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[Deepak Chopra] I'm Deepak Chopra, and you're watching One World with Deepak Chopra, and my very special guest today is Ray Chambers.
So you're going to learn a lot about Ray Chambers if you already don't know, but let me first
welcome him. Ray, thanks for joining me today. [Ray Chambers] Thank you, Deepak.
[DC] So we go back many years in our friendship. I remember coming to the Carlisle actually
to speak to you many years ago with the Beach Boys.
[RC] That's right. I remember being with you at the Maharishi Vedic Centre in Lancaster, Massachusetts.
And we didn't like the food, and we snuck out to McDonald's, and you caught us.
[DC] Yes, I did catch you naughty boys. So, you know, there's a lot of things to talk about. For
many years Ray came to a bunch of my courses, and it was 10 years before he said to me, "Deepak,
I still don't get it. What is this consciousness stuff that you're talking about?" You remember
that? But then, he became a teacher of meditation. [RC] I did. [DC] You're one of the few people in this world
of philanthropy and big time corporate networks who actually not only practices, meditation but
can teach it. [RC] And you and the lessons you've taught
really have influenced my philanthropy, and held me to sustain it over the years.
[DC] At the moment all you do is philanthropy, mostly. [RC] That's true, for the last 24 years.
[DC] So I wanted to talk about a few things. Ray has received the Presidential Citizen
Medal, he's a philanthropist as you just heard, humanitarian. He works with the United
Nations as the Secretary General's MDG advocate and special envoy for financing the health
MDGs and for Malaria. He also chairs MDG Health Alliance. Point of Light Foundation, I could
go on and on, but tell us a little bit about this amazing thing you're doing with Malaria
right now. [RC] Well, in 2006, I saw a photo of four
children sleeping in a hut in Malawi. And I said, "Aren't they cute?" And somebody said,
"No. They are all in Malaria comas, and they're likely to have subsequently died." All three
and four years of age, and I'll never get that image out of my mind's eye. So I researched
Malaria, found out that it had killed about 1.2 million children under the age of 5, every
year for decades in sub-Saharan Africa, and I also learned that these insecticide treated
mosquito nets really work because this particular mosquito only bites after 10 o'clock at night.
And we can get three children under a net, it costs less than 10 dollars, and when the mosquito
lands on to that, it dies from the insecticide, and that disrupts the reproductive cycle.
So together with Peter Churnin, who was then President of NewsCorp, we formed Malaria No
More, and he immediately got us on to American Idol, and the first Idol Gives Back was about
Malaria. We raised awareness, and over the last seven years we've raised 8 billion
dollars, we've covered 800 million people with these insecticide treated mosquito nets,
and the annual death rate has gone from 1.2 million to less than 500 thousand.
[DC] Unbelievable. And the projections are that we should, probably in the next decade,
have this disease eliminated, right? [RC] I think so. Led by the Gates Foundation,
so much money has been invested in research for a vaccine, we have several promising vaccines.
In the meantime, we hope to get to near zero deaths by the end of 2015, and then keep the
disease under control until something comes along that can eradicate it.
[DC] So Ray, this is an example of one person being moved by one photograph that he saw
and creating a movement, literally, to eliminate a disease that has been there for thousands
of years. Can we use this as a model for other problems? So what drives you, I'd like to say, I'd like to ask you what is the
driving inspiration, or motivation to do what you do? Not just with Malaria, but with Points
of Light, with all the work you're doing in New Jersey, where does that come from?
[RC] You know, when I was in business in the eighties, when we first met, you and I spoke
about something missing in my life. Despite great economic success, something was missing,
and you helped guide me toward reaching out to disadvantaged children, which I first did
in Newark. The more I did it, the more I extended it, the more that void kept being filled in,
and after September 11th, Colin Powell said, "The only way we could have peace in the
world is if we could level the playing field." The millennium development goals signed on
to by a 194 nations are the most effective way to level the playing field. And to answer
the first part of your question, last year the Secretary General of United Nations asked
if I would take the strategy we use for Malaria and apply it to child mortality, maternal
mortality, *** AIDS and TB, and we're in a race with the clock. We have 809 days left
until December 31st, 2015 to join with all our partners in the world to achieve these
goals.
[DC] See when I've watched you over the years, what I've realized, is that you bring a kind
of a business, corporate mind set to philanthropy, when most people think of philanthropy, they
say, you know, "Non-Profit." And the word "Non-Profit" immediately means we're not gonna make a profit,
which in many people's mind is, you're already a loser. You know, you're calling yourself non-profitable.
