BEFORE he came to be known for promoting holistic health and spirituality, Deepak Chopra adhered to traditional Western medicine as an endocrinologist in Boston.

He eventually questioned this approach, returning to the centuries-old Indian system of Ayurveda to find a balance between faith and science.

"I wanted to extend my idea of healing," Chopra said in a recent interview. "If you don't understand spiritual experience, you will never understand healing."

Chopra's cosmic Christ
Now, at 61, the physician and best-selling author hopes to extend conventional thought again more controversially in The Third Jesus: The Christ We Cannot Ignore (Harmony Books).

Chopra challenges Christian doctrine while presenting an alternative -- Jesus as a state of mind, rather than the historical rabbi of Nazareth, or son of God.

The third perspective, which Chopra calls 'a cosmic Christ', looks at Jesus as a spiritual guide whose teaching embraces all humanity, not just the church built in his name.

Christ speaks to the individual who wants to find God as a personal experience, says Chopra. "I said to myself, 'Why not write a book that takes Jesus's teachings -- and it doesn't matter if you are Christian or not -- learn from this and improve your life'?"

Photograph: Andrew H Walker/Getty Images