Deepak Chopra MD (official)  Founder at Deepak Chopra LLC

January 25, 2026

By Deepak Chopra, MD, FACP, FRCP

Asleep: The active mind is constantly stressed

Awake: The deeper mind brings the wisdom of silence

Stress seems to catch us in a double bind—it is inescapable, but people do little to reduce it. This isn’t an unavoidable part of the human condition. It isn’t the fault of the outside world, although the modern world is more rushed, noisy, demanding, and full of distractions than ever. The key is actually internal, in how you respond to stress. Human beings aren’t robotic or pre-programmed. We react in different ways, which opens the door to finding solutions in different ways.

Getting in control of stress marks one of the major differences between being asleep and awakening. Being asleep, that is, living unconsciously, puts the entire burden of life on the active mind. We define ourselves by what we think and feel, which in turn leads to how we act and respond. Relying on the active mind seems to come as second nature. It is hard to see that, in fact, this is a conditioned habit.

The habit is accumulated from various sources in all directions. Society begins to reward bright minds at a very early age in school. Being smart or dumb becomes the core of a child’s identity. Verbal skills play a huge part in how you relate to other people. It takes an active mind to adapt to new and challenging situations. In short, the mind is put on guard many times a day, and by social consensus, how you respond to a constant stream of changes largely determines your success in life.

But if you take a step back, it is hard to tell the cure from the disease. A mind on guard, constantly challenged, tested, vigilant, and stressed, is itself a stressor. When people run to the gym, spa, vacation retreat, or cocktail hour to unwind, what they are unwinding from is this inner stressor. For countless people, mental stress has crossed the boundary into distress, giving rise to the billions of dollars spent annually on antidepressants and tranquilizers.

The whole pattern is circular. This means that breaking the pattern can’t happen inside the circle. Trying to think your way out of stress only adds another burden to the thinking mind. In essence, to step out of the circle, you need to call upon another domain of the mind, where awareness lives in silence masked by a frantic top layer of thinking. When spiritual traditions talk about the wisdom of silence, this is what they mean.

Let’s say you resolve to wake up and listen to the wisdom of your inner silence. Immediately, you face a self-contradiction. Silence has no voice. There are no words, thoughts, or mental messages to listen to. The things you can listen to all exist in the active mind, where the problem is located. Many people confront this when they try to meditate, only to find that they don’t experience silence, calm, or inner peace because of the relentless stream of thoughts, which refuse to be quelled.

What this experience actually proves, however, isn’t the futility of silence but the force of habit. The right way to approach inner silence is to make it your mind’s default state instead of a mere glimpse or a privileged but remote product of meditation. After all, being awake is a state of awareness, not a cherished experience.

Changing your default state of awareness won’t happen unless it happens naturally and effortlessly. However, it does require attention and intention. You have to want to wake up, and with this intention in mind, you have to pay attention to the difference between being unconscious and being conscious. Once you notice the difference, your awareness will automatically start to favor being conscious, because it feels better and brings better results.

We all know what being unconscious looks like. It is habitual and socially conditioned behavior characterized by :

· Responding automatically, without thought.

That’s a distressingly long list, all the more because so many people are driven into these behaviors by succumbing to the pressures of stress. Their lives are totally reactive, leaving little room for creative responses.

Living consciously reverses these behaviors, which is a choice that is always open to us. Waking up feels like the following:

· Responding as if the moment is new.

· Feeling relaxed and mentally alert.

· Taking an interest in whatever is new or challenging.

· Not needing constant distractions.

· Avoiding the repetition of automatic reactions.

· Letting go of the need to be right.

· Tuning in to other people and what they have to offer.

· Showing empathy.

· Looking out for the common good in a giving, unselfish way.

· Having real communication skills.

All of these attitudes and behaviors pass the test of feeling better than their opposites. This alone makes them worth trying. You pause when you catch yourself doing the undesirable behavior, you wait for a better response, and you go from there.

A Step Forward:

Looking ahead to the coming week, your growing self-awareness is the key. In that small, silent gap, the active mind is signaled to back off, and awareness produces a new result. The more you allow awareness some space, the more your mind will be attuned to it. The wisdom of silence sounds like a grand term, but it is accessed in these small, practical instances. At the feeling level, the difference will be noticeable, even if subtly. However, if you have a strong negative behavior that has turned into a habit, like self-importance, being controlling, or flying off the handle in anger, the difference can be enormous, so much so that the people around you will be astonished—and gratified.

Reality is a feedback loop. The more you pay attention, the more you will receive feedback to recognize your real self, instead of responding with your predictable habits. The ideal can be summarized in four words: Bliss in, bliss out.

Namaste, Deepak

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