The Third Jesus: The Christ We Cannot Ignore

While listening to this book the author states that Paul was one of the 12 disciples and an apostle. Paul was never either of these to Jesus. This is a claim Paul makes himself. If you readHermetic Judaism it talks about how Paul sought permission to teach Rabbi Jesus teachings to non-Jews. Read this for the whole story of Paul.Setting Paul aside the sections of the book at the end where it talks about sitting and meditation and contemplation while seeing what comes up is very valuable.The author goes into detail about allowing things to come up and address them without suppressing them. This is very useful and very powerful. I myself have been doing this for some time now and whatever comes up I allow it to express itself while I love it.The author makes a compelling argument that the real message has been lost to us because of all the power brokers (I use power brokers to ID all those who twisted the message for their reasons) twisting the meaning of the teachings. If Jesus were here today the power brokers would ignore him because they’d be two busy fighting over If he was really here or not.This reminds me of the book 1984 which was meant as a warning to the world. Instead it became a manual for control. This is what religion today has become!

Having grown up with a Protestant Christian background but having also expanded my viewpoint of Christianity to what some might call a more gnostic approach (I prefer not to label my spiritual leanings), I was intrigued by this new title from Deepak Chopra. I sensed that his discussion would be a blend of East meets West, and I was correct. I was particularly attracted by the subtitle, "The Christ We Cannot Ignore", as I thought it might introduce some new perspective based on his original thought processes. Although it is a compelling subtitle, I did not really find that theme explored in any way I was not already familiar with.I am always interested in ideas that reference the early gnostic Christians and the documents known as the Nag Hamadi Library. The author uses many references to the Gospel of Thomas, which is part of the Nag Hamadi collection dating from 390 AD. After a discussion about the history and nature of gnosticism (or what is known about it based on the discovery of these ancient texts) he concludes at the end of the chapter titled "I am the Light" that "In the gospels themselves lie the materials for an inner journey that will be richer than anything offered by the Gnostics."Having several Fundamentalist siblings I also realize that his arguments would not find an audience with them, partly because he makes liberal use of the Gospel of Thomas, which they do not consider part of the teachings of Jesus, and also because he makes conjectures about the meaning of scripture based on his own ideas and spiritual insight.Let me say that I agree with his approach. I believe everyone needs to wake up and discern spiritual truth for themselves. Yet I know from personal experience that his message is unlikely to find receptive audiences among traditional Christians, who seem absolutely convinced that the only spiritual information given to us was in ancient times, never to be modified,updated or clarified by others who may be equally as receptive of spirit as those who first penned the ancient writings. And yet the subtitle suggested, at least to me, that this book might be able to do just that.For those who have been on an independent spiritual path, or involved with the teachings of the Unity Church or the clairvoyant readings of Edgar Cayce, the ideas in this book will not be new, but the reader will find support for his or her own views in the author's presentation.I was surprised to find that Deepak had a rather eclectic religious background, with considerable exposure to Christianity during his childhood in India. This lends him credibility but as I said already, his approach will most likely find receptive minds only among those who are already exploring spirituality outside the boundaries of traditional Christianity.The first half of the book provides quotes from the New Testament and the Gospel of Thomas, along with his ideas about the meaning of the verses presented. His references mix it up, using the Gospel of Thomas freely, as if its authority is as widely accepted as the rest of the New Testament. While scholars have agreed that this may be the only book of either the Nag Hamadi collection or the Dead Sea scrolls that nearly made it into the canonical Bible, it is not accepted by many people, particularly the traditionalists I have described above. In my opinion, these are the very people who should be the ones "The Christ We Cannot Ignore" is targeting its message toward.I enjoyed the second half of the book the most, in which he expounded on his own ideas about how to apply the teachings of Jesus, and upon the implications of repressed feeling and the damaging effect many Christian emotional archetypes produce. In fact I strongly related to it.I found this book to be an interesting discussion of Christianity and the teachings of Jesus, yet at times a bit tedious. That said, as another voice that speaks out to show Jesus as a mystical and enlightened spiritual master, I applaud Deepak's effort. He has obviously done a lot of research, whether or not you agree with his conclusions.

