The greatest hunger in life is not for food, money, success, status, security, sex, or even love from the opposite sex. Time and again people have achieved all these things and wound up still feeling dissatisfied- indeed, often more dissatisfied than when they began. The deepest hunger in life is a secret that is revealed only when a person is willing to unlock a hidden part of the self. In the ancient traditions of wisdom, this quest has been likened to diving for the most precious pearl in existence, a poetic way of saying that you have to swim far out beyond shallow waters, plunge deep into yourself, and search patiently until the pearl beyond price is found. The pearl is also called essence, the breath of god, the water of life…labels for what we, in our more prosaic scientific age, would simply call TRANSFORMATION.

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Reviewing Susan Jacoby's book The Age of American Unreason Kaminer (2008) sees Chopra's popular reception in America as being symptomatic of many Americans' historical inability (as Jacoby puts it) "to distinguish between real scientists and those who peddled theories in the guise of science". He currently serves as an Adjunct Professor of Executive Programs at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. The documentary is directed by actress Namrata Singh Gujral and also features cancer survivors Olivia Newton-John Diahann Carroll Melissa Etheridge Mumtaz and Jaclyn Smith.

His books have been translated into 35 languages and sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. Chopra has taught at the medical schools of Tufts University Boston University and Harvard University. His critics accuse him of creating a false sense of hope in sick individuals which may keep them away from effective medical care.