--- In [email protected], "Alex Stanley" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In [email protected], Vaj <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Deepak Chopra was interviewed on CNN re: Terry Shaivo by Anderson > > Cooper--will most likely replay tonight. > > I don't have access to CNN. Can you give a brief summary of what he > said? > > Alex
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Great to see you, Deepak. DR. DEEPAK CHOPRA, AUTHOR, "THE DEEPER WOUND": Great to see you, Kyra. PHILLIPS: I guess just for our viewers and to establish where you stand on this issue, first with regard to Terri Schiavo, do you believe that she should remain on a feeding tube, or do you think what is happening now is the right decision? CHOPRA: I think what's happening now is the right decision, but let me also say that, you know, the very fact that there's so much controversy means that nobody is 100 percent sure. You know? Because, otherwise, there wouldn't be the controversy. Freud once said the definition of neurosis is the inability to tolerate ambiguity, ambivalence and uncertainty. So we should start with saying we really in the ultimate don't know. But having that said, life is defined by consciousness, by perception, by cognition, by emotions, by relationships, by behavior and by biology. In her case, there's only one component there that would signify that there is some life there, and that is biology. And moreover, it's autonomic nervous system that we're looking at. You know, you can take a human heart out. You give it the right nutrition and it can beat for a long time. That doesn't mean it's living. That's not the definition of life. I think what we're doing right now, by withdrawing this feeding tube, is actually alleviating the suffering of many, many people and, moreover, I think what the really bad about this whole thing is, that her life and her body have become a weapon of political exploitation. And that -- that's a very sad commentary on our times. PHILLIPS: That's a good point, and I want to talk more about that. But when we talk about Terri and is she suffering, because this is a word that has been used quite a bit lately. Is she suffering? And is she suffering mentally, physically or is she suffering more spiritually? CHOPRA: Well, she's not suffering because, you know, suffering is in consciousness, and in the absence of consciousness, there is no suffering . If anybody is suffering, it's her parents, who can't decide, you know, who are not so -- who are having anguish. Her husband and all of the people who are attached to very rigid points of view and belief systems....There are a lot of belief systems here in contradiction. PHILLIPS: Well, OK, then that leads me to the next point. If Terri is not suffering, then is everyone forgetting about Terri and what is best for Terri next? And is that an afterlife? Is that a conversation with God and figuring out what is next for her soul, for her being? I mean, what's your outlook with, if she were to die within an hour or two or the next day? CHOPRA: Where I come from, Kyra, and the philosophy that I embrace is that her soul is not in her body. Her soul broadcasts through her body, just like you are not in my television box, but you are appearing and expressing yourself through my television box. So her soul is already liberated. It's not localizing through her body, so there is nothing there that is suffering. There's an autonomic nervous system that is playing itself out. And that's only one component of how we define life. She is already liberated, and she is incubating non-locally so she can express herself again if you would just let her go. <snip commercial break and Vatican spokesman> PHILLIPS: Do you find [the Vatican speaking out on the Schiavo case] usual, Deepak? Do you think it's interesting that the Vatican is... CHOPRA: I think it's a great paradox, actually. You know, the suffering of Christ and the suffering of the pope are suffering examples of great dignity, which has meaning for the rest of the world. The suffering, the so-called suffering of Terri Schiavo has no dignity there. What we're doing is keeping certain autonomic functions going in the absence of any life. So I beg to disagree. And I said earlier what has happened is that Terri Schiavo has become a weapon, literally, for political exploitation and also exploitation by religious groups. PHILLIPS: John, what do you think about the political manipulation of religion in this case? <snip more Vatican spokesman> PHILLIPS: Deepak, final word from the spiritual side. I've received a lot of e-mails: is Terri Schiavo going to heaven? Has she had communication with God or her God? And finally, when she does pass, will her parents ever hear from her again? CHOPRA: I think the answer -- short answer to all of this is yes. All of those beliefs have a basis in religion and in the spiritual experience of many generations. So everybody should be comforted by that. And I think we are not actually interfering when we let nature take its course. Fifty years ago or a hundred years ago, we wouldn't have this kind of intervention, because nature would have taken its course anyway. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
