Customer Reviews

Jesus: A Story of Enlightenment

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

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...making [Jesus] the one and only Son of God leaves the rest of humankind stranded...What if Jesus wanted his followers - and us - to reach the same unity with God that he had reached?"

`Crippled' is a strong word, and this book will undoubtedly anger some. Yet Chopra's Jesus maintains the divinity at the heart of mainstream Christianity - he is not just some average Joe who happens upon God. Nor is he simply a spiritual teacher or `guru', as other Eastern teachers have characterized him. The novel mostly covers the 'lost years' of Jesus' life left out of the Bible - the years in which he transforms from a serious and insightful young man into the son of God - and throughout that period he is surrounded by signs of his future divinity.

Chopra's Jesus himself is not comfortable with these signs, but they draw others to him. The early part of Jesus' spiritual journey is dominated by his relationships with Mary Magdelene and Judas - both of whom of course feature prominently in the later part of his life, as told in the New Testament. Chopra's earlier versions of these figures each have delusions about Jesus, and want to possess him for their own purposes. It is through them that he comes to understand the human condition, and the forces - both external and internal - that prevent many from pursuing a deeper relationship with God.

After leaving Mary and Judas, Jesus studies with the Essenes, a mystic Jewish religious community now believed by many to have authored the Dead Sea Scrolls. Ultimately he disappoints them also, as he will not conform to their view of him as King of the Jews. After leaving them, Jesus travels to a mysterious holy man in distant mountains, also the story's narrator, and it is here that the path of Chopra's Jesus most closely resembles that of his Buddha (as told in his novel of Buddha's life.) Both struggle with their concepts of good and evil, and both are tempted by demons with promises of greatness. They both come to understand they must abandon all concepts and personal identity to truly allow God to work through them. As Jesus' mysterious teacher tells him, "Only someone who can see the demons as part of God is free. Good and evil dissolve. The veil drops away, and all you see is divine light - inside, outside, everywhere...Your soul is the world's soul. In your resurrection will be the resurection of the world."

Jesus' awakening is powerfully told, and the new Jesus returns to his homeland as an agent of enlightenment. Encountering Judas and Mary once again, he transmits a grace that literally wipes away their past. Or, as Mary puts it when asked `what has he done to me' by others who receive Jesus' grace, "He killed who you were, so that who you are can be reborn."

Chopra's Jesus is not a perfect book. Scenes change rapidly, and many conversations seem stunted in a way that occasionally left me disoriented. But it conveys a profound message in an accessible and passionate voice. If you are interested in considering a new vision of Christianity, and of all religions, give it a read, and consider reading Buddha: A Story of Enlightenment as well.

I think the main purpose of Deepak Chopra's Jesus was to be a teaching novel, if I can use that term. A lot of readers will be happy with that, because Chopra's reputation is primarily as a spiritual teacher. But a lot of readers don't turn to fiction for lessons. They want a good story and an engrossing read. I'd like to reassure them that this book is definitely a good read. It might even be that rare thing, a religious page-turner.

I don't think Chopra would be happy with the tag "religious," however, since his ambition is to portray Jesus as someone who belongs to the world, not simply to Christianity. for that purpose, he takes the young Jesus to a far-off mountain setting somewhere in the East, where he meets an enlightened master. Here Chopra is tapping into the lore that has Jesus going to the Himalayas, although he never explicitly mentions if this nameless master is Buddhist or Hindu -- no religious affiliation is given at all. Orthodox Christians may rebel at that, but there's a long tradition of sending Jesus to other countries during his missing years. Albert Schweitzer, among others, speculated that Jesus learned from other traditions, and many Biblical scholars (not the fundamentalist stripe, of course) find many links between Jesus's teachings and the Buddha's.

If those things intrigue you, then this book will prove fascinating. But even if you come to it fresh, the tale holds lots of surprises. Having young Jesus be friends with Mary Magdalene and Judas, for example, throws a new perspective on how those characters fit into the New Testament. There have been many there attempts to write a prequel to the four gospels, but I think Chopra's is one of the most successful, thanks to his deep knowledge of consciousness and his growing ability to tell a riveting story.

