The Third Jesus – A Book Review

The Third Jesus: The Christ we cannot ignore – by Deepak Chopra

Jesus is in trouble.  – Deepak Chopra, ‘The Third Jesus’

My discovery of Jesus was unbiased and untouched by anyone and it still remains so – no man, rule or teacher has any authority over my understanding of Christ. Not that I don’t listen to anyone – but I prefer to keep my own counsel.

Well, this post is not much about what I think of Christ, but what I think of what Deepak Chopra thinks for Christ. I know that sounds funny, so keeping it simple – it’s supposed to be a book review. Not your regular ‘hot or not’ book reviews, it’s my kinds book review – so sit back and enjoy.

The Ground

The title brings in curious question of who is this ‘Third Jesus’ and who are the 1^st and 2^nd too? Here is the intro to the book and the Third Jesus in words of Dr. Chopra:

“One Jesus is historical, and we know next to nothing about him. Another Jesus is the one appropriated by Christianity. He was created by the Church to fulfil its agenda. The third Jesus, the one this book is about, is as yet so unknown that even the most devout Christians don’t suspect that he exists.  Yet he is the Christ we cannot – and must not- ignore.”

So this book isn’t about historical facts that question was Jesus was married or not? Nor is it about men declaring war and peace assuming authority of Jesus. It’s about the Jesus and what he taught – what all is life was all about – the message he got from God.

From the Book

In this book Dr. Chopra suggests, and rightly so, that Jesus is not about just escaping an angry God who’s ready to punish you all the time. Jesus is also not about living in fear of sin and seeking light outside.

Jesus is about unconditional love of God. Jesus is about us all being the light that we so much seek.

Here are some points from the book which caught my interest:

The God Consciousness Jesus

Christianity thinks of Jesus as messiah – the saviour. Where else outside Christianity his existence varies from no-one up to enlightened master. But Dr. Chopra takes it beyond, both, Christian and non-Christian standards and declare him to be God-Conscious.

The one who knows God and knows true purpose of existence – and that certainly is in resonance with Christ’s own words.

The Pharisees said to him, “You are witness in your own case. Your testimony is not valid.”  Jesus replied, “My testimony is valid, even though I do bear witness about myself; because I know where I come from and where I am going. You do not know either where i come from or where I am going. You judge me by worldly standards.”

He lived what he taught – his living contradicted beliefs and teachings of many. It was as if he need not even teach what he wanted to say – his presence was enough. He declared that he was the light of the world and so are you – your destiny as same as him – God consciousness.

Turning the Other Cheek

His teaching “When someone hits you on the cheek. Offer him the other also.” Luke 6:29 is so similar to Vedic teachings of ‘Ahimsa’ or non-violence which is based on shift in consciousness. Everything outside is a reflection of inside.

When Jesus says, “turn the other cheek.” He is asking for that shift in conciseness that disarms the enemy. For when you don’t perceive the other one as enemy – there is no war and peace prevails.

The Unconditionally Loving God of Christ

Imagine a life where you are struggling as any other life, but under a ruler whom you cannot love and surely he doesn’t even like you, under priests and religion that demands from you loyalty to your duties and the unloving ruler – surely being influenced by the political games.

Everyday you are told that you sin and you are not loved as much as you think you deserve. In middle of this comes a man and tells you that God loves you unconditionally. He mentions sin next to never and amplifies the reality – the unconditional love of God for all and tells you that no matter who you are – you can enter Kingdom of Heaven.

“You are the light of the world. Let your light shine before all men.” –Jesus

Never before did anyone see you this way – not even you.

Essential Ingredients of Spiritual Life

Here are 9 essential ingredients of spiritual life which, Dr. Chopra suggests, were taught by Jesus:

1. Meditation
2. Contemplation
3. Revelation
4. Prayer
5. Grace
6. Love
7. Faith
8. Salvation
9. Unity

Resist No Evil

You’ve been taught eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth but I say don’t resist evil. If someone hits you, let him hit you twice. If someone sues you in court to get your coat, give it to him and your cloak, too. If someone forces you to go one mile, go two. If someone asks you for something, give it to him. If he wants to borrow money, don’t turn your back.

{Matthew 5:38 – 42}

This teaching of Jesus is so hard to live by – for it defies the natural human behaviour. I will not go in details but Dr. Chopra suggests that the missing piece in resisting no evil, as always, is consciousness.

The Kingdom of Heaven

All sects of Christianity promise an entry to Kingdom of God. Dr. Chopra suggests that Kingdom of God is within and is not a literal piece of land. For Jesus never talks in terms of material – but spirit. Only inner transformation can make the coming of Kingdom of Heaven possible.

Loving your God

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.

Dr. Chopra suggests that Christians have split between the select few who can devote their whole lives to loving God and the vast majority who spend an occasional hour on Sunday loving him. But Jesus is not talking about time and effort.

Karma – Sowing & Reaping

Jesus really talks about Krama so much, he doesn’t use the word Krama but “As you sow, so shall you reap.” – tells you the same thing.

What Else the Book Talks About

I’ve not even touched the tip of ice-berg in this post so far. And that’s obvious, we are talking about a book here and this is just a blog post. The book presents so many other aspects that many other authors have never touched, at least not in a way that Dr. Chopra does.

Dr. Chopra talks about whether or not Jesus was real? Will he come back in flesh or blood? What would Jesus think of Gay Rights? What would Jesus tell you about Abortion?

It really is interesting to hear someone take teachings of Jesus and try and talk about present day questions instead of assuming authority over son of God as some elected person.

What I Dislike

I think at many points Dr. Chopra failed to touch the depths of Jesus’s teachings – he just kind of skimmed over it. I am making this remark keeping in mid the parts of book where he really showers Christ conciseness and my personal understanding of Christ.

But I think none but Chirst can do that kind of justice to his teachings. And there are thousands of things that go like unspoken understanding.

Christian Criticism

Now this was so predictable, wasn’t it? They will banish anyone saying anything about Christ outside their circle. Now I don’t blame them – resisting evil (evil or not) is natural for humans and most of Christians are still trying to learn to resist not evil.

I was so like that, an year ago if someone would say anything against Abraham Hicks I might have punched them right in face. But I’ve learned, I hope so, not to resist it.

Most of the anti-Chopra’s-Christ reviews I read pointed out the bits and parts where he disagrees with Christ of Church or rather the image they created of him. Yet they fail to see the unbiased explanation of Christ’s teaching.

They are even against him when he points out the wars that were fought in the name of Price of Peace.

Who Should Read It

Strictly speaking, only open minded people who are ready to accept Chirst as someone beyond just another human teacher and are ready to see what he said from perspective of their higher-self rather than facts and all.

If you are a science lover, you are most likely to think of this book as ‘yet another yap yap’ so don’t bother – because Science is too young to understand all this.

If you ever saw deeper meaning in Chirst’s words than other preach, if you ever felt attracted towards Christ’s teachings or if you ever wanted to hear another perspective on it – the Third Jesus is for you.

Over to You

I am curious to know your thoughts about the book. It’s better if you have read the book.

These were not exactly my views of Jesus but a comment on Dr. Chopra’s views on Jesus, I will write about mine soon. But do let me know what you think.

PS: If you will buy this book from link on my site, I might get some money to buy more books or coffee. Thanks in advance.

Tagged as: Bible, Deepak Chopra, Jesus Christ