Physician-Author Deepak Chopra Dispenses Wisdom of His Native India

It’s around 4:30 a.m. The outside world is still dark and in slumber.

Deepak Chopra, best-selling author and New Age guru to a host of celebrities, begins his day in the study of his La Jolla home, mind focused, body relaxed, deep in meditation.

He remains in this state for the next 90 minutes. Then he writes for two hours--he’s working on a book about romance, a movie script about an assassin and some song lyrics--before heading to his personal gym for a jog on the treadmill, weight lifting or yoga.

At 9 a.m., having attended to body, spirit and livelihood, “I consider my day done,” Chopra said. “The rest is in the realm of uncertainty and unpredictability.”

The more uncertainty, the better for the soul, maintains Chopra, 49, who has made millions selling such spiritual advice through books, audiotapes, TV appearances and motivational speeches.

Yet Chopra’s world, at least in an earthly sense, seems anything but uncertain as he discusses his typical morning routine at home or rattles off portions of a packed schedule on the road:

Australia in November and December. On vacation with his wife Rita and grown son and daughter in December through mid-January. A nine-city book tour in late January. A pilgrimage to his native India in late February. New York in March. London, Copenhagen and Hamburg in April. . . .

Chopra is also a prolific writer. He has authored 15 books in nine years. (They’ve been translated into some 25 languages.)

His sixth, “Ageless Body, Timeless Mind,” a guide to alternative mind-body medicine, raised a few eyebrows in the medical community but also brought him international acclaim and a loyal following that includes movie star Demi Moore, ex-Beatle George Harrison, pop star Michael Jackson and former junk bond financier Michael Milken.

Two current books, “The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success,” and “The Way of the Wizard,” are on best-seller lists. “The Return of Merlin,” his recently published first novel, has been selling well too.

Chopra has also attracted attention in the corporate world. He has spoken to employees at Time Warner, Sony Entertainment, Starbucks and International Creative Management. And he’s been on “Oprah.”

Yet to look at him initially you’d never know what the fuss was about. A medical doctor from New Delhi, Chopra is middle-aged, average looking, fairly quiet and unassuming. (At a recent luncheon at the formal 21 Club in New York, the maitre d’ had to find a casually dressed Chopra a necktie before admitting him into the public dining area.)

Even Chopra is somewhat perplexed by his huge success. “I don’t consider myself scholarly or academic. I’m not saying anything that hasn’t been said before,” he said recently, acknowledging that his work has “assumed a life of its own.”

But the reason for his huge popularity is really quite simple. Chopra is selling something most people desperately want: advice for feeling good, and for feeling good about themselves.

He’s one in a long succession of self-help gurus and motivational speakers--a roster that includes Tony Robbins, Zig Ziglar, Stephen Covey, Barbara De Angelis and Marianne Williamson--to hit the airwaves and bookstores in recent years.

Many promise to bolster self-confidence or improve overall health for the overworked and overstressed, often through inspirational messages, old bromides or bits and pieces of religion.

Scores of people do swear by them. In fact, Marketdata Enterprises Inc., a market research firm in Tampa, Fla., estimates sales of self-help tapes, videos, books and seminars will reach $2.19 billion this year and grow to $2.76 billion by 1998.

“There seems to be an insatiable desire for spiritual fulfillment, “ said John LaRosa, Marketdata president. “People are looking for ways to improve their relationships, their communications skills, business skills, their marriages.

“When these gurus catch on they become like industries in and of themselves. Gurus are a booming business. . . . [Chopra] is very hot.”

Chopra, who has been dubbed a guru of New Age philosophy and medicine, serves up an intriguing potion of Eastern wisdom, pop science and plain common sense. He advocates ayurveda, the science of natural healing or holistic medicine originating some 6,000 years ago in India.

Chopra often uses entertaining parables to get points across, including tales of Merlin, the mythical wizard who advised King Arthur of Camelot.

In “The Way of the Wizard,” Chopra conjures up Merlin as the personification of a person’s wisest self. He provides 20 spiritual lessons for expanding personal boundaries and discovering that wizard.

Chopra, a successful endocrinologist for more than 20 years, accepted ayurveda after seeing the limitations modern medicine offered his patients.

The son of a prominent cardiologist, Chopra had an impressive background in traditional medicine that included training at the prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences, residencies in the United States, teaching positions at Tufts and Boston universities’ schools of medicine and work as chief of staff at New England Memorial Hospital.

Chopra founded the American Assn. of Ayurvedic Medicine and was appointed to the National Institutes of Health ad hoc panel on alternative medicine. He also serves as executive director of the Sharp Institute for Human Potential and Mind-Body Medicine.

Chopra says his Indian background helps him stand out in the crowded self-help arena.

“If I had an Irish accent and an Irish name and talked about karma, somehow it wouldn’t seem so genuine,” he said.

Still, Chopra believes his messages do help fill a spiritual void:

“Most people are looking for something to provide meaning in their lives.”