November 28, 2015 By Admin

Deepak Chopra Ideas on “The Future of God”

Deepak Chopra Ideas on “The Future of God” – Part 1

Deepak Chopra’s new book, The Future of God… (2014) presents some very challenging perspective on spirituality, atheism, and formal religion. Here I will simply present some paraphrased details and my own ideas on these topics.

Basic Foundations

Human beings have special talents for searching and finding spiritual systems to become part of. We crave the reality of some higher power to have faith in. Questions about: Who am I? Why am I here? What is my ultimate purpose in this life? Why do I suffer? Is there a GOD? Even an intelligent view of the tao of the universe suggests that there must be “something” higher out there if not within. Our primary search begins within – the god spot in the brain, the heart, the soul. We need to find something larger, greater than ourselves to believe in. We crave a spiritual awakening to find truth – our personal truth and a higher truth. The peak experience of being in spirit lies only in the present moment experience. Perhaps we are trying to fill a deep hole of inner emptiness, or just trying to make sense of the troubled world and the vast universe of all things in the Ten Directions. Ultimately we HOPE our beliefs and faith will lead to some form of salvation, liberation or true centering inside the core of our self. Mainly we seek safety, protection, security, inspiration happiness, and success within our own being and within our many groups (family, friends, partner/s, ethnic and racial group, nation, world beings). Ultimate we hope belief in something bigger will lead to less suffering, less boredom, and more happiness. We will stop at nothing – even cruel beheadings and the suffering of The Crusades – to validate that our belief (our god, gods, systems) are the true paths to salvation. In the end, however, we seek serious and complete transformation – transformation that leads to inner peace, fulfillment, soulful feelings, compassion, higher consciousness, and transcendence beyond the beyond. Beyond any ego-based self.

To be successful in the pathway we must have strong faith. Our faith is highly personal, often unjustified, and requires our complete attention and participation. Our faith sometimes lands us into spiritual places (inside, outside) where we hope to find deeper meaning. It requires NO scientific proof, just strong faith and regular practice. The “Dark Night of the Soul” has something to offer all of us. Perhaps The Bhagavad Gita is correct in noting that faith originates in perceptions of the mind – mental objects that place “I/Me” at the center of movement toward a more true and secure identity. Then we must pay attention to Mother Theresa’s questions. Agnus Bojaxhiu noted that although Jesus has special love for all people, she experienced only “silence and emptiness.” How did she go on and on to help others? What about wisdom? Wisdom often supports faith in that we learn knowledge and practice in the hopes of making things better for ourselves and for others. Our acts of goodness and compassion take root in the seeds of deep wisdom – wisdom pushed on through faith. From the Buddhist perspective, it has been noted that The Buddha was the master of afflictive spirituality, general dissatisfaction in life. Surely, meaningful life goes beyond simple pleasure and pain; surely, meaningful life includes detached attachment, acceptance of impermanence, no-self (aggrandizements), and the compassion of fearlessness in the vast emptiness. Whether it is through the teaching of Jesus or the Eightfold Path of The Buddha or other deeply spiritual teaching, we can achieve some level of spiritual satisfaction even in this materialistic, troubled life we live. Spiritual belief, faith, wisdom, regular practice, and compassionate actions – all lead us to deeper personal spiritual experience.

In the end of our energetic searching, let’s hope that spiritual faith and wisdom-like actions lead us to patience, kindness, generosity, humility, emotional regulation, sincere truth, and inner peace with joy. Yes, this would be great outcome for all our efforts. See part 2 coming soon.

For more information refer to Chopra, D. (2014). The Future of God: A Practical Approach to Spirituality for Our Times. New York: Harmony Books, pp. 1-142.

By Anthony R. Quintiliani, PhD., LADC

From the Eleanor R. Liebman Center for Secular Meditation in Monkton, Vermont

Author of Mindful Happiness

CLICK HERE or any image below to Order

Tonglen Meditation or Giving and Taking I have added various posts about many compassion practice. Earlier posts have covered a range of practices – from super-easy to more demanding. Here, I will add a more advanced practice. This Tibetan compassion meditation practice has been taught often in the Vajrayana school of Buddhism. In my opinion […]

Being Mindful Of Dr. Wayne W. Dyer Recently I receive a heart-felt tribute dedicated to Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, who died recently. The tribute originated from Louise Hay, a long-time associate, colleague and publisher of Wayne Dyer. To those of us who inhabit the spaciousness of the spiritual world, perhaps, no other person in recent […]

How Most People Learn in Psychotherapy It is highly important that clients learn from their therapists. In most cases this includes alternative ways of thinking, emoting, and behaving. So what can we learn from educational research on how people learn? Of course we all know it begins with a solid therapeutic alliance – the […]

