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Deepak Chopra, M.D. Health in the New Millennium
Deepak Chopra, M.D., known worldwide as a visionary author and healer, has been heralded as "the poet-prophet of
alternative medicine" and one of the top 100 heroes and icons of the 20th century by Time magazine. In 1995, he founded the Chopra Center for Well Being, in La Jolla, Calif., to provide medical consultations, therapeutic body treatments, health workshops, meditation instruction, hospital-program development, and corporate training courses. With more than 10 million copies of his 25 books in print in English alone, Dr. Chopra's work is changing the way the world views physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and social interconnectedness and wellness.
Deepak Chopra was a special event chat guest on PlanetRx.com on December 8, 1999. This is an edited transcript of the chat.
PRx Host :
Hello and welcome to the PlanetRx.com special guest chat with Deepak Chopra, M.D. Introducing Dr. Chopra is Bill Razzouk, chairman and CEO of PlanetRx.com. Bill has been instrumental in creating the PlanetRx.com mission -- to be the most trusted, most convenient, and most informative healthcare e-commerce destination on the Internet. Hello and welcome, Bill.
Bill Razzouk :
Thank you. It is my deep honor to welcome the visionary author and healer, Dr. Deepak Chopra, to PlanetRx.com. As most of you know, Dr. Chopra has produced several national television programs on alternative health, has authored 25 books on the subject, and has keynoted many international conferences, including the State of the World Forum hosted by Mikhail Gorbachev. Currently, Dr. Chopra lectures at Harvard Medical School. He will host a three-day Millennium Event beginning on December 29 in Palm Springs, California. Participating in this event is the Dalai Lama, who will broadcast a millennium message from Sarnath, India, on New Year's Eve. Welcome, Dr. Chopra.
Deepak Chopra :
Thank you.
PRx Host :
Dr. Chopra, since millennium fever is upon us, I'd like to first ask you about your Millennium Event. What is the theme of the event?
Deepak Chopra :
There are three themes -- healing, fulfillment of desire, and love. It's a three-day workshop on those three topics. It will culminate with the New Year's Eve event with the Dalai Lama.
PRx Host :
How did the Dalai Lama come to be part of your event?
Deepak Chopra :
I met the Dalai Lama in London, and he actually requested that I be his spokesperson in China, since he can't visit China. Then I met him again in Los Angeles, and I introduced him to my latest book, which is called How To Know God. He liked it very much. I invited him to join the faculty at the Chopra Center for Well Being, which he graciously accepted, so I feel deeply indebted to him.
PRx Host :
What is the significance of the fact that he will address your event from Sarnath?
Deepak Chopra :
Well, Sarnath is a city outside of Varanasi, which is, along with Jerusalem, the oldest city in the world. It's about 5,000 years old. History records that after the Buddha achieved his enlightenment, he gave his first lecture in Sarnath in the suburbs of Varanasi. It's like if you were a Christian, you would go visit the place where Christ gave the Sermon on the Mount. It has the same significance.
PRx Host :
I understand that there will be dervish dancing. I assume there will be readings and songs from the Sufi poet Rumi. Can you tell us what dervish dancing is and why you wanted it to be part of the event?
Deepak Chopra :
We actually have two concerts using the poetry of Rumi and the concerts are a combination of dervish whirling and music from the Middle East but also what is called these days "cohesion music." The music that is traditionally used for dervish dancing will be combined with rhythm and blues at these two concerts. We will have participants doing the dervish whirling dance, which puts people into an ecstatic state. It's used as a meditation and movement by the Sufis, which is the mystical tradition of Islam. The whirling dervish goes into an ecstatic altered state of consciousness, which is extremely blissful especially when combined with the music and the poetry.
PRx Host :
You have some Western performers as well?
Deepak Chopra :
Yes, we have a number of performers, including Bonnie Raitt, the Eurythmics, Belinda Carlisle, country-western singer Terri Clark, and some Australian rock musicians, also.
PRx Host :
It sounds like a wonderfully global and eclectic event.
Deepak Chopra :
Yes, it is!
PRx Host :
How important is it to celebrate the new millennium?
Deepak Chopra :
I think it is important only for one reason, and that is that it gives us an opportunity to make a date which is, like any other date, significant and meaningful. Inherently, there is nothing meaningful about that particular date. Even the millennium, the Christian millennium, which is what this is, has technically come and gone. However, if, as a collective psyche, we use that event to create a certain intention, and if we can reach critical mass with that intention, then our doing so has the potential to transform the world.
