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Deepak Chopra

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Deepak Chopra
Deepak Chopra in 2006
Born (1946-10-22) October 22, 1946 (age 77)
New Delhi, India
NationalityAmerican (born Indian)
Occupation(s)physician, public speaker, writer
SpouseRita Chopra
ChildrenMallika Chopra and Gotham Chopra
Parent(s)Dr. (Col) K. L. Chopra, Pushpa Chopra

Deepak Chopra (Hindi: दीपक चोपड़ा) (born October 22, 1946) is an American physician born in India, an author and a lecturer on Ayurveda, spirituality and mind-body medicine.[1][2] Chopra began his career as an endocrinologist and later shifted his focus to alternative medicine.[3] Chopra is a former leader of the Transcendental Meditation movement. In the late 1980s, he began publishing self-help books on New Age spirituality and alternative medicine.[4]

Personal life

Chopra was born in New Delhi, India.[1][5] His father, Krishan Chopra, was a cardiologist who served as the dean of a local hospital and a lieutenant in the British army[1][5] and his grandfather was an Ayurvedic physician.[6]

Chopra's younger brother, Sanjiv, is a Professor of Medicine and Faculty Dean for Continuing Medical Education at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.[7]

Early life and education

As a young man Chopra's desire was to become an actor or journalist but he was inspired by a character in Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis and became a doctor.[8]

Chopra completed his primary education at St. Columba's School in New Delhi and graduated from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).[6] After immigrating to the US in 1968, Chopra began his clinical internship and residency training at Muhlenberg Hospital in Plainfield, New Jersey. He had residency terms at the Lahey Clinic in Burlington, Massachusetts, and at the University of Virginia Hospital.[5]

He earned his license to practice medicine in the state of Massachusetts in 1973[9] and received a California medical license in 2004.[10] Chopra is board-certified in internal medicine and specialized in endocrinology.[9] He is also a member of the American Medical Association (AMA),[11] a Fellow of the American College of Physicians[citation needed] and a member of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists[citation needed].

Career

Chopra taught at the Tufts University and Boston University Schools of Medicine. He became Chief of Staff at the New England Memorial Hospital in Massachusetts[5] and Chief at Boston Regional Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts, before establishing a private practice.[5]

After reading about the Transcendental Meditation technique, Chopra and his wife learned the technique in 1981, and two months later they went on to learn the advanced TM-Sidhi program.[12] Sources also describe a 1981 meeting between Chopra and Ayurvedic physician Brihaspati Dev Triguna in Delhi, India in which Triguna advised Chopra to learn the TM technique.[6]

In 1985, Chopra met Maharishi Mahesh Yogi who invited him to study Ayurveda.[6][13] In that same year, Chopra left his position at the New England Memorial Hospital and became the founding president of the American Association of Ayurvedic Medicine, and was later named medical director of the Maharishi Ayurveda Health Center for Stress Management and Behavioral Medicine.[6][13][14]

In its May 22/29, 1991 issue, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published an article coauthored by Chopra: Letter from New Delhi: Maharishi Ayur-Veda: Modern Insights Into Ancient Medicine.[15] JAMA editors claimed that Chopra and his co-authors had financial interests in "Maharishi Vedic Medicine" products and services. In the August 14, 1991 edition of JAMA, the editors published a financial disclosure correction[16] and followed up in October 2, 1991 with a six-page Medical News and Perspectives exposé.[17] An article discussing this chain of events was authored by Skolnick in the Newsletter of the National Association of Science Writers.[18] A 1992 defamation lawsuit brought against the article's author and the editor of JAMA was dismissed in 1993.[19][20] Media reports published four years later saying that there had been a monetary settlement of the case were later withdrawn as untrue.[21]

By 1992, Chopra was serving on The National Institutes of Health Ad Hoc Panel on Alternative Medicine.[22]. In 1993, Chopra became executive director of the Sharp Institute for Human Potential and Mind–Body Medicine with a $30,000 grant from the Office of Alternative Medicine in the National Institutes to study Ayurvedic medicine.[6] Chopra's institute also maintained affiliation with Sharp Healthcare, in San Diego.[13][14] That same year Chopra moved with his family to Southern California where he lives his wife and near his two adult children, Gotham and Mallika.[6]

According to his own account, Chopra was accused by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi of attempting to compete with the Maharishi's position as guru and Chopra left the Transcendental Meditation movement in January 1994.[23] Carroll said Chopra left the TM organization when it “became too stressful” and was a “hindrance to his success”.[4]

In 1995, Chopra was the recipient of the Toastmasters "International Top Five Outstanding Speakers" award.[24]

In 1996, Chopra parted company with the Sharp Institute. That same year, Chopra and David Simon founded the Chopra Center for Well Being, which incorporated Ayurveda in its regimen, and was located in La Jolla, California. The University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine and American Medical Association have granted continuing medical education credits for some programs offered to physicians at the Chopra Center.[5][6][13]

