Regarded as "the poet-prophet of alternative medicine", Deepak Chopra has become one of the most influential personalities in the holistic health movement in recent years.
Deepak Chopra was born in New Delhi in 1947 and following his father's passion, he graduated in medicine and specialized in Neuroendocrinology to study the influence of thoughts and emotions. He went to the United States to practice as a doctor but soon became disenchanted with Western medicine and after meeting the guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, together they started an Ayurveda and alternative products company. He made a name for himself among celebrities like Michael Jackson, Elizabeth Taylor and Donna Karan. He was later director of the Sharp Institute for Human Potential and Mind/Body Medicine in California. Years later he would start his own Chopra Center for Well Being.
His first book was Quantum Healing: Exploring the Frontiers of Mind/Body Medicine, which was a success, but it was really his second book Ageless body, timeless mind, which catapulted Chopra into holistic celebrity status. In total, she has published 86 books of which 14 are bestsellers as The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success. He has been cataloged as one of the icons of the XNUMXth century and the promoter of alternative medicine, but what is the key message of this modern guru? Chopra focuses on the idea that depending on the material world complicates the state of peace and happiness and that we will only find them within ourselves. In his works, the author tries to make us understand how matter, energy and all the information that we consider reality is, in the end, an expression of ourselves. When you understand that oneself is the universe, you realize that everything you need you already have.
For thousands and thousands of years, religion, philosophy and science have created a virtual reality that prevents us from perceiving the world in its profound purity. Mind-made reality (the illusion/dream spell) makes the world work. Luckily, on the border where these two dimensions meet, the truth is trying to contact us all the time. For Chopra, the human mind has very powerful tools to continue dreaming. These would be the thought, the feelings, the memories, the desires, the fears, the dream... To defeat this intricate army, the truth only has one option: to wake up. Awakening is the process of becoming more aware, and this is where the doctor wants to accompany us with his works. Being more aware means being closer to the truth. The truth always exists, and it is the only one who knows.
In his books and workshops, Chopra tries to reveal and transmit the deep values behind all our daily activities and thoughts in order to lead a happy and peaceful life. Through mental exercises, affirmations, and meditations, he helps his readers practice values like abundance, acceptance, and gratitude. An exercise that he proposes to do every day is to start the day with four intentions and four questions: who am I, what do I want, what is my purpose and what am I grateful for (all in the framework of 'today'). The rest of the day, just let those four intentions and questions be in the back of your mind, and all of your choices will be influenced. Chopra remember that you're not always going to know the answers and that's okay. Things happen spontaneously, and if you don't live the questions, you will never be able to take a step towards the answers.