But you've brought this mind-set, which is very precise, which is data driven, which
is smart, which stretches beyond where we think we can reach. You make everything
measurable, and you have time limits. You just, in our little conversation you said, "By 2015 no
more Malaria deaths." These are what, you know, we say "SMART goals." "Stretch more than you can
reach" is an acronym. Measure, agree with your team what you measure, record your progress,
and set a time limit. I think anyone can learn from this, no matter what they want to do.
[RC] I agree. Having quantifiable, measurable outcomes and timelines really makes philanthropy
analogous to business. It's just like the bottom line, and we've had such a wonderful
partnership with the Gates Foundation, with the World Bank, with Global Fund, and we've
all come together to set these quantifiable, measurable outcomes, and between now and December
31st, 2015, we have to avert the deaths from a number of causes of 2.3 million children
under the age of five, and we know what we have to do at the end of each quarter. I could
not imagine philanthropy without measuring return on investment, quantifiable results
within some type of timeline. [DC] So Ray, it's very interesting, today
we're at the NASDAQ OMX marketplace, a lot of financial institutions are watching us.
A lot of business people are watching us. Our goal at the Chopra Foundation always
has been to collaborate with people, and shift collective consciousness, which sounds very
vague to a lot of people, and not measurable. But shift collective consciousness so that
through personal and social transformation we can move in the direction of a more peaceful,
just, sustainable, healthier, happier world. The mantra that rolls in my mind all the time.
There're a lot people watching us. What can they do to help this cause, to help the whole
idea of a peaceful, just, sustainable, healthy world, because I think these are all kind
of inseparable, aren't they? [RC] You know, they are, and I think, my ultimate objective
is to contribute toward that peaceful and more compassionate world. Global health, since
it involves tens of millions of children, is a great and influencing way to bring people
to think more, and with that slogan we had with Malaria, "Ten dollars buys a bed net, saves
a child's life," using American Idol and the National Basketball Association, we had so
many young children, 4th, 5th and 6th grades, who would hold big sales, and lemonade stands
and donate $60, and say, "Can I save 6 children's lives?" And I think if they're learning that
in elementary school, and I really believe the youngest part of this millennial generation
will lead us toward a more compassionate world. [DC] I see that you talk a lot about social
networks as an extension of our collective minds, where endeavors like this can suddenly become
global. [RC] Yeah, with the guidance of Ashton Kutcher
and Sarah Ross, we became the number one cause on Twitter and Facebook four years ago, and
we've been able to carry that forward, and we thank the World Bank through social media
and institutions like that, that never get recognized become warmer to a cause, and to
the people once they're recognized for all the good that they do, and I think social
media will be the principal means of leading us toward a kinder, and more compassionate
world. [DC] You grew up in New Jersey.
[RC] Yes. [DC] And you've been very instrumental in kind of
not only raising awareness of the indigent conditions and the schools, the African-American
community, particularly young men and boys, you've done a lot for the performing arts
centre in Newark. What is happening in that endeavor right now? Mentoring programs?
[RC] As you said, Newark is where I was born, and grew up. And our whole family foundation has
really focussed on Newark, which is one of the poorest major cities in our country. We've
had an up tick in the last seven years because when he was in his third year of law school,
I met a young man by the name of Corey Booker. [DC] Who came with me to India actually on
a course, "How to Know God." So we've both known Corey since he was a school kid.
[RC] And he wanted to set up a non-profit in Newark, and I said, "We didn't need another
non-profit, we needed a mayor." And he said he never lost the vision, and became one of
the most acclaimed mayors in our country. But in 1987 our family adopted a thousand
minority children, adopted in the sense that we agreed to pay their tuition through college,
they were all five, and six, and seven year old, 95% of whom were born to unmarried teenage
moms. So we got involved in the lives of the moms, as well as the children, and we provided
each of them with a caring adult, a mentor, and that was much more important to them than
the money that was in trust for their college education, and now it's 26 years later, and
a number of those youngsters have become our leaders in Newark, New Jersey, and have led
corporations and... [DC] You've been a big champion of mentoring.
[RC] Yeah, in 1990, after President Bush 41 was elected President, he asked if I would be
the founding chairman of his Points of Light Foundation, and the first thing we did was
to set up the National Mentoring Partnership, and over the years, we've gone from 250,000
mentors in the United States, and then Colin Powell joined us with America's Promise. We
now have more than 3 million mentors in the United States.