It is realized that there are those who also call themselves Christians in the same manner, who adhere to fundamentalist doctrines and interpretations, just as there are similar fundamentalists in all world religions who do the same. Indeed, it could accurately be said that the Scribes and Pharisees were fundamentalist Jews. (I myself come from your midst-a fundamentalist Christian from the age of 12.)In fact, fundamentalist brothers, my search for the truth first led through fundamentalist Christianity and there I stayed for many years. I used to argue much the same as you have here. I come to you now much as Paul appealed to his fellow persecutors of the faith after his confrontation on the road to Damascus. I still have not read this book, but I have now started it.What you need to know is that I had already realized that Jesus is an enlightened One, before I knew this book existed. Yes he is deity. But so are you. In your spirit lies the One True Mind, which Jesus awakened, as did others, like Buddha 500 years before him. They are equal, and if you read the gospels you will see the same basic message from Jesus as Buddha gave, though even then it was not understood by most if not all. Brothers, this is what Jesus meant when he said, "Those who overcome will sit with me on my throne, as I overcame and sat down with the Father on His throne." "Sitting with" denotes equality and unity. Jesus' message was not nearly as detailed, but Buddha had 49 years to expound it, Jesus only had 3. I know this sounds like craziness to you, just as what Jesus taught sounded like craziness to the religious in-crowd of the day. But it doesn't make it any less true. "Overcoming" means to overcome the human mind's false views, passions and attachments, and transforming the ego mind into the True Mind of God.You have argued that the rational mind is king in knowing truth. But as David spoke even 500 years before Buddha, "Thou dost desire truth in my innermost being, and in the hidden part, Thou wilt make me to know wisdom." The hidden part is the Spirit within you. Truth is not something you can get verification of externally, which is why all the religious who have not yet overcome will argue endlessly with other religions and indeed among themselves. The "knowledge" of which you speak is basically the same knowledge "gained" in the garden that was forbidden. This is your rational mind, with all its trappings; the false ego that proposes we are separate from each other. Many have correctly quoted Jesus "I and the father are One." But He also prayed in the garden that we all would be One. This goes back to one of the most basic of truths, that there is only ONE Source of all. The One is many and the many are One. In the garden, we forgot this, we partook of the "knowledge of good and evil," which symbolizes the temporary dualities of the physical realm, we ran away suddenly naked and ashamed. This is because we perceived a separation that never really was. And we still live in this illusion today. Search the scriptures, no where will you find an exhortation to know truth by the rational mind and logic. The essence of the Bible tells you the same thing I am telling you, friends.What your mainstream Christian teachings have robbed you of, and indeed, as many misunderstood in the years following Jesus' death, is that you have the same potential as Christ. The evil done in the mainstream hi-jacking of Christ is this very point, you have put him on a pedestal, instead of heeding his exhortation to you all as brothers. (Millions have made the same mistake with Buddha). It is likely now that you will call me a blasphemer, as the mainstream Jews also called Jesus in his day. "He's making himself out to be God!" you'll say. Brothers, we all come from the Father of Spirits. Life only exists by the breath of the Spirit of God. There is only One Spirit. Do you not remember in Genesis "Let Us make man in Our Own Image."Your spirit did not spring into existence with your conception into this life. You think your spirit has a beginning, but somehow will have no end? Brothers, that which has a beginning also has an end. If you believe your spirit had a beginning, then know it must also have an end--but this is not the truth. As this physical universe had a beginning, it will also have an end, returning to its Source. From emptiness to this ever expanding infinite relative universe and back to nothing again. But your soul is a part of the Father. This is why the Scripture says, "You shall be Holy, for I am Holy." You already exist in perfection, but the perfection has been covered over. You don't need to "act" righteous. Such false notions only leave you being white-washed tombs. The outside appears clean while the mind is still unclean. Remove what covers your True Nature and you will no longer need to "act" righteous. You will Be Righteousness. This is what Christ exemplified. This is the beginning of the True message of Christ.This is not a doctrine of godhood, and don't get it confused with the Mormon doctrine. It's nothing of the sort. This is also not a "new age" doctrine that sprouted up lately. It predates even Abraham. In fact, some believe this is the ancient source of the monotheism that Abraham is credited with. I attest to you that this is how "Enoch walked with God, and was not, for God took him." It may be hidden from your eyes at this point. But you have been robbed of the complete truth, my brothers. Instead of increasing what you were given, you have been taught to bury your one talent in the sand.You speak of the wide and the narrow ways. Do you not realize that currently 1 in 3 people in the world are Christians--in the same basic manner, same basic doctrine--that you are? Yes, you have your fundamentals, you may go round believing someone like the Pope and his followers are going to hell--or others that don't follow your particular creed of Christianity, which essentially differs by a jot here and a tittle there. I'm familiar with your position, as I said, I came from among you. But there are a much smaller number of people that realize the truth in what I am telling you than even your fundamentalist numbers. The precious few that realize this truth is a tiny fraction of even your most modest of fundamentalist numbers.Remember Jesus talking about the rich man and the difficulty of the rich to enter the Way--comparing it to the camel entering the eye of the needle? What is the meaning of the small gate? It was the tiny gate within the big gate guarding the city of Jerusalem that (after hours) camels had to get on their knees to get through, the "eye of the needle" it was called. The camel had to be stripped of all materials and crawl through