Title: How to Know God, The Soul’s Journey into the Mysteries of Mysteries
Author: Deepak Chopra
Publication Date: February 2001
Review Written by: Shellyza
Review Date: September 7th 2007
Review:
Deepak Chopra’s book on ‘How to Know God’ is an enlightening page turner. This work delves into the mysteries of religious awakening and offers an accessible guide for the spiritual seeker. The world renowned author describes the notion that various personalities will envision ‘God’ in various ways.
For instance, a man or woman determined to shape his own destiny through inspiration will imagine a creative God, whereas someone who feels he is just barely getting through the day will have the “fight or flight” response, and envision a God who can rescue her. Deepak Chopra’s work, praised by everyone from the Dalai Lama to Larry King, thus describes the search for God in a logical seven stage process.
Stage One: Fight or Flight Response (a God who can save us from danger)
Stage Two: Reactive Response (Rule-Giving-God)
Stage Three: Restful Awareness Response (A God who brings tranquility out of chaos)
Stage Four: Intuitive Response (A good and forgiving God)
Stage Five: Creative Response (God as creator, inspirer – humans as co creator, inspired)
Stage Six: Visionary Response (God as exalted)
Stage Seven: Sacred Response: (God as the source of everything, united with us)
At first, one finds this work incredibly relevant to every religion of faith. The idea of fearing and loving God is certainly familiar. The regard of one’s accomplishments as acts of ‘good’ rewarded by the divine is known to all of us. Meanwhile, the process of seeking peace through meditation links to our own concept of bandgi.
As Chopra continues the book, however, it is obvious that his own views are Buddhist – although he continuously attempts to cite and intrepret quotes from various Catholic saints, monks, and even the great Persian poem poet Rumi
The seven stages are meant to be progressive, the seventh stage is thus the highest level. Stage five identifies man as the co-creator with God, Stage six reveals good and evil as simply two sides to the same force, and the rights and wrongs of ethical behaviour become blurred in the process. The final seventh stage suggests that we are in fact one with God, and that our identity, personality, or actions are separate from our soul.
Towards the middle of the book, we understand that Chopra’s Buddhist views oppose with mainstream religions because of the following:
- We (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) establish God to be an authority over us.
- We (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) define rules of behaviour as well as strict delegations between right and wrong, good and evil
- We (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) believe that one’s actions will be accounted for as part of their ‘soul’ in the afterlife.
Not that Chopra’s book isn’t insightful or helpful to Muslims. His description of God as ‘I am’ is magnificent, his separation of the universe into virtual, material, and quantum domains is ingenious, enlightening, and entirely relevant to Ismailism. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to deepen their own intellectual search, especially as this book is a page turner and very easy to read. The book’s ideas are brilliant and certainly applicable to Ismailism – Chopra’s work is definitely worth the read.
However, I would also encourage Ismaili readers to take this book with a grain of salt and understand that Chopra’s overall views are Buddhist.