Creating prosperity from within

Author and speaker Deepak Chopra hails the global downturn as an opportunity to rebuild the world’s economy

By Shannon Sweetnam

6/15/2009 - “We are not in an economic crisis, we are in an economic opportunity,” Deepak Chopra told the crowd of Kellogg students who flooded the Tribune Auditorium on May 29 to hear him speak.

	Related Video Watch video of Deepak Chopra's presentation

“Today, we are witnessing a dying carcass. We are witness to the collapse of an exhausted system built on toxic assets. This is an opportunity for reincarnation.”

Chopra is the founder and director of education at The Chopra Center for Well Being, co-founder and president of the Alliance for a New Humanity, and a world leader in mind-body medicine. He is also an adjunct professor at Kellogg, where he teaches The Soul of Leadership, an executive education class focused on personal awareness.

Chopra told the student audience that it can no longer deny that it is not directly affected by the fact that half the world’s population lives on less than two dollars a day.

“There is no solution to the world’s problems unless it is global,” said Chopra, explaining that the problem of poverty is intertwined with crises around the world. “The old paradigm about ‘me’ as a separate self is dead. What’s happening today forces us to recognize that we are members of one body, one energy field and all contained in one global consciousness.”

Chopra urged Kellogg students to think of business not as a means to enhancing shareholders’ value but as a way to enhance the quality of life. “If we keep that in mind, there is no limit to the prosperity coming out of here,” he said.

He also reminded students of the power of their creativity and collective consciousness. “Each of you contains the potential and creativity needed to help turn this crisis around and to create prosperity,” he said. “All we have to do now is get in touch with our soul, where our humanity lives and where we connect with each other.”

Chopra added that prosperity is a process that must be created from within. He offered a number of ideas for doing so, including ridding oneself of clutter, including the energy wasted on mindless things; focusing on nourishment, whether with regard to one’s body, relationships or the economy; and giving something away each time one purchases something.

“If you buy a new suit, give an old suit away. If you eat at an expensive restaurant, pay for a meal for a homeless person,” he advised. “And every once in a while, do something not motivated by profit.”

Dear Abbey, My ecomomy has been cheating on me...

An article from the San Franciso Chronicle by Deepak Chopra:

The shock is in the statistics. For the months of September and October, consumer confidence fell lower than at any time since it's been measured, going back forty years. The same for consumer expectations for the future. More than 70% of Americans say they are spending less than last year. A third of Americans are at risk for moving downward economically, another third know someone who is in that position.

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What statistics can't measure is the psychological blow we've all taken. Rich, poor, and in between, the economy has been cheating on us. The relationship has been hit hard. It may or may not fall apart.

It didn't help that the first people to be bailed out were the cheaters themselves. At a time when they lost over $80 billion for their investors, Wall Street's leading investment banks paid themselves $230 billion in compensation and bonuses. GM is crashing, but its CEO has a reported annual salary of $8.5 million. A pittance, actually, compared to the take-home of a few leading hedge fund managers, who reported incomes for 2007 in the range of 2 to 3 billion dollars.

It's like having your husband take you to McDonald's while he takes every other woman in town to the Ritz in Paris.

The first stage of reacting to a cheating spouse is shock, followed by hurt, anger, guilt, and the need for revenge. One way or another, the American public is going to go through all of those reactions. It won't happen fast. We've been forced into rational solutions — particularly the big TARP bailout of $700 billion, with a huge stimulus package to come — long before the initial shock has worn off.

Almost a century ago the great British economist John Maynard Keynes observed that all markets are psychological. For the past decade, the mood has been manic; now it's depressive. The one thing that might have brought steadiness (serious regulation of Wall Street) was considered unnecessary, even by the smartest, most liberal economists. They were saying, in essence, that your spouse will be faithful even if you don't demand that he or she come home at night. Cutting someone loose isn't the best way to feel secure in a relationship. Or in an economy.

Now that the cheating has been exposed, one wonders what it will take to restore confidence. Time, I imagine. Public works and stimulus packages are all well and good. Saving endangered industries is the compassionate thing to do. So is saving endangered mortgages. But somebody should step forward and talk about the emotional wounds being suffered all around. You may scoff at therapy when times are good, but there's no substitute for it when times are rough. People want their feelings heard, understood, taken seriously, and then healed. It's true in a relationship; it's just as true in a society.

Deepak is the author of over 50 books on health, success, relationships and spirituality, including his most recent novel, "Jesus: A Story of Enlightenment," available now at www.deepakchopra.com. He is an Adjunct Professor at Kellogg School of Management.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2008/12/22/chopra122208.DTL#ixzz0O9t99iRo