I want to talk about something that’s definitely worth celebrating… It seems that almost every day we grow in our understanding of consciousness and the quantum field. And that growing awareness opens the door to incredible new ways of being that are available to us. As host of the New Ways of Being podcast, that is something near and dear to my heart.
Although the exploration of consciousness goes back thousands of years, especially in India, in the modern world the study of consciousness has not been given much serious attention except for a few dedicated researchers beginning around 1970. Most scientists dismissed consciousness and gave it no consideration at all. And, of course, the study of quantum physics goes back to the early 1900s, but it has not been applied in other fields of science until the last 20-30 years in limited ways that are now growing.
And here I want to say that I strongly believe Deepak Chopra has probably done more than anyone else to bring our understanding of consciousness and the quantum field, and especially how they relate directly to all human beings, to where they are today. I will explain why in this article.
Certainly, many other people have added to our knowledge about these two mysterious foundations of the universe, and I don’t want to ignore their contributions. For me, two of those people were physicist David Bohm, who published the book Wholeness and the Implicate Order in 1980, and physicist and philosopher Amit Goswami, who published his book The Self-Aware Universe in 1993. Their writings had great influence on my understanding of how the universe works and how people interact with it. One other stand-out in my opinion is microbiologist Bruce Lipton because he was one of the earliest (in 1985) to see how intelligent cells are and that quantum processes are at work inside every cell.
Chopra’s work in sharing his knowledge of these subjects has also been huge and especially more recently. He published his book Quantum Healing in 1989 and, at that time, there was very little support in the medical and general scientific communities for applying quantum principles to medicine and health. But he had the big advantage of knowing quite a bit about the teachings of the Vedic traditions in India which has understood for millenia that consciousness is the source of everything in the universe. They didn’t speak of the “quantum field”, but they did know that energy and matter arise and take form from universal consciousness.
To me, more important than his 1989 book in spreading the understanding is Chopra’s weekly newsletter that he has been publishing for the last three and a half years on LinkedIn. It is called Reinventing Life: Exploring Body, Mind, and Spirit and in it, he has been exploring and clarifying consciousness and its all-important role in how we live and interact with the world. It has been written largely in very practical and mostly non-spiritual terms, and I have found it to be incredibly valuable and refreshing. It has helped me immensely in understanding what I know about consciousness and the related concept of wholeness in their real-world contexts and implications. I will come back to Reinventing Life further below.
Not to be ignored is Chopra’s 2018 book Metahuman in which he examines consciousness, existence, awareness, and wholeness in great depth. It explains how mind, body, brain, and the universe as a whole are modified consciousness, and how reality as we know it is based on our perceptions, individual and collective. He emphasizes the importance of awakening to wholeness, which is the reality that consciousness and all of existence are unified. And he teaches that human potential is infinite for us because of our relationship to consciousness, but we have to awaken to the truth of that wholeness.
On the quantum energy front, Chopra has just published a book in December 2023 called Quantum Body, co-authored with physicist Jack Tuszynski and endocrinologist Brian Fertig, and it goes much further in helping ordinary people understand how quantum principles apply to the human body and how people can greatly increase their health through that understanding. I have read the book, and I was wowed by it. One of the most important points that it communicates is that the underlying quantum body is innately intelligent and capable of maintaining perfect health. Unfortunately, we have become largely disconnected from the consciousness and intelligence within us. I strongly recommend the book to everyone who is ready for some new eye-opening information about our bodies and our health.
Coming back to Chopra’s newsletter Reinventing Life, I recommend that all open-minded people subscribe to this great source of wisdom that is both practical and deeply insightful. (And note that Tuszynski and Fertig co-authored some of the newsletter articles.) Members of LinkedIn can go explore the online editions (currently 179 in total) by clicking the link above. But if you don’t have the time, let me give you a feel for some of the diverse and amazing articles and what they have to say…
What If Everything is Alive – December 13, 2021
This article speaks to the philosophies of vitalism and functionalism and points out that these philosophies fail to address how mind and consciousness, and especially human attributes of love, compassion, intelligence, and creativity, can possibly arise from matter and physical processes. It then asks the question, in response to the observation by quantum physicists that quantum particles seem to be imitating life, “What if they are actually alive?” And it goes on to make a very simple argument, without elaborating it, that it is much more likely that human DNA and the human brain exist because everything, including quanta, is indeed alive. [Interestingly, in Conversations with God Book 4: Awaken the Species, channeled by Neale Donald Walsch, God confirmed that everything in existence is conscious, and consciousness is the expression of life.]
The Awakened Life is the Best Life – April 4, 2022
There are many negative trends impacting our well-being, such as ever-increasing stress and global problems that are constantly in the news. In this article, Chopra makes the point that it is critical now for one’s well-being to choose a lifestyle that counteracts the negative trends. Unfortunately, most lifestyles do not really accomplish this. Chopra says (and I agree totally) that the best lifestyle can be described in a single phrase – waking up. Waking up is about evolution, higher consciousness, and the infinite potential that belongs to every human being. He argues that modern life is the ultimate trap in which the negative trends increase and rarely decrease. And he argues that waking up from these problems by awakening to our true selves – expressions of pure consciousness – and this answer is possible for everyone.
