"Fiction is a much better way for telling the truth than fact," [Deepak Chopra] said. "We know the historical story, so I wanted to look at what [Buddha] was struggling with inside, his inner demons, his own shadows. In a sense this is everyone's struggle. In order to find your own awakening you have to confront your dark side."
"When he was asked at the end of his life, 'Who are you?' [Buddha's] response was 'I am awake, I am alert, I am aware,' " Chopra said. "His whole message is to expand our consciousness and our awareness so then we have more love, compassion, understanding, creativity, insight, intuition, imagination and inspiration, and we are also able to harness all of our intentions."
"Originally I was going to call this book I: Buddha, the author said, "because the name Buddha simply means 'the enlightened one.' Every one of us, if we are spiritually inclined, goes through the same dilemmas: What is the meaning of suffering? What is the meaning of life? Why do we grow old and sick and die? What happens to us after we die? Do we have a soul? Does God exist?
