Deepak Chopra is no stranger to us, with Deepak HomeBase located on the mezzanine of ABC Carpet & Home. Bringing together today’s icons and visionaries with Chopra in curated conversation, Deepak HomeBase serves as ABC Carpet & Home’s physical and virtual platform for enlightenment, learning, and wisdom.

This Tuesday, April 3, we’ll host Chopra in celebrating his newest literary venture Spiritual Solutions, available at ABC Carpet & Home and online.

As a physician, teacher, and writer, Chopra has entertained questions from thousands of people facing life’s challenges.  In addressing these issues – none too big or small – he has created with this book an accessible means to turn those obstacles into opportunities.

“ABC Home’s vision is about social transformation, as is this,” said Chopra.  For an insightful sneak peek and to find out how this book aligns with our recent series ‘Love in Action‘ at Deepak HomeBase, we caught up with Chopra.

ABC REVEAL:  You’ve written over sixty-five books with nineteen New York Times bestsellers on various topics underscored with spirituality – why Spiritual Solutions, why now?

DEEPAK CHOPRA:   My last book The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, written over fifteen years ago, was a phenomenal bestseller and I needed to update the knowledge. Everybody seems to be struggling – whether it’s with health, financial situations, or relationships.  It just felt right.

ABR:  In the book’s third section, ‘Dear Deepak:  One to One,’ you foster responses to people all over the world whom have written you their personal inquiries.  Did answering these questions spawn the need you saw for this book?

DC:  I’ve received letters from all over the world for the past ten years and answered thousands of questions.  The range of the letters that were chosen are all part of ‘Life’s Greatest Challenges’ in the book – Relationships, Health and Well-Being, Success, and Personal Growth.  But, the book is not about advice.  The book is about solutions.  When anyone receives bad news, ‘You have cancer, the stock market fell, your house is burning,’ they go into a contracted awareness.  Spiritual Solutions teaches how to expand and become aware that you are a part of an entire ecosystem.  When awareness expands; solutions start to appear.

ABCR:  If one straps on the Spiritual Solutions tool belt then, what does that mean?

DC:  These are tools to expand awareness in every stage – to overcome the subject/object split.  You can have that awareness, perhaps, in meditation, in love, during sex. When one feeds oneself with the totality that exists, you have a deeper understanding.  When you live in pure awareness in every moment there are no problems, there are no solutions. You go beyond the five senses as you shift your awareness.  There are no solutions because there are no problems.

ABCR:  It’s said that in teaching, we learn.  This is more than a book, it is also your personal journey to pure awareness.  In teaching, what have you learned?

DC:  Yes, I live with the experience myself.  If I see a problem, I immediately ask myself if I am in contracted awareness.

ABCR:  How were you able to make spirituality into a user-friendly guide?

DC:  There is nothing abstract about these ideas.  They are very practical because self-awareness is very practical.  From the beginning of time it has been said, ‘Know yourself.’  The more you know yourself in every moment the more the world is mirroring your own self.

ABCR:  Who is this book for?

DC:  Whoever is ready.

ABCR:  Are you working on anymore books now?

DC:  There is Superbrain: New Breakthroughs for Maximizing Health, Happiness and Spiritual Well-Being co-authored with Rudy Tanzi .

Wherever one may be on their path, Chopra’s Spiritual Solutions takes a complex world and makes it simpler to understand – certainly, something we could all use.  Reveal looks forward to learning more and invites you, Tuesday, to be a part of our conversation.

For more information and tickets to the upcoming book launch, visit Deepak Homebase. Attendees of the conversation will be gifted with a copy of Spiritual Solutions and have the opportunity to get their book signed by Deepak Chopra. For those unable to attend in person, join us on livestream at 7 p.m. EST.

Coming up…

On April 13, Deepak Chopra will sit with congressman Tim Ryan to discuss ‘Building a mindful nation: Recapturing the American Spirit’ here at ABC Carpet & Home.  Please RSVP by April 9 to attend.

This Wednesday, March 21st, an early evening of Spring, Deepak Chopra hosted a conversation with Vandana Shiva, named by Forbes magazine as one of the seven most influential women in the world today.  Ecologist, philosopher, and founder of the Navdanya environmental conservation movement, Shiva discussed the future of the conscious culture of food and celebrated the launch of her new endeavor the Fibres of Freedom (FOF).

Shiva reported that ninety percent of India’s cotton supply is now controlled by industrial, GMO-based manufacturers.  The result of which has been rising costs of seeds and chemicals, increased crop failures and a trail of severe debt for the farmers.  We learned a devastating 250,000 farmers have taken their lives in the past decade due to financial destitute.  With hope lost, farmers would typically drink the very pesticide that was the basis of their plight.  To combat this agricultural demoralization, Fibres of Freedom provides farmers with native, indigenous seeds, educates on organic farming practices, and fosters Gardens of Hope – creating family gardens for the women and children of farmers whom have passed so that these families might rebuild and sustain themselves.

We welcome FOF’s first product at ABC Home, the khadi embroidered shirt, and we look forward to developing more products with the community.

The conversation, part of ABC Home’s “Love in Action” series, was nestled in front of a full house at Deepak HomeBase (located on the mezzanine of ABC Carpet & Home).

Chopra and Shiva interwove the talk between the gifts and curses of science.  Every agricultural problem, local to global, that has attempted to be resolved with science has created a problem by the very capacity of that science – global warming, mutated seeds, toxic soil.  “What moves life around is nourishment, not money,” said Shiva.  “When nourishment is replaced with toxins, what moves around is death” – making the colonization of seed literally a life or death situation.