When I read the Fictional book about Buddha's life that Deepak wrote it was amazing!! Deepak also had a great explanation at the end of that book that really ties the whole thing together. Do I think that Buddha is better than Jesus? No, not at all, I read this Book (listened) and I didn't get the same feeling from this book that I got from the Book that Deepak wrote about Buddha and his life. I was waiting for the great wisdom that Deepak possesses to come out and wanted to hear the great insightful summery at the end of the book and it never happened (Disappointed). Deepak almost always has a great concluding chapter in all his books. I know this is a fictional book and I feel this book is catering to western thought. I wanted this book to go deeper because I know Deepak has the knowledge of western thought and I wanted him to actually show some insight on Jesus and his great teachings that he taught his followers in the New Testament in the Book of John. This book only scrapes the surface maybe 1 or 2 times.

I read the Power of Now by Echkart Tolle and I feel that there was more insightful information in that book about Jesus's message to the world and it was amazing how Jesus made the teachings simple and easy to understand or maybe is was Echkarts Interpretation that was truly wonderful. I know Deepak has read "the Power of Now", Deepak wrote a review on the Back of the "The Power of Now" telling how great it is. This story about Jesus is not a great story and at times I think it sells Jesus short and Jesus doesn't get the credit he deserves. Deepak does a great job on making you Hate Judas in this story. At times it was distracting because Judas was so annoying! If you are looking for a Great Story that Deepak wrote and are open to learning about Buddha then check out Deepak's Book: Buddha: A Story of Enlightenment. If you are not open to learning about Buddha and reading fiction then check out the Non fiction Book By Echkart Tolle called "the Power of Now". Or if you want a very different, or as she puts it an Uncommon perspective on Jesus, then check out Sylvia Browne's "The Mystical Life of Jesus: An Uncommon Perspective on the Life of Christ" This book will blow your mind =] Maybe in a good way or a bad way, overall it will answer a lot of questions about Jesus and his life.

Happy reading all!

The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment

The Mystical Life of Jesus: An Uncommon Perspective on the Life of Christ

When the world was afire with with his message people came to Jesus , just as they did to Buddah , asking what he was. Not who are you with respect to name , origin or ancestry but what are you ? What order of being do you belong to ? What species do you represent ? Are you a god ? "No" Are you an angel? "No" Are you a saint? "No" . His answer was , in essence "I am awake" . Thats what " The Kingdom of Heaven is within you" means. That's what " I am the Son of God " means .That's what " The "Kingdom of Heaven is spread upon the Earth- men just do not see it" means. And that is what has been forgotten by institutionalized Chrisitanity.This book tries to cut through to that truth. We need as much help as we can get in that regard right now. So yes . Buy the book.

My husband ordered this book not me, however, he was somewhat disappointed. The story was simply a short story of his personal view of a period in the life of Jesus. To infer that it would contribute to the enlightenment of the reader was misleading.

Let me begin by emphasizing that I find Deepak Chopra's non-fiction 'spiritual writings' to be well-constructed, readable, challenging, and meaningful in this age of materialism and passive entertainment. I have read these works and recommended them to others. However, after reading 'Jesus: A Story of Enlightenment,' I have concluded that fiction(or long parable) is not Chopra's long suit. His attempt to fantasize what the hidden adult years of Jesus' life was like before his ministry is unconvincing. The characters of Jesus, Mary of Magdala, and Judas the Zealot are so two-dimensional and the plot so thin that a reader hoping to find a plausible 'story' or 'inspiration' will not only be disappointed, but will soon be irritated by the improbabilty and lack of meaning. For believing Christians, this Jesus is simply an unrecognizable magus.
The narrator, who is himself an old magus(or guru) in the mountins of west Asia, discovers Jesus buried in snow, warms him up, and then learns and recounts Jesus' story of his coming to recognize his 'special powers.'
The essence of what Chopra has to say is in the final fifty pages, although the themes are not significantly different from his other works where he deals with the life and relevance of Jesus.
In summary, this is a rather poor attempt at a fictional account of an unknowable period of the life of Jesus. The reader would better spend time reading some of Chopra's earlier works on this subject.

