An introduction to religious and spiritual experience

Deepak Chopra (1946–)
In titles such as 
The Path to Love, Ageless Body/Timeless Mind, Perfect 
Health
and 
Unconditional Life
, Deepak Chopra points the way to self-
awareness and self-help. This has brought him a wide following and he 
has become a modern kind of guru, although he does not like the term. In 
an age of scepticism, he offers a path of integration of mind, body and 
spirit attractive to those seeking a holistic way of living without the con-
fines of traditional religion. A successful endocrinologist in the USA, 
Deepak Chopra was inspired by the teachings of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi 
to evolve a fusion of Western and Ayurvedic medicine. 
He brings spirituality and modern physics together in 
How to Know 
God
. He envisages three levels of experience: the material world, where 
the sceptics remain; the transition zone and the highest level, God. Humans 
have some insights and mystical experiences in the transitional level. 
In Chopra’s view, mystics are able to remain in the transition state for lon-
ger than the rest of humanity, who may occasionally get a glimpse of God 
in a flash of ecstasy. There is a parallel scheme for physics: material reality 
or the visible universe; the quantum domain or mind, where energy turns 
to matter; and the virtual domain or spirit, which is beyond time and 

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Religious and Spiritual Experience
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space. In this scenario, mystics are just better quantum navigators. Chopra 
explains the different stages to achieving the mystical level of existence.
These writers, and others like them such as Marianne Williamson and 
Oriah Mountain Dreamer, appeal to a vast number of people who are 
searching for an experience of spirituality. They are looking for a path of 
inner development to gain an insight into themselves, their motivation 
and behaviour. As they grow in understanding they begin to live more 
fully, and they frequently become more aware of others and their needs. 
This leads on to an awareness of a deeper dimension of life. It is often 
then that an exploration of the more established religious traditions is 
begun, with a greater appreciation of their richness.

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