Deepak Chopra
Deepak Chopra is a popular health and wellbeing guru. His wisdom and guidance is sought after by Hollywood celebrities, accredited news sources, and politicians alike. Many look to him for answers for everything from finding a romantic partner to losing weight.
As the leading figure in contemporary Western transnational holistic health, Deepak Chopra claims to have found the answers to almost all of life’s problems. Prior to his spiritual awakening, he moved from New Delhi to work as a physician in the United States. He combines his biomedical expertise with Yoga and Ayurveda, an alternative medicine system that originated in India, to form “integrative medicine.” He has published more than 80 books that have sold over twenty million copies (Warrier).
People around the world view Deepak Chopra as a role model. However, he is also a very controversial figure. Many believe that his claims are too outlandish to be true and that he is simply profiting off of false information.
This begs the question: is Deepak Chopra a fraud or a friend? I seek to explore this idea along with his status as a public intellectual in general. I will do this by looking at his career, organization, and contributions to society.
Career
Deepak Chopra’s alternative medicine career started in the 1980s. It was then that he was introduced to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the founder of the Transcendental Meditation Movement. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was popularized in the 1960s, famously known for working with the Beatles. For a long time, Deepak Chopra played a key role in the Transcendental Meditation Movement; he was a big promoter of the movement and viewed Maharishi Mahesh Yogi as a mentor.
Deepak Chopra interprets ayurveda as the basis of mind-body healing. It is a holistic system, primarily rooted in meditation. In India, the process to be certified as a vaidya, or a Ayurveda healer, is generally long and strenuous. In India and Sri Lanka, there is a standardized curriculum students are expected to follow in order to receive their certification (Warrier). However, Deepak Chopra did not follow any of the traditional routes, instead choosing to rely on his personal experiences.
The idea of epistemological individualism is common in Euro-American spirituality. This is the idea that authority lies within the self and a personal connection to the divine. It also means that spiritual beliefs cannot be taught by others or handed to a person by the church; it must be discovered on one’s own. Deepak Chopra relies on his connection to divinity rather than following what was previously written out.
In 1991, Deepak Chopra and the Transcendental Meditation Movement got caught in a controversy. Chopra and other members of the group published an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association discussing the medical benefits of Ayurveda and other integrative medicine practices. However, the authors were accused of manipulating scientific data in order to misinform their readers (Warrier). Using their influence and the authority of their medical degrees in order to market and sell a product is unethical, which led to the controversy. This controversy also was a large part of the reason why Chopra decided to leave the Transcendental Meditation Movement entirely.
By 1996, Deepak Chopra formed the Chopra Center for Wellbeing in San Diego with a partner named David Simon. This organization offered programs, retreats, and courses that integrated Vedic science with modern Western medicine. By 1999, Chopra was featured in Time magazine as “one of the top 100 heroes of the twentieth century” (Satish). In 2000, his center was expanded into the Chopra foundation that was dedicated to “improving health and well-being, cultivating spiritual knowledge, expanding consciousness, and promoting world peace to all members of the human family” (choprafoundation.org).
He continues to do work through the Chopra foundation to this day. Outside of that, he also has spread his message through popular television programs, speaking opportunities, and other platforms.
Intellectual Contributions
Deepak Chopra believes that personal transformation will lead to social and civic transformation. This is why he believes his work to be so important; it is not just self-help, but he also believes it to have a political and global impact (Satish).
Chopra is connected to Northwestern, Columbia, and other universities. He has authored more than eighty books that have been translated into over forty languages. Some of these books have even made it onto the New York Times bestseller lists (Warrier). The advice he offers spans across a wide variety of topics. There are personal self-help books about confidence, relationships, and friendships. There are also books centered around health and wellness that discuss weight loss, stress, and the benefits of meditation.
His influence has also landed him air time on popular television shows such as Oprah. He has worked with many famous clients such as Elizabeth Taylor, Demi Moore, and Michael Jackson. His contributions to the world of integrative medicine has earned him a reputation as one of the leading figures of the movement. This influence has not only provided him with fame and power, but it also has been the basis of his success in the business world.
Business Empire
Deepak Chopra has a widespread platform. He is on every popular social media platform, including YouTube. He has millions of followers who watch and engage with his material and he uses this platform to spread his ideas about integrative medicine and the benefits of spiritual practice. This type of social media influence is easily monetized and gives him a lot of social leverage.
Chopra makes millions of dollars a year, and he has a net worth of $150 million. He makes his money from book royalties, lecture fees, the sale of products at the Chopra Center, and other services (Warrier). Attending conferences that are run by the Chopra Center is exorbitantly expensive. For one of his two-day mediation programs, “Sages and Scientists”, attendees were charged $465 each. To take home a commemorative DVD, it was $50 (Horgan). He runs these types of conferences often and thousands attend each time.
The extreme profits that he makes off of spiritual ideas does seem to contradict much of what he preaches. When it costs hundreds of dollars to achieve this “enlightenment,” it is inaccessible to the average person. This can be problematic because if Chopra does believe that his work can change the world, why would he place such a high barrier to entry on the knowledge he wishes to share?
Public Intellectual
Although he may not be a traditional public intellectual, the spread of strength of Deepak Chopra’s influence cannot be understated. He has reached millions of people around the world, changing the way that they go about their daily lives and their views on spiritual topics. However, does his influence as a public intellectual have a positive or a negative impact on the society that he influences?
