Excerpted from "The Lost Sutras of Jesus" with permission of Ulysses Press.

The Lord of Heaven sent the Cool Wind to a girl named Mo Yen. It entered her womb and at that moment she conceived. The Lord of Heaven did this to show that conception could take place without a husband. He knew there was no man near her and that people who saw it would say, "How great is the power of the Lord of Heaven." Their hearts would become filled with pure faith and they would devote themselves to bettering the karmic condition of all. Mo Yen became pregnant and gave birth to a son named Jesus, whose father is the Cool Wind. Some people were ignorant and said if she gave birth after becoming pregnant by the Cool Wind, then the whole thing was merely of this world. If a Sage on High issues an edict, then everyone willingly will submit to it. The Lord of Heaven dwells in heaven above and controls everything in heaven and earth. When Jesus Messiah was born, the world saw clear signs in heaven and earth. A new star that could be seen everywhere appeared in heaven above. The star was as big as a cart wheel and shown brightly. At about this time, the One was born in the country of Ephrath in the city of Jerusalem. He was born the Messiah and after five years he began to preach the dharma. His message to all living creatures was to do good. When he was 12 years old he came to a purifying place called the Jordan in search of his spiritual nature. Together with the sage John he bathed in the waters. John lived in a rocky ravine and never drank alcohol or ate meat. He consumed only raw vegetables and honey gathered from the ground. Many people came to this place to honor John and learn from him. When Jesus arrived, John led the Messiah to the Jordan to be baptized. After the Messiah had bathed and come out of the water, the Cool Wind came from heaven in the form of a dove and landed near the Messiah. A voice from the void spoke: "The Messiah is my son. All the living creatures in the world must obey him. His purpose is to do only good." The Messiah then showed everyone that the way of Heaven was to follow the Lord of Heaven. This meant that all living creatures in the world below must stop serving other gods. As soon as anyone heard these words, they must stop serving other gods, renounce evil and do good. From the time the Messiah was 12 until he was 32 years old, he sought out people with bad karma and directed them to turn around and create good karma by following a wholesome path. After the Messiah had gathered 12 disciples, he concerned himself with the suffering of others. Those who had died were made to live. The blind were made to see. The deformed were healed and the sick were cured. The possessed were freed of their demons and the crippled were made to walk. People with all kinds of illnesses drew near to the Messiah to touch his ragged robe and be healed. All those who do unwholesome deeds, who have not turned toward the path of goodness, who have no faith in the teaching of the Lord of Heaven, all those who are impure and covet profit, will never experience redemption. The scribes who drank liquor and ate meat and served other gods brought false testimony against him. They waited for an opportunity to kill him. But many people had come to have faith in his teaching and so the scribes could not kill the Messiah. Eventually these people, whose karma was unwholesome, formed a conspiracy against him. Pretending to be faithful and pure believers, they tried to kill the Messiah by legal means. But they could not find a way to do it, so they began to denounce him to the Great King. While these evil people plotted against him, the Messiah did good deeds and taught with even more vigor than before. When the Messiah was 32 years old, his enemies came before the Great King Pilate and accused him by saying, "The Messiah has committed a capital offense. The Great King should condemn him." These people of unwholesome karma all testified in the presence of the Great King Pilate. The Great King, wanting to be just, reasoned that since he had not heard this person nor seen him, it would not be fitting that he should die. He said that the matter could be decided by the scribes themselves. The Great King said, "I cannot kill this man." And these people of unwholesome karma replied, "If this man is not killed, think what will happen to us, men and women alike." The Great King Pilate asked for water and washed his hands. Then standing before the scribes and others in the crowd, he said that he had no reason to kill him. But the crowd pleaded its case over and over until his death became inevitable. For the sake of all living beings and to show us that a human life is as frail as a candle flame, the Messiah gave his body to these people of unwholesome karma. For the sake of the living in this world, he gave up his life.

After the Messiah had accepted death, his enemies seized the Messiah and took him to a secluded spot, washed his hair and climbed to "the place of the skulls," which was called Golgotha. They bound him to a pole and placed two highway robbers to the right and left of him. They bound the Messiah to the pole at the time of the fifth watch of the sixth day of fasting. They bound him at dawn and when the sun set in the west the sky became black in all four directions, the earth quaked and the hills trembled. Tombs all over the world opened and the dead came to life. What person can see such a thing and not have faith in the teaching of the scriptures? To give one's life like the Messiah is a mark of great faith.