I feel that this is a good excuse for us to put our attention on peace and harmony and laughter and love and get out of our traditional tribal behavior. For thousands of years, human beings have basically been tribal and this has led to war, prejudice, and ethnocentrism and racism and bigotry and hatred. Now, because we have information technology, it is possible to take an intention or an idea and reach critical mass with it. This was not possible before. Thanks to our technology, we now have the opportunity to collectively change and transform and evolve to the dignity of being truly human. I look upon this as a very good occasion to put our attention on what we want, rather than what we don't want. Y2K problems, and all the things people put attention on that they don't want.
PRx Host :
We have a question about the event from our audience.
Kate_ :
Will this be televised?
Deepak Chopra :
At this moment, the intention is that it will be televised. We are speaking to a couple of distributors, including Time-Warner. We will be making the appropriate announcement. We do believe it will be televised.
People can stay informed about that by just looking at our website, which is at www.chopra.com.
PRx Host :
I understand that you will be discussing 10 techniques for reversing the aging process. Can you give us an overview of those techniques?
Deepak Chopra :
Yes. First of all, I think it's important for people to know that biological aging is a reversible phenomenon. The way one measures biological aging is by looking at certain biomarkers of aging. These include things like blood pressure, bone density, body temperature regulation, the fat content in the body, aerobic capacity, cholesterol HDL ratio, muscle mass, the strength of muscles, sugar tolerance, sex hormone levels, hearing, vision, immune function, and skin thickness, amongst others. Today we know that it is possible to even take people in the later decades of life, in their 80s and 90s, and reverse these biomarkers of aging through a variety of interventions. Some of these have been well-studied and some of them have not been well-studied by Western science, although there is a tradition for them in Eastern philosophies.
The first technique is changing your perception of time. How we metabolize the experience of time influences our biological clock. If you're always in a hurry and you're running out of time, your biological clock speeds up. If you're in love, your biological clock slows down. If you're in touch with your soul or spirit, and you transcend, your biological clock can even stop. That's the first thing, how do we alter our perception of time? Time is a concept through which we measure events in our life.
The second technique is changing your perception of the physical body, which means not looking at it as a bag of flesh and bones, but rather as a field of energy and information.
The third technique is changing your perception of the aging process itself, understanding that the biomarkers of aging are reversible.
The fourth technique is improving mind-body coordination through yoga, breathing exercises, martial arts, and other such procedures.
The fifth technique is exercise, both cardiovascular conditioning and weight training, both of which have dramatic effects on the biomarkers of aging.
The sixth technique is learning to eliminate toxins from your life which includes, of course, toxic substances that we put into our body including toxicity in food and drink, but also eliminating things like emotional toxicity, toxic relationships, toxic habits, and toxic environment.
The seventh technique is understanding the role of nutritional supplements and nutrition in general. For example, it's now known that vitamin E significantly decreases the incidence of heart disease, that folic acid influences homocysteine metabolism which decreases the risk of cardiovascular disease, as well. That taking other antioxidants can decrease the likelihood of cancer and degenerative disorders, and so on.
The next technique is learning how to let go, or being flexible. Studies show that one of the most important psychological factors in older people that distinguish healthy from unhealthy people is the ability to let go and be flexible.
The next technique is the experience of love. If love is an important experience in your life, that significantly alters your biological function and also your immune function. You can measure salivary antibodies, which means antibodies in the saliva, in people who are having the experience of love -- romantic love or otherwise. Your immune system starts to function in a better way.
Finally, the daily intention of having more energy, more vitality, more physical and mental capacity, more laughter -- these are the 10 things that we'll discuss. Very specific ways to reverse the biological process of aging.
PRx Host :
That sounds like an ambitious prescription for change. In your experience and the experience of your patients, is it easier to change perceptions or to change things like diet?
Deepak Chopra :
It is only easy if you're inspired. If you enjoy the process. If you're not really attached to the outcome and you're doing it because it makes you feel good on an ongoing basis. When you start the process and you see the benefits, you certainly start to feel passionate and excited and enthusiastic about it. Then it starts to reinforce itself. The idea seems daunting, but the practice is very inspiring.
PRx Host :
I think we'll turn to some audience questions.
Kate_ :
I'd like to ask Deepak Chopra if he feels there will be a greater need for healing after the millennium due to the panic and fears leading up to it and how we could begin the process.
