I ask, "Who and what was Jesus?"

Zohar answers, “You may believe that Jesus is the one and only living son of God. You may believe that Jesus was just a moral teacher. I am not going to say which is right and which is wrong. That is for you to decide. I am here to say that whatever you believe Jesus to be, he was and still is, a Master. He is not alone in this. Buddha, Zoroaster, Mohamed, Lau-Tzu, Krishna, and Moses are also Masters, though you may not hold these persons with as high a regard as you do Jesus. That is your personal choice.

“There are those who hold one of these others in higher regard than Jesus. Be aware that there are differences of belief. I do not mean to equate these persons, but whatever your belief is, all the Masters possessed a precious humanity that is the same core root of our own, individual humanity.

“Their original words are lost in the midst of history, and the whole meaning of those words even more so, so do not confuse the present-day actions of Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and Hindus as being indicative of what those Masters taught. Without exception, the Masters taught love in all its various forms and manifestations.

“There is a rift in your religions. It cuts the west from the east. In the west you have Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In the east you have Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism. There are others, but these are the big ones. The east, God is the imminent self. God exists as the creation. As such, the individual person is divine. Reality is unity.

“The west, with its emphasis on loving your neighbor and yourself is, at its core quite compelling. But in the west God is seen as entirely separate and apart from the self. The creator and the creation are two very different things and not to be confused with one another. Reality is duality.

“The west’s doctrine of sin and redemption is nonsensical to someone from the east. Likewise, the east’s doctrine of karma and multiple lives is nonsensical to the west. These two have great difficulty reconciling with one another, but there is some common ground.

“There is a more fundamental Truth which encompasses and transcends all of these major religions, both east and west. This consists of the foundational principles that undergird your spiritual knowledge, and fundamental or universal truth. This is what Jesus preached. He was a reformer, and a rebel at the same time, bringing Truth to Jews and gentiles alike.

“Entirely aside from whatever Jesus was and did on this mortal plane, he came to speak the truth to people and that is precisely what he did. The Universal truth of love, both God’s love and human love forms the core of his teachings.

“The Masters are not gone. They will come again. You will yet have Masters walk among you in the New Age.”