Deepak Chopra: You Are the Universe.

You Are the Universe, which Chopra co-authored with leading quantum physicist and cosmologist Dr. Menas C. Kafatos, redefines the nature of reality and what is possible. Combining science with real-world applications, the co-authors delve deep into the belief that each of us is the universe and possess the potential to shape reality itself.

You Are the Universe is Chopra’s 86th book and is the continuation of the evolution of his thought process, which began in 1989 with his first book Quantum Healing: Exploring the Frontiers of Mind/Body Medicine. But his endgame is the same.

“My goal in everything that I do is to reach one billion people to create a movement of personal and social transformation for a critical mass to move the world in the direction of a more peaceful, sustainable, healthier and joyful world,” Chopra tells Biography.com.

In our conversation with Chopra, who is board certified in internal medicine, endocrinology and metabolism, he also talks about the place of God in terms of his new equation, when he began his journey into spiritualism, the continued resistance by some doctors to Eastern medicine, the benefits of meditation, his new wellbeing app JIYO, and more.

How does your new book, You are the Universe, fit into your goals for a healthier and joyful world? 

The universe that you and I experience is in human consciousness. Unless we know the nature of our consciousness, we will not understand how we participate in creating both a personal and a collective reality. The universe is in the experience. It’s not just out there. What’s out there, we don’t know. But for humans it’s an experience just like the universe for a dolphin or an insect with 100 eyes is a different experience. Our universe is a human universe experienced in human consciousness and, unless we understand how consciousness operates, we will never actually be able to participate in the creation of our personal and collective reality.

Does that take God out the equation?

It does take God, as understood in most religions, out of the equation because religions are essentially cultural mythologies that came about in the Bronze Age, and we’re living in a completely different time. Having said that, there is something called a religious experience that was the basis of all religions, which included transcendence, a loss of the fear of death, and the emergence of platonic qualities like love, compassion, joy, and equanimity. All of those are part of what you might call the religious, spiritual experience, which then gets institutionalized in the name of God. God is a tricky word. I would say it does not take divinity out of the equation.

This is your 86th book. Do people need to start at the beginning and go through them all to understand your doctrine? Or can they pick up the new book and immediately get what you’re writing about?

Some people will find it difficult. A lot of people have actually grown up with me, so it’s my 86th book, but there are people who have read all 86 and have seen the evolution of my thought process. If somebody wanted to just take the most relevant book, it’s called The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, and it’s still the most popular. For those who have taken time to reflect, taken time to ask the question who am I, then they could go straight into this book. I would say that’s not everyone.

You began your career as a medical doctor. Was it your meeting with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi that led you to merge spiritualism with medicine? What was the turning point in your life?

The turning point was before that. As a physician who was smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, getting drunk on weekends, stressed out about having 35 patients in the hospital, and not being able to help either them or myself, I had my existential crisis way before I met Maharishi. I did meet him and he was an influence, but I met many other people as well.

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