EFTA02392391.pdf
dataset_11 pdf 440.5 KB • Feb 3, 2026 • 6 pages
From: Deepak Chopra
Sent: Sunday, July 17, 2016 12:47 PM
To: jeffrey E.
Subject: Re: Fw: My chapter on you
Agree--it all begins with an idea
What is the source of ideas -including mathematical ideas or mathematical imagination ? Any imagination !?
The Chopra Foundation <http://www.choprafoundation.org/> <http://www.choprafoundation.org/>
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chttp://www.amazon.com/Super-Genes-Astonishing-Optimum-Well-Being/dp/0804140138/deepakchcom07-20> Super
Genes: Unlock the Astonishing Power of Your DNA for Optimum Health and Wellbeing <http://www.amazon.com/Super-
Genes-Astonishing-Optimum-Well-Being/dp/0804140138/deepakchcom07-20>
From: jeffrey E. <jeevacation@gmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, July 17, 2016 8:37:46 AM
To: Deepak Chopra
Subject: Re: Fw: My chapter on you
easier to quote einstein, E = me 2. . or its inverse, matter is equal to energy divided by the speed of light squared, .
M = E / c2 einstein proved matter was the same as energy, there is an equal sign. no need to reinvent the idea.
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On Sun, Jul 17, 2016 at 8:25 AM, Deepak Chopra <mailt
wrote:
In case you are interested my feedback to Michael Shermer who was kind enough to share his chapter on me in
his next book
xoxo
The Chopra Foundation <http://www.choprafoundation.org/> <http://www.choprafoundation.org/>
<http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/l/51ryZ4SaSrL_SL500_55115_.jpg>
chttp://www.amazon.com/Super-Genes-Astonishing-Optimum-Well-Being/dp/0804140138/deepakchcom07-
20>
<http://www.amazon.com/Super-Genes-Astonishing-Optimum-Well-Eleing/dp/0804140138/deepakchcom07-
20> Super Genes: Unlock the Astonishing Power of Your DNA for Optimum Health and Wellbeing
chttp://www.amazon.com/Super-Genes-Astonishing-Optimum-Well-Being/dp/0804140138/deepakchcom07-20>
From: Deepak Chopra
Sent: Friday, July 15, 2016 9:01 AM
To: Michael Shermer
Subject: Re: My chapter on you
Dear Michael,
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Your chapter reads well and is certainly more than fair about me, given the general unfairness I've experienced
from militant atheists and hard-boiled skeptics. Thanks for being so open-minded.
My only comments have to do with making a difficult subject more accessible to your readers.
1. I'd slow down at the passage about "redness" and spell out that the brain is dark but we see light' the brain is
silent, but we hear' the brain contains no pictures, but we see full-blown three-dimensional images. Then open up how a
neuron works, firing the same chemical signals as any other cell with small modifications. So how does a brain cell, born
of the same strand of DNA as a stomach o liver cell, think? It seems to me that a brain cell cannot think.
2. On a basic chemical level, the sugar in a sugar cube or the glucose in the bloodstream has no special
properties; the molecules do not participate in mental activity until they enter the brain. You might want to point out
this mystery and also note that material monists must show the exact point when molecules exhibit mind-like behavior.
3. Freeman Dyson, among other physicists, cites the mind-like behavior of subatomic particles as they "choose"
and "decide" what state in the wave-particle duality to exist in. Here's a nice quote from Dyson:
"It would not be surprising that the origin and destiny of the
energy in the universe cannot be completely understood in isolation from the
phenomena of life and consciousness--It is conceivable---that life may have a
larger role to play than we have imagined."
"Life may have succeeded against all odds in molding a universe to its purposes. And the design of the inanimate
universe may not be as detached from the potentialities of life and intelligence
as scientists of the 20th century have tended to suppose"
4. You say that choosing between materialist monism and consciousness monism isn't the point, but it is.
Consciousness monism or "mind first" must show how mind turns into matter. Materialistic monism or "matter first"
must do the opposite, demonstrating how matter can produce mind. Even though the "matter first" crowd are far ahead
in scientific acceptance, in fact we see mind produce matter every time a synaptic gap is crossed by neurotransmitters or
hormones are triggered by experience. A person who is phobic sees a spider and reacts violently at the level of stress
hormones, elevated heart rate, elevated blood pressure, etc. This physical state is entirely produced by a mental
interpretation that a harmless insect is cause for panic.
S. I'm not sure about how you introduce monism. There are famous Western monists among idealistic
philosophers who are a) not materialists and b) not" Eastern". Since "monad" as a philosophical term is associated with
Leibnitz, you'll see that it refers to an indivisible "substance," which may seem materialistic, until you discover that one
order of this substance is the soul.
"The basic order is three-tiered: (1) entelechies or created monads (§48), (2) souls or entelechies with
perception and memory (§19), and (3) spirits or rational souls (§82). "
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monadology#The metaphysics of The Monadology)
Other Western monists who are definitely not materialistic include Spinoza, Hegel, Girdano Bruno, and
Schopenhauer. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monism#Monistic_philosophers)
In fact, if you can find a materialistic monist in the West who ranks with these philosophers, please mention him
by name while acknowledging the main idealistic tradition.
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Thanks for letting me review this chapter--it was very generous.
love,
Deepak
The Chopra Foundation <http://www.choprafoundation.org/> <http://www.choprafoundation.org/>
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<http://www.amazon.com/Super-Genes-Astonishing-Optimum-Well-Being/dp/0804140138/deepakchcom07-
20>
chttp://www.amazon.com/Super-Genes-Astonishing-Optimum-Well-Being/dp/0804140138/deepakchcom07-
20> Super Genes: Unlock the Astonishing Power of Your DNA for Optimum Health and Wellbeing
<http://www.amazon.com/Super-Genes-Astonishing-Optimum-Well-Being/dp/0804140138/deepakchcom07-20>
From: Michael Shermer ir <mailto
Sent: Thursday, July 14, 2016 9:43:37 AM
To: Deepak Chopra
Subject: Re: My chapter on you
No rush at all. My manuscript is not due for many months.
Michael
Michael Shermer
Skeptic Magazine
Scientific American
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On Jul 14, 2016, at 6:39 AM, Deepak Chopra
<mailto > wrote:
Thanks Michael
I'm teaching a course but will address it ASAP
Do you have a deadline ?
Love and thanks
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<http://www.amazon.com/Super-Genes-Astonishing-Optimum-Well-
Being/dp/0804140138/deepakchcom07-20>
<http://www.amazon.com/Super-Genes-Astonishing-Optimum-Well-
Being/dp/0804140138/deepakchcom07-20> Super Genes: Unlock the Astonishing Power of Your DNA for Optimum
Health and Wellbeing <http://www.amazon.com/Super-Genes-Astonishing-Optimum-Well-
Being/dp/0804140138/deepakchcom07-20>
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From: Michael Shermer < <mailto >
Sent: Thursday, July 14, 2016 9:36:07 AM
To: Deepak Chopra
Subject: My chapter on you
Hi Deepak,
For my next book, Heavens on Earth, I have expanded that Scientific American column into a full-length
chapter. Could you do me a big favor and read it and let me know if I have fairly represented your position and that of
the Eastern Wisdom Traditions? Please feel free to turn on the track changes and change the wording of how you would
say something, if you prefer. I used many sources: your emails, articles, blogs, talks, debates, books, etc. Or even my
own words if I have misdescribed what you believe or that of the Eastern Wisdom Traditions.
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