Shiva’s future vision is lined with hope.  There is no such thing as ‘things’, Shiva explained, only relationships.  By breaking free of a fear-based worldview and reductionist scientific method, where knowledge is locked in houses of bricks rather than making nature our teacher, we can make peace with the Earth by realizing we’re a part of it – love it – nourish it.  “When you realize you are related to something,” Shiva smiled, “you take responsibility for it.”

To learn more about the movement for seed sovereignty, explore the writings of Vandana Shiva available at ABC Home.

Tickets are available for our next conversation, Tuesday, April 3rd, celebrating ABC Home’s exclusive release of Deepak Chopra’s newest book “Spiritual Solutions”, following his April 2nd conversation with Oprah (SOLD OUT) at Radio City Music Hall.

“When I was a little girl,” Shiva shared with us, “I remember my mother asking me what I wanted for my 6th birthday.  I told her that I wanted the same nylon dresses that all of my friends were wearing.  She explained to me that, of course, I could have it, but when I bought a nylon dress I helped a big industrialist somewhere to buy a Mercedes.  But when I bought a khadi dress, a village woman was given the means to feed her family.”

Ghandi has inspired many to “be the change they wish to see in the world”, and at ABC we have devoted ourselves to this mission.  Appropriately, Navdanya blossomed out of Gandhi’s introduction of the spinning wheel as a symbol of freedom in India.  “Gandhi spun freedom with cotton,”Shiva explains, “The seed is today’s spinning wheel.”  Colonized and genetically modified – that seed is under threat. In our devotion to putting the human hand back into production, this Wednesday, we celebrate Navdanya’s launch of Fibres of Freedom (FOF), fibres grown and woven with threads of justice and sustainability along every step.  As the final step in the realization of Navdanya’s A-Z sustainability efforts, we welcome the very first FOF shirt into our store in our dedication to uphold our “indigenous” icon, and to preserve the design DNA of a culture.

Additionally, this Wednesday evening, Shiva will join Deepak Chopra on ABC Home’s mezzanine at Deepak HomeBase.  Underscored at ABC Home by the belief that beauty and commerce are tools for change, we look forward to hearing about Navdanya’s congruent committal to accountability and intimacy in sourcing wholesome product. ABC Home will be raffling off ten tickets to attend this private event to Reveal readers ­ to enter, leave a comment below!

As pioneers of eco-consciousness, our next iteration with Vandana will include an exclusive line of table linens, which observe the farm to table principles of ABC Kitchen ­ something Shiva has been a champion of into the home.  Whereas most organic clothing lines begin by purchasing organic cloth; FOF and ABC Kitchen will begin at the beginning– with the curation of the seed.

“We must have deep resolve and keep coming back to what really matters,” Shiva says. “LIFE. FREEDOM. DIVERSITY. Neither the Earth nor the farmer needs to be sacrificed.”  Learn more about Navdanya here, and following the Deepak HomeBase conversation look for a full recap here on Reveal.

To voice your support through purchasing an FOF shirt, please click on the photo below:

It was a profound privilege to transform ABC Home for one evening to bring like-minded people together in order to support our President, Barack Obama, at the start of his re-election campaign.

Outside, lines wrapped around the building. Inside, the ABC team put finishing touches on a two week multi-faceted metamorphosis in preparation for the president and the over 1,000 guests that filled our second floor. The energy of the crowd was electric and it was inspiring to see many diverse and dynamic New Yorkers come together as a cohesive group of enthusiastic supporters.

We awaited the president’s arrival, fueled by hors d’oeuvres and drinks by Jean-Georges and ABC Kitchen.*

Hosts Paulette Cole, Deepak Chopra, Russell Simmons, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Phil Suarez and Reshma Saujani were joined by Aziz Ansari, The Roots, Ingrid Michaelson and Ben Folds. The spirited performances set the tone for the president to take the stage. Obama emerged from backstage to a massive ovation. He spoke about his initiatives and successes of his first term and momentum and intentions for the second.

As a socially responsible business and a local New York City institution, we recognize the key role that both American innovation and leadership play in stimulating the worldwide economy. We understand that investing in clean energy will drive state-of-the-art technologies, spur economic growth, create jobs and increase our national security, all while reducing the harmful emissions that are currently putting our planet at risk.

We must embrace the challenge now to ensure that future generations are left with a safe planet and a strong economy. Four more years with President Obama as our leader will ensure future progress toward these initiatives and that the United States of America can model the changes necessary to protect humanity and our planet.

At ABC, our intention is to make a conscious investment in the efforts of global sustainability and to practice tolerance, compassion, humility and humanity.

There are 200+ days until the election and we are counting, being counted, and working hard together.

*Reveal has been asked repeatedly what was served. It was amazing but we are sworn to secrecy.

-Reveal

There’s no denying it — spring is just right around the corner. We know it’s still a little early yet, but with all this warm weather lately, we’ve been ditching our winter coats and enjoying a few extra lingering moments out-of-doors (and away from our desks).

Of course, with this gradual shift into the season of fresh flowers and excited renewal, comes the requisite job of spring-cleaning. Lucky for you, we’re here to help as you set to the task of freshening up your home. Today, March 8^th, marks the start of our Special Order Sale. That means that now until April 1^st you can head into our store, pick any sofa, ottoman or chair and get it custom upholstered for up to 25% off the original price! Looking to add some new color into your space? Or maybe you need to get rid of that tattered old chair from the corner of your living room? