{"product_id":"the-laughing-jesus-isbn-9781400082797","title":"The Laughing Jesus","description":"An Incendiary Wake-Up Call to the World\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhat if the Old Testament is a work of fiction, Jesus never existed, and Muhammad was a mobster?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhat if the Bible and the Qur'an are works of political propaganda created by Taliban-like fundamentalists to justify the sort of religious violence we are witnessing in the world today?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhat if there is a big idea that could free us from the us-versus-them world created by religion and make it possible for us to truly love our neighbors—and even our enemies?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhat if it is possible to awaken to a profound state of oneness and love, which the Gnostic Christians symbolized by the enigmatic figure of the laughing Jesus?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDiscover for Yourself Why the Gnostic Jesus Laughs“A daring and thought-provoking book: Nothing you thought about the great monotheistic religions will ever look quite the same again.” —Graham Hancock, author of \u003ci\u003eFingerprints of the Gods\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eThe Laughing Jesus\u003c\/i\u003e is a manifesto for Gnostic mysticism. Freke and Gandy’s exposition of Gnostic enlightenment is lucid and accessible; their critique of Literalist religion is damningly severe.” —Robert M. Price, professor of scriptural studies, Johnnie Colemon Theological Seminary, and editor of \u003ci\u003eThe Journal of Higher Criticism\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eThe Laughing Jesus\u003c\/i\u003e should be considered not merely a good read, although it is, but also a matter of burning urgency, for this is one of the most important books that has emerged in this infant millennium.” —Larry Dossey, M.D., author of \u003ci\u003eThe Extraordinary Healing Power of Ordinary Things\u003c\/i\u003eTimothy Freke (left) has an honors degree in philosophy and is the author of more than twenty books on world spirituality. He lectures and runs experiential seminars throughout the world exploring gnosis. For information, see timothyfreke.com. Peter Gandy (right) has an M.A. in classical civilization and is an internationally respected authority on the ancient Pagan Mysteries and early Christianity. Both Freke and Gandy live in England and are the authors of five previous books, including \u003ci\u003eThe Jesus Mysteries\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eJesus and the Lost Goddess\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cb\u003eChapter 1: GNOSTIC SPIRITUALITY AND LITERALIST RELIGION\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe letter kills but the spirit brings to life.\u003c\/i\u003e —Paul, Letter to the Ephesians\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e     Wake up! Rouse yourself from the collective coma you mistake for ‘real  life’. See through the illusion of separateness and recognize that we are  all essentially one. Although we appear to be isolated individuals, in  reality there is one awareness dreaming itself to be everyone and  everything. This is our shared essential nature. The simple secret to  enjoying this dream we call ‘life’ is to wake up to oneness. Because,  knowing you are one with all, you will find yourself in love with all. You  will fall in love with living. This is the message of the original  Christians, who symbolised this awakened state with the enigmatic figure  of ‘the laughing Jesus’.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Have you ever seen a picture of Jesus laughing? Probably not, because we  have inherited a distorted form of Christianity created by the Roman  Church in the fourth century, which focuses exclusively on Jesus the ‘man  of sorrows’. The image that has dominated our culture is that of a man  being tortured to death on a cross. But the original Christians didn’t see  Jesus as an historical man who ‘suffered for our sins’. They viewed Jesus  as the mythical hero of a symbolic teaching story, which represents the  spiritual journey leading to the experience of awakening they called  ‘gnosis’, or ‘knowing’.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    The original Christians were inspired men and women who saw how good life  could be if we would just wake up and live in love. They imagined a new  world that would no longer be divided into slaves or citizens, men or  women, Gentiles or Jews. But inadvertently, this band of non-conformists  gave birth to a totalitarian regime that would rule Europe with an iron  fist for over a thousand years. The result was not Heaven on Earth, but  the Holy Roman Empire. The dream became a nightmare.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    The Roman Church did all it could to suppress the teachings of gnosis and  the image of the laughing Jesus. It succeeded so well that it now seems  strange to even suggest that Christianity was originally about awakening.  But in the middle of the twentieth century some of the texts of the  original Christians were found in a cave near Nag Hammadi in Egypt. In  these texts the message of awakening is proclaimed loud and clear.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Those who have realised gnosis have set themselves free by waking up from  the dream in which they lived and have become themselves again.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    How can you bear to be asleep, when it’s your responsibility to be awake?\u003cbr\u003e    \u003cbr\u003eYou are asleep and dreaming. Wake up.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Listen to my teachings, which are good and practical, and end the sleep  which weighs so heavily upon you.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    People are caught up in many vain illusions and empty fictions, which  torment them like sleepers prey to nightmares. When they wake up they see  that all those dreams were nothing. This is the way it is with those who  have cast ignorance aside, as if waking from sleep. They no longer see the  world as real, but like a dream at night. They value gnosis as if it were  the dawn. Whilst they exist in a state of ignorance it is as if everyone  is asleep. Experiencing gnosis is like waking up.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Such teachings of awakening are not exclusively Christian. Throughout  history men and women of all faiths have woken up to oneness and love. We  use the broad term ‘Gnostic’ meaning ‘knower’ to refer to all such  individuals because, although they express their insights in the various  languages of their diverse cultures, they all talk about the experience of  awakening or gnosis.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    These charismatic individuals often inspired the formation of small  communities dedicated to waking up. But, ironically, the more successful  such groups become the more they turn into their opposite. What begins as  a loose alliance of free-thinking non-conformists degenerates over time  into an organised, authoritarian religion, and people end up completely  misunderstanding the original message. We refer to this degenerate form of  Gnosticism as ‘Literalism’.