Deepak Chopra - The Deeper Wound: Recovering the Soul in the Face of Fear and Tragedy

CONTENTS

F OR R UTH AND P AIGE AND J ULIANA

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the following people: my editor, Peter Guzzardi, who worked tirelessly and impeccably to bring this text to its completion; Linda Loewenthal, who first came up with the idea for this book; Shaye Areheart, Chip Gibson, Tina Constable, and Rhoda Dunn at Harmony Books and Crown Publishers, who have always supported me; Carolyn Rangel, without whom my life would be totally chaotic; Paulette Cole, for her great courage and her commitment to exploring the deeper wound in the face of tragedy; Richard Perl, for supporting Paulette and me; and finally, my family, who nurture me with their love and affection in every moment.

I know the day will come

When my sight of this world shall be lost.

Life will take its leave in silence,

Drawing the last curtain before my eyes.

Yet stars will still shine at night,

And mornings rise as before,

And hours will still heave like sea waves,

Casting up pleasures and pains.

When I think of this end of my moments

The barrier of the moment breaks,

And I see by the light of death

Your world with its careless treasures.

Rare is its meanest of lives,

Rare is its lowliest seat.

Things that I longed for in vain,

And things that I gotlet them pass.

Let me but truly possess

The things that I ever spurned and overlooked.

R ABINDRANATH T AGORE , 1913

PREFACE

On SEPTEMBER 11, 2001, as fate would have it, I was leaving New York on a jet flight that took off 45 minutes before the unthinkable happened. By the time we landed in Detroit, chaos had broken out. When I grasped the fact that American security had broken down so tragically, I couldnt respond at first. My wife and son were also in the air, on separate flights, one to Los Angeles, one to San Diego. My body went absolutely rigid with fear. All I could think about was their safety, and it took several hours before I found out that their flights had been diverted and both were safe.

Strangely, when the good news came, my body still felt as if it had been hit by a truck. Of its own accord it seemed to feel a far greater trauma that reached to the thousands who would not survive and the tens of thousands who would survive only to live through months and years of hell. And I asked myself, why didnt I feel this way last week? Why didnt my body go stiff when innocent people died through violence in other countries? Around the world my horror and worry are experienced by others every day. Mothers weep over horrendous loss, civilians are bombed mercilessly, and refugees are ripped from any sense of home or homeland. Why did I not feel their anguish enough to call a halt to it?

As we hear the calls for tightened American security and a fierce military response to terrorism, it is obvious that none of us has any answers. However, we feel compelled to ask some questions.

Everything has a cause, so we have to ask, what was the root cause of this evil? We must find out not superficially but at the deepest level. There is no doubt that such evil is alive all around the world and is even celebrated.

Does this evil grow from the suffering and anguish felt by people we dont know and therefore ignore? Have they lived in this condition for a long time?

One assumes that whoever did this attack feels implacable hatred for America. Why were we selected to be the focus of suffering around the world?

All this hatred and anguish seems to have religion at its basis. Isnt something terribly wrong when jihads and wars develop in the name of God? Isnt God invoked with hatred in Ireland, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Israel, Palestine, and even among the intolerant sects of America?

Can any military response make the slightest difference in the underlying cause? Is there not a deep wound at the heart of humanity? If there is a deep wound, doesnt it affect everyone? If all of us are wounded, will revenge work? Will punishment in any form toward anyone heal the wound or aggravate it? Will an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and a limb for a limb leave us all blind, toothless, and crippled?

Tribal warfare has been going on for thousands of years and has now been magnified globally. Can tribal warfare be brought to an end? Is it possible, as we move into the future, that all of us, regardless of our race, religion, or even nationality, can transcend our tribal nature?

What are you and I as persons going to do about what is happening? Can we afford to let the deeper wound fester any longer?

This was a horrible attack on America, but is it not also a rift in our collective soul? Isnt this an attack on civilization from without that is also from within?

When we have secured our safety once more and cared for the wounded, after the period of shock and mourning is over, it will be time for soul searching. I only hope that these questions are confronted with the deepest spiritual intent. None of us will feel safe again behind the shield of military might and stockpiled arsenals. There can be no safety until the root cause is faced. It is imperative that we pray and offer solace and help to each other. In this moment of deep sorrow for the wounding of our collective soul, the only healing we can accomplish as individuals is to make sure that our every thought, word, and deed nurture humanity.

Although the idea for this book was born out of the tragic incident on September 11, 2001, the intent of this book evolved so that it has become a manual that can be used to heal the deeper wound no matter what the cause. Great wisdom traditions tell us it is possible to go beyond suffering to reach expanded states of awareness where our personal transformation can not only bring joy to us but also heal the larger web of life. It is my hope that as you create the state of spontaneous joy for yourself by reaching into the depths of your soul, you will also contribute to the restoration of harmony in the world. Because you are the world.

A principle of physics states When an electron vibrates, the universe shakes. Let us then, you and I, be those electrons that vibrate at the level of consciousness to bring peace, harmony, joy, and love to the world.

INTRODUCTION

MY NAME IS Gotham Chopra, and I am Deepak Chopras son. I work as a TV reporter with Channel One News, the educational broadcast seen in an estimated 12,500 secondary schools.

At 8:00 A.M. on Tuesday, September 11, I boarded a flight in New York headed for Los Angeles. A few minutes later we lurched back from the gate, fired down the runway, and soared into the sky. It must have been almost 8:30 A.M. when I looked over my shoulder and gazed out at the New York skyline, noting the clear view, from Columbia University, my alma mater, all the way down to the World Trade Center.

What a beautiful day, I thought to myself. I wish I wasnt leaving. I then closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

A little over 90 minutes later I awoke when the pilots voice came over the loudspeaker. Ladies and gentlemen, he announced in a calm voice, we are making an emergency landing in Cincinnati because of an apparent terrorist attack in the New York area. Please stay calm....

There was a nervous murmur throughout the cabin. The journalist in me demanded immediate information and I reached for the phone. I quickly ran my credit card through the phone, waited for the dial tone, and dialed my news desk in Los Angeles. The phone crackled but there was no mistaking the panicked tone of one of my colleagues.