
Theosophists have also often talked, with considerable justification, about the wisdom of the East. The East—particularly Egypt, Palestine, Persia, Indian subcontinent and China—have indeed produced profoundly wise men.
Persian wisdom, although less talked about than the others, has been very influential. That wisdom, expressed through the revolutionary religious system of Zoroaster, influenced early Judaism, and through it later Christianity and Islam.
Wisdom of the East—those of Egypt, Palestine, Persia, Indian sub continent and China—are adapted, each to the culture in which it developed. Yet all of them have important contributions to make to universal human culture. Wisdom is wisdom, whatever its form of expression and emphasis. So the wise in every culture will heed and follow these universal insights into the fundamental nature of reality and of human life.
Theosophists talk less often about the wisdom of the West. Yet Western wisdom also exists. That Western wisdom, which is strongly scientific in one of its phases, is just as true and important as the wisdom of the East. But mostly revolves around the materialistic approach that is also known as worldly knowledge.
The West had two great periods during which it developed what they call wisdom. The first was during the ancient classical age of Greece and Rome, a very rich period in thought and practice, which became the foundation of all Western civilization. These classical movements, which differ significantly among themselves in some ways, share an emphasis on what in East is called the guru-chela relationship. That is, wisdom is imparted, often intuitively rather than by intellectual discussion, by a wise teacher to an eager learner.
The second great period of Western wisdom was during post-medieval times, when Renaissance Humanism, the Scientific Revolution, and the European Enlightenment developed incrementally as its phases. That post-medieval development, with its three phases, is the essential Western wisdom that has spread around the world and provides the lex or Order to complement Eastern lux or Light. This is actually not true wisdom in it spirit it is the knowledge of the worldly or materialistic success.
This Western wisdom or worldly knowledge is what they call western tradition, which can benefit humanity in the twenty-first century as the modern Western articulation of Theosophical wisdom, now is of roughly the past half millennium differs from both Eastern wisdom and the earlier classical Western wisdom in several ways. This later Western wisdom, actually mere worldly knowledge is public, focuses on this world, centers upon individual human concerns, and requires personal initiative. If we think of wisdom solely as private, other-worldly, collective in emphasis, or transmitted from teacher to learner, we might be inclined to deny that the modern Western tradition is really “wisdom.”
But strangely due to a huge cultural influx with the modern electronic and print media, amateur minds tend to incline towards this so called western wisdom. They are required to understand the real meanings and origin of wisdom and the carriers of that wisdom. Out of the box thinking is essentially required to understand this phenomena.
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