Carlsbad's Chopra provides different take on Jesus in new book

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Carlsbad's Chopra provides different take on Jesus in new book

By TANIA FUENTEZ - Associated Press | Thursday, April 3, 2008

 

Before he became known for promoting holistic health and

spirituality, Deepak Chopra adhered to traditional Western medicine

as an endocrinologist in Boston. He eventually questioned this

approach, returning to the centuries-old Indian system of Ayurveda to

find a balance between faith and science.

 

" I wanted to extend my idea of healing, " Chopra said in a recent

interview. " If you don't understand spiritual experience, you'll

never understand healing. "

 

Now, at 61, the physician and best-selling author hopes to extend

conventional thought again ---- even more controversially ----

in " The Third Jesus: The Christ We Cannot Ignore " (Harmony Books).

Chopra challenges Christian doctrine while presenting an alternative:

Jesus as a state of mind, rather than the historical rabbi of

Nazareth or son of God.

 

The third perspective ---- which Chopra calls " a cosmic Christ " ----

looks at Jesus as a spiritual guide whose teaching embraces all

humanity, not just the church built in his name. Chopra argues that

Christ speaks to the individual who wants to find God as a personal

experience.

 

" I said to myself, 'Why not write a book that takes Jesus' teachings -

--- and it doesn't matter if you're Christian or not ---- and learn

from this and improve your life?' " he told The Associated Press at

the Chopra Center and Spa in midtown Manhattan.

 

Considered a pioneer of mind-body alternative medicine, Chopra is

president of the Alliance for a New Humanity and he has been listed

among Time magazine's top 100 heroes and icons of the 20th century.

His books have been translated into dozens of languages, with topics

that range from aging and sexuality to golf and Buddha's path to

enlightenment. In 1995, he co-founded the Chopra Center for Wellbeing

in Carlsbad with Dr. David Simon, which officially opened the

following year.

 

Fascination with Jesus' life began during his lessons while attending

a Roman Catholic school in India, Chopra said. Though his parents

were from Hindu and Sikh families, " if you were relatively affluent,

education was always in the Christian school because of the

missionaries. "

 

He moved to the United States in 1970 after graduating from the All

India Institute of Medical Sciences. Chopra did his internship in New

Jersey, and residency and fellowship at various institutions

including Boston, Tufts and Harvard universities. He also was chief

of staff at Boston Regional Medical Center for two years.

 

His interest in Hinduism and medicine evolved while observing a mind-

body connection in his research, and a chance encounter in 1985 with

the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at a conference in Washington, D.C.

 

" I first leaned toward Ayurveda medicine and then actually went on to

study other wisdom traditions of the world ... this happened during

my training in neuro endocrinology where I saw what happened in

consciousness in biology, " Chopra explained.

 

" I was just extending my understanding of healing from physical to

mental to social to environmental, " he said. " That's what

the 'Alliance' is all about ... healing the body politic, healing the

world. "

 

Chopra devotes substantial time to his own spiritual development. He

meditates and exercises daily, though he occasionally enjoys a triple

hazelnut latte.

 

During the interview, Chopra switches his Blackberry, covered in an

orange case, to vibrate as he speaks on faith, politics and a list of

projects like a new comic book launched with his son and Sir Richard

Branson. The in-demand speaker is at ease quoting Scripture or

talking quantum physics. He has studied the Bible closely, reading it

hundreds of times.

 

Though " The Third Jesus " was on his mind for 25 years, it took him

six months to complete once he began writing. The next book will be a

fictional account of Jesus' missing years.

 

" Where else do you read a story of the Son of God being executed by

their own? " he said. " It is dramatic. It's three years of his

teaching, and it has shaped the world for 2,000 years. "

 

In a review, Harvey Cox, Hollis professor of divinity at Harvard,

said " The Third Christ " is " bound to provoke both admiration and

condemnation. " Chopra references the New Testament and Gnostic

Gospels to deconstruct church doctrine and conservative Christianity

on issues such as war, abortion, women's rights and homosexuality.

 

" I see blogs every day that are negative and very nasty, because this

is not a literalist interpretation of Jesus, " Chopra said. " My book

is about Jesus as a state of consciousness. If I can aspire ----

maybe not achieve ---- but aspire to be in that state of mind and if

a lot of people were aspiring to be in that state of mind this would

be a better world. "

 

" I emphasize this over and over again that whatever we do is about

improving ourselves and improving the world. "

 

By TANIA FUENTEZ - Associated Press