Ageless Body, Timeless Mind: The Quantum Alternative to Growing Old

If you are so imprisoned that you need a 12-Step, ABC type program to understand it, read it anyway! If you can't get a grip on this book, that's great news! It seeped INto me, and what seeped OUT was something entirely different! There is no practical advice, no concrete prescription. To do that would be to limit the power of your mind, which is what the entire book is NOT about. Nowhere in this book does Deepak make the claim that these ancient ideas were invented by him... this book is simply one more manifestation, one more prick at the Memory of the Knowing that exists beyond time and three-dimensional man. It's a pearl, dropped into the pond of consciousness... what you do with the ripples on that pond or the murk that the pearl may cause to surface when it hits the bottom... that is entirely up to you - and your willingness to discover what lies within the amorphous...

Outstanding, heavily recommended.

In India I have seen people teach, and write on complex subjects as matematics in the age of 80s and 90s. Though India is nowhere in high life expectancy ranking. Some people I have noticed are so precise in their discernment and communication skills in 80s. These people are invariably spiritual. They observe weekly fasts etc. They are respected for their knowledge.

As Deepak points out the attitude of "I'm more responsible and progressing in wisdom" has made these people commited to groom their knowledge and teach them clearly to young people in a way that they love and respect them. These people are also so kind at heart. Deepak declares "Love is the ultimate Truth" in his teachings.

In this book the aging process is scienticifically explained so clearly. I was astounded to read the passage about Ayurveda, especially "Ayurveda is not focussed on healing, but to defeat death and open up the possibility of immortality". The facts about organ renewal, hormones of aging, metabolizing time are very informative.

This book is a tribute to his insights into the holistic nature of the ageing problem that has haunted humans through the millennia. He explains to the layman in limpid prose, how to use this ancient wisdom of the seers and postmodern quantum science of today to become ageless (or eternal if you will).He is truly a Yogi , and it is baffles me that he is among us in normal society, writing books for us , trying to pass on his hard won profound knowledge to an uncomprehending audience, while he can live in bliss in a remote retreat .

Do not miss this book, because while Dr. Chopra will be around for another 100-150 years, you and I are not going to be sticking around for that long...unless we read his teachings, digest them and act on them.

What I did find in this book, in fact, was nothing short of very informative and helpful. So what if it comes off as common sense to some? Does that make the author any less intelligent or unworthy to write about it? No. On the contrary, each of the five parts in this book is explained simply with little pearls of wisdom that are meant to BENEFIT life--not to "take money from a gullible public." If the reader seeks clinical proof, and if actual time is given to an unhasty review, it is clearly PART of the main body text. A basic understanding of liberal arts will also make a significant difference in accepting Dr. Chopra's assertions. They needn't all be taken at face value. As an educated, wise mind thinks, take what you need and leave the rest; don't discard the whole thing as rubbish! What the author really means, I think, with his title of "Ageless Body, Timeless Mind" is not the physical body so much as it is the INNER body, or spirit. At once, the ignorant, showing their annoyance and intolerance, cast their objections in the form of a one-star review. Perhaps it is jealousy in that such a person didn't think of writing a book like this first. Whatever the case, Dr. Chopra presents his advice and teachings brilliantly and focused enough, free of religious fanaticism, to the point where a continual sidetrack of footnotes would detract from his subject. From Part One, "The Land Where No One is Old," a captivating title, to Part Five, "Breaking the Spell of Mortality," Dr. Chopra only seeks to enlighten and guide, not to deviate and destroy. I suggest losing the negative frame of mind and opening up. That is the true mark of character. This book deserves the same. Remember, many personas throughout history were mocked and ridiculed in exactly the same way as some people have done here, long before their work was finally recognized as genius. Again, history repeats itself. I suppose, to the uneducated or overzealous, a work such as this is not welcomed in its own time--such as the prophet not recognized in his own land. But I guess some of us are farther ahead than others.

1. "His" Ideas have been around for thousands of years in the books that have been catching dust, in India. What he does is basically add a few new catch words such as "quantum", "Einstein", "spacetime" to present the ideas. I am not sure thats a pretty thing to do coz according to Feynman - Nobody understands Quantum mechanics. The ideas are good, infact very good but naturally we as readers are interested in the immediate practical aspects of it. And thats the problem. Everyone of us creates our own reality. Thats not to say, we create the trees and cars around us, rather we add our own dimension to the whole process of interpreting something, which in turn affects us significantly. And hence no single "way" will apply as a magic key for all of us. And hence you will see why some people rate some books with 5 stars and others with 1 star. Therefore you will not find "7 steps" or "5 steps" or "[my lucky number] steps" to achieve what he says you can.