on its honches. This is symbolic of the need for us to remove attachments to temporal things, attachment to passions, and humble ourselves by removing the false mind of the ego and projections of the "rational" mind. Very hard for rich men, but also very difficult for all of us so centered on this ego, so reliant on this rational mind and so attached to this physical and temporal world. I mean you no offense, but there is a lot of ego being slung around with your defense of your truth, brothers. Religious ego is one of the most deceitful aspects of ego to overcome (Don't I know it, for I see it also in myself). But I'm moment to moment learning to take every thought captive.To have the mind of Christ, brothers, this rational mind must die and be transformed. This is the true rebirth of which Jesus spoke to Nicodemus about. Become as a child to enter the kingdom of heaven, Jesus said. Little children know little of ego or false notions, literal word-bound doctrines or dogma. Things like these are the cause of the spiritual blindness that Jesus spoke of. This is the blindness that closes your eyes to the truth, which is understood only in the light of the kingdom of heaven within us.The "mind set on the flesh" represents a lot more than just a mind set on lust or other bodily weaknesses. The mind set on the flesh is the mind set on the human mind with its false sense of self. However, the "mind set on the Spirit," is the rare one who has set aside the false mind and has at least begun to allow God to make him/her know wisdom in the hidden part and renewing the mind--as revealed from your spirit--the Holy Spirit as Christ called it--your soul that is the "hidden part" that David spoke of that is connected always with God and is part of God as a wave is a part of the Ocean. The One IS the Ocean. We are like the waves that belong to it.It is clear in the Bible that trusting in the flesh and blood leads to suffering and destruction. The truth is that to accept the narrow interpretations you have absorbed, to take the narrow views you have viewed scripture with is trusting in flesh and blood. For it was flesh and blood that determined which books of the Bible are in and which are out. It was flesh and blood that told you the Bible you hold in your hand today, from Genesis to Revelation, is the "only truth revealed by God." It is flesh and blood that, professing to be wise, has become foolish.The saddest thing is this blindness to the fact that Jesus is the very example of what you yourself can be--what we all can be, if we put aside ego and rid our minds of attachments, passions and false views and undertake this inner journey back to the Original Mind. This is the process by which one comes to know the truth, as revealed from within, when you make room for it. In your ego mind, there is no room for truth to dwell. While you defend your Jesus and your faith that you received, you deny the very Power of God within you to be as He is. Jesus left false self and false views behind and what is left is the very Presence of God, Divine Love in action. Jesus never had to stop and think what was right or wrong to do. It flowed from his Being. He didn't have to go off and come up with his sermons, his words arose spontaneously according to the expedient need of the listeners.As the scripture says after listing some of the fruits of the Spirit (which describe some of the inherent qualities of God (Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Gentleness...) then the exhortation is given, "...against such things there is no law." When one removes the blockages, these are the kind of things that flow out from just Being. This is the freedom of which Jesus spoke that he promised knowing the Truth would bring. Which one of you is this free? Then can you really say what you know is true?This is the kind of Beauty that flowed from Christ. But in that flowing Jesus broke some fundamentals of the law, didn't he? For example, he broke the Sabbath...technically. He healed on the Sabbath. He walked too far and they rolled wheat with their hands to feed themselves...on the Sabbath. This is why adhering to word for word letter of doctrine will never suffice. Jesus, having realized His True Self, was free of law and also free of what you call sin. And he pointed the way to awaken from that state of blindness. In truth, all the many things you call "sins" are really just manifestations of the ONE sin, which is to be blind to the True Nature of Reality, being subject to the whims and deceit of your own human mind--your own ego; being attached to the trappings of this life. "You are in this world, but not of this world."Law and doctrines are there for expedient means, to get us to see the false and enter the inner path to truth. Absolute Truth cannot be confined to words, my brothers. It may shock your system (as it did mine) every bit as much as Jesus teachings and actions shocked the religious understanding of the day, but the gospel you received was incomplete and misguided. I know you love God, and I know you are here defending the faith as you understand it, and may God bless you for the intention. But there is a much deeper truth. This Truth is as formless as God. As indefinable as God. As beginningless and endingless as God. The best of Bible verses can only point to it, like the sonar reflections from the great depths of the ocean can only vaguely describe the detail of the ocean floor and the contents of the sea. Scripture says you could fill the world with books about it, and still not know the full story. The words are a finger pointing to the moon. Don't be stuck on the finger, try to see the moon those words can only point to. The truth can only be revealed by Spirit inside of you when the path is clear. The rational mind--the ego mind, is Its enemy.Take a step back, search your hearts and stop the outward journey. Overcome the obstacles that blind you. Home will only be found when you lay aside all entanglements and begin the journey within.Peace to you.

Easy read; spiritual and has an original view of Jesus.

good and efficient

I was ready for this book after going through what i call a detox, by withdrawing from organized religion three years ago and still counting,Before I would roll my eyes if i heard Deepaks name mentioned But the depth of this book is at times breathtaking It has become a companion to reread a section at a time before meditating

Love this book it answered many questions for me and put others into perspective.Highly recommend!!👍👍

Not my favorite version of life of Jesus

Well written and highly recommended for those of you exploring the moral compass of Jesus Christ a practical application of the spiritual principles