What Is Cosmic Consciousness? The Quest for Hidden Reality

By Deepak Chopra, M.D., FACP, and Menas Kafatos, Ph.D.

 

Is there such a thing as higher consciousness?  For a tiny fraction of the population, who believe they have experienced God directly, this is a spiritual question with a definite answer. But for most people the question is hypothetical.  Every spiritual tradition has asserted that there is a hidden reality which can be uncovered through transcending – or going beyond – the five senses. There are elaborate directions for accomplishing this leap, in the form of prayer, meditation, renunciation, and faith – the religious history of humankind has never stopped directing its aspirations to a higher plane. But everyday life consumes our attention, and in a skeptical age the erosion of belief makes higher consciousness seem very far away if not irrelevant.

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Sleep: A mystery at the crossroads of neuroscience (Part 2)

By Deepak Chopra, M.D., FACP, P. Murali Doraiswamy, MBBS, FRCP, Professor of Psychiatry, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina

 

In the last post we saw how essential sleep is for the physiological needs of  almost all animals, but sleep would seem to be a poor survival trait as far as evolution goes.  Because sleep put our ancestors (and other living creatures) at risk from predators, the benefits must outweigh the risks –that’s all that scientists can manage to agree on. Unlike humans, some animals (e.g., newborn dolphins) can survive sleep deprivation for a couple of weeks without apparent harm.  However, in most species, after extended sleep deprivation their body temperature and metabolism becomes unstable and they die.  The longest period a human has survived sleep deprivation is believed to be about two weeks, but many physical and mental deficits occur long before that; driving ability is significantly impaired after one night’s bad sleep. (more…)

The Third Metric – Redefining Success

Description: Our definition of success as composed mainly of money and power is no longer sustainable; it is time for a third metric.– one founded on well-being, wisdom, our ability to wonder, and to give back. Money and power by themselves are a two legged stool — you can balance on them for a while, but eventually you’re going to topple over. And more and more people, very successful people, are toppling over.

Success the way we’ve defined it is no longer sustainable. It’s no longer sustainable for human beings or for societies. To live the lives we want, and not just the ones we settle for, the ones society defines as successful, we need to include the Third Metric.

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