Becker cannot move any parts of his body except for his eyes and his left thumb. He lies partially prone in a wheelchair, head lolled to one side, hooked up to a respirator and a feeding tube. Now down to 100 pounds, he is stricken with Lou Gehrig's Disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a degenerative neurological condition.

What's even more remarkable is that Becker considers his ALS to be a gift of sorts. Now deeply spiritual, he believes his illness helped put him on a path to find a greater meaning in life and exposed him to the works of an eastern mystic whose teachings have been an inspiration to Becker-who in turn could hardly be anything short of an inspiration to anyone who meets him.

Becker's optimistic declaration echoes Lou Gehrig's famous farewell address at Yankee Stadium, in which the baseball great said, "I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth." But the guitarist has something Gehrig did not-the opportunity, through modern computer wizardry, to continue practicing his art.

Self-pity isn't in Becker's vocabulary, and a visit to his home reveals a man eager to pursue his work with the help of advanced technology. Before a visitor can even conjure up the inevitable silent question, "How would I deal with this situation if it were me?" Becker has turned the "conversation" to his music. He sits in his wheelchair in the center of the living room, communicating through eye motions as his artist father, Gary developed an effective system in which each of the 26 letters of the alphabet has two distinct eye movements. This allows Jason to spell out words. To get someone's attention, he pushes a button on a voice box he carries in his lap that blurts out the canned message: "Everything is all right."

Becker currently has about three CDs worth of music to his head, he says with the help of his dad's translation. And as of this month, he has a means of getting it out: a computer program called Quick Glance, made by Eye Tech Digital Systems and sent to him by the California Department of Rehabilitation.

"Quick Glance has an infrared camera that reads the way his eyeballs track," explains Gary. "If Jason looks at the letter W, the computer knows it and prints that letter on the computer screen. In effect, his eyeballs are the mouse."

Now that the equipment has arrived, Becker can-laboriously-resume his musical career in earnest, a career that sprouted even before elementary school. When Jason was five years old, Gary gave him an acoustic guitar and began teaching him Bob Dylan songs. Jason showed an immediate affinity, and when he began playing Eric Clapton guitar riffs effortlessly, Gary gave in to Jason's pleas for an electric guitar.

"He wanted to go electric right away," says Gary. "I said no, because well, at that time I didn't know he'd become so great at it."

By sixth grade, Becker has his electric guitar and was performing in local coffeehouses. As a senior at John F. Kennedy High School, he put out his first album with the band he formed, Cacophony. In 1989, Cacophony broke up and Becker went to work for Roth, the former lead singer of Van Halen. But a few months after Becker got tapped for the band and was involved in cutting an album, he felt a tingling in his left leg. He didn't think much of it. Why should he? After all, he was 19, a rock star, on top of the world. But very shortly, that world came tumbling down.

Becker completed the album, but he wasn't able to join the band on the tour. His condition steadily deteriorated, and doctors told him he had five years to live. But Becker's spirit did not succumb. As his body slid from cane to wheelchair to bed, Becker continued to compose using a computer program and his still-functioning hands. Slowly and methodically, Becker put together the album Perspective over the next five years using previously recorded music, new instrumentals, and vocals by musicians such as Steve Perry, lead singer of Journey.

Jason has put together another album, "The Raspberry Jams: A Collection of Demos, Songs and Ideas on Guitar." "Working on it brought Jason back to life," says his father.

" Raspberry Jams' means so much to me because I have put so much of myself into this music," Jason says. "It would be a bummer not to share it."

Warner Bros. is planning to rerelease "Perspectives," with Eddie Van Halen playing one of the compositions. Meanwhile, Becker remains remarkably positive as he looks forward. Apart from his music, he maintains a Web site and continues to seek daily enlightenment.

"Jason's always had a strong spirit. He's always been on fire," his father says. "There are miracles in the world that aren't scientific. Jason is still full of plans and visions."