3-19-98 DEEPAK CHOPRA

There are few people in America who have not heard of Deepak Chopra. He is a best-selling author, lecturer, holistic health entrepeneur and frequent guest on many television talk-shows. He carries the authority of a western medical doctor and the mystique of an east Indian sage. Early in his career, he was recognized for his many talents by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (see article) and given a leadership position in the "TM" Movement's extensive, worldwide organization to promote "Maharishi Ayurveda". Through this association, he learned a great deal about Maharishi's approach to Vedic wisdom, particularly Ayurveda, in relation to the traditional forms of western knowledge. From the beginning, Maharishi gave him an independent leadership position within his organization that he had never granted to anyone else. To many, it appeared as though Maharishi was grooming Deepak to become his replacement, even though Maharishi has always maintained that he would leave an organization to rule, not any one individual.

Deepak's position guaranteed him the use of all the extensive resources of Maharishi's Movement, including "Purusha", a group of single men devoted to serving Maharishi, who, to this day, maintain that they helped research, promote, and even write, Deepak's many best-selling books on Ayurveda. Regardless of how much help he had, Deepak almost single handedly resurrected the popularity of an organization which had lost a great deal of credibility in the late nineteen seventies due to how it's representatives advertised and promoted a technique involving levitation. Once again, with Deepak at the forefront, the "TM" Movement was once again promoting a form of meditation and advanced techniques which were documented by science and research and relevant to the American people. However, this happy state of affairs could not last.

Deepak is a solar yogi, which gives him great charisma, but also great independence of spirit. A time had to come when other leaders vying for position within Maharishi's movement would begin to see Chopra as a great threat and convince Maharishi to dismiss him. This is exactly what happened, although it is said that Maharishi soon regretted his decision and tried to get Deepak to return without success. Since that time, Deepak's popularity has continued unabated and he has built his own Ayurvedic organization as an alternative to that of Maharishi's. He has also expanded the scope of his writings and lecture materials to include various principles of spirituality and its practice.

Deepak's destiny is not unlike that of Sri Aurobindo -- it relates to the physical sheath and how to bring that sheath into harmony with spirit. Since the physical sheath takes its shape through a physical union traditionally associated with the institution of marriage, his destiny also includes the subject of love and its proper means of expression.

As popular as Deepak is, he is a very private man by reason of his caste nature and needs a great deal of alone-time for regeneration. This may have been one of the main reasons he decided not to remain in the limelight of the demanding leadership position within the "TM" Movement. He is also a rebel in his career nature and delights in making the A.M.A. squirm.

The question remains, however, why many people have accepted this man as a modern day Socrates or other beloved teacher? To answer this question effectively, we must understand that the world horoscope has a powerful Saturn governing the spiritual nature of humanity at the present time. and for many centuries to come. This makes the average person preoccupied with the physical and ever anxious to listen to those who exhibit authority in this realm. For example, when the average westerner hears the word "yoga", he immediately thinks of Hatha Yoga, the path of physical purification for the development of consciousness; he is seldom even aware of the seven other major possibilities for spiritual development. Thus, when a man like Deepak comes along, who is versed in both eastern and western medicine, as well as science, art and religion, people, especially the less discriminating ones, are immediately won over. These are the times in which we live..