Spirituality Revealed

Deepak Chopra (/ˈdiːpɑːk ˈtʃoʊprə/ Hindustani pronunciation: [d̪iːpək tʃoːpraː]; born October 22, 1947) is an Indian American author and public speaker.[4][5] He is an alternative medicine advocate and a promoter of popular forms of spirituality. He has been described by the New York Times as a “controversial New-Age guru”[6] though Chopra says guru is “a title I’ve rejected for thirty years”.[7] Through his books and videos, he has become one of the best-known and wealthiest figures in the “holistic-health” movement.[8]

Chopra studied medicine in India before emigrating in 1970 to the United States. As a physician he specialized in endocrinology and became Chief of Staff at the New England Memorial Hospital (NEMH). In the 1980s he began to practice transcendental meditation (TM). In 1985 he resigned his position at NEMH to establish the Maharishi Ayurveda Health Center. Chopra left the TM movement in 1994 and founded the Chopra Center for Wellbeing. He gained a following in the 1990s after his interview on the The Oprah Winfrey Show regarding his books.[9][10]

Chopra states that, combining principles from Ayurveda (Hindu traditional medicine) and mainstream medicine, his approach to health incorporates ideas about the mind-body relationship, a belief in teleology in nature and a belief in the primacy of consciousness over matter – that “consciousness creates reality”.[11] He claims that his practices can extend the human lifespan and treat chronic disease.[12][13]

The ideas he promotes have been criticized by scientists and medical professionals[14] who say that his treatments rely on the placebo effect,[8] that he misuses terms and ideas from quantum physics (quantum mysticism), and that he provides people with false hope which obscures the possibility of effective medical treatment.[15] The medical and scientific communities’ opinion of him ranges from dismissive to damning; criticism includes statements that his approach could lure sick people away from effective treatments

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