>>PREVIEW
AN EVENING WITH DEEPAK CHOPRA
September 30
Telus Convention Centre
Are you looking for purpose, wanting to make a difference or changing something in your life but don’t know where to start? An evening with Deepak Chopra might be your call to action. On a mission to share his vision of a new humanity – one without war, poverty, or environmental and human rights abuses – Chopra is inspiring communities around the globe thinking about personal transformation.
"The dignity for all living beings requires a change in heart more than an intellectual shift. And I think that one can do that if people start sharing their personal transformations with each other," says Chopra, "because, in the end, social transformation isn’t possible without personal transformation."
Author of more than 45 spiritual, health and self-help books, Dr. Chopra’s Calgary lecture on September 30 will address the evolution of consciousness and the thought-provoking ideas from his Book of Secrets, published in 2004 and hailed as one of his best works.
The Book of Secrets: Unlocking the Hidden Dimensions of Your Life aims to enlighten readers and help them grasp the idea that change within the individual brings about change in the world. According to Chopra, 33 per cent of the people in North America are qualified as "cultural creatives." These people believe in peaceful conflict resolution, ecology, feminism, human rights and economic parity in the world. It is the fastest-growing segment of the population at the moment," says Chopra. Although deeply committed to spreading the word of peace, Chopra doesn’t think that world peace will be possible in his lifetime but is hopeful that it will emerge within a few generations.
However, this world peace isn’t going to happen on its own. It’s going to need a lot of work – spiritual work, that is. "World peace is possible if there is a critical mass of people living in peace consciousness, which means that people have to be examples of peace consciousness, they have to be grounded in peace, practice being peace, thinking peace, feeling peace, speaking peace, sharing peace, celebrating peace and creating peace," says Chopra. "And I think that there is a groundswell movement in that direction," he says.
Even if our daily news is filled with stories of fallen soldiers, suicide bombers and school shootings, there are pockets of individuals and organizations in our immediate communities and worldwide that are striving towards world peace. These include the International Peace Bureau, Pathways to Peace, the National Peace Foundation, the Peace Boat, the World Peace Prayer Society and Greenpeace. The list goes on. On September 7, 2006, the Dalai Lama made his fourth visit to Vancouver to inaugurate the Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education, which will open in 2009. The Center’s mandate is to promote peace through research, education and open discussion within a non-religious and non-political environment.
Chopra believes that when individuals and peace groups start to connect, share stories and inspire one another, then a new leadership will emerge – one that will serve society.
Deepak Chopra was among a select group of participants to engage in public discussions with the Dalai Lama in Vancouver on authentic happiness and physical well-being. The discussions were part of Vancouver Dialogues 2006, the first in a series of dialogues to be hosted by the Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education.
Just in the month of September, Chopra will have shared his message with communities in Vancouver, Montreal and Calgary, several cities across Europe, mainly in Spain, Portugal and the U.K., and many more in the United States. Time Magazine has placed Deepak Chopra among the top 100 heroes and icons of the century and has named him "the poet-prophet of alternative medicine."
An evening with Deepak Chopra could very well plant the seed of peace consciousness in Calgary. Chopra’s goal is to inspire change. He says, "I hope that people will walk away with at least a few tools to engage in their own personal transformation towards higher consciousness." |
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