In June 1999 Time magazine identified Chopra as one of the top 100 heroes and icons of the century and credited him as "the poet-prophet of alternative medicine".[8][13]

In 2006, Chopra launched Virgin Comics LLC with his son Gotham Chopra and entrepreneur Richard Branson. The company's purpose is to "spread peace and awareness through comics and trading cards that display traditional Kabalistic characters and stories".[5] Chopra was awarded the 2006 Ellis Island Medal of Honor by the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations.[25][26]

In 2010 Chopra received the Cinequest Life of a Maverick Award for his collaborations with filmmakers Shekhar Kapur and his son, Gotham Chopra. The award goes to "inspirational individuals who touch the world of film while their greater lives exemplify the Maverick spirit".[8]

Chopra will be seen in UniGlobe Entertainment's cancer docudrama titled 1 a Minute scheduled for release in 2010.[27] The documentary is being made by Namrata Singh Gujral and will feature cancer survivors Olivia Newton-John, Diahann Carroll, Melissa Etheridge, Mumtaz (actress) and Jaclyn Smith.

Reception

According to a 2008 article in Time (magazine), Chopra is “a magnet for criticism” primarily from the scientific and medical communities. Some critics say that Chopra creates a false sense of hope in sick individuals which may keep them away from traditional medical care.[28][29] The Skeptics Dictionary, a book by Robert Todd Carroll, says that Chopra is the "foremost advocate of Ayurvedic medicine in America".[4] The book also says that, according to Chopra, perfect health is a matter of choice, physical imbalances can be identified by taking the pulse, allergies are the result of poor digestion and washing one’s eyes with saliva can prevent or reverse cataracts. According to Carroll, Chopra has given up his work in medicine “in favor of working in religion.” However, Chopra says that he found it frustrating to give patients antibiotics, tranquilizers and sleeping pills, when he knew the drugs would not get rid of the problem.[4]

Chopra was sued for plagiarism by Robert Sapolsky for copying a stress endocrine chart, after the publication of Chopra’s book, Ageless Body, Timeless Mind. An out of court settlement resulted in Chopra attributing material that was researched by Sapolsky.[29] Chopra acknowledges that his thought has been inspired by Jiddu Krishnamurti and others.[4][30]

In 1996, the Weekly Standard of London published an article which accused Chopra of “plagiarism and soliciting a prostitute”; however, Chopra sued and the paper withdrew its statements, published an apology and paid Chopra $1 million for his legal fees.[31]

Chopra has been criticized for his frequent references to the relationship of quantum mechanics to healing processes, a connection that has drawn skepticism from physicists who say it can be considered as contributing to the general confusion in the popular press regarding quantum measurement, decoherence and the Heisenberg uncertainty principle.[32] In 1998, Chopra was awarded the satirical Ig Nobel Prize in physics for "his unique interpretation of quantum physics as it applies to life, liberty, and the pursuit of economic happiness".[33] According to the book, Skeptics Dictionary, Chopra's "mind-body claims get even murkier as he tries to connect Ayurveda with quantum physics.”[4]

In August 2005, Chopra wrote a series of articles on the creation-evolution controversy and Intelligent design which were criticized by science writer Michael Shermer, founder of The Skeptics Society.[34][35][36]

In March 2010, Chopra and Jean Houston debated Sam Harris and Michael Shermer at Caltech on the question "Does God Have a Future?" Shermer and Harris criticized Chopra's use of scientific terminology to expound unrelated spiritual concepts .[37]

In April 2010, Hindu American Foundation co-founder Aseem Shukla, on a Washington Post-sponsored blog on faith and religion, criticized Chopra for suggesting that yoga did not have origins in Hinduism but merely is an Indian spiritual tradition which predated Hinduism.[38] Later on, Chopra conceded that yoga originated in Sanātana Dharma, which Aseem Shukla agreed, is a term synonymous with Hinduism. [39]

In the citation for a Medal of the Presidency of the Italian Republic, which is awarded by the Scientific Committee of the Pio Manzù International Research Centre, committee chairman and former Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev referred to Chopra as "one of the most lucid and inspired philosophers of our time".[40] Esquire Magazine designated him as one of the "top ten motivational speakers in the country".[8][24]

Message

According to Business Week one of Chopra's main messages is that by ridding oneself of negative emotions and developing intuition by listening to signals from the body health can be improved. Chopra's philosophy also includes slowing down or reversing the aging of the mind through his methods which he says can increase one's lifespan up to the age of 120 years.[8]

