You Are the Universe - by Deepak Chopra & Menas C Kafatos (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - Deepak Chopra joins forces with leading physicist Menas Kafatos to explore some of the most important and baffling questions about our place in the world.

"A riveting and absolutely fascinating adventure that will blow your mind wide open!" --Dr. Rudolph E. Tanzi

What happens when modern science reaches a crucial turning point that challenges everything we know about reality? In this brilliant, timely, and practical work, Chopra and Kafatos tell us that we've reached just such a point. In the coming era, the universe will be completely redefined as a "human universe" radically unlike the cold, empty void where human life is barely a speck in the cosmos.

You Are the Universe literally means what it says--each of us is a co-creator of reality extending to the vastest reaches of time and space. This seemingly impossible proposition follows from the current state of science, where outside the public eye, some key mysteries cannot be solved, even though they are the very issues that define reality itself:

- What Came Before the Big Bang?
- Why Does the Universe Fit Together So Perfectly?
- Where Did Time Come From?
- What Is the Universe Made Of?
- Is the Quantum World Linked to Everyday Life?
- Do We Live in a Conscious Universe?
- How Did Life First Begin?

"The shift into a new paradigm is happening," the authors write. "The answers offered in this book are not our invention or eccentric flights of fancy. All of us live in a participatory universe. Once you decide that you want to participate fully with mind, body, and soul, the paradigm shift becomes personal. The reality you inhabit will be yours either to embrace or to change." What these two great minds offer is a bold, new understanding of who we are and how we can transform the world for the better while reaching our greatest potential.

Review Quotes

"Almost 100 years ago the sage Tagore and the scientist Einstein had a brief encounter to discuss the nature of reality. Revisiting their fascinating discourse on how science and spirituality inform each other is long overdue and this new book finally does it! Even if you - like me, prefer Einstein's world, this book will make you marvel at Tagore's beautiful human universe as masterfully uncovered by the authors." -Dimitar Sasselov, Professor of Astronomy, Harvard University, author of The Life of Super-Earths: How the Hunt for Alien Worlds and Artificial Cells will Revolutionize Life on Our Planet

"This is not just another popular science book asking who am I? and why am I here?. This important new book addresses today's most important scientific questions regarding our very existence. In the end, we can't help but to be convinced that we live in a participatory universe that we define and synthesize according to the nervous system we enjoy as a species. The result is a riveting and absolutely fascinating literary adventure that will blow your mind wide open!" --Dr. Rudolph E. Tanzi, Joseph. P. and Rose F. Kennedy Professor of Neurology Harvard Medical School Vice-Chair, Neurology; Director, Genetics and Aging Research Unit Massachusetts General Hospital

"An inspiring and insightful work that points out the sterility and inadequacy of the materialist paradigm that unnecessarily pervades modern science." --Ruth E. Kastner, Ph.D, author of Understanding Our Unseen Reality: Solving Quantum Riddles

"In You Are The Universe, Deepak Chopra picks up where he left off in War of the Worldviews, only this time, rather than warring with a scientist (me), he joins forces with one. Teaming up with quantum physics expert Menas Kafatos, Chopra takes us on a tour of the universe and humanity's place in it, exploring both science and spirituality, and how they may inform each other. Although it's a worldview I do not subscribe to, it was an enjoyable ride." --Leonard Mlodinow, PhD, author of The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Your Life, and The Grand Design (with Stephen Hawking)

"As brain science and Western philosophy remain confounded by consciousness, this book points toward a solution, a deep connection between our minds and the fundamental makeup of the universe" --Stuart Hameroff, MD Director and Co-founder, Center for Consciousness Studies Professor Emeritus, Department of Anesthesiology Professor Emeritus, Department of Psychology University of Arizona

"I am often asked if Deepak Chopra really believes the many controversial and provocative ideas he espouses in his many writings. Now that I have gotten to know him I can answer unequivocally in the affirmative, and there is no better encapsulation of his scientific worldview than You Are the Universe, which he co-authored with the highly respected physicist Menas Kafatos, my colleague at Chapman University. If you want to understand the worldview in which human consciousness is primary, and how that perspective can be defended through science, this is the book to read. In my own journey to better understand Deepak and his worldview this book was the most enlightening path I took." --Michael Shermer, PhD, Publisher Skeptic magazine, monthly columnist Scientific American, Presidential Fellow Chapman University, author of The Moral Arc, The Believing Brain, and Why People Believe Weird Things

"Ready for a broader vision of yourself? Face it! the paradigm of science is changing from the primacy of matter to the primacy of consciousness, what the authors call the primacy of qualia--felt experience. Read the book and find out more about the universe and yourself." --Amit Goswami, Ph.D., Theoretical Quantum Physicist, author of The Everything Answer Book and Quantum Economics

