Chapter One
You have been living inside a prison that has no visible walls — the confinesof your self derive entirely from the habits and conditioning of your mind. Ifyou are committed to growing younger, you must escape this prison ofconditioning. You are not to blame for living within unnecessary limitations. Ifa rope is tied around the leg of a baby elephant and attached to a stake in theground, it learns that it can only move within very narrow limits. Years later,as a powerful adult, it still remains within narrow confines when its leg isstaked, even though it has the strength to uproot an entire tree. It has beenconditioned to accept the limitations imposed upon it.
In a similar way, most people think and act within the narrow limitations ofwhat they have been taught during childhood, without questioning the basicassumptions that structure their worldview. To live a healthier, richer, morecreative life you need to recognize that most of what you hold to be truederives from habits of thought. We are born into a prevailing conversation aboutthe world. As soon as we are capable of speaking, we engage in thisconversation, reinforcing with our own thoughts and actions the patterns ofthinking and behavior that surround us. This is unmistakably true in regards tohow we view the body and its aging.
Until recently, few have questioned the assumption that aging is irreversible,and therefore, for generation after generation, people have reinforced thehabitual thinking that growing older meant a progressive decline in mental andphysical capacity. It is now time to change our habits of thinking and behavingand alter our experience of the body and the aging process.
The Quantum Possibilities
Drawing upon the wisdom traditions of the East, the dramatic new discoveries ofmodern quantum physics, and our own personal and professional experience, weinvite you to change the way you think about and experience the world and yourbody. Despite how radical some of these ideas may at first appear, we encourageyou to try out the practical approaches we offer and experience for yourself howthis program can revitalize your body and mind.
From the perspective of quantum physics, reality is a mysterious, magical place.While on the physical plane of everyday life, time and space predominate andentropy, decay, and aging are the normal course of events, these are notfeatures of quantum reality. The quantum realm is the fountainhead of purepotentiality, giving rise to the raw material of your body, your mind, and thephysical universe. The quantum realm is the womb of creation, the invisibleworld where the visible is designed and assembled. We can summarize the keyprinciples of quantum physics in five main points:
1. In the quantum realm there are no fixed objects, only possibilities.
2. In the quantum realm, everything is interwoven and inseparably one.
3. Quantum leaps are a feature of the quantum realm. A quantum leap is theability to move from one location in space or time to another without having togo through any place or time in between.
4. One of the laws of the quantum realm is the Uncertainty Principle, whichstates that an event is a particle (matter) and a wave (energy) simultaneously.Your intention determines whether you see a particle or a wave.
5. In the quantum realm, an observer is needed to create an event. Before asubatomic particle is observed, it exists only as a virtual particle; all eventsare virtual events until the moment they are observed.
Your own body/mind system is also an expression of the same quantum field thatunderlies everything in the universe. Therefore, you can apply these quantumprinciples to the way you look at your body and aging. Rephrased in terms ofyour biology, they would be:
1. You are not merely the physical body that you identify with out of habit.Your essential state is a field of infinite possibilities.
2. Your body is inseparably one with the whole universe. When you are perfectlyhealthy or whole, you feel expanded. You become constricted only when you havediscomfort or dis-ease. This comes from a feeling of separation.
3. You are capable of taking quantum leaps in perception and interpretation.With these quantum leaps you can alter not only the experience of the physicalbody but its very structure. Your physical body is capable of taking a quantumleap from one biological age to another without having to go through all theintervening ages in between.
4. Your body is simultaneously material (particlelike) and non-material(wavelike). You can choose to experience your body as physical or as a networkof energy, transformation, and intelligence.
5. Before you decide which biological age you choose to experience, you are allpossible biological ages. It's up to you to decide what age you want to be.
If you choose to see yourself as a physical entity, separate from everythingelse, you discard the chance to reverse the aging process. If you are able tolook at yourself as a field of possibilities, intimately interrelated toeverything else, wonderful new opportunities emerge. We encourage you to usethese thoughts to trigger a paradigm shift in your awareness. With this shiftyou can gain a completely different understanding of the body/mind system youinhabit, the world you perceive, and the essence of your being.
Viewing your body from the perspective of quantum physics opens up new modes ofunderstanding and experiencing the body and its aging.
The practical essence of this new understanding is that human beings can reversetheir aging.
In the Language of Spirit
Knowledge traditions seek to understand and explain the workings of the cosmos.The perspective of quantum physics offers a fascinating way to view life, thebody, and aging. The perennial wisdom traditions of the East offer equallyamazing insights into the nature of reality. As explorers of both modern scienceand the ancient knowledge traditions, we are enthused and inspired by the closerand closer alignment between these different perspectives on life. According toAyurveda, the ancient healing tradition of India, aging is an illusion becauseyour true self is neither your body nor your mind. Your essential nature, whoyou really are, is the domain of ever-present witnessing awareness that isbeyond your physical and mental layers. This field of consciousness gives riseto both the thoughts in your mind and the molecules in your body. Tapping intothis realm of awareness where time and space have no meaning is the basis ofemotional and physical renewal.
Accessing this field of pure potentiality has spiritual as well as physicalconsequences. Knowing your essential self as a nonlocal being, inextricablyinterrelated to everything else in the cosmos, awakens greater creativity,meaning, and purpose in life. Although the most profound way to improve healthand reverse aging is ultimately a spiritual one, not everyone is immediatelyready to accept this approach. One person may want to lose weight, another mayneed help to stop smoking, while a third may be seeking a more fulfilling loverelationship. Each of these needs is important in its own right, but taking aspiritual approach opens the door to the evolution of consciousness, which canmake all these things possible, and many more.