Publications

Chopra has written more than 45 books.[quantify] His books have been translated into 35 languages and sold more than 20 million copies worldwide.[22] His book, Peace Is the Way won the Quill Awards and The Book of Secrets: Unlocking the Hidden Dimensions of your Life received the Nautilus Award. Chopra is represented in the United States by the literary agency, Trident Media Group.[41] His first book, Creating Health, is credited with helping to create initial, international recognition for Chopra.[5]

  • 1987 Creating Health ISBN 0-395-75515-8
  • 1988 Return of the Rishi ISBN 0-395-57420-X
  • 1989 Quantum Healing: Exploring the Frontiers of Mind/Body Medicine ISBN 0-553-34869-8
  • 1991 Unconditional Life: Mastering the Forces That Shape Personal Reality
  • 1991 Perfect Health: The Complete Mind/Body Guide ISBN 0-517-58421-2
  • 1993 Ageless Body, Timeless Mind : The Quantum Alternative to Growing Old ISBN 0-517-59257-6
  • 1993 Creating Affluence: Wealth Consciousness in the Field of All Possibilities
  • 1994 The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success: A Practical Guide to the Fulfilment of Your Dreams
  • 1995 The Way of the Wizard: Twenty Spiritual Lessons in Creating the Life You Want ISBN 0-517-70434-X
  • 1995 The Return of Merlin: A Novel ISBN 0-449-91074-1
  • 1995 The Path to Love: Spiritual Strategies for Healing
  • 1997 The Path to Love: Renewing the Power of Spirit in Your Life ISBN 0-517-70622-9
  • 1997 The Seven Spiritual Laws for Parents: Guiding Your Children to Success and Fulfillment
  • 1999 Everyday Immortality: A Concise Course in Spiritual Transformation ISBN 0-609-60484-8
  • 1999 Lords of Light: A Novel ISBN 0-312-96892-2
  • 2000 The Angel is Near: A Novel ISBN 0-312-97024-2
  • 2000 How to Know God : The Soul's Journey into the Mystery of Mysteries ISBN 0-609-60078-8
  • 2001 The Deeper Wound: Recovering the Soul from Fear and Suffering, 100 Days of Healing
  • 2001 Grow Younger, Live Longer: 10 Steps to Reverse Aging ISBN 0-609-60079-6
  • 2002 Manifesting Good Luck Cards: Growth and Enlightenment
  • 2003 Golf for Enlightenment: The Seven Lessons for the Game of Life
  • 2003 The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire: Harnessing the Infinite Power of Coincidence ISBN 0-609-60042-7
  • 2003 Synchrodestiny: Harnessing the Infinite Power of Coincidence to Create Miracles ISBN 1-84413-221-8
  • 2003 Manifesting Good Luck: Love and Relationships, 50 Card Deck
  • 2004 The Book of Secrets: Unlocking the Hidden Dimensions of Your Life ISBN 0-517-70624-5
  • 2004 Fire in the Heart: A Spiritual Guide for Teens ISBN 0-689-86216-4
  • 2005 Peace Is the Way : Bringing War and Violence to an End ISBN 0-307-23607-2
  • 2005 The Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga: A Practical Guide to Healing Body, Mind, and Spirit
  • 2006 Ask The Kabala: Oracle Cards/Kabala Guidebook ISBN 978-1401910396
  • 2006 Power Freedom and Grace: Living from the Source of Lasting Happiness ISBN 978-1-878424-81-5
  • 2006 Life After Death: The Burden of Proof ISBN 0-307-34578-5
  • 2006 Kama Sutra: Including the Seven Spiritual Laws of Love ISBN 978-1-852273-85-9
  • 2007 Buddha: A Story of Enlightenment ISBN 978-0-06-087880-1
  • 2008 The Third Jesus: The Christ We Cannot Ignore ISBN 978-0-307-33831-0
  • 2008 Why Is God Laughing? The Path to Joy and Spiritual Optimism
  • 2008 Jesus: A Story of Enlightenment ISBN 978-0061448737
  • 2009 Reinventing The Body, Resurrecting The Soul
  • 2009 The Ultimate Happiness Prescription: 7 Keys to Joy and Enlightenment

Music CDs

  • 1998 A Gift of Love: Love poems inspired by Rumi
  • 2001 Soul of Healing Meditations - A Simple Approach to Growing Younger
  • 2002 A Gift of Love II: A Musical Valentine to Tagore
  • 2004 Chakra Balancing: Body, Mind, and Soul
  • 2009 The Soul Of Healing Meditations

Videos

  • 1995 Seven Spiritual Laws of Success
  • 1995 The Way of the Wizard
  • 2003 God and Buddha - a dialog
  • 2004 Soul of Healing - Body, Mind, and Soul Vol. 1
  • 2008 The Love Guru

