THE GREAT GOSPEL OF JOHN
VOLUME 5
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
Jesus in the region of Caesarea Philippi. (cont.) Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 16
- Chapter 29 -
The residence of the Lama's high priest.
1
(Roklus,) "The city where he resides has no name, is very big and firmly built for eternity. It stands surrounded by insurmountable mountains, itself on a high mountain that has stone walls over which no one should be able to climb, even if he could come close to the large mountain, which is utterly impossible, because the whole big mountain on which the nameless city is built, is surrounded in the vast high plateau by a triple circular wall that has no gates; one can only get over the walls by means of rope ladders lowered from above.
2
But if one successfully gets over the three huge walls that way, he then stands at the bleak rock walls of the mountain. Then one assiduously walks around the mountain a whole day and a half futilely looking for a possible way up, which is impossible to find because on the surface there is none. Only the guards of the third circular wall know the gate in a rock, to which one can only get by means of a lowered rope ladder. Once one is up on the rock spur, which is well twelve times head-high above ground, one has still not reached anything if the guards of this ledge, which has an area of good two acres, do not open the gate and lead one up on the mountain with a torch through a long, subterranean passageway.
3
Once one arrives at the top of the mountain after an intense hour on subterranean stairways, his eyes cannot get enough of the great natural glory it sees there. The upper area is several acres big and consists of the most luxuriant gardens. In the middle of the plateau there is a one to two acres big lake, which is not very deep, but has the cleanest and most tasty water and provides all the inhabitants of the big and most holy mountain city with its most essential elements.
4
One walks around for hours on the high mountain and notices no trace of a city. If one wants to enter this city, one has to first pass quite a stretched forest and again come to a circular wall of great circumference, through which one can pass through gates and drawbridges. Once one comes into the big city after many troubles and discomforts, there is such glory to be seen that no mortal can imagine. One can see everything there with the exception of the high priest's palace.
5
This is in the middle of the city on an even higher rock, which has a circumference of three thousand paces and towers thirty times head-high over the other buildings of the big city. One gets into this holiest palace only through subterranean stairs. How it looks in there I cannot tell you because first of all, I was never in there myself and no one gave me a description of it; with the exception of the high servants of the high priest no one is allowed to dare to even go near the entrance gate.
6
Apparently the high priest often times goes down in the city disguised, takes pleasure walks in the gardens and confers with the other priests as the only inhabitants of this city; but no one is allowed to recognize him or greet him as the high priest. Whichever of the priests did that, would expose him to very ominous trouble. Only four times a year is a day appointed when he shows himself in full regalia to the inhabitants of the city. Those are the greatest holidays. Three nights before and three nights after, the whole mountain lights up from countless lights so that all the surrounding mountains far and wide look like they are glowing, which always offers a terribly beautiful sight.
7
But one cannot get as easily as you probably imagine to this high plateau in the middle of which the described mountain with the holy city is situated; one has to first pass many mountains, valleys and gorges for days on end. In the end there is a strait like there cannot be another in the world! In order to finally get on the high plateau, one has to climb ladders, without which it would be impossible to come to the plateau. With all your might it is impossible to push forward because these natural fortresses cannot be captured by any earthly army neither through siege nor through whatever other means of force. You can cut the people off from their Lama's high priest for a while, - but to alienate them from him, never! His powerful lords are taking care of that and each one of them can double your army. Thus I do not advise you to make a mistake with great India, because you will fare awfully bad!' 55 Hereupon he was silent again and I had time to imagine my nicest part. I had found out that the Indian god is a man and understood very well how to consolidate himself and knew now, what I had wanted to know."