Theresia's Reviews > Buddha: A Story of Enlightenment

First thing first, I honestly have no idea of what to call this book with.

I broke the spin of my copy, fyi, for I read and reread it. I was moved, I admit, as much as I was shaken by the message.

In the first part, Chopraji managed to sow the story of feral, raw, ancient India so well, so unbelievably human, Siddhartha included. It wasn't difficult to, say, picture the characters. Unfortunately, it degrades in the second part, "Gautama the Monk." Chopraji said in his foreword that Buddha is as human as the rest of the world, and in this part Siddhartha is all but human. It's as if he's this kind of a mortal simply elevated to be an immortal. There's neither enough space for his turmoil nor suffering since it's concentrated on his journey toward enlightenment. In other words, the plot is sacrificed for the message's sake. And the part "Buddha the Compassionate" makes me wonder if this should be aptly titled "Buddhist Preaches Through Chopraji's."

As Chopraji wonderfully put, Buddha begins as a mere man, a wealthy one but nevertheless a man. I just don't get it from the rest of the book. This is really a book about "a life like no other, and I wonder is this would be much, much better if put not in the form of a novel.

Or perhaps it's just that Buddha's teachings are radical, and Chopraji is too out of my league, and my mind is a small pool in the beach morosely trying to contain the whole ocean.