Buddha by Deepak Chopra

by Neil Pearson

“Buddha” tells a story of the life of Siddhartha to Buddha - birth to enlightenment. This is an extremely engaging tale. I found it difficult to put down, and interesting enough to read twice in a short period. After the first completion, I felt there must be so many metaphors and so much wisdom that I missed due to being enraptured within the story.

Buddha’s life, his family and those close to him are used to explore the many paths which we pursue to find enlightenment and the paths we pursue while trapped in illusions of how me must act in this life. Views on fathers, mothers, sons, friends, religious leaders and gurus are provided. Dharma, karma, good and evil, pride, ego, and relentless attempts to control life are discussed without any sense of being preached to – up until the epilogue.

The epilogue provides us with possibilities of how Buddha spent his later life. It also provides the Four Noble Truths and The Eightfold Path. I found myself wondering how people without any understanding of Buddhism would respond to this part of the book. Hopefully people will not dismiss the messages in the book if they found Buddhism distasteful.

Having recently read, for the first time, Siddhartha, by Herman Hesse, I found “Buddha” even more captivating. Hesse’s tale, written in the early 1900s focused on a portion of the adult life of the man who would become Buddha. Reading a tale of the childhood life of Siddhartha in “Buddha” was even more appealing, and would likely be more enjoyable to a larger group.

One can read this book for sheer enjoyment of a well-written tale, or one can read it to consider examples of Buddhism and the path to enlightenment. Those exploring the Yogic paths will see many similarities between Yoga and Buddhas search for his divinity. The bumps on the road and the paths that can lead us astray are also considered. Whichever your goal for reading this book, I think most will find it an enjoyable read.