Deepak Chopra

Dubbed "the poet-prophet of alternative medicine" by Time, Deepak Chopra achieved worldwide prominence at the forefront of the self-help book boom, subsequently broadening his multimedia reach through a series of new age albums created alongside artists such as Eurythmics' Dave Stewart. The son of prominent Indian cardiologist Krishran Chopra, he entered the world in New Delhi in 1947. Inevitably drawn to his father's profession, Chopra earned his medical degree from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in 1968. Two years afterward he moved to the United States, where he completed an internship at a New Jersey hospital and pursued further training at Lahey Clinic in Burlington, Massachusetts, along with University of Virginia Hospital. A board-certified specialist in internal medicine and endocrinology, he instructed students at both Tufts University and Boston University Schools of Medicine prior to becoming chief of staff at New England Memorial Hospital. He also opened a private endocrinology office, yet a return visit to New Delhi left him increasingly dissatisfied with conventional Western approaches, leading him instead to adopt the view that genuine well-being extends beyond the simple lack of bodily illness. In 1985, after encountering transcendental meditation founder Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Chopra stepped down from his NEMH post to concentrate on holistic methods, committing himself to Ayurveda, the traditional Indian system of natural healing, and establishing the Massachusetts-based American Association of Ayurvedic Medicine.

In 1989 he released his debut volume, Quantum Healing: Exploring the Frontiers of Mind/Body Medicine, which merged Hindu concepts with Western science to describe the body as a "network of intelligence" capable of resisting disease and aging through meditation and wholesome habits. Following a break from the transcendental meditation circle in 1993, prompted by claims that the Maharishi sought to direct his writing and lecture commitments, Chopra produced his pivotal work, Ageless Body, Timeless Mind: The Quantum Alternative to Growing Old, which sold over 100,000 copies the day after he appeared on Oprah Winfrey Show. More than a dozen comparable self-help bestsellers ensued, among them The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success and The Path to Love: Spiritual Strategies for Healing. Chopra launched the California-based Chopra Center for Well Being in 1995, at which point he ceased any clinical activity by forgoing application for a state medical license. Although his ideas and lifestyle drew sharp rebukes—including charges of inconsistency for condemning materialism while residing in a multi-million-dollar mansion and driving a Jaguar—he stayed enormously influential. Following a string of profitable audiobooks, he issued the 1998 album A Gift of Love, enlisting well-known associates including Madonna and Goldie Hawn to recite classical Indian verse against Middle Eastern-flavored instrumentation. Three years afterward he collaborated once more with longtime associate Dave Stewart on Grow Younger, Live Longer.