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Medicine Park Oklahoma

If you've been living in a cave the last several years, you might be surprised at how respectable the field of alternative medicine has become. Remember when alternative medicine was just a polite term for quackery? Well, no more. Our government, in its infinite wisdom, has enshrined alternative medicine by creating a special office at the National Institutes of Health.

One of the most visible advocates of alternative medicine and spiritual healing is Dr. Deepak Chopra, author of over twenty best selling books. Ageless Body, Timeless Mind: The Quantum Alternative to Growing Old, and Quantum Healing occupied positions on the New York Times bestseller list for years. The books promise that illness and the aging process can be banished by the power of the mind, with the help of Ayurveda, a 6,000-year-old Indian healing system.

For example, Chopra explains the occasional spontaneous remission from cancer as due to a "jump to a new level of consciousness that prohibits the existence of cancer ... this is a quantum jump from one level of functioning to a higher level." Physicists, however, remain puzzled about how quantum mechanics relates to cancer.

But the American public prefers Chopra's message because they have come to believe that we live in a universe where anything is possible. Newsweek crowned Chopra as "the hardest-working guru in show business" several years ago when his enterprises reached $15 million per year in revenue. His fifty lectures a year to thousands of believers command a fee of $25,000 each.

Chopra writes, "The physical world, including our bodies, is a response of the observer ... beliefs, thoughts, and emotions create the chemical reactions that uphold life in every cell." In his book Voodoo Science, Robert Park counters, "Quantum theory is invoked by Chopra to convey the impression that ayurvedic medicine has somehow been validated by modern science. We cannot help but notice, however, that the author of Ageless Body shows unmistakable signs of growing old right along with the rest of us."

Chopra has enjoyed phenomenal success, "writing about things that people are already interested in." The public is naturally receptive to Chopra's age reversal claims, which state that aging can be influenced in the reverse direction through exercise, meditation, and removal of toxins from the body. Chopra is banking on the continual growth of alternative medicine as the baby boomers move further into middle age and develop more health problems.

So in the spirit of open-mindedness (and also because I recently turned forty-five), I decided to give Dr. Chopra a try. I ordered some of Chopra's audio-tapes and prepared myself for a mind/spirit altering experience.

But an unexpected complication immediately arose. Chopra himself is the narrator on the tapes and I could not overcome the distraction of his Indian accent. I'm sure my Okie drawl sounds equally distracting to Chopra. Unfortunately, Dr. Chopra sounds identical to the main character in the 1968 Peter Sellers movie The Party.

In the movie, Sellers, plays Hrundi V. Bakshi, an Indian actor who is invited to a Hollywood movie mogul's party by mistake. Chopra's voice is a reincarnation of Seller's character. The Party is a hilarious movie, one of Seller's masterpieces, and one I've enjoyed many times.

I simply could not concentrate on Chopra's message as scenes from The Party replayed in my head. The bumbling Bakshi with his silly grin kept intruding into my consciousness. I was soon grinning from ear to ear. The tapes were having an unintended positive effect.

For Peter Sellers fans, you may want to consider buying copies of Chopra's books rather than the tapes. Or better yet, rent a copy of The Party. If laughter is the best medicine, this movie should make you feel much better.

I think that Dr. Chopra would approve, since he advises people to "follow your bliss." Peter Sellers, who was a guru of comedy, can certainly provide many hours of bliss. Plus, you don't even have to learn how to meditate or swear off cheeseburgers. And a buck or two at the video store is a real bargain for a transcendental experience.

J.D. Haines, M.D., still grinning, is a board-certified family practitioner in private practice in Stillwater, Oklahoma. He is a clinical associate professor of family and preventative medicine at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal
COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group