Michael Jackson was like Krishna – Deepak Chopra

applehead250609 · February 2012

[size=10pt]Celebrities, in our culture today they're representations of ancient archetypes. Like the Greek mythologies, the Gods, you know? And so, today, if you look at each celebrity - doesn't matter. You know, you look at Princess Diana, she represented Diana, the Greek goddess. You know, Aphrodite, etc. "And every celebrity, if you look behind the mask, you'll see they're expressing an archetype that's part of our collective imagination, but also part of our collective yearning." :shock: /cook/ :idea: [/size] [size=12pt]Michael Jackson was like Krishna[/size] TNN | Feb 25, 2012, 12.00AM IST A doctor, an author, and most recently - Lady Gaga's spiritual advisor, Deepak Chopra talks about his Delhi upbringing, holistic healing and his celeb clients What was it like growing up in New Delhi in the '50s? It was great. We used to play cricket all the time. And I have great memories of my school and going through the usual thing - you know, that time, our school was run by Irish-Christian brothers. So there was a lot of Shakespeare and English literature and history from an English perspective. And a lot of cricket. Why did you leave India? When I left India, I was at the end of my medical school and, out of the blue, I got a letter from a hospital in New Jersey, in the United States. This was the end of the Vietnam War. All the American doctors were in Vietnam or in the army. There was a huge shortage of physicians in the United States. So, medical students from countries where there was good education were being recruited. The problem was, India did not want us to go, so we had to go to Sri Lanka to do our exams. And then, they restricted us from going by giving us only eight dollars in foreign exchange. But I had an uncle in London, and he leant me 100. So I had $108. And that's, as you know, a very lucky, auspicious, holy number. So I thought I should do something really holy with it. I went to the Moulin Rouge and spent it all in one night. (Laughs) So, when I got to the US, I had nothing. And what happened then? You got to the US with nothing... I made a collect call to my hospital administrator and I said, "I'm here, but I don't have any money". He said, "Just stay there". And the next thing I know is they pick me up in a helicopter from New York City. I was doing a fellowship for the very world-renowned endocrinologist, who was then the president of the Endocrine Society. And soon I discovered that, at least that academia that I had joined - was part of, was basically an ego competition as to who won the race. And I was very disillusioned. And one day he asked me a question about something - my boss, who was this famous guy - and I didn't know the answer. He asked me how many milligrams of iodine did those rats get? And I said it was 2.3 or maybe 2.4, let me check. He said, "You should have that in your head by now". So, I took the whole bag of papers and dumped it on his head, and I said, "Now it's in your head". I left. And he was enraged. He said, "You've blown your career" I said, "Screw it, I don't care". I went to a bar and got drunk. How did you recover from that? Well, I applied for a job at a rundown emergency room. I went there, and, between shifts I started reading Krishnamurti. I went and followed him. I got into study of consciousness. I met Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Suddenly, I realized there was a world I wasn't familiar with. It was a very captivating, wonderful world of consciousness. Do you follow Indian politics? A little bit. It's more banal and more comic than American politics, but it's the same. There's been a huge, sort of, uprising about corruption that's kind of come into the public sphere... Yes. I've followed that and I think it's a great thing. In a very interesting way, I think that the Anna Hazare phenomenon in India, the Arab Spring, the Occupy Wall Street, is part of the collective moral outrage that is coming when the world has become so chaotic and where corruption and cronyism has become the norm. So, you know, outrage wells forth from the collective unconscious. But that's not enough, you know, the outrage is still rage and it doesn't solve the problem. I think the outrage should be a first step toward saying, "So what's the creative solution?" Why do you think you've had the success that you have had in America? I mean, you also have celebrity followers - people who - It's my Indian accent (laughs). Come on, it's got to be something beyond that. I think I was the first one, in all honesty, to give a scientific - even though, in the beginning, I was ridiculed and vilified and had all kinds of problems with the medical establishment. But I would say, without being vain about it, that I was the first one to talk about the scientific basis of a consciousness-based understanding of human existence. Which has its roots in ancient India. But the way I expressed it in contemporary language was unique, I think. Why do you think that celebrities start flocking to you? Celebrities, in our culture today they're representations of ancient archetypes. Like the Greek mythologies, the Gods, you know? And so, today, if you look at each celebrity - doesn't matter. You know, you look at Princess Diana, she represented Diana, the Greek goddess. You know, Aphrodite, etc. And every celebrity, if you look behind the mask, you'll see they're expressing an archetype that's part of our collective imagination, but also part of our collective yearning. You know, Michael Jackson was a Krishna archetype. He was ambiguous about his sexual identity, he had both aspects to it - he was an amazing dancer, musician, etc. So, you think, oh - and when I first went to his house, I saw little Krishnas all over. And of course, I said, "What's that?" He said, "Harry Krishna". Did that surprise you? No, because I understand archetypes. But every celebrity, on the one hand, is expressing a magnificent archetype, and on the other hand, has deep insecurity because the insecurity comes from living up to that image. And what I tell my celebrity friends is "Embrace your insecurities. What's getting you where you are? And learn to live with it. And learn to actually channel it into creative expressions". You know, when I first met her, Lady Gaga was having interesting nightmares and, you know, very surreal things that were actually a source of anxiety to her. I said, "That's your next set in your next production. Put it right there, you know. Take it out of your subconscious and put it right there on the screen, and you have a magnificent new production". And she did it. So, you know, that's - I think celebrities these days are modern-day heroes. Unfortunately, they are not, most of them. But they have replaced the heroes of old times. Were you surprised or shocked by how Michael died? I wasn't surprised. I expected it. His own addiction was perpetuated and initiated, again, by medical doctors. And a cabal of doctors that are totally unethical and they're all in Hollywood. They create a co-dependency with celebrities. Michael never called me when he was in that state. Never. Because he knew I would be upset. So he would only call me when he was sober. When I knew he was avoiding me, I knew something was wrong. But then he was so good at creating a circle of people around him that nobody could get through. In fact, I could get through better than his family. Let's talk a little bit about some of your critics, there are always going to be critics, obviously, when you make it to a certain place in life. I say, "Be happy when you are being criticized or admired". It doesn't matter. Whether you're vilified or you're put on a pedestal, if you're being ignored, then you're not doing anything important. Are you selling false hope? See that - the word itself is an oxymoron. "False hope" - that's an oxymoron. Either you have hope or you don't. OK. So, technically speaking, I'm selling hope. Sure. And what they call gibberish is the most ancient and most profound wisdom tradition in the world. OK? (Excerpts from an interview on CNN's "TALK ASIA")