Why I wrote The Lost Revelation
By Mark G. Adams
“Why in the world are you writing a novel about Jesus?” I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve been asked that question.
My family and friends know I don’t identify with any religion. Yet I’ve gotten a positive reaction nearly every time I’ve explained the premise of the story, a typical response being, “Cool. Now that’s a novel I’d love to read.”
I will explain what’s behind my obsession with Jesus.
Between the age of seventeen to twenty-one, I was driven to find “the truth.” I read scores of books and took numerous classes and seminars in psychology, religion, philosophy, spirituality, metaphysics, and meditation, all to better understand myself and our mysterious Creator.
By age twenty-one, I was certain the answer I was looking for was something called God, although I had no idea what He, She, or It was. I suspected the secret to finding God was within me, perhaps the inner light and love that I read about from a number of sources, including books about world religions and self-realization. But no one could reveal this God to me. I didn’t want to simply believe in God and His virtues, I wanted to, or more accurately, I needed to meet and know this Creator in a real, tangible way. I was determined to keep searching until I found something that could satisfy a seemingly unquenchable thirst for an ultimate answer.
What about Jesus?
I’d always suspected there was something important about Jesus, but the Christian churches I explored never felt quite right. While many of the religious leaders I met were wonderful people, they didn’t seem to know any more about Jesus and God than I did. I was also uncomfortable with others telling me what to believe in, or how to believe in it. I’ve no desire to be critical of religion and I strive to respect all people and their beliefs. It just wasn’t for me, though I sensed there was something vital to be discovered about Jesus.
It all starts with the Kingdom of Heaven that’s found within
I can’t overstate how fortunate I feel, to this day, about a major discovery I made at age twenty-one. That is when I met a fifteen-year-old teacher from India named Prem Rawat. He was telling anyone who would listen, “The answer you are looking for is within you, and I can reveal it to you.” There was something very different about the young man. He was beaming with a joy and wisdom far beyond any psychologist, or minister, or spiritual guru, or self-help seminar leader I’d ever met. It was as though a sun was hidden inside of him. Prem referred to his teaching as Knowledge, which he is still offering free of charge.
I was invited to attend a Knowledge Session, where four simple techniques of focusing within were taught to me. I was soon transformed by an intense experience of inner peace and love, immersed in an amazing light from within, and filled with a resilient sense of gratitude and reverence for life. I’ve meditated daily ever since and can’t imagine living without this wondrously reliable source of inner peace. I can say with certainty, based upon my personal experience with over forty-five years of daily meditation, that I have found Heaven on earth.
Back to Jesus
One day someone showed me some intriguing quotes from the Bible that I’d always thought were mystical, but I never really understood what they meant: God is love; God is light; …behold, the kingdom of God is within you; …if thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light; …ask, and it will be given to you, seek, and you will find, knock, and it will be opened to you.
This was a stunning aha! moment for me. These quotes describe, with amazing accuracy, experiences I have while practicing the teaching I received from Prem Rawat. In the meantime, I have also found similar descriptions in Buddhism, Hinduism, and other religions. This led me to believe there may have been special teachers throughout history who have taught the same practice of inner peace, but that’s an essay for another day.
Getting back to Jesus, I’m convinced I’m practicing Jesus’ fabled “secret teaching” referred to in certain non-biblical texts. Yet Jesus’ secret teaching, also referred to by some as “the way,” has been lost to recorded history. There are still many references to it in the scriptures of world religions (and I can see others in the Bible), but people assume these are metaphors, or something that cannot be experienced until we die.
After my aha! moment, I wanted to jump up and down and tell the world what I’d discovered. Yet I knew if I stood on a soapbox and cried out, “Hey, I know what Jesus was really teaching,” I’d be seen as one more nutcase, and understandably so.
A day finally came when I could remain silent no longer. I’ve seen too many books about Jesus that completely miss the point. Meanwhile, the extensive number of new publications released about Jesus each year is a clear indication that millions of people are still seeking a deeper understanding of Jesus.
This brings us to fiction, an age old, wonderful storytelling tool for sharing real information in a way that is easier for people to digest. I decided to use historical fiction to create an adventure, based upon careful research, that would allow me to put Jesus’ life into context. I wanted to let readers ride alongside Jesus as he grew up, searched for God, discovered the secret he was looking for, and then mastered the ability to teach followers how to enter the kingdom of heaven.
A Heaven within changes everything
According to the New Testament, when Pharisees questioned Jesus about the Kingdom he was speaking of, Jesus’ reply concluded with, “behold, the kingdom of God is within you.”
I ask all Christians to reflect upon that one line in the New Testament. It should be a full-stop for anyone who wants a closer relationship with God. Clearly we must look within. Yet we pass over that line in the New Testament like it’s a nice saying, but little more. Why? Because apparently Christian leaders, as well as the leaders of all religions, have not experienced the Kingdom of God within, and they certainly don’t know how to reveal it to their congregations.
I believe that the ability to reveal this heaven within is what made Jesus so popular in the first place. Assuming that’s correct, I ask, “So what happened to this secret teaching? Why did it disappear?” I believe the answer is inextricably tied to the “missing years” in the New Testament.
The Bible ignores over 90% of the life of a teacher who is one of the most famous persons in history. Surely there were those who wrote about more of Jesus’ life than his last three years. Simple deduction and experience watching human nature suggests that those missing years are an intentional act, or series of deliberate deeds, performed at one time or another, for one reason or another.
There was a political uproar in America when a mere eighteen-and-a-half minutes went missing from endless hours of the Nixon tapes, mysteriously erased from history. Yet for some reason, many have accepted that Jesus’ missing years must not be important. I disagree. I believe they are all important. After extensive digging, I’ve gotten to the bottom of a conspiracy that I believe began soon after Jesus passed from this earth and, surprisingly continues, very quietly, to this day.
While I’ve met people who are gaining peace of mind from their faith, I’m saying there’s still one more step to be taken, after which you will have an infinitely greater understanding of, and feeling for, the God you believe in. And if you have not received inner peace and a profound reverence for life from your religion, you really should read The Lost Revelation.
Funny thing is, I suspect you don’t have to believe in God to experience the heaven within. All that’s required is to approach the possibility with an open heart and open mind, and take the simple action of investigating the claims of the thousands of people around the world who have personal experience with a supremely loving universe that exists within us.
This is why I wrote The Lost Revelation.
To learn more about the teacher who revealed this priceless knowledge to me, visit premrawat.com.
Illustration of Temple courtyard by Balage Balogh