NEW YORK — Before he became known for promoting holistic health and spirituality, Deepak Chopra practiced Western medicine as an endocrinologist in Boston. He eventually turned to the centuries-old Indian system of ayurveda to find a balance of 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'll never understand healing."

Now, at 61, the physician and best-selling author hopes to extend conventional thought again — even 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. Chopra argues that Christ speaks to the individual who wants to find God as a personal experience.

"I said to myself, 'Why not write a book that takes Jesus' teachings — and it doesn't matter if you're Christian or not — and learn from this and improve your life,' " he told the Associated Press at the Chopra Center & Spa in Manhattan.

Considered a pioneer of mind-body alternative medicine, Chopra is president of the Alliance for a New Humanity (www.anhglobal.org) and has been listed among Time magazine's top 100 icons of the 20th century. His books range from aging and sexuality to golf and Buddha's path to enlightenment. In 1995, he co-founded the Chopra Center for Wellbeing.

Fascination with Jesus began while attending a Catholic school in India, Chopra said. Though his parents were from Hindu and Sikh families, "if you were relatively affluent, education was always in the Christian school."

He moved to the U.S. in 1970 after graduating from medical school. His residency and fellowships included Boston, Tufts and Harvard universities. He was chief of staff at Boston Regional Medical Center for two years.

His interest in the mind-body connection evolved from his medical research and a 1985 encounter with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at a U.S. conference.

"I was just extending my understanding of healing from physical to mental to social to environmental," Chopra said. "That's what the Alliance is all about ... healing the body politic, healing the world."

In the interview, Chopra spoke on faith, politics and projects such as a new comic book launched with his son and Sir Richard Branson. He is at ease quoting scripture or talking quantum physics.

"The Third Jesus" was on his mind for 25 years before he wrote it. The next book will be a fictional account of Jesus' missing years. "Where else do you read a story of the son of God being executed by their own?" he said. "It is dramatic. It's three years of his teaching and it has shaped the world for 2,000 years."

Chopra references the New Testament and gnostic gospels to deconstruct church doctrine and conservative Christianity on issues such as abortion, women's rights and homophobia.

"I see blogs every day that are negative and very nasty because this is not a literalist interpretation of Jesus," Chopra said. "My book is about Jesus as a state of consciousness. If I can aspire — maybe not achieve — but aspire to be in that state of mind and if a lot of people were aspiring to be in that state of mind, this would be a better world."

Learn more: www.deepkchopra.com.