Paper 94 Overview: The Melchizedek Teachings in the Orient

The teachers of the Salem religion traveled extensively throughout Asia and Africa, spreading Machiventa Melchizedek's gospel of faith in the one universal God as the only requirement for obtaining divine favor. These dedicated missionaries were recruited from many peoples and races, establishing training centers in different regions where they taught natives who would then spread these teachings among their own communities. Despite facing numerous cultural and religious obstacles, they managed to plant seeds of truth that would influence the development of several major Eastern religions.

The Melchizedek teachings underwent significant transformations as they interacted with existing belief systems across the Orient. In India, they competed with evolving Brahmanical traditions; in China, they merged with ancestral concepts to form early Taoism; and through the work of influential figures such as Lao-tse, Confucius, and Gautama Buddha, certain elements of Salem's monotheistic message were preserved and renewed. These spiritual threads continue to run through major Eastern religions today, though often greatly modified from their original form.

The early teachers of the Salem religion penetrated to the most remote tribes of Africa and Eurasia, consistently preaching Machiventa's gospel about man's faith and trust in the one universal God. Melchizedek's covenant with Abraham served as the pattern for all the early propaganda that spread from Salem and other centers across the Eastern Hemisphere. Urantia never witnessed more enthusiastic and aggressive missionaries of any religion than these noble men and women who carried Melchizedek's teachings throughout the East.

These missionaries were recruited from many peoples and races, and they primarily spread their teachings through native converts who had been trained at centers established in different parts of the world. These students were taught the Salem religion and then commissioned to function as teachers among their own people, creating a network that helped the monotheistic message reach distant lands.

In Melchizedek's time, India was a cosmopolitan country that had recently fallen under the political and religious dominance of Aryan-Andite invaders from the north and west. These Vedic newcomers brought many tribal deities with them, with religious practices closely following the ceremonial customs of their Andite ancestors and featuring the father as priest and mother as priestess, with the family hearth serving as an altar. Under the direction of the Brahman caste of teacher-priests, the Vedic cult was expanding and transforming, gradually incorporating the thirty-three Aryan deities into a unified pantheon.

The Salem missionaries who penetrated northern India taught the one God of Melchizedek, the Most High of heaven. This portrayal aligned somewhat with the emerging concept of the Father-Brahma as the source of all gods but contradicted the ritualistic practices of the Brahman priesthood. The priests rejected the Salem teaching of salvation through faith and divine favor apart from ritualistic observances and sacrificial ceremonies. This rejection marked a crucial turning point for India, as the Salem missionaries had already weakened faith in the ancient Vedic gods but were unable to replace these beliefs with their concept of one God and simple faith. The Brahmans subsequently compiled sacred writings to combat the Salem teachers, resulting in the Rig-Veda, which contained both elevated concepts and numerous superstitions.

As the Salem missionaries moved into the Dravidian Deccan of southern India, they encountered an increasingly rigid caste system, designed by the Aryans to prevent the dilution of their racial identity amid the rising populations of secondary Sangik peoples. Since the Brahman priest caste formed the core of this system, it significantly hindered the progress of the Salem teachers. The caste system ultimately failed to preserve Aryan racial purity but did succeed in perpetuating the Brahman priesthood, which has maintained religious authority in India to the present day.

With Vedism weakened by the rejection of higher truth, the Aryans' religion became vulnerable to influences from the Deccan. In a desperate effort to survive, the Brahman caste exalted themselves above all else, teaching that sacrifices to deity were all-powerful and all-compelling. They proclaimed two essential divine principles: Brahman the deity, and the Brahman priesthood itself. This arrogant overreach eventually led to the collapse of their system as it faced incursions from "less advanced civilizations." The concept of transmigration—the belief in endless reincarnation as humans, animals, or plants—took hold during this period, robbing people of hope for spiritual advancement after death. This philosophically debilitating teaching was followed by doctrines of escape through submergence in Brahman, effectively destroying both desire and ambition, leading to centuries of spiritual hopelessness in India.

The highest phase of Brahmanism, while barely qualifying as a religion, represented one of humanity's noblest explorations into philosophy and metaphysics. Indian thinkers, searching for ultimate reality, theorized about virtually every aspect of theology except the dual concept essential to religion: the existence of the Universal Father and the possibility of ascending mortal experience seeking to attain him. Their intellectual journey reached impressive heights but lacked the personal element needed for a fulfilling religious experience.

In their concept of Brahman, these philosophers grasped the idea of an all-pervading Absolute, simultaneously identified as creative energy and cosmic reaction. They conceived Brahman-Narayana as the Absolute, the infinite IT IS, the primordial creative potential of the cosmos. Had they progressed to conceiving of Brahman as associative, creative, and personally approachable by evolving beings, their teaching might have become one of the most advanced portrayals of Deity on Urantia. Their philosophies came remarkably close to understanding concepts such as the Supreme Being, the repercussional synthesis of time-space actions, and even the indwelling of Thought Adjusters. However, these insights were compromised by fundamental errors, particularly in failing to distinguish between absolute, transcendental, and finite levels of reality, and in not recognizing the essential personality of the Universal Father.