The Return to Wholeness is What We Need Now – July 11, 2022
Chopra explains in this article how, in our evolution to self-awareness, we made the choice to live by “making our own decisions” without the guidance of divinity that we are inherently part of. That led us to being very dominated by our minds and, unfortunately, our minds are fixated on the ideas of separation and fear. Living based on separation and fear, has brought the us and the world to the state we are in today. And, it’s a state we can’t escape from except by awakening to a new way of being. That way is returning to wholeness which means retuning to our true unity with consciousness itself.
Your Life Purpose is Messaging You – January 16, 2023
In this article, Chopra said this: “In troubled times the chaos around you need not be reflected inside you. One of the strongest ways to remain on course is to find and know your purpose.” He said that it is possible to get on and stay on a path in which you love your work, see your surroundings at work as low in stress, pressure, and office politics, and that you feel you are contributing value and earns respect. Most people don’t see themselves as on such a path, but you can change that, and he suggests some keys to doing it.
Why Quantum Reality is Your Reality – April 3, 2023
Until recently, the idea of applying quantum principles, from the realm of subatomic particles and fundamental forces, to the “real world” was thought to be unthinkable. But in this article, Chopra explains how scientists and researchers have been discovering that quantum principles are indeed at work in our lives. Superposition relates directly to being open to infinite possibilities. Uncertainty becomes certain upon conscious measurement and choosing. Entanglement relates to connectness. And nonlocality relates to wholeness and the fact that consciousness is everywhere at once. Applying these principles is now happening in fields like quantum energy healing, quantum biology, and quantum metabolism. We are connected to the source of creation (consciousness) and to the quantum field, and through them we create our very reality.
Does Everything Happen for a Reason? – May 1, 2023
Why do people say “Everything happens for a reason”? That is the question that Chopra explores in this article, and he says this “Knowing that human life, despite its limitations and struggles, has a meaning, we intuit that a higher meaning is possible.” When we go deep into awareness, we discover that we do not live on the cusp between the physical and metaphysical, as we might think. He argues that to be fully human means living entirely in the metaphysical because the only viable conclusion is that existence is consciousness. He says that “Consciousness creates and governs everything, not like a watchmaker putting the intricate workings of a timepiece together, but by consciousness transforming itself into all of creation.” Consciousness has meaning, so it has reasons even if we don’t understand them.
Are We Creating the World? – September 11, 2023
Chopra begins this article by saying “The world ‘out there’ is so visible and tangible that it begs us to accept it.”, and most people find it impossible to accept the idea that the physical world is a mirage. But he goes on to talk about how Vedic traditions and many other spiritual traditions recognize that what we believe about the world “out there” is very much up in illusions. Quantum theory, once it’s fully grasped, supports a new understanding that individual consciousness is coupled with cosmic consciousness in creating the world. Classic physics does not understand this, but quantum physics does once it accepts the primacy of consciousness. And the creative process of creating a dynamic world of infinite possibilities requires this incredible dance that brings together individual creation and cosmic creation into a single process.
Should We Worry About the Afterlife? – December 4, 2023
In this article, Chopra begins by examining this question and noting that an increasing number of people take it for granted that there is no afterlife. But most people do not understand that consciousness is primary in the universe; it is in all things, everywhere and at once, and it is the source of life, and drives the process of continuous creation. And the basic problem is that most people have not explored consciousness and could not even agree on a definition of what consciousness is. But he argues that there is a way of defining consciousness completely detached from all belief systems. Everyone can accept that consciousness, as experienced by humans, is awareness of two things: that we exist and that we experience. But to further understand consciousness, he goes on to point out some key points: 1) There is only one consciousness, because to subdivide it makes no sense. 2) This one consciousness cannot be located; it exists in the realm of consciousness outside of time and space. 3) Regarding the question of “mind first” versus “matter first”, materialists have found no way of explaining how consciousness arises, and their theories of mind emerging from complexity continue to make no sense and have not been proven because it requires creating something out of nothing. But a great deal of evidence exists for creating something out of consciousness. [This is demonstrated by particles arising from the quantum field, intention experiments, spontaneous healings, and more. Consciousness, in human form or otherwise, is energy and energy cannot be destroyed, but it can change form. This, and the many near-death experiences and conversations with transitioned loved ones, support that spiritual life is eternal.] Chopra answers the title question: Yes, there is an afterlife, and there is no need to worry because consciousness is the source of Life itself, and it is whole.
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As you can see, Deepak Chopra’s articles in the Reinventing Life newsletter (as well as some of his books) have been exploring consciousness, the quantum field, wholeness, and the practicalities and potential of human life for a number of years with fascinating insights, analysis, commentary, and helpful recommendations. I absolutely love what he has done in these and all his writings and teachings.
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