Deepak Chopra :
I think because nothing dramatic is going to happen, there'll be an automatic sense of relief and people will start to put attention on what they want rather than what they don't want. We need to remember just one principle: Whatever we put our attention on grows stronger as a result of the energy it derives from our attention. Whatever we take away our attention from disintegrates. So rather than focusing on possible catastrophes, why don't we use this as an opportunity for personal growth and evolution?
kevin19 :
What is the biggest misconception about alternative health care these days?
Deepak Chopra :
The word alternative! That's the biggest misconception. Therefore, I would rather use the word integrated or complementary, because if we look at the wonders of modern biotechnology, especially the new drugs known as biologicals, and also the future of pharmaceuticals from biomedical engineering, we are going to see an era where we will be able to literally tackle any disease, particularly illnesses of an acute nature.
At the same time, we should remember that the mechanisms of disease are not the origins of disease. That if we really want to be healthy, we must look at our daily activities, which include eating, breathing, digestion, metabolism, elimination, how we experience the world through our five senses and our inner world of thoughts, feelings, emotions, desires, and memories. A human being is more than a physical machine. Modern medicine has given us the tools to tackle that part of us which is a physical machine, so that we have become, as physicians, superb technicians who know everything about the human body. But sometimes, we are not good healers, because we know very little about the human mind and the role of emotions in both health and disease, and we know absolutely nothing about the human soul.
Fortunately, the understanding of reality through the eyes of modern science, particularly quantum physics, is giving us insight into three domains of human existence: material existence, quantum reality, which is the world of information and energy, and virtual reality, which is pre-quantum. Scientifically, these different levels can be understood through an understanding of modern physics. However, these different levels of existence have been very well understood in the realm of the wisdom traditions, which speak of body, mind, and spirit. The word "healing" is related to the word "holy," which is related to the word "whole," which means that which includes everything.
What we call alternative is really complementary in the sense that it is now addressing the missing ingredients in our modern medicine, which looks only at the physical realm. The complementary approaches look at other aspects of our being, which include our body, but also our mind, our spirit, and our environment.
PRx Host :
Are there many doctors now combining Ayurveda, the ancient, Indian system of medicine that you helped popularize in this country, with Western medicine?
Deepak Chopra :
I and my associates have personally trained over 2,000 physicians in Ayurveda. We regularly run two courses for physicians as well as health professionals in mind-body medicine and Ayurveda. There have been some [National Institutes of Health]-funded studies on the efficacy of Ayurveda and there's a growing body of research that is appearing in international journals from different parts of the world. I know of at least 27 medical schools in this country that include some aspects of alternative and complementary approaches, including Ayurveda. Slowly but surely, we are entering the mainstream.
prospero87 :
Why do you advocate silent meditation, over holding images in your mind, to manifest what you want?
Deepak Chopra :
Both are important. Holding an image in your mind is a mental activity. Silent meditation is the absence of mental activity. Therefore, I usually recommend a combination of dynamic meditation, along with silent meditation. Personally, I believe silent meditation goes to a deeper level of consciousness, which is beyond the mental turbulence that is our normal state. When the mind becomes completely silent, so does the body. The metabolic rate decreases, and self-repair healing mechanisms are spontaneously activated because there is no interference from a turbulent mind.
PRx Host :
We Westerners always talk about our busy, stress-filled lives as if they're inevitable. You don't believe that stress is inevitable even in this fast-paced country. Can you tell us why?
Deepak Chopra :
Stress is not in the environment, although people usually think that it is -- hence the term "fast-paced country." Stress exists intrinsically within us. Stress is a result of our interaction with the environment. A good analogy would be surfing. If you are a skillful surfer, then every wave creates exhilaration. If you are unprepared, then every wave is a disaster.
So in order to learn to convert what may be perceived as a threatening stimulus into an opportunity requires a skill in changing your interpretations, because stress is the interpretation of physical or emotional threat. Just like learning to ride a bicycle is a learned phenomenon, learning to transform stress into exhilarating energy is a learned phenomenon. Science hasn't paid attention to this until recently. Eastern philosophical traditions have studied the phenomenon for thousands of years. This is a good time, because now these great traditions can be studied through the tools of modern scientific inquiry.
PRx Host :
Why do you think that women are more open to your ideas than men and do you think that is changing?