2. Chopra is basically acting as a attorney trying to make his point that in meditation lies the key to understanding ourselves. Thats all. Nothing more or nothing less.

I like his books becoz they present the information which, previously appeared as mumbo-jumbo and difficult to understand, into something concrete and easy to understand. They provide the basics.

Meditaion takes a long time.. probably years of continuous effort for the fruits to show. So if you are planning to read the book with an intention of immediate gratification or getting younger quick, you are better off spending the money on a few shots of Vodka and looking at yourself in the mirror.

- There is a painstaking process going on in medical circles, where the establishment gradually learns to accept new (or maybe rather ancient!) approaches to health, from vegeatbles/antioxydants to meditation. Books like this is an insult to research-oriented doctors, abounding with unsubstantiated claims - and it closes many scientific minds to looking into the potential of meditation to keep and regain health, given dr. Chopra`s fame, fortune and public standing, which obscures the view of workers of more substance, like dr. Dossey. In other words, dr. Chopra is doing the slow-working, more humble-minded doctors that work in the alternative field a disservice and is slowing down the rapprochement between the medical establishment and those who use meditation, sound and the like.

- In doing so, he is selling false hopes and capitalising on people`s fear of death, becoming one of the richest doctors in history in the process. Is it not better to learn to accept aging and prepare for death? I have met many people who have bought Chopra`s books and attended his workshops, but none who have had a fraction of the effects of his methods that he claims. Where is the ethical aspect in this?

- Having worked with a large number of cancer patients through the years, following their fears and struggles, it seems like an insult to ordinary humble workers to say "Reprogram your quantum mind and get rid of the cancer". If Chopra could show one case of a person who could do this, including himself, I`d be willing to change my view of this as a condescending way to treat suffering humans who need compassion and good palliative care, not easy solutions that give the responsibility to the patient, whereas the doctor stands with no soil of the human factor on his hands. This is a travesty of the Hippocratic ideal, and will strengthen the view of alternative doctors as superficial, money-loving peddlers of false hopes. 1 star rating is inevitable, I hate to say. Luckily, there are many good sources of the same knowledge that Chopra embezzles. (Hope I haven`t been too harsh, I have no wish to attack Chopra, but I wish to strengthen a more substantial approach to the issues of aging, health and dying).

Do not let Dr. Chopra's scientific-sounding "quantum mechanics explanation" of how he can give us eternal life fool you. Quantum Mechanical terms are in common use by con men as a rationale for their snake oil, because a). Few people understand quamntum mechanics, and b). Most people heard some vague things about how QM "says" that "our "consciosness creates reality". Let me put it this way: IT JUST AIN'T SO, JOE. Contrary to what Chopra and others tell you, QM does *not* say we can "create our reality" as we please, or change the world just by thinking about it. It's just a ruse to make the potential sucker... er, I mean, "customers" - think Chopra's snake oil is "based on science". It isn't.

The most convincing argument against Chopra's claims is Chopra himself. Look at recent pictures of Chopra. Now look at pictures of Chopra from 10 and 20 years ago. Surprise, surprise - Mr. "Ageless Bodies", the messiah of eternal life, is aging along just like the rest of us, if not faster. If what he claims works, how come Chopra looks *precisely* his age, and not significantly younger? I though this stuff was based on quantum mechanics... how can it fail to work for him?

I would not have bothered warning people if all the effect Chopra's quackery had was convincing some gullible people that they could live forever and making a few bucks from them. The danger of Chopra is that those who truly believe his nonsense are in great danger of not getting conventional, effective treatment when they are seriosly ill. People who try to cure themselves using Chopra's "mind medicine" could avoid conventional treatment until it is too late, and significantly destroy their health or even die. Try Chopra at your own risk.

Most of the studies cited were either irrelevant or suffered from cronic statistical manipulation.

He talks about people being able to live "... up to two hundred years old..." with basically no proof.

In fact, most evidence is to the contrary. There are quite a few enlightened people in the world (many Buddist monks) but none of them live that long. Even the people cited in the book as "masters" all died before they reached 100.

We need a book with new thinking, not recycled mumbo-jumbo.