Anahata – Heart Chakra Meditation Practice Rumi noted that to reach the sky we must use our hearts. The Heart Chakra is a very popular focus of meditation practice. Here we will simply review some characteristics and then move on to a meditation practice. Specific characteristics: Green color, YAM sound (say at least three times […]

Quasi Self-Hypnotic Pain Relief To be successful in this intervention you will have to let go of ego-based defensiveness and remain quite focused for quite some time. These are not easy things to do. DO NOT do this intervention if you are feeling highly vulnerable at this time, or if you are not working with […]

Taoist Meditation on Healing Colors of Light In Taoist views the four seasons (five if you include “Indian Summer”) are strongly associated with emotional moods and bodily energies. Healing colored light is also part of this viewpoint. For each of the colors we use, follow the process noted below. Sit quietly and breathe calmly. Circle […]

Helping Professions and Emotional Balance Helping professions must practice to achieve emotional balance. Working conditions for the helping professions have become more and more difficult over time, especially with the advent of so called “helpful technologies” and ever-increasing governmental/funding requirements for documentation. When I started in the (behavioral health) field of clinical psychology and addictions […]

Behaviors People Display When in Groups After more than 35 years of facilitating hundreds of classes, workshops, family therapy sessions, group therapy sessions, and work project groups it has become clear that we do some strange things when we participate in groups. It appears to me that many of these in-group functions serve both ego […]

Happiness Path – The 14th Dalai Lama His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama has suggested, among many other important things, that humans may experience true inner happiness by regular practice on the path to enlightenment. In his 2012 book, From Here to Enlightenment, he noted that personal happiness may be attained via specific behaviors and ways of […]

Tibetan Tantric Meditation on Selflessness Mahamudra meditations tend to unify emptiness and bliss, and represent many core principles of Tibetan Buddhism. Nagarjuna’s text on The Middle Way played an important and influential role in these practices. Selflessness of persons and selflessness of phenomena are highly represented in noted meditation practices. Therefore,, this can be considered […]

The Nine Bow Ritual for Those You Respect Deeply The Nine Bow Ritual is a simple practice of deep respect. Think of a person, living or not, for whom you have very strong positive feelings. If you select a person no longer living, you may be surprised at the emotional impact of this ritual. If […]

Secular Meditation and Addictions Treatment Today we have ample research evidence (NIH, NIDA, SAMHSA, etc.) that mindfulness, meditation, yoga, and mind training all have some effectiveness in improving addiction disorders. In recent meta-analyses the primary effect was through improved emotion regulations, whereas there was a more direct positive impact on chronic pain, depression, and anxiety. […]

Meditation on Ecodharma and Buddhist Ecology Sit calmly and begin to breathe in and out deeply and slowly. Open your eyes to see and appreciate the natural environment you are in. Close your eyes now if you wish to do so. Know that this nature – the sky, clouds, stars, father sun, mother moon, […]

Very “SAD” Facts about the Addictions Field A recent issue of the Addictions Professional presented very disturbing news about how clinicians in the field are doing. NOT WELL! Addictions clinicians treat people with addictions but mainly people with co-occurring disorders – addictions with trauma, depression, anxiety and/or eating disorders. Often there is also a co-occurring medical […]

Mindfulness Expands the Art of Journal Writing T. Merton, J. Kerouc, I. Progoff, J. Upton, and others have helped to expand the art or journal writing practice. This type of practice can become your mindfulness practice. You will need to write on a daily basis (even if briefly), and you will need to be highly […]

College Students – Mental Health in The US R. Quintiliani, Ph.D., LADC The Association of University and College Counseling Center Directors has released data on the mental health status of American college students. Two survey between 2016 and 2018 yielded results from as far back as 2014. Here are some selected statistics (rounded): Anxiety 47-61%; […]

Equanimity, Suffering, and Resilience It is said that equanimity (Pali – upekkha), the seventh factor of enlightenment and the tenth perfection, is an end-product of life-long personal practice in meditation and/or meditative yoga. It is about “walking the walk.” Some practitioners note that equanimity is the foundation for other helpful states of mind and body. […]

More on Self-Compassion Practices Suffering and happiness represent opposites in human emotional experience. In our culture we often equate happiness with what we HAVE and suffering with the GAP between what we have versus what we want. Material possessions tend not to lead to intrinsic happiness; joy based on materials gains is often short-lived – […]

Using Lectio Divina to Enhance Your Happiness Lectio Divina is an ancient Christian (Benedictine) meditation; it is a form of meditative prayer called “sacred seeing.” We will use a modified version of the process here. Follow the steps noted below. Sit quietly in meditative form, calmly abiding yourself here now. After a […]

Today’s Troubled World Needs More Self Compassion and Compassion This is an interactive activity on contemplation between your executive brain, your conscious mind, and your emotional brain areas. Looking at the world today any aware person must admit the human race is in serious trouble. This reality impacts the developing, industrial, and post-industrial cultures of […]