Deepak Chopra :
Women are more in touch with their physical bodies. There's a biological reason for that. Since women have to nurture a new life for nine months in their wombs, it automatically makes them get in touch with little nuances of change in their cellular biology. What people call intuition is a context-bound, relational, holistic, nourishing, and wise form of intelligence that results from being intimately in touch with your physical body. In Eastern traditions, this intelligence is frequently referred to as "Shakti," which means feminine power. Etymologically, the word "Shakti" is related to the word "Shekinah" which is the Hebrew word for the feminine face of God. Intuition is therefore spiritual intelligence and the spirit will always open.
Conversely, in evolutionary terms, men have been hunter-gatherers and as a result, were assigned the role of defending the tribe from predators. They had no time for creativity in the intuitive sense and were basically in the fight-or-flight mode. Therefore this gender difference, because of our evolution. However, as we continue our evolutionary journey, it is absolutely important for men to embrace the feminine intelligence within them. Otherwise, we will become the predators and risk our own extinction.
jove :
What sort of state of mind/body/spirit helps one overcome addictions? And which herbs help quit smoking?
Deepak Chopra :
The only way to overcome an addiction is to have a state of awareness which is even more pleasurable than that derived from the addictive habit. In Ayurveda, addiction is a second-class substitute for the exaltation of your own spirit. That's why there are no psychological solutions for addiction. Only genuinely ecstatic spiritual experiences can overcome the memory of pleasure that the addictive patient has. No herbs used out of context are helpful. It has to be a holistic approach that involves the body, the mind, and the spirit. Techniques include sensory modulation, music therapy, aromatherapy, massage, breathing techniques, external and internal oleation, and procedures that trigger reflexive healing responses similar to acupressure, known in Ayurveda as marma therapy.
PRx Host :
Can you elaborate on external and internal oleation?
Deepak Chopra :
External oleation is the rubbing of oil with medicated herbs into the skin and internal oleation is medicated oils such as olive oil and others taken internally. The oil facilitates the absorption of the herbs.
johnol :
I'm fascinated by your ideas, but just recently became aware of your teachings (in last month's LA Magazine). What would you suggest as the best course of action to become familiar with your work?
Deepak Chopra :
Start with some of my simpler books such as The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, Ageless Body Timeless Mind, and The Path To Love. And keep in touch with the website!
jennajoann :
Please speak about "soul-mates" if you have a chance.
Deepak Chopra :
If two people are in the same state of consciousness and are also evolving and transforming at the same rate, it's fair to call them soul-mates. It's very rare.
Aesculapia :
Do you believe that everyone needs to take certain supplements -- given that even the best food is grown in depleted soil and subjected to acid rain and other contamination?
Deepak Chopra :
I do. Let me tell you what my minimal suggestion is: Two multivitamins with minerals a day. The reason I say two is that two multivitamins with minerals a day ensure adequate amounts of folic acid, B-6, and B-12, which are known to affect homocysteine metabolism and dramatically decrease the incidence of cardiovascular disease.
Then two vitamin Es, 800 units total, a day. These act as powerful antioxidants and are also known in many studies to decrease cardiovascular illness. About 1,200 milligrams of calcium, which is usually two tablets with vitamin D, which automatically is included these days in the calcium. This is a good way to prevent osteoporosis, particularly in women over 40. There is a lot of research right now on antioxidants but definitive data is still coming in.
At this moment, I would suggest the above. That would certainly ensure a full intake of vitamins and minerals that may be missing from our diets as a result of our hectic lifestyles and eating on the run.
johnol :
What is your position on genetic engineering?
Deepak Chopra :
I feel that if we address the ethical dilemmas, and if we are careful, some aspects of genetic engineering offer great promise. The human genome project will be completed in approximately two years. Within 10 years, it will be possible to take a few cells from your skin or from your mucous membranes and selectively clone any organ in your body. In other words, if you have heart disease, you will be able to acquire a new heart from a few cells taken from your saliva. The same will be true if you need new eyes or a new liver or a new kidney. Not only will you be able to replace diseased organs in your body with your own cells, but these organs will be much younger, several decades younger.
We must not halt the progress of science. Biomedical engineering, including genetic engineering, is here to stay, but we must be cautious. The reason is, if the evolution of our consciousness lags behind, then we are capable of misusing technology.