I've read a few of Mr. Chopra's books and respect his ability to make the Perennial Philosophy clear and accessible to a wide range of readers. I feared his attempts at fiction, though, would be clumsy and heavy-handed. This was not the case at all. This book tells a compelling story and presents a fairly convincing vision of Jesus through the lens of Chopra's neo-vedanta philosophy. Mainstream Christians will find the book disagreeable, but folks who appreciate, say, A Course in Miracles and the work of Joel Goldsmith will find the book enjoyable and moving. The main text felt, at times, genuinely inspired to me.

I cannot say the same thing for the readers guide at the end, however. The path to enlightenment Chopra tries to lay out owes little to Jesus's teachings or the Christian tradition, it is just another recycled version of his own teachings. He even goes so far to say that "life is supposed to be easy" and that the life of Jesus exemplifies this. Excuse me? His own book portrays a life of constant ordeal and hardship. Those who feel a deep affinity with Jesus will want to avail themselves of the rich contemplative tradition of Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. You don't have to swallow the whole dogma to savor the spiritual nourishment found in these traditions. The fine anthology Watch and Pray ed. by Lorraine Kisly is an excellent place to start.

Finally, Mr. Chopra criticizes traditional Christianity by pointing out that "only a few saints" have attained the state of consciousness Jesus obviously wished sll of his disciples to attain. Isn't this the case with Hinduism and Buddhism, as well? The streets of Mother India aren't exactly teeming with enlightened beings! The illusion of the separate self dies hard, despite the fact that all of the primordial traditions offer clear paths to the One. Christians can turn to their own rich traditions of meditation and contemplation, as well as the more active work of charity and self-sacrifice.

After this rather lengthy caveat, I must repeat that the main text is both captivating and inspiring.

My dad recommended I read this book because I am at a point in my life where I'm doing a lot of soul searching but I don't really have any firm beliefs. Since the platform of this book is essentially that of a novel, I figured it could be pretty digestible.
I love the idea of this book: Jesus was not a static being that was simply born divine, but rather a human being that sought and found enlightenment. He found god not because he was the literal son of God, but rather, he opened his eyes to whatever truth is out there, put it to practice and spread the word. Furthermore, he's not considered the only person to have done this (i.e., Buddha, Muhammad, etc.).
All in all a very insightful story but in truth the book was very hard to get through. I am a reader that needs to be held captive by a book. I don't mind the occasional lull in place of thought provocation, but in the case of "Jesus" I found I was bored a lot of the time.
Great idea, mediocre execution,
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Suggested With: An open mind

Deepak Chopra offers sage advice on transforming your life, from a Christian perspective, in his novel "Jesus." While many Christians may not agree with his fictional account of Jesus' lost years before his ministry began, they can reap new insights from the Readers Guide - Jesus and the Path to Enlightenment. He writes that Jesus was the product of transformation and that he wanted others to be transformed also, giving up unloving, violent, selfish and narrow-minded attitudes and offering only love and peace to the world. He describes how all Jesus' teaching was in service of one objective: to find the way back home, to oneness with God. He explains that while Christianity offers prayer as a way to "transcend," it is not so different than the goal of Eastern spiritual traditions which offer meditation. Both quiet the mind and expand it beyond everyday boundaries.

Deepak Chopra's explanation is that Jesus was teaching how to find the source of all God's qualities inside yourself and ultimately to embody them. I personally found this explanation very powerful, as my work in chakra balancing will help one to embody these qualities... which to me, makes it in line with Christ consciousness.

While this book may not be the best "fiction" ever written, it offers an explanation I can grasp of how and why Christianity has failed to bring love and peace to the world. Chopra illustrates Jesus' teachings in a way that bridges a gap between the Christianity that is taught in organized religion and the way to transformation that Jesus offered to the world. Inspirational to say the least!
Becca Chopra, author of The Chakra Diaries

Most of the other reviews have already said anything positive that I can say about the book. However one thing that hasn't been mentioned that I feel is very important is the very last part of the book. The story itself was good, but the last section is kind of what brings everything together and helps you find the deeper meaning in the story Chopra was trying to relay. Don't skip the end...it turns a so-so book into an amazing experience.