Looking into the broader context of public intellectuals, “Just as enlightened religious thinkers have used the terms of their faith to build a sense of a larger American community, it has also been used to insulate particular Americans within the cultural walls of more narrow communities” (Mack). With many who subscribe to Chopra’s ideas about spirituality and higher powers, their beliefs can separate them from the rest of society and make them difficult to communicate with. Those who place all of their faith on spiritual concepts are prone to overlooking the very harsh and very real circumstances that are in front of them. They often belittle or refuse to acknowledge ideas that do not conform to their own spiritual beliefs, separating them from everyone else.
This can be seen in Deepak Chopra’s debate with Michael Shermer. Moderators and opponents in the debate were frustrated with Chopra’s performance because he “simply refused to play ball” (Hutson). He was difficult to debate with because he insisted upon changing the definitions and speaking off-topic rather than communicating with Shermer and facing his criticisms.
In addition, John Horgan, a neuroscientist who spoke at a Chopra Center convention, criticized Deepak Chopra at said convention. Hogan disagreed with Chopra’s claims that mediating could cure all diseases, even cancer or other terminal illnesses. Hogan believed that this claim was dangerous and provided false hope in place of real medical cures. In Hogan’s account of the events, Chopra appeared to be very understanding about the critiques, but he censored the online versions of Horgan’s speech. Chopra also denied Hogan’s claims despite hard evidence (Horgan). This suppression of ideas is problematic, especially in a space that advocates for free thought and that was designed to facilitate meaningful conversation.
Every public intellectual in history has critics. The nature of sharing an idea is that many people are going to disagree and many people are going to reject it. However, in order to be a public intellectual and engage in these higher level discussions, people must learn how to speak with members of the opposing view. Waving your fists and insisting you are right does not establish credibility nor does it prove any points. Intellectuals must be able to listen to others and speak to them in a way that they can understand. Otherwise, they are alienating themselves and they are encouraging those who follow them to separate themselves as well.
The function of public intellectuals should not be to form sides or create more space. Ideas are meant to be shared and debated openly. Agreement is never guaranteed, and is often impossible, but that is not the point either. The ability to have the conversation is the most impactful and important part of the process. Public intellectuals like Deepak Chopra who bury themselves in echo chambers and restrict opposing views limits these conversations.
In Conclusion: Fraud or Friend?
Deepak Chopra is a complicated and controversial figure, but who isn’t?
His work has improved the lives of countless people, which is incredibly impressive and truly amazing. He has millions of followers for a reason; people genuinely gain a lot from his ideas and his writing. I agree with many of his ideas, especially the opposition to Western medicine’s over reliance on prescription drugs. His books have helped followers feel more confident in themselves, form stronger relationships, and make peace with the tragedy and complications of today’s world. So long as his work is helping people and making them feel happier and more in control, there is not really an issue with the ideas that he preaches.
However, I do have an issue with him profiting off of the sad and lost. He gives them false hope at times, even holding out the concept of enlightenment as a reward. The idea of being able to buy certain products or books that will make one more enlightened and in touch with the divine is problematic. I also agree with Horgan’s criticisms that claiming integrative medicine can cure cancer or prevent old age is dangerous and even cruel.
Chopra never had to go through traditional Ayurvedic training because of his belief in epistemological individualism, or the idea that spiritual authority lies within the individual. To claim that he can connect people to the divine or provide them with enlightenment completely contradicts that school of thought, and charging them for it is even worse.
To answer my own question, Chopra is too complicated to be considered either a fraud or a friend. Despite my criticism, his work has positively impacted many people around the world. While I may not believe that that has significantly changed social or political issues, I do believe that it is a start to making the world a better place. However, he is a controversial figure for good reason. Starting in the 1990s when he manipulated facts in the Journal of American Medicine to censoring opposing beliefs today, Chopra has yet to prove himself fully in my eyes.
Despite it all, his diamond studded glasses have earned him more fame and power than most can even dream of. He continues to inspire and influence integrative medicine and spiritual practice, and I appreciate his efforts to bring those ideas into the mainstream.
Work Cited
Horgan, John. “My Doubts about Deepak Chopra and the Monetization of Meditation.”
Scientific American Blog Network, Scientific American, 19 Sept. 2016,
blogs.scientificamerican.com/cross-check/my-doubts-about-deepak-chopra-and-the-
monetization-of-meditation/.
Hutson, Matthew. “Do Not Debate Deepak Chopra.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers,
28 Mar. 2018, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/psyched/201803/do-not-debate-
deepak-chopra.
“Life's Work: An Interview with Deepak Chopra.” Harvard Business Review, 10 Dec. 2020,
hbr.org/2018/05/lifes-work-an-interview-with-deepak-chopra.
Mack , Stephen. The New Democratic Review: The Public Intellectual Archives,
www.stephenmack.com/blog/archives/the_public_intellectual/index.html.
Satish Kumar, and Freddie Whitefield. Visionaries of the 20th Century : a Resurgence
Anthology. Green Books, 2006.
Warrier, Maya. “A[euro]yurveda and Mind-Body Healing: Legitimizing Strategies in the
Autobiographical Writing of Deepak Chopra.” International Journal of Hindu Studies,
vol. 23, no. 2, Springer, Aug. 2019, p. 123–, doi:10.1007/s11407-019-09255-2.
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