Always remember that technology by itself is neutral. With nuclear technology, and the understanding of the quantum world, we have created the most amazing information technology and most efficient production of energy is possible. But at the same time, the same technology can be used to make weapons of mass destruction. That is not the fault of the technology. The same holds true for genetic engineering. Science will always remain neutral. It is up to us how we use it.
PRx Host :
You mention in one of your early books that an Ayurvedic doctor told you that you think too many unnecessary thoughts and that you're always trying to beat a deadline. You're obviously still thinking a lot of thoughts and juggling a lot of deadlines. How have you fared in implementing your Ayurvedic doctor's prescription?
Deepak Chopra :
Quite well. Every three months, I take a week of silence. This is an opportunity to renew. I really am not attached to deadlines. I enjoy the journey more than the destination. I also have the inner attitude that I'm really not doing anything, but that it is happening through me and so I've fared pretty well.
PRx Host :
Do you think there is a downside to the increasing acceptance of mind-body medicine because some people now feel guilty about getting sick?
Deepak Chopra :
It is a risk if we do not explain it well. No matter what we do, and no matter what happens to us, there is an element of participation by us in the phenomenon. To use an exaggerated example, if we know that smoking increases the risk of cardiovascular disease or cancer, then we can consciously make the choice to not smoke and thereby decrease our risk, so responsibility, as the word implies, means the ability to respond. The more creative our responses, the more active our participation in our well-being.
Guilt is not necessary because nothing is our fault. The only enemies we have are ignorance and prejudice. If you overcome these, we need not feel guilty, but consciously change our participation and improve our state of well-being.
Aesculapia :
When in silence, what activities are appropriate?
Deepak Chopra :
When I take my silence, I do not speak to anyone on the phone, obviously. Nor do I listen to the radio or watch television or read a newspaper or even a book, because all of that is mental activity. I meditate, I cook, I exercise, and I hike in the wilderness. It is very refreshing, very renewing, and one feels extremely dynamic after the period. Even though my silence usually is about one week, a day or two can bring about dramatic effects.
PRx Host :
On the eve of the millennium, with healthcare costs soaring and an aging baby-boomer population, how optimistic are you that the medicine of the next century will bring not only technological breakthroughs, but also breakthroughs in how doctors view patients and the healing process?
Deepak Chopra :
The breakthroughs will come not from doctors, but from a grass-roots movement with the aging baby-boomers who have never accepted the status quo. This generation will permanently alter the way we think about aging. For the first time, we will see the wisdom of experience with the biology of youth. It is important that our social mindset looks at the process of aging in a different manner. To grow old is to become wiser, to have more responsibility, and to become the caretakers of society. When we revere our elders for what they have given us, it will create a new society.
PRx Host :
Unfortunately, we've run out of time. Thank you, Dr. Chopra, for a lively and interesting chat. We hope you can chat with us again. Our audience can learn more about your work at www.chopra.com.
Deepak Chopra :
Thank you. I look forward to doing this again!
PRx Host :
Thank you and good night.
More About Deepak Chopra
With more than 10 million copies of his 25 books in print in English alone, Deepak Chopra, M.D. is known worldwide as a visionary author and healer. Dr. Chopra received his medical degree from the All-India Medical Institute in New Delhi, and went on to teach at both Tufts University and Boston University. In 1995, he founded the Chopra Center for Well Being, in La Jolla, Calif., to provide medical consultations, therapeutic body treatments, health workshops, meditation instruction, hospital program development, and corporate training courses. The new vision of Western medicine that Dr. Chopra upholds is based on his belief that good health is more than just the absence of disease -- it is a lively balance and integration of mind, body, and spirit.
Dr. Chopra has produced several television and video programs for PBS, including "Body, Mind, and Soul: The Mystery and the Magic," one of the most successful and widely viewed fund-raisers in the history of the network. He has written five best-selling books including, Ageless Body, Timeless Mind: The Quantum Alternative to Growing Old, Perfect Health, and The Path to Love.
Dr. Chopra has keynoted many international gatherings, including the State of the World Forum, hosted by Mikhail Gorbachev, and the Peace and Human Progress Foundation, founded by Nobel Peace Prize-winner Oscar Arias. In 1992 Dr. Chopra served on the National Institutes of Health Ad Hoc Panel on Alternative Medicine, and he currently lectures annually at the Harvard Medical School department of continuing education.
For more information, visit Dr. Chopra's website at www.chopra.com.
Don't miss Ageless Body, Timeless Mind and other books by Deepak Chopra, M.D. Available in bookstores everywhere!
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