The Deeper Wound: Recovering the Soul from Fear and Suffering - Couverture rigide

The author of How to Know God provides help for healing deep trauma—whenever it arises—so we may find peace in ourselves and in our world.

Terror came from the sky, and afterward the world would never be the same. September, 11, 2001, defined tragedy for a generation. On that day Deepak Chopra found himself driving from city to city, meeting thousands of people who begged for meaning and solace in the face of suffering. In response he has written The Deeper Wound, offering a way of healing as a memorial to the thousands of victims who perished.

The opening section, “In the Face of Tragedy,” defines suffering as the pain that threatens to make life meaningless. When our deepest needs go unfulfilled, suffering begins. We begin to heal when we go beyond personal anger and fear to a realization of our true self, the self that was never afraid and can never be wounded.

The true self contains the light that no darkness can attack. Having described a path of awareness and compassion that leads to the light, the second half of The Deeper Wound takes us there through “A Hundred Days of Healing,” daily affirmations, exercises, insights, lessons, and questions—each a step out of pain toward a higher reality. “We can become living memorials to tragedy by restoring the power of life,” writes Deepak Chopra. “You are that life, you are that power. Let us see if we can find the spark that will make the spiritual flame spring up.”

Healing yourself comes in two stages—first releasing the energy of suffering, then replacing it with the soul’s energy. It is a gentle and fragile path, very much like holding on to a thread as it leads you from step to step.

If you take the time to listen to the voice of silence, you will be astonished at the power you have at your command, however long that power has been overlooked.


A portion of the proceeds earned by the author and publisher from the sale of this book will be donated to the Red Cross to aid in humanitarian relief efforts around the world.

DEEPAK CHOPRA is the author of HOW TO KNOW GOD and twenty-nine other books. He lives in La Jolla, California.