The church of St. Thomas in India's Kerala state is the only place where Christ is not pictured on a cross but in a meditative samadhi posture. I also researched that period in history for Jesus's religious context, political and cultural contexts, the Jewish sects at the time, the occupation by Rome. Then I went into incubation, meditation, and I allowed this story to unfold.
It fits into the category of "religious fiction. Your version of Jesus' "missing years" is heavy on his search for enlightenment, on both external and internal journeying. Is that an area in which you felt the Gospels needed supplementing?
When I was growing up, I went to an Irish-Christian missionary school. I was totally fascinated by the New Testament. I must have read it a few thousand times. But he quotes a psalm that says "You are Gods, sons of the most high," which he tells them was addressed to "those to whom the word of God came. I interpreted this as "those who have knowledge of God are God.
I concluded that Jesus must have experienced this consciousness, and that he must have followed a path. The story is about that evolution. In fact, you write "making [Jesus] the one and only son of God leaves the rest of humankind stranded.
Because we end up worshipping the messenger instead of the message and excluding all the theologies that existed before Jesus was born. But it's also the one thing that inspires Christ's most fervent followers: that Jesus was God's only son, who died for them and so took away sin.
Isn't your premise of an acquired godhood heretical to orthodox Christians? It may be. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called sons of God.
So powerful and different were the words Jesus spoke that Mahatma Gandhi carried the sermon's ideas with him at all times and lived its message to the letter, Chopra said in an interview last week in Houston. He believes there are three interpretations of Jesus — the historical Jesus, the theological Jesus and what Chopra calls the " cosmic Christ ," the third Jesus who has broad appeal.
The story of Jesus is "the most romantic story ever told, and it's a very beautiful story," he said. So we have to see what kind of relationship we are going to have with this kind of divine inspiration.
Chopra says he does not belong to any religion. He is not a Christian, a Buddhist or a Hindu. For that matter, he doesn't believe Christ was a Christian or that Buddha was a Buddhist. Apr 30, Raphamello added it. Have a little more respect, Chopra : "Ron and Hermione follow Harry on his quest to destroy Horcruxes, conquer death by means of the Deathly Hallows, and ultimately defeat Voldemort in a stunning display of self-sacrifice. Have a little more respect, Chopra Jul 07, Virginia Boylan rated it did not like it Shelves: historical.
I looked forward to learning Chopra's understanding of Jesus. This book is a mishmash of legends, traditions and some outright crazy tales about Jesus's mid-to-late twenties.
He runs around doing strange miracles and befriending Judas Iscariot and Mary Magdalene for no clear reason. The temptation story is mixed in with the baptism scene and both are mangled. If I hadn't been listening on audiobook while driving, I'd have closed the book in disgust. Jan 09, Jessica added it. I loved this book. At first I was unsure if I would even get through it, but I couldn't put it down.
It has helped me renew some faith I have been lacking Oct 24, Honeybee rated it did not like it. I expected a lot more or else I completely missed the point. Apr 06, Lucy rated it it was amazing. I enjoyed Deepak's Readers Guide the most. It was interesting to imagine what Jesus's journey was like other than what we know from the bible. Jul 02, Gianmichael Salvato rated it it was ok Shelves: spirituality , historic-fiction.
I will have to admit to being rather disappointed after reading this book. That doesn't mean it wasn't a well-written book, certainly worth reading. But I expected something more from the author, Deepak Chopra. In his preface to Jesus, Chopra is very straightforward about his purpose in writing the book, saying: "[there is] a Jesus left out of the New Testament - the enlightened Jesus.
His absence, in my view, has profoundly crippled the Christian faith, for What if Jesus wanted his followers - and us - to reach the same unity with God that he had reached? For example, he allows the notion that Jesus was born in Nazareth, a misrepresentation caused by illiteracy in the early translations of the ancient texts that made up the canonical texts. Nazareth didn't even exist at the time of the radically inclusive Dharma teacher and itinerate Rabbi. And he fails to recognise that it was the ignorance of Pope Gregory that resulted in the complete misrepresentation of Mary of Magdala as a whore -- something that is indicated nowhere, even in the poorly plagiarised canonical texts of the Christian Bible.
Still, I think that Chopra's thoughtful treatment of the story in a way that those who entertain such ideas as the god-concept, and who believe the account in their bible was ever intended to be an historic or literal account of the life of Rav Yeshua ben Yusef, is well done and imaginative. I might have expected that greater attention would have been paid the likelihood that the Egyptian Therapeutae, long believed to either be Tibetan Buddhist monks or to have been trained by Tibetan monks, played a significant role in the formative ideology and philosophy of the young Yeshua.
I was disturbed by Chopra's decision to support the notion of "Satan", and by an almost Harry Potter-esque encounter by Yeshua with paintings depicting future events. It seemed incongruent with Chopra's own intelligence and wisdom, and only supported one of the most unhealthy delusions of theistic spiritual paths In the end though, I think that for those inclined toward theistic philosophies and spiritual paths, it would be useful to consider the idea that Yeshua Jesus understood that all of the qualities we seek from "God" can be found within us already, and the Enlightenment is the pathway or realisation of these qualities our True Nature.
He brings to the forefront the realisation that like the meditative practices sadhanas of the Eastern traditions, Christianity offers prayer as a way to "transcend," to still the mind and expand it beyond the limitations of our perceived realities. The premise that Jesus became enlightened during the so-called "lost years" is a powerful idea, but unfortunately, I expected a bit more substance to support this idea. That was entirely my fault, because I did not realise, when I picked the book up, that Chopra's intended approach was going to be purely fictional -- midrashic, really I had hoped this book might illuminate some possibilities, even within the context of ficition, that somehow, a manipulative, unilluminated, power-hungry group of rich and powerful men known collectively as what we now call the Roman Catholic Church would miss the entire point of the stories, and after them, nearly every "Christian" sect that followed would be disadvantaged and misinformed as well.
