Many have asked me why I wrote this book.
There are a few answers. Here is One.

        My childhood was populated by the Gods and heroes that abound in world mythology. They were the characters I liked best as they represented the maximum and the minimum of what we humans are. These archetypes of our civilization haunted me: Pallas Athene, Thoth, Amaterasu, Baba Yega, the fire horse; I loved them all. Each represented a dimension of vivid imagery and meaningful symbology one could visit and enjoy -- this ability remained with me all my life. The abode of the eastern divinities was one of my favorites. There I would spend time with Shiva, Brahma, and all those impressive divinities. In the center of that realm reigned a marvelous entity, Buddha. As a child, I looked at him and the serenity of his smile touched me very deeply, and stayed with me. At one stage I wanted to become a hermit. So I read and read all about monks and hermits who chose to live alone and seek a sacred form of happiness. Although that interest eventually drifted away, the feelings I brought back from my visitation in that "domain of the solitary search" always lingered somewhere in the back of my mind, and the door to the domain of the Gods remained open to me in later days when I needed a more fantastic reality than the one we all know. 
        I believe that many of us have our life knowledge deeply ingrained in ourselves, and it is merely a matter of probing to find it. That knowledge comes to me as a voice, and that voice told me when I reached the age of thirteen that I was going to have a turbulent and difficult life. So far, it has been right. As life progressed and the obstacles presented themselves, the fleeting image of that smile on Buddha's face would visit me, and I could not help wishing that some of that serenity was mine. It would serve at this point to explain that I was born with a passionate, impatient and very intolerant disposition.
        I grew up in the film business, and no matter how hard I tried to find another career, I was always brought back to media. My friends remember my talking about making a film on the life of Buddha in the late seventies. Time flew by and before I knew it, as we entered the nineties, I found myself living in Japan. One day, as I was driving down Akasaka-dori on my way home from Ginza, for no specific reason, the image of Buddha appeared to me once again; however, this time I knew I had to do something about it. So I started to promote the making of a film."
        I raised the money to start development on the motion picture and I began researching the subject matter. In ignorant bliss I walked into a library in Tokyo and asked for a book on the life of Buddha (to use as a base for the script): there was none. I browsed and got a little information that fitted the vision I had. I made some calls to various Universities, nothing. I flew to London, to Thailand, to Los Angeles, and finally to Paris in search of a book on the life of Buddha. As I traveled, I gathered information, texts, interpretations and visuals. I was amazed that no book on the life of Buddha existed. Oh, there were myriads of books dedicated to the interpretation of his words, and just as many that spoke of Buddha's philosophy in colorful parables, but nowhere was the story of his life as a man to be found. More and more I wondered what happened to this particular human being to motivate him to leave the life we know to go and search for a solution. Finally in Paris I met Professor Andre Barrault who was one of the five specialists in the world on the life and times of the Buddha. He guided me. His extensive research, novel interpretations, and analysis of his findings gave me the keys to a fascinating story that sounded plausible.
        Throughout this period that lasted for roughly three years, I was, more than once, driven to abandon the project. I had invested a tremendous amount of work, money, and feelings: I remember sitting on the bridge in the National Azabu park, after another devastating battle with my opposition, and deciding just to let go of it, and not to fight for it anymore. My opponents were formidable, but that again is another story. Suffice it to say that having given it up, only two months had passed
before the project was back in my lap. This happened three times. Three times I picked up the pieces as I had left them and continued the work. Once the research was in place, the script was written. However, by then the situation with the film had regressed; more problems had surfaced, and I was obliged to put the film on hold. After all that effort, I was heart broken. However, experience had just shown me that no book was available on the life of Buddha, and that there was a need for it. The market was ready. The research I had done should be put to use - I decided that a book was called for.
        I had all the data needed and, once again found myself with no other choice but to write it myself. There are several theories as to artistic inspiration: some say it comes from the Gods, others that it lies dormant in the great Jungian subconscious and can be tapped into by certain individuals; then there is the version that the individual is the sole creator. All I know is that I cannot profess that I had much choice in the matter. For reasons unknown, I felt obliged to write this book. From the very beginning the vision I had in my mind was very specific, so it was easy for me to determine what fit, and what didn't: what tone to take; what imagery to use; and what characters to depict -- not to mention the fact that the project would not leave me in peace.
        For years I lived with a maelstrom of "Buddha" images in my mind that could only be exorcised through manifestation -- I am very happy it is finally in book format. Now I can only hope that the film will not take too long.