Best-selling writer on health and spiritualism, Deepak Chopra has this time come up with a thrilling new book with the challenging title of The Third Jesus. Fascinating, stimulating, uplifting, even provocative, it discovers the real Jesus. This Jesus is one people can comprehend and identify with unlike the Jesus commonly known, who was enigmatic and mystical. One Jesus, Chopra points out, is the Jesus of history, `and we know next to nothing about him. Another Jesus is the one appropriated by Christianity... created by the Church to fulfill its agenda. The third Jesus... is as yet so unknown that even the most devout Christians do not suspect that he exists.` This is the Jesus he has set out to present.

As to Jesus`s real identity, he lists five sets of arguments that are generally offered, such as the literal, the rationalist, the mystical, the skeptical and the consciousness argument and analyses each one with its pros and cons.
In a nutshell, Jesus was all about God-consciousness. That is the thread that runs through his teachings. Examined in the context of God-consciousness, many of the apparent inconsistencies and contradictions in Jesus` sayings are ironed out and they become easy to comprehend.

Chopra is direct and forthright in his assertions. He occasionally differs from, yet minces no words in pointing out the interpolations that have entered the Bible. For example, with regard to Jesus` use of the
father metaphor in relation to God, the author points out that the word is `actually a substitute for something ineffable,` just like `King, Creator, Lord, the Almighty` because orthodox Jews were forbidden to utter the name `Yahweh.`

Jesus`s teachings such as the Kingdom of God being `within,` `doing unto others what you`d wish them to do unto you, loving your neighbour or the parable of lilies and crows in the Sermon on the Mount,` all relate to Jesus`s God-consciousness. The Kingdom of God being `within` is an exhortation to `wake up,` which is `the only way to live any spiritual path to the fullest.`

The highest state of God-consciousness is `unity,` or becoming `one with God.` That is what Jesus meant when he said `If you knew me you would know my Father also.` And that is what Mansoor Hallaj meant in his cry of `anal haq` (I am the Truth) and Iqbal meant in `haath hai Allah ka banda-e-momin ka haath.` (The hand of a Believer is the hand of God).

Being of Indian origin and knowing the Vedas and a Buddhist, Chopra has no difficulty in comprehending Jesus`s teaching about offering the other cheek, or reaping what you sow; the first identifies with ahimsa, the other with karma. And there are also other fascinating points of similarity between Buddha and Jesus.

Chopra lists nine essential ingredients for a spiritual life that Jesus taught meditation, contemplation, revelation, payer, grace, love, faith, salvation and unity; he defines each and even shows how the teaching `Resist not Evil,` for example, can be practiced through the exercise of these nine ingredients.

The author reduces `every significant teaching about consciousness spoken in Jesus` own voice.` These
include 10 subjects `Love and Grace, Faith, Revelation and Redemption, Jesus and the Self, Meditation, Contemplation, Prayer, Karma — Reaping and Sowing, the World as an Illusion, and, Unity.` Quoted under each title are relevant extracts from the gospel, followed by explanations.

Having established what Jesus`s teachings were all about, the author further lays down 15 steps to God-consciousness with lessons about how to apply as well as practical the exercises mentioned under each.

The journey of the soul to God-consciousness begins with `glimpses of reality` in the traveller`s `thinking, feeling, acting, seeing and being.` The turning point comes when some light begins to shine `into the state of the soul trapped in duality.` This is followed by the `aftermath,` when the `astonishment of experiencing the turning point fades away.` Here Chopra explores some new responses as a way out of the aftermath.

`In the middle of the journey one begins to reap the fruits of spiritual life.` The images for the process of spiritual growth differ from person to person. For the obstacles that one may encounter on the spiritual path, Chopra offers practical antidote which, interestingly, includes two breathing exercises! The piece de resistance comes in the last chapter `What would Jesus do?` What would Jesus do, for instance with regard to abortion or gay rights?

As a bold attempt to re-interpret Jesus as a man who was like unto us, yet different because he had
attained the ultimate God-consciousness, the book is a must read.

The Third Jesus
By Deepak Chopra
Rider Books, UK
Available with
Liberty Books, Karachi
ISBN 1-846-04111-2
241pp. Rs850