caption children birth_place image_size salary brother nationality ethnicity parents birth_date spouse image article_title name occupation
chopra on january 13 , 2011 mallika chopra and gotham chopra new delhi , india 250px us sanjiv chopra american indian american krishan chopra , pushpa chopra 22 october 1947 rita chopra file : deepak chopra -lrb- 2011 -rrb- . jpg deepak chopra
 deepak chopra alternative physician medicine advocate , public speaker , writer ,
deepak chopra

deepak chopra -lrb- ; born october 22 , 1947 -rrb- is an indian american author and public speaker .
he is an alternative medicine advocate and a promoter of popular forms of spirituality .
he has been described by the `` new york times '' as a `` controversial new-age guru '' though chopra says `` guru '' is `` a title i 've rejected for thirty years '' .
through his books and videos , he has become one of the best-known and wealthiest figures in the holistic-health movement .
chopra studied medicine in india before emigrating in 1970 to the united states .
as a physician he specialized in endocrinology and became chief of staff at the new england memorial hospital -lrb- nemh -rrb- .
in the 1980s he began to practice transcendental meditation -lrb- tm -rrb- .
in 1985 he resigned his position at nemh to establish the maharishi ayurveda health center .
chopra left the tm movement in 1994 and founded the chopra center for wellbeing .
he gained a following in the 1990s after his interview on the `` the oprah winfrey show '' regarding his books .
chopra states that , combining principles from ayurveda -lrb- hindu traditional medicine -rrb- and mainstream medicine , his approach to health incorporates ideas about the mind-body relationship , a belief in teleology in nature and a belief in the primacy of consciousness over matter -- that `` consciousness creates reality '' .
he claims that his practices can extend the human lifespan and treat chronic disease .
his beliefs and ideas are criticized by scientists and medical professionals who say that his treatments rely on the placebo effect , that he misuses terms and ideas from quantum physics -lrb- quantum mysticism -rrb- , and that he provides people with false hope which obscures the possibility of effective medical treatment .
the medical and scientific communities ' opinion of him ranges from dismissive to damning ; criticism includes statements that his approach could lure sick people away from effective treatments .