Other published work

  • 2008 Introduction to Kim Feinberg's A Mother's Legacy[42]
  • Chopra co-authored Ask the Kabala with Mike 'Zappy' Zapolin and Alys Yablon, which is a set of 22 cards, each one representing a story or character from the Old Testament and a life lesson based on that story from a Kabalistic perspective.[43]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Deepak Chopra", Encyclopedia of World Biography Vol___, pp____ Thomson-Gale (December 1997)ISBN 0-7876-2221-4
  2. ^ EnlightenNext Magazine web site
  3. ^ The Boston, Oct 19 2009, Dr. Deepak Chopra
  4. ^ a b c d e f Skeptics Dictionary, Robert Todd Carroll, John Wiley and Sons, Inc, copyright 2003, pp 45-48 [1]
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h "Deepak Chopra" Woopidoo! Biographies
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h "Deepak Chopra: Physician, Author, Philosopher".
  7. ^ "Sanjiv Chopra MD at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center". Retrieved 2008-12-01.
  8. ^ a b c d e Business Wire, Chopra Receives the Life of Maverick Award at Cinequest 2010, February 2, 2010 [2]
  9. ^ a b Massachusetts Board of Registration Physician Profile
  10. ^ California Physician Profile
  11. ^ [Insert http://webapps.ama-assn.org/doctorfinder/member.do?id=1233951172026&index=0&page=1 AMA Profile]
  12. ^ The Boston, "Dr. Deepak Chopra"
  13. ^ a b c d e Burton, Rosamund. "Peace Seeker". Nova Magazine. Retrieved 2008-11-30.
  14. ^ a b Redwood, Daniel D.C. "Quantum Healing". HealthWorld Online. Retrieved 2008-11-30.
  15. ^ Sharma HM, Triguna BD, Chopra D (1991). "Maharishi Ayur-Veda: modern insights into ancient medicine". JAMA. 265 (20): 2633–4, 2637. doi:10.1001/jama.265.20.2633. PMID 1817464.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ "Erratum in: JAMA 1991 Aug 14". JAMA. 266 (6): 798.
  17. ^ , (1991). "Maharishi Ayur-Veda". JAMA. 266 (13): 1769–74. doi:10.1001/jama.266.13.1769. PMID 1653861. {{cite journal}}: |author= has numeric name (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
  18. ^ Skolnick, Andrew (1991). "The Maharhish Caper: Or How to Hoodwink Top Medical Journals". ScienceWriters. Retrieved 2008-12-01. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  19. ^ Perry, Tony, "Alternative care edges into medical mainstream", Los Angeles Times (September 19, 1994)
  20. ^ "Deepak's days in court", New York Times Sec 6 p 12 (August 18, 1996)
  21. ^ "Correction", Newsweek (November 17, 1997)
  22. ^ a b World Wellness
  23. ^ The Maharishi Years - The Untold Story: Recollections of a Former Disciple, 13 February 2008.
  24. ^ a b Bigg Speak web site
  25. ^ Inspirational Journal web site
  26. ^ University of Minnesotta web site
  27. ^ http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/story/indian-star-rallies-celebrity-support-for-cancer-movie_1118440
  28. ^ Time, New Age Supersage, Ptolemy Tompkins, November 14, 2008
  29. ^ a b The Times of India, Halyeema Sayed, The Mind-Body, April 15, 2001
  30. ^ Blau, Evelyne (1995). Krishnamurti: 100 Years. Stewart, Tabori, & Chang. p. 233. ISBN 978-1556704079. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  31. ^ Ptolemy Tompkins, "New Age Supersage", Time (November 14, 2008)
  32. ^ Stenger, Victor J. (2007). "Quantum Quackery". Skeptical Inquirer. Retrieved 2008-12-01. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  33. ^ "Winners of the Ig Nobel Prize". Improbable Research. Retrieved 2008-12-01.
  34. ^ Chopra, Deepak (2005-08-23). "Intelligent Design Without the Bible". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2008-11-30.
  35. ^ Shermer, Michael. "Skyhooks and Cranes: Deepak Chopra, George W. Bush, and Intelligent Design". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2008-11-30.
  36. ^ Chopra, Deepak (2005-08-24). "Rescuing Intelligent Design — But from Whom?". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2008-11-30.
  37. ^ http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/FaceOff/nightline-face-off-god-future/story?id=10170505
  38. ^ http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/aseem_shukla/2010/04/dr_chopra_honor_thy_heritage.html April 28, 2010
  39. ^ [3]
  40. ^ "Deepak Chopra: Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the Soul" (Press release). University of Minnesota. Retrieved January 18, 2010.
  41. ^ [Trident Media Group Client List http://www.tridentmediagroup.com/clientlist.html]
  42. ^ http://www.tomorrow.org.za/mothers_legacy.html
  43. ^ "Ask the Kabala, a new book". 2006. Retrieved 2008-12-01.

Further reading

Wikiquote has quotations related to Deepak Chopra.

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