"Understanding Cosmos needs innovative perceptions and at times key paradigm moves. Our cosmic perspective changed radically with emergence of Relativity and a Quantum Universe, even as key mysteries remain unsolved in Modern Science. Are we at a critical juncture again towards comprehending the Cosmos? Deepak Chopra and Menas Kafatos suggest new avenues, in that knowing the Observer resolves the Cosmic Conundrum. The book brings in a fresh breeze of ideas and an enjoyable journey into Self and Universe." --Dr. Pankaj S. Joshi, Senior Professor, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Theoretical Physicist and Cosmologist, Mumbai

"As a teenager, I used to find it rather curious that people regard their thoughts and emotions as integral to whom they are, but their perceptions as something totally beyond themselves. The world we perceive is, after all, part of our mental life just like our thoughts and emotions. In this book, Deepak and Menas take this seemingly innocent idea to cosmic heights, revealing its true force and significance. They do it intelligently, in a scientifically well-informed manner, and with good taste. The result is delightful." --Bernardo Kastrup, Ph.D., author of Why Materialism Is Baloney, Brief Peeks Beyond and More Than Allegory.

"You are the Universe could have been spelled Youniverse for not only are 'you' in the universe 'you' are at the start of it all. Chopra and Kafatos have put together a well-written and, as far as any scientist today knows, a completely accurate exploration of how the mystery of subjective consciousness provides the basis for material reality as it is presently understood. I highly recommend this for those who are curiously alive." --Fred Alan Wolf, Ph.D. aka Dr. Quantum(R) Theoretical Physicist, author of The Spiritual Universe, National Book award-winning Taking the Quantum Leap, Time-loops and Space-twists, and many other books.

"The latest masterpiece by Deepak is a joint oeuvre with cosmologist Menas Kafatos. It addresses all the most important questions we can ask of ourselves and of science. Questions like who we are, and why are we here - with the science to back our answers. This is the "new paradigm" we have been talking about!" --Ervin Laszlo, author of What is Reality; The New Map of Cosmos and Consciousness

"In this interesting book, an astrophysicist is uniquely teaming up with a medical doctor. They present a novel, and I dare to say, revolutionary "paradigm" that has to make us all reconsider our ideas about our place in the Universe. It will shake stagnated waters in the short sighted beliefs of many. It will also make us to think and wonder about our real relationship with the Cosmos" --Kanaris Tsinganos, Director & President of the Governing Board National Observatory of Athens, Professor, Section of Astrophysics, Astronomy & Mechanics Department of Physics, University of Athens (Greece)

"This book discusses an important aspect from neuroscientific point of view i.e mind creates the reality. The authors do not like to distinguish the external reality and internal reality. This is similar to Yigacara Buddhism. However, it raises a very important issue whether any physical theory should include boundary conditions too or boundary conditions are outside the physical theory. This book raises lot of such fascinating issues which may create an environment of new debate." --Sisir Roy, T.V. Raman Pai Chair, National Institute of Advanced Studies, IISC Campus, Bangalore and (Former) Professor, Physics and Applied Mathematics Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, India.

"You are the Universe, brings the usual gracious clarity of all of Deepak Chopra's writings together with the insights of physicist Menas Kafatos to elucidate the most profound and pressing questions at the frontiers of contemporary science. Weaving Dr. Chopra's expertise regarding biological systems with Prof. Kafatos' work in quantum physics, geophysics, and cosmology, they illuminate the realms where all the most successful contemporary sciences come to the edge of what can be explained with the vital lights from their own life times of deep spiritual practice. The result is no clash of competing perspectives, but a rich, synergistic tapestry of great wisdom, beauty, and comfort for our culture. As such, You Are The Universe is their great and generous gift to each of us." --Neil Theise, MD, Professor of Pathology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

About the Author

Deepak Chopra, MD, FACP, founder of The Chopra Foundation and co-founder of the Chopra Center for Wellbeing and Jiyo, is a world-renowned pioneer in integrative medicine and personal transformation, and is Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Endocrinology and Metabolism. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, Clinical Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health at the University of California, San Diego, Researcher, Neurology and Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), and a member of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists. The World Post and The Huffington Post global internet survey ranked Chopra #17 influential thinker in the world and #1 in Medicine. Chopra is the author of more than 85 books translated into over 43 languages, including numerous New York Times bestsellers. TIME magazine has described Dr. Chopra as "one of the top 100 heroes and icons of the century."

Menas Kafatos is The Fletcher Jones Endowed Professor of Computational Physics at Chapman University, author of more than 320 refereed articles and fifteen books. He received his B.A. in Physics from Cornell University in 1967 and his Ph.D. in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1972. He is the Founding Dean of the Schmid College of Science and Technology at Chapman University, serving as dean in 2009-2012. He directs the Center of Excellence in Earth Systems Modeling and Observations.