Perhaps that is a book that is yet to be written It's certainly better written than the Bible, and much more believable overall. I am still not totally sure how I feel about this book. I am a Christian, so I believe that Jesus was fully human and fully divine and that all I need to know about Jesus is written in the Bible and since He is living I can have a relationship with Him here and now. All that said to make my biases clear. The narrative of the book is well paced and intriguing.
It is not a piece of historical fiction. I think more accuracy and research in that area would have greatly enriched the narrative and its lack was disappointing and distracting.
There are also several time jumps, giving the narrative an almost dream like structure, but at the same time feels a bit lazy. Also Jesus shows in the New Testament a deep and rich knowledge of scripture, but in this story he is illiterate. Both of these are so central to the known Jesus, it seems strange to leave them out. In the introduction, Chopra makes it clear this is purely a work of His imagination and lays out his own point of view as an outsider to Christianity, but with understanding of the main tenants of the faith.
All art is made to provoke feelings, and ones like anger, discomfort, and unease are just as important to explore and unpack as any. Does it line up exactly with the Christian faith? No, but the areas that do are very interesting since they are coming from the perspective of Eastern spirituality traditions. Find what it can teach you about your faith. You were drawn to it for a reason.
Jan 20, Janice Shull rated it liked it. What was the young man Jesus like? Chopra offers his interpretation based on what scripture tells us of the adult Jesus, and it includes a period of time spent in the company of the Zealots, and then with the Essenes. Eventually the story takes us to a high mountain hut where Jesus has gone to seek enlightenment from someone, unidentified but acting much like a guru.
The mountains might have been in east Pakistan. Jesus offered salvation, which opens the door to the two missing dimensions of life—the world of the spirit and the source of reality. Because Jesus became open to the source, he saw reality on all three levels as a manifestation of God. Chopra takes his own non-historical sense of who Jesus was and places him in a geniusly re-created first century Palestine. To care so deeply about historical sources, but to disregard the best historical sources in determining who Chopra takes his own non-historical sense of who Jesus was and places him in a geniusly re-created first century Palestine.
To care so deeply about historical sources, but to disregard the best historical sources in determining who the central character is a huge disconnect. He seems too gifted of a writer for the second option to be viable. He subtitled the book: A Story of Enlightenment, which should tip off Christian readers that this is not the same Jesus portrayed in the first century accounts of his life. To see the motives of the first century Jews as they struggle with Roman oppression and their own sense of distance from their God.
Chopra nails these things. He has a knack for empathy, and this allows him to create viable characters who probably are much like the one who actually inhabited the hills of Galilee and the courtyards of the great temple. Soaring and meaningful experiences without some footing a shared reality is simply madness.
The radical prophetic focus on the suffering poor is replaced with an escapist desired your soul. The hard work of redemption through forgiveness is supplanted with the ascetic ideal of piety. To have a conversation between Jesus and Eastern mystics is an admirable and fruitful dialog, but to collapse Jesus into a guru's disciple is silly--and offensive.
Silly, because there's no reason to think there was any cultural interchange between Indian and Palestinian spiritualists. Offensive because the only reason people would need to propose such a thing is that they haven't taken the time to go deep enough into Judaism.
For one who has taken the time to dive into Judaism's depth there is no need for a Jew in Jesus' position to get ideas from someone or something outside the Jewish tradition to become the person he became or was. In Chopra's world as it's outlined in the novel , evil is not undone or a force to be pushed back against, but merely a way of approaching the world that should be fully embraced--exalted as though evil is merely an unpleasant lens through which we see the world.
To Chopra's credit, Jesus would have to go outside Judaism to make that move--a move that would exchange the mission of social justice i. Feb 13, Zooey rated it really liked it. Deepak Chopra's book stir our imagination about Jesus' early years.
I agree that Christians largely conceive of Jesus as static; He didn't have problems, and he didn't evolve. As Deepak Chopra argues, a transformed Jesus could be a more powerful role model for Christians and even non-Christians.
I also liked the reminder that the Kingdom of Heaven is already within us and can be found within our every day lives. Of course, transcending from the material life is always difficult, given the tempta Deepak Chopra's book stir our imagination about Jesus' early years. Of course, transcending from the material life is always difficult, given the temptation and social pressures.
However, true happiness or pure bliss can be only achieved when we become close to God, or the Original Source. While the traditional Christians might be upset at Deepak Chopra's more Universalist's view, I am convinced that how Christianity is interpreted in major churches no longer serves us. We all just need to be more like Jesus, our beautiful and almost impossible role model. Dec 16, Kent Dickerson rated it did not like it.
Deepak Chopra tells us his purpose in writing about Jesus on the outer cover and the Author's Note — to lead others to not worship the real Jesus and consider him only a part of Chopra's understanding of spirituality.
He has Jesus lie, create a fake miracle, take part in a zealot plot to attack a priest and many other things totally out of character with the real Jesus of the Bible. Then his Jesus is "enlightened" by visiting a guru in the East which encourages him to embrace Satan.
I have imagi Deepak Chopra tells us his purpose in writing about Jesus on the outer cover and the Author's Note — to lead others to not worship the real Jesus and consider him only a part of Chopra's understanding of spirituality.
I have imagined Jesus' early years from clues given in the Bible. It looks nothing like this. I can only conclude Chopra creates a Jesus who is made in his own image. Nov 10, Aymen Alramadhan rated it really liked it Shelves: bought.
If you want to live in the heart of history around Jerusalem to see Jesus walking, talking, and interacting with followers, rivals, and different religious groups that lived in his time, then, this story is a must.
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