A spiritual approach means that we expand our awareness, even while focusing ourattention and intention locally.
The reason we perform any action is in the hope that it will bring ussatisfaction, fulfillment, and happiness. Embracing the spiritual domain, whichis the source and goal of all desires in life, creates the possibility forsatisfaction, happiness, and fulfillment independent of the inevitably changingsituations, circumstances, and people that surround us. Those fortunate ones whodwell in this domain have achieved what is often called enlightenment.
Viewing your choices from a spiritual perspective means asking the bigquestions: Who are you? Why are you here? What do you really want? How can youbest serve? Although at first glance these questions may seem irrelevant toslowing the aging process, they are actually essential to renewal. Shifting yourinternal reference point from an egocentric being, whose sense of worth dependsupon the positions and possessions one has accumulated, to a network ofconscious energy, woven from the threads of universal intelligence, has aprofound effect on your mind and body. When you become clear that the reason youwant to live to a hundred or more years is so you can express your full creativepotential, you change your chemistry and physiology. When you identify yourunique talents and commit to using them in the service of others, you strengthenyour immune system. When you decide that exercising regularly or preparing abalanced meal is an enjoyable experience, you improve your circulatory healthand lower your blood pressure. Your perceptions, interpretations, andexpectations influence every aspect of your mental and physical health. Shiftingyour perspective and making new choices provide you with powerful tools tochange your life.
The Window to Renewal
One of the ways science makes major advances is by studying situations,circumstances, and events that are the exception to the usual way things work.These are sometimes called anomalies, or exceptions to the rule. Most scientistsignore anomalies, but in fact, these are the very things we should be studying.If something breaks the rule, no matter what it is, no matter how infrequent itis, no matter how remote the probability, it means that a new possibility hasarisen. And if a new possibility has presented itself, there must be amechanism. Even if only one person out of ten million cures himself of cancer orof AIDS, we have to pay attention. Most scientists tend to disregard events thatare so rare they do not regularly infringe upon the prevailing view of theworld. They may dismiss an anomaly by saying that it is so rare-one in tenmillion-what's the point of investigating it?
The point is that it doesn't matter if something happens only once in tenmillion, because if it has happened even once, there must be some mechanism toaccount for its occurrence. And if there is a mechanism, then as scientists wewant to know what that mechanism is, because once we understand the mechanism,we may be able to reproduce the phenomenon.
Galileo, Copernicus, Newton, and Einstein are examples of scientists whoquestioned the prevailing assumptions of their time and expanded their view toinclude phenomena that had previously been ignored. These and other greatscientists paid attention to anomalies and sought to understand the mechanismthat explains them. When something doesn't fit the paradigm, doesn't fit thepattern, doesn't fit the theory, it forces us to examine the model we are using.It compels us to expand or change the theory to incorporate the exceptionalsituation.
A good example of this is a friend of ours who was diagnosed with AIDS overfifteen years ago. He was close to death when he made the choice to change hislife. He started meditating, began eating a healthy diet, and made thecommitment to eliminate toxins from his life. Fifteen years later he is feelingcompletely well and has undetectable levels of the HIV virus in his blood. Whenwe first met him, he was an anomaly, but now we know many more people like him.Our theory of consciousness predicts that if we reach a critical mass of peoplewho have the same experience, then it will become true for everyone.
We believe that these same principles apply to human aging. If we look at recenthistorical times we see that the average life expectancy has shifted remarkably.The average life span of a human being during the Roman Empire was twenty-eightyears. The average life span of a human being born in the Western world at thebeginning of the twentieth century was forty-nine years. Although in the past,high rates of infant mortality influenced human life expectancy, thefastest-growing segment of the American population today is over the age ofninety years.
A baby girl born in America today is expected to live just less than eightyyears; an infant boy has a life expectancy of almost seventy-four. Historically,there are many people who have lived to ripe old ages and have made majorcontributions to civilization. Leonardo da Vinci was drawing sketches in hissixties, Leo Tolstoy was writing novels into his seventies, and Michelangelo wassculpting in his eighties. Winston Churchill, with his fondness for cigars andScotch, was active and productive until his death at age ninety. As ourcollective consciousness embraces the belief that we can have the biology ofyouth with the wisdom of experience, it will become the pervasive experience.
The Science of Aging
Recognizing that human beings do not age at the same rate, scientists havedescribed three different ways to characterize a person's age. The first ischronological age, which is what your birth certificate says. Your chronologicalage measures the number of rotations Earth has performed on its axis and aroundthe sun since you left your mother's womb. Your chronological age cannot bealtered through mind/body approaches, but it has the least relevance to how youfeel or function.
Biological age is a measurement of how well your physiological systems arefunctioning. It is the most important component of the aging process. Yourbiological age is calculated in reference to an average population of people whohave the same chronological age that you have. Values for almost everybiochemical and physiological process can be determined for different agegroups. Known as the biological markers, or biomarkers, of aging, these includeblood pressure, amount of body fat, auditory and visual thresholds, hormonallevels, immune function, temperature regulation, bone density, skin thickness,cholesterol levels, blood sugar tolerance, aerobic capacity, and metabolic rate(see the table on page 18). Once you know your results, you can compare themwith the group average and see if your biomarkers are older or younger than yourchronological peers. Your biological age can be very different from yourchronological age. A fifty-year-old who takes good care of herself can have thebiology of a thirty-five-year-old. Alternatively, a fifty-year-old who has notbeen attentive to his health may have the biology of men many years older.Whatever your biological age is today, we believe we can alter it byimplementing the changes recommended in this book.
Continues...
Excerpted from Grow Younger, Live Longerby Deepak Chopra Copyright © 2001 by Deepak Chopra. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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