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Deepak Chopra
Indian-American alternative medicine advocate / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Deepak Chopra (/ˈdiːpɑːk ˈtʃoʊprə/; Hindi: [diːpək tʃoːpɽa]; born October 22, 1946) is an Indian-American author, new age guru,[4][5] and alternative medicine advocate.[6][7] A prominent figure in the New Age movement,[8] his books and videos have made him one of the best-known and wealthiest figures in alternative medicine.[9] In the 1990s, Chopra, a physician by education, became a popular proponent of holistic approach to well-being that includes yoga, meditation, and nutrition, among other new-age therapies.[4][10]
Deepak Chopra | |
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![]() Chopra in 2019 | |
Born | (1946-10-22) October 22, 1946 (age 77)[1] New Delhi, British India[2] |
Citizenship | United States[3] |
Alma mater | All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi |
Occupations |
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Spouse |
Rita Chopra (m. 1970) |
Children | |
Relatives | Sanjiv Chopra (brother) |
Website | Official website ![]() |
Chopra studied medicine in India before emigrating in 1970 to the United States, where he completed a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in endocrinology. As a licensed physician, in 1980 he became chief of staff at the New England Memorial Hospital (NEMH).[4] In 1985, he met Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and became involved in the Transcendental Meditation (TM) movement. Shortly thereafter, Chopra resigned his position at NEMH to establish the Maharishi Ayurveda Health Center.[5] In 1993, Chopra gained a following after he was interviewed about his books on The Oprah Winfrey Show.[11] He then left the TM movement to become the executive director of Sharp HealthCare's Center for Mind-Body Medicine. In 1996, he co-founded the Chopra Center for Wellbeing.[4][5][10]
Chopra claims that a person may attain "perfect health", a condition "that is free from disease, that never feels pain", and "that cannot age or die".[12][13] Seeing the human body as undergirded by a "quantum mechanical body" composed not of matter but energy and information, he believes that "human aging is fluid and changeable; it can speed up, slow down, stop for a time, and even reverse itself", as determined by one's state of mind.[12][14] He claims that his practices can also treat chronic disease.[15][16]
The ideas Chopra promotes have regularly been criticized by medical and scientific professionals as pseudoscience.[17][18][19][20] The criticism has been described as ranging "from the dismissive to...damning".[17] Philosopher Robert Carroll writes that Chopra, to justify his teachings, attempts to integrate Ayurveda with quantum mechanics.[21] Chopra says that what he calls "quantum healing" cures any manner of ailments, including cancer, through effects that he claims are literally based on the same principles as quantum mechanics.[16] This has led physicists to object to his use of the term "quantum" in reference to medical conditions and the human body.[16] His discussions of quantum healing have been characterized as technobabble – "incoherent babbling strewn with scientific terms"[22] by those proficient in physics.[23][24] Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins has said that Chopra uses "quantum jargon as plausible-sounding hocus pocus".[25] Chopra's treatments generally elicit nothing but a placebo response,[9] and they have drawn criticism that the unwarranted claims made for them may raise "false hope" and lure sick people away from legitimate medical treatments.[17]