Deepak Chopra Is Not Well

The guru's enlightening relationship with convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein

With all the insanity going on, I’d totally understand if you missed that wellness travel has become big business. By 2027, wellness tourism is expected to generate more than $1.4 trillion.

What is wellness? you may ask. And why should it concern me? I wish I could give you a definition, but the concept has become so vague and hazy as to be almost meaningless. Depending on the source, wellness can encompass every conceivable health hack from longevity clinics to brain-sharpening activities, to yoga and meditation, to star gazing and dancing to DJs. (I do the latter as often as possible, but it’s decidedly low-tech, and mostly to Stevie Wonder on the turntable in my living room.)

Still befuddled? Here’s a description of a wellness place in LA, which, as the writer notes, was “the first modern social space to redefine a night out with friends as something that might involve a sound bath or watching a film while being hooked up to an infusion.”

See what I mean?

In her book The Gospel of Wellness: Gyms, Gurus, and the False Promise of Self-Care, journalist Rina Raphael notes that the wobbly definition of wellness is one reason the industry has exploded. “Wellness has devolved into an ambiguous marketing term that can just as easily mean activated charcoal toothpaste as it does mindfulness.”

I have trouble with wellness travel, in part because for most people it’s prohibitively expensive. You can go for a walk in nature and practice wellness for free. But I’m also wary of the concept because it’s really luxury travel wrapped up in pseudoscience. Where are the studies on some of these activities and treatments proving their mental and physical health benefits, like there are for mindfulness meditation and yoga? I want to see the data. In the wake of Covid, there are too many wellness charlatans profiting off of people’s suspicion of medical experts and difficulties obtaining health care.

Which brings me to Deepak Chopra, wellness guru extraordinaire. Since bursting onto the scene in America 30 years ago, the self-described “explorer of consciousness” has built a global empire worth an estimated $80 million. He achieved this fame and fortune through his savvy marketing of integrated medicine and meditation. Significantly, Oprah helped legitimize Chopra’s brand of wellness. As did Time magazine, naming Chopra one of America’s top most influential people.

Occasionally, when I was visiting family in San Diego, I’d drive by The Chopra Center for Wellbeing in Carlsbad off Pacific Coast Highway, and wonder what the hoopla was all about. Then I’d forget about him. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something about the prolific author and spiritual adviser seemed fake. Off.

Now, the recently released tranche of millions of documents in the Epstein files has revealed the ugly truth. Chopra not only was chummy with the convicted sex trafficker, who died under mysterious circumstances in prison in 2019. He and the notorious pedophile met at least a dozen times between 2016 and 2019, long after Epstein’s deplorable 2008 plea deal, where the international sex trafficker was convicted of solicitation of prostitution of a minor.

The guys hung at Epstein’s home in Palm Beach. At his place in Paris. According to records, Epstein was also present at a talk Chopra had with a science writer, where Epstein wrote, “I’ll bringthecheerleaders!!” (Exclamation points mine.) They also got together at the Chopra Center, where the wellness guru graciously proposed to arrange an Ayurvedic massage for the sex trafficker. And at a workshop Chopra held in Switzerland, where he encouraged Epstein to attend with “your girls.”

The two powerful men frequently texted and emailed. I’m not going to list all their charming banter here; you can consult the Department of Justice’s Epstein “Library” for that. Needless to say, it’s misogynistic and vile.

One such text to Chopra, where the name is redacted, says: “I liked watching you zero in on your prey.”

To which Chopra responds about five minutes later: “I not a predator Just a lover.”

In March 2017, just two years before Epstein’s conviction, Chopra and Epstein had a weird and disturbing exchange about cells, an unnamed Israeli female, and “cute girls.” Though most stories refer blandly to the survivors as “underage minors,” let’s get something straight. Epstein’s girls were mainly children. (The typos below are not mine.)

Here’s the email chain:

“does a cell have form ?” Epstein asks.

“is a cell=awaare?”

“does it have emotion? does it perfom actions? =C2”

Epstein then asks, Did you find me a cute israeli? (Italics mine.)

To which Chopra replies: “Cells are human constructs

“No such thing !”

“Universe is human construct”

“No such thing”

And then Chopra writes: Cute girls are aware when they make noises

“thnk god” Epstein writes.

Chopra then answers: “God is a construct.” But cute girls are real

“so when the girl says oh my god. . ?” writes Epstein.

“That’s divine tran=cendence” writes Chopra.

oh, i thought she was just referring to me, writes Epstein.

The two were still in touch in November 2017, when Chopra emailed Epstein inviting him to a meditation event he was hosting in New York:

“im in florida but i would like to send two girls,” Epstein responded.

“Please send their names and I will put their names as guests,” Chopra wrote. Two hours later, the wellness guru emailed Epstein, CC’ing Epstein’s assistant Lesley Groff. “Need names ASAP Will send directions.”

The girls got their passes.

“Give them my cell (redacted) and ask them to text me when they arrive,” Chopra wrote.

Chopra feels bad about all this. In a statement on social media, he admits to his exchanges with Epstein, and what he deems his “poor judgement…given what was publicly known at the time.”

But he insists he never participated in “any criminal or exploitative contact. Any contact I had was limited and unrelated to abusive activity.”

Which still begs the question. Did Chopra have sex with any of the girls Epstein procured for his other famous friends, or not?

In any case, the guru is so over it. He has moved on. And so, it seems, has the travel industry. As recently as last December, a glossy travel magazine touted Chopra’s newest wellness venture. And what a venture it is! Set to debut in 2027, the $180 million Ameyalli Wellbeing Resort is being peddled under the alluring trend of geothermal wellness. We’re not just talking boring saunas and hot tubs. In case you’re curious, its design “will merge AI-powered health technology with and luxury living.”

Anyone care to buy one of Deepak’s wellness villas?