Over time, the Indian populace returned to the ancient rituals of the Vedas, as modified by the Melchizedek missionaries and formalized by the Brahman priesthood. This oldest and most cosmopolitan of world religions continued to evolve in response to Buddhism, Jainism, and later to Mohammedan and Christian influences. By the time Jesus' teachings reached India, they had become so Occidentalized as to appear foreign to the Hindu mind, being perceived as a "white man's religion."

Contemporary Hindu theology depicts four descending levels of deity: the Brahman (the Absolute, Infinite One); the Trimurti (the supreme trinity of Brahma, Siva, and Vishnu); the Vedic and post-Vedic deities; and numerous demigods including supermen, semigods, heroes, demons, and spirits. Hinduism has persisted because of its remarkable adaptability, becoming woven into the basic social fabric of India. It displays exceptional flexibility in adjusting to changing conditions and demonstrates tolerance toward other religions, even claiming Buddha and Christ as incarnations of Vishnu. What India needs today is a portrayal of the Jesusonian gospel—the Fatherhood of God and brotherhood of all men—which would build upon Hinduism's philosophical framework while providing the spiritual vitality the religion currently lacks.

As Salem missionaries journeyed through Asia spreading the doctrine of the Most High God and salvation through faith, they absorbed elements of the philosophy and religious thought from the lands they traversed. These teachers, commissioned by Melchizedek and his successors, reached China during the middle of the second millennium before Christ, establishing their headquarters at See Fuch for over a hundred years. There they trained Chinese teachers who carried the message throughout all the domains of the yellow race.

The direct result of this teaching was the emergence of early Taoism, a religion markedly different from what bears that name today. This proto-Taoism combined three key elements: the lingering monotheistic teachings of Singlangton about Shang-ti (the God of Heaven); the Salem religion of a Most High Creator Deity who bestows favor in response to faith; and the Brahman-Absolute concept from Indian philosophers, along with the desire to escape all evil. This composite belief spread throughout the lands of the yellow and brown races, reaching as far as Japan, where it became known as Shinto. In this distant land, people learned about Machiventa Melchizedek, who had lived on earth so that God's name would not be forgotten.

About six hundred years before Michael's arrival, Melchizedek (who had long since departed from the flesh) perceived that the purity of his teachings on earth was being jeopardized through absorption into older Urantian beliefs. Through an extraordinary coordination of spiritual agencies, not fully understood even by planetary supervisors, Urantia witnessed an unusual presentation of religious truth through several human teachers. In China, the two outstanding spiritual leaders who emerged during this sixth century before Christ were Lao-tse and Confucius.

Lao-tse built directly upon Salem traditions when he declared Tao to be the One First Cause of all creation, demonstrating remarkable spiritual vision and a sophisticated understanding of ultimate causation. He taught concepts such as returning good for evil, the emergence of personality from cosmic potentials, and the eternal patience of God's will. Confucius, a younger contemporary of Lao-tse, based his teachings on the moral traditions of Chinese history, somewhat influenced by lingering Salem concepts. Though rejected during his lifetime, his compilations of ancient wisdom have profoundly shaped Chinese and Japanese culture for centuries. While Lao-tse's higher spiritual insights have largely been lost, Confucian moral precepts continue to form the foundation of social and ethical life for nearly one-third of Urantians.

Contemporaneous with Lao-tse and Confucius in China, another great teacher of truth arose in India. Gautama Siddhartha was born in the sixth century before Christ in the north Indian province of Nepal, the heir to a small mountain chieftaincy. After six unsuccessful years practicing Yoga, he formulated the theories that would evolve into Buddhism, making a determined but ultimately unsuccessful effort to combat the growing caste system.

There was something genuinely appealing about this young prophet prince—his sincerity and selflessness attracted many followers in an era of extreme religious confusion. He denounced gods, priests, and their sacrifices, offering a more moderate and refreshing alternative to the prevalent cult practices. However, he failed to perceive the personality of the One Universal, and without belief in individual human souls, he could not provide a pathway to Paradise or eternal service. Had Gautama heeded the instruction of Godad, a hermit descended from the Melchizedek missionaries, he might have ignited a revival of the Salem gospel throughout India. Instead, his teachings provided only partial comfort to millions without offering the complete spiritual pathway that humanity seeks.

Becoming a Buddhist required only a public profession of faith by reciting the Refuge: "I take my refuge in the Buddha; I take my refuge in the Doctrine; I take my refuge in the Brotherhood." Gautama's followers called him Sasta (master or teacher), and while he made no superhuman claims for himself or his teachings, his disciples soon began calling him "the enlightened one" or Buddha. The original gospel was based on four noble truths concerning suffering and the Eightfold Path of right views, aspirations, speech, conduct, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and contemplation.