[DC] That's unbelievable. It's really remarkable what you've done ever since even I've known
you in the last twenty years, which is actually when you had your shift from business to philanthropy,
right? So in the last part of this show, I ask a few questions of my guest, and I call
this building or letting people know what their soul looks like. Are you ready?
[RC] I am. [DC] Who is Ray Chambers?
[RC] Whoever he is, he is the same person as Deepak Chopra.
[DC] I am because you are. Ubuntu. [RC] Ubuntu. [DC] Ubuntu. What do you want?
[RC] I would like the entire world to recognize we're all one, there are no differences, there
are no separate egos, and that we do everything out of love and compassion.
[DC] What's your life purpose? [RC] My life purpose is to just be.
[DC] Beautiful. [DC] Who are your heroes, mentors in history,
in mythology, in religion, in life? [RC] You're one of them.
[DC] Oh, come on! [RC] You know, I've met a number of people who are visionaries,
who've changed the world. John Whitehead, the former co-chairman of Goldman Sachs, Jim
Ralphs, who did all the harbor fronts, and changed so many inner cities. And I'm a fan of
all the prophets. [DC] Tell me about the happiest moments in
your life. [RC] Happiest moments have been when I'm completely
feeling centered and at peace, and I'm completely content with what I have, and don't aspire
to have anything more, and the other times are when I'm with family, and I can just become
quiet, and just express internally my gratitude, and just fun times like when we were in India
singing, and nothing else mattered in the world.
[DC] With George Harrison. [RC] But just that particular moment in time,
and we were all in the present. [DC] Yeah, in the present. No grasping, no
clinging, no regrets, no anticipation, just this moment as it is.
[RC] Perfectly said. [DC] Just this moment as it is. Ray, what do you think is the secret
of a good relationship? [RC] You know, I think it's that same group of thoughts.
Compassion, love, staying in the moment, and you know, one of those five not readily apparent
steps to happiness that I spoke to Jeff *** about... [DC] Yeah, tell us about that. Those are very
good, I'm glad you brought it up. [RC] One of them is, "It's more important
to be loving than to be right." And we all still struggle with that because even with
those we love the most, we have this inner need to prove that we're right. Number two
is staying in the moment. Number three, I learnt from you was stepping back, and becoming
a spectator to your own thoughts. Especially after you've begun to have an emotional reaction.
[DC] Step back. You know, sometimes in my meditation a week ago, I had this thought appear spontaneously.
We're living in an insane asylum, and then the thought came, "Do you want to be an inmate,
or do you want to be a spectator?" Do you want to wear a visitor's badge? And ever since
then, when I look at the insanity around me, I pick up the visitors' badge. So become a
spectator. There's a couple more, right? [RC] The fourth one was, "Do anything you
can to help somebody less fortunate, and then get detached from the outcome." So whether
it succeeds, whether it fails, whether the person thanks you, or resents you, it doesn't
matter, it was the intention on the input side. And the fifth one was, "Each morning
get up, and write down what you're grateful for, and then read those steps out loud."
By the time you're half way through that list, whatever was bothering you is gone.
[DC] That's so beautiful. So lot of people ask about success. You've just heard the five
secrets of success from one of the most successful people in the world. But success in a broader
way, success is the progressive realization of worthy goals. Success as the ability to
love, have compassion. Success as the creative solutions for not only small problems, but
also monumental problems. My last question, Ray. Do you believe that there's a higher
intelligence in the universe. That we are part of some greater mystery than this all
being just a random accident? [RC] I absolutely do, and it's something that
I feel intuitively and innately, as well as what I've learned, and then as we continue
to have experiences that are synchronistic, where the odds are trillions to one, when
you're thinking about somebody, and the phone rings, you haven't heard from that person
in a year, and it's that person, and that happens to me in groupings and studying, I
was somewhat moved by C.S Lewis. [DC] Yes, of course. [RC] He died happily and then he was a Christian, and then he became
an agnostic, and then became an atheist, and returned to Christianity. I read his little
book, but it was difficult called, "Mere Christianity." And he said, "Perhaps the most tangible evidence
we'll ever that there is a God is that you're traveling down the street, you see an accident,
or somebody in need, part of you wants to run to shelter and safety, part you of wants to
help that person. You know the right thing to do is to help that person, and that may
be the most tangible evidence you'll ever have that there is a God."
[DC] And you've been an example of that all your life. Thank you, Ray for joining me.
The secrets of success, meaning, purpose, our consciousness from Ray Chambers.
Thanks Ray. Thank you for joining me. [RC] Thank you very much, Deepak.