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Gnosticism is sometimes called ‘the perennial philosophy’ because it has  been found in all cultures and all times. It is not that Gnostics all say  exactly the same thing. They don’t. It is rather that their teachings are  like fingers pointing from different perspectives   to the same experience of gnosis. Unfortunately, most people focus on the  finger and miss the point. This is Literalism. Literalist religions are  clubs for people who want to worship the finger of their founder as the  One True Finger, but who have no understanding of the experience of  awakening towards which it points.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    This book is a damning indictment of Literalist religion and a passionate  affirmation of Gnostic spirituality. Let’s start by clearly discriminating  Gnosticism from Literalism:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGnostics teach that the important thing is to wake up and experience  gnosis for ourselves.\u003cbr\u003eLiteralists teach that the important thing is to blindly believe in religious dogmas.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGnostics interpret their teachings as signposts pointing to the experience  of awakening.\u003cbr\u003eLiteralists see their teachings as literally the truth itself.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGnostics use symbolic parables to communicate the way to wake up.\u003cbr\u003eLiteralists mistake Gnostic myths for literal accounts of miraculous  historical events and end up lost in irrational superstition.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGnostics know that all books contain the words of men.\u003cbr\u003eLiteralists believe that sacred scripture is the Word of God.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGnostics understand that the way the wisdom of awakening is expressed must  constantly evolve to address the ever-changing human condition.\u003cbr\u003eLiteralists want a fixed canon of scripture which has absolute authority  for all time.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGnostics want us to think for ourselves, so that we become more conscious  and wake up. \u003cbr\u003eLiteralists want us to believe what they believe, so that we will join  their cult.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGnostics understand that life itself is a process of awakening.\u003cbr\u003eLiteralists believe their particular religion is the only way to the truth  and condemn everyone else as lost in diabolical error.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGnosticism is about waking up from the illusion of separateness to oneness  and love.\u003cbr\u003eLiteralism keeps us asleep in an ‘us versus them’ world of division and  conflict, inhabited by the ‘chosen’ and the ‘damned’.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGnosticism unites us. \u003cbr\u003eLiteralism divides us.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  Throughout history Gnostics have ceaselessly exposed Literalist religion  as a pernicious source of ignorance, division and suffering. This Gnostic  message has never been more relevant than today. The three great religions  of the West—Judaism, Christianity and Islam—are on a collision course that  threatens the security of the whole world. Taking religious myths  literally is the root cause of the problems in the Middle East which led  to 9\/11 and a host of other atrocities since. But there is nothing new  about religious violence. The present conflict is just the continuation of  a long and gruesome history of killing and dying for God.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    The burning of Christians by Pagans as flaming torches to light their  games. The brutal Christian revenge on the Pagans. The relentless  persecution of the Jews by Christians. The violent expansion of the Muslim  empire and the bloody conquest of India. The barbaric crusades by  Christians against the Muslims. The horrors of the Inquisition. The  genocide of indigenous people in the New World. The mass burnings of  witches. All were motivated by the desire to please God. All were  justified with reference to sacred texts that not only condoned such  behaviour but demanded it. These evils have not occurred because the  perpetrators were bad people, but because they were in the grip of very  bad ideas.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    \u003cb\u003eThe Baby and the Bathwater\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    The time has come to say enough of this madness and consign Literalist  religion to the garbage can of history. But we must be careful not to  throw out the baby with the bathwater. Religion isn’t all bad. It has  answered the profound human yearning to understand the mysteries of life  and death. It has inspired people of all cultures to create sublime works  of art, glorious cathedrals and temples, transcendental music and songs.  It has this power because at its heart is Gnostic spirituality. In this  book we want to rescue the teachings of gnosis from under the accumulated  debris of religious dogma, so that we can jettison outdated religious  Literalism but retain and revivify the perennial wisdom of awakening.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Let’s stop blindly believing in old books and listen instead to those  heretical voices that have been drowned out by the cacophony of Literalist  war cries. Just imagine for a moment that what Gnostics have been telling  us throughout the ages is true. We appear to be separate, but essentially  we are all one. The awareness that is conscious in you is the same  awareness that is conscious in everyone. And if you recognise this, you  will find yourself in love with all.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    Imagine what would happen if we actually began to wake up and live by the  Gnostic teachings of oneness and love. If we started to truly love our  neighbours, and even our enemies, because we recognise that they are  actually expressions of our own deeper self. If we saw through to the  reality that there are no Jews, Christians or Muslims. There is no ‘us  versus them’. There is only us. This is the Gnostic vision that has  inspired us to write this book.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    In Part 1, ‘The Bathwater,’ we undertake a religious detox to flush the  poison of Literalism out of our system. We take a good hard look at the  supposedly ‘sacred’ scriptures of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and  demonstrate that these texts are far from divine. We show that they were  not written or inspired by God, but created by men. And often by the worst  kind of men. Politicians dressed up as priests. In Part 2, ‘The Baby,’ we  bring ancient Gnostic teachings to life, using modern language free from  worn-out religious jargon. We give the timeless wisdom of awakening a  make-over for the twenty-first century, so that you can experience gnosis,  here and now, as you read this book. We want you to get the joke and  understand for yourself why the Gnostic Jesus laughs.Authors of The Jesus Mysteries and Jesus and the Lost Goddess","brand":"Harmony","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46303288426725,"sku":"NP9781400082797","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781400082797.jpg?v=1767740174","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/the-laughing-jesus-isbn-9781400082797","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}