Gautama's moral commandments were five in number: do not kill, do not steal, do not be unchaste, do not lie, and do not drink intoxicating liquors, with additional optional commandments for committed believers. His philosophy did not clearly define the concept of Nirvana but suggested a state of supreme enlightenment and freedom from the fetters of material existence. The great strength of Siddhartha's teaching was his proclamation of a universe of absolute justice—effectively the best godless philosophy ever invented by mortal man. However, the original Buddhism had a significant weakness: it did not produce a religion of unselfish social service, with the Buddhist brotherhood functioning more as a community of teachers than as a fraternity of believers actively serving society.

Buddhism prospered because it offered salvation through belief in the Buddha, the enlightened one, representing Melchizedek truths better than any other religious system in eastern Asia. However, it did not become widespread as a religion until it was adopted by the low-caste monarch Asoka, who, next to Ikhnaton in Egypt, was one of the most remarkable civil rulers between Melchizedek and Michael. During a twenty-five-year period, Asoka trained and dispatched more than seventeen thousand missionaries to the farthest frontiers of the known world, establishing Buddhism as the dominant religion across half the world in a single generation.

As Buddhism spread from India throughout Asia, it increasingly diverged from Gautama's original teachings, becoming more miraculous and making him into a god. The religion was significantly influenced by Taoism in China, Shinto in Japan, and Christianity in Tibet. After a thousand years, Buddhism withered and disappeared in India, surrendering to Islam, while throughout much of the Orient it degenerated into rituals Gautama would never have recognized. The faith divided into two main branches: Hinayana (the "Lesser Road") in southern regions like Ceylon and Burma, which maintained a more asocial doctrine, and Mahayana (the "Greater Road") in northern areas like China and Japan, which developed a more socially engaged approach. Despite these changes, Buddhism remains a living, growing religion that promotes calmness, self-control, and happiness.

Tibet exhibits an extraordinary blend of Melchizedek teachings combined with Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, and Christianity. When Buddhist missionaries entered Tibet, they encountered primitive conditions similar to what early Christian missionaries found among northern European tribes. The simple-minded Tibetans refused to abandon their ancient magic and charms, leading to a religious synthesis unlike any other.

Modern Tibetan religious practices feature an elaborate ceremonial system managed by a vast brotherhood of shaven-headed priests. Their rituals include bells, chants, incense, processionals, rosaries, holy water, and elaborate vestments. They have rigid dogmas, mystical rites, special fasts, and a hierarchical structure of monks, nuns, abbots, and the Grand Lama. They pray to angels and saints, practice confession, believe in purgatory, and maintain extensive monasteries with magnificent cathedrals. Prayer wheels are central to their practice, as they believe petitions become effective when the wheel turns. Among no modern people can be found such an accumulation of ceremonial elements from so many religions, creating an intolerably burdensome liturgy that contains aspects of all the world's major faiths except the simple, life-transforming gospel of Jesus.

When Buddhism entered China in the first millennium after Christ, it readily integrated with the religious customs of the yellow race, particularly the practice of ancestor worship. This new synthetic religion, with its temples and ceremonial practices, became the generally accepted cult of the peoples of China, Korea, and Japan. While Buddhism's development was in some ways unfortunate, as Gautama's teachings were perverted to make him a divine being surrounded by miraculous stories, this mythologized version proved appealing to followers of the northern or Mahayana gospel.

Buddhist philosophy made a significant advance in comprehending the relativity of truth—the understanding that small truth is for little minds and large truth for great minds. This mechanism helped Buddhists reconcile divergent scriptures and religious differences. The philosophy also taught that the Buddha (divine) nature resided in all men, who could attain realization of this inner divinity through personal effort. This teaching represents one of the clearest presentations of the truth of indwelling Adjusters ever made by a Urantian religion. Despite the contamination of its ceremonies and observances as Buddhism spread across Asia, the philosophical life of its great thinkers continued to evolve. Over two thousand years, many of Asia's finest minds searched for absolute truth, developing increasingly sophisticated concepts that culminated in the idea of the Buddha Absolute—an Eternal One of infinite and unqualified existence.

The great weakness in Buddhist cosmology was twofold: its incorporation of many Indian and Chinese superstitions, and its elevation of Gautama from an enlightened teacher to the Eternal Buddha. However, for an enlightened Buddhist, the concept of Buddha is no more identical to the human personality of Gautama than the concept of Jehovah is identical to the spirit demon of Horeb for enlightened Christians. Limited terminology and sentimental attachment to old names often obscure the true evolution of religious concepts.

Gradually, the concept of God as distinct from the Absolute began to emerge in Buddhism, especially in Japan through the teachings of Ryonin, Honen Shonin, and Shinran, culminating in belief in Amida Buddha. These believers taught that the soul after death could enjoy Paradise before entering Nirvana, attained through faith in Amida's divine mercies. Buddhism's greatest strength lies in its followers' freedom to choose truth from all religions, making the Shin sect of Japan one of the world's most progressive religious groups. Buddhism itself is experiencing a renaissance in the twentieth century, enhanced by contact with Christianity and educational advancement. The faith stands ready to respond to new concepts of God and the Absolute, awaiting the proclamation of Michael's message, free from centuries of accumulated doctrines—not just the gospel about Jesus, but the living spiritual reality of the gospel of Jesus.