The Third Jesus

The Christ We Cannot Ignore

By: Deepak Chopra

Narrated by: Deepak Chopra MD

Length: 4 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

Who is Jesus Christ? In The Third Jesus, best-selling author and spiritual leader Deepak Chopra provides an answer to this question that is both a challenge to current systems of belief and a fresh perspective on what Jesus can teach us all, regardless of our religious background. There is not one Jesus, Chopra explains, but three.

First, there is the historical Jesus, the man who lived more than 2,000 years ago and whose teachings are the foundation of Christian theology and thought. Next, there is Jesus the Son of God, who has come to embody an institutional religion with specific dogma, a priesthood, and devout believers. And finally, there is the third Jesus, the cosmic Christ, the spiritual guide whose teaching embraces all humanity, not just the church built in his name. He speaks to the individual who wants to find God as a personal experience.

When we take Jesus literally, we are faced with the impossible. How can we truly "love thy neighbor as thyself"? But when we see the exhortations of Jesus as invitations to join him on a higher spiritual plane, his words suddenly make sense. In this way Jesus can be seen for the universal teacher he truly is—someone whose teachings can embrace and be embraced by all of us.

©2008 Deepak Chopra (P)2008 Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

Named One of the Best Spiritual Books of 2008 by Spirituality & Practice

"[Promotes] an interspirituality for the twenty-first century that tears down the walls between East and West and reveals how all the world's religions encourage the practice of transformation."—Spirituality & Practice

"The hardest thing to see is what is hidden in plain sight. After 20 centuries of doctrine and dogma we have nearly lost sight of the Jesus who was a wandering teacher of mystical truths. In his imaginative reconstruction of the inner meaning of the gospels, Deepak Chopra reminds us of The Third Jesus, the enlightened master of God-consciousness. It will disturb the minds of the orthodox, and delight the spirits of mystics and progressive Christians."—Sam Keen, Philosopher and Author, Sightings: Extraordinary Encounters with Ordinary Birds

"In this book, Deepak Chopra proposes a Copernican revolution in our understanding of Christianity by replacing the theological version of the holy trinity with the triptych of Jesus as possessing a human, an institutional and a mystical dimension. By emphasizing the mystical dimension and identifying Jesus as a spiritual revolutionary, he invites Christianity to perform yet another miracle in his name—that of transforming the world once again."—Arvind Sharma, Birks Professor of Comparative Religion, Faculty of Religious Studies, McGill University

Awesome Perspective

I love his use of "all the gospels" in order to flush out an older version of Christ.

Jesus deserves respect! Major shift

I never respected Jesus and thought of him as a quack. However now I have great respect for Jesus since now I understand that he would renouce the religion created based on him. Furthermore, I can now more easily relate to the idea of religion and those who subscribe to it for answers. No matter what, my level of consciouseness has evolved with yet another of Deepak's lucid interpretations of spirit.

Practical answers to the Hard Questions

I am a Christian. I have been all my life. Why do I struggle so hard to live by Jesus's word? Jesus said "Remove the log from your own eye before you remove the splinter from your neighbours". At last a guide to help me remove the log from my eye. A must for any person that seeks the truth and for any Christian who seeks real answers not rhetric.

enlightening!

Would you listen to The Third Jesus again? Why?

I have. There is much to take in. This book causes you to think. Raises insight to your religious upbringing.

What did you like best about this story?

The Gnostics.

Which scene was your favorite?

NA

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

NA

soul feeding!!!

wow to have read this at the time that I did, was amazingly helpful!! I am on a spiritual journey that is so full of questions and miracles and this book helped me to have far greater understanding than expected!!

Loved it!

Would you listen to The Third Jesus again? Why?

I loved hearing a different viewpoint about Jesus. It is a wonderful story as well as presents another perspective.

Disappointed

If you read New Age books in the 1980's you may find The Third Jesus sloggingly redundant.