Book excerpt: Jesus Christ was a Zen master? In at least one version of early Christian belief, he sure sounded like one. Early Christianity was far from the gentle and unified belief system that we have been led to believe it was. In fact, in the earliest stages of its development, interpretations of the meanings of Jesus' teachings varied widely, were hotly debated, and differing views were not tolerated well at all. The Jesus narrative that eventually won out was passed on to future generations while the losers had their books burned and adherents imprisoned, tortured, or put to death. Talk about issues with freedom of religion! Luckily, an early Christian group called the "Gnostics", in seeing their beloved books burned and adherents mistreated, buried their most important works in hopes of future discovery. These works were discovered in Nag Hammadi, Egypt in 1945 and have shed quite a bit of light on an alternative and very different interpretation of Jesus' teachings--one that was widely followed in the early years of Christianity, yet more closely resembles the "enlightenment" teachings of Zen and Buddhism. The Zen-like nature of the Gnostic's Jesus is the focus of this work. "What you seek after is within you." - Dialogue of the Savior Scroll up and grab your copy today!