Every one of us forms an idea of Christ that is limited and incomplete. It is cut according to our own measure. We tend to make ourselves a Christ in our own image, a projection of our own aspiration and desires and ideals. We find in Him what we want to find. We make Him not only the incarnation of God but also the incarnation of the things we and oursociety and our part of society happen to live for.
Thomas Merton(seeds of contemplation)
Jesus took them all by stealth, for he did not appear as he was, but in the manner in which they would be able to see him. He appeared to them all. He appeared to the great as great. He appeared to the small as small. He appeared to the angels as an angel, and to men as a man. Because of this, his word hid itself from everyone. Some indeed saw him, thinking that they were seeing themselves, but when he appeared to his disciples in glory on the mount, he was not small. He became great, but he made the disciples great, that they might be able to see him in his greatness.
--Gospel of Philip
The story of Buddha can be seen as the story of Christ... from heaven to wandering to return to heaven...
Mar Mani, the founder of Manichaeaism had a mysterious life. According to the Taoists themselves Mani was the reincarnation of Lao Tzu. The HISTORY of Manis life was unimportant to his followers (bearing in mind Manichaeaism lasted for around a 1000 years, so it was not a small group); what was important was the spiritual prowess and leadership of Mani.
Any history of Mani was first and foremost to show his spiritual significance, and his factual life a distant second. We could perhaps take this into consideration when it comes to official lines on the historical Jesus..
Note Mani was proclaimed a Buddha by some, reincarnation of Lao Tzu by others, the paraclete by yet others and a follower of Christ by himself...
Then four hundred and fifty or so years after my last manifestation, I, Lao-Tzu, shall ride on a vapour of the Tao of natural light. I shall leave the domain of Truth and Calmness and fly into the precious territory of Hsi-na (Rome). In the kingdom of Su-lin (Assuristan) I shall descend into the royal palace and be born as crown-prince. I shall leave my family and enter the Way and be called Mo-mo-ni (Mar Mani), I shall turn the wheel of the great law (dharma) and I shall explain the canonical commandments and regulations and the practice of meditation and knowledge, as well as the doctrines of the Three Epochs and Two Principles. I shall instruct both gods and men and make them realize that the Present Moment reaches up to the Realm of Light and down to the paths of Darkness. All the beings will thereby be saved.
Five times ninety years (450 years) after Mani, the metallic vapour (or vital force) will rise and my teaching will prosper. As a sign, holy images of Mani will come spontaneously from the Western Regions to the Middle Continent (China).This will be a sign of realization. The two vapours, yellow and white, will coalesce and the Three Schools (Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism) will be united together and return to me. The temples of benevolence and the places of cultivation (will be so numerous) that they will join their beams and link their rafters. The bright and venerable law of the Later Sage will be translated and interpreted. The Taoist masters of the Middle Continent will extensively explain the doctrine of cause and effect (hetupratyaya). They will be the ships of the world and enlarge the scope of service of the law. All that moves, grows. or has life will be saved. This is known as the total absorption of all schools.
The Prophecy of Lao Tzu
(taken from Mani, The Angel and the Column of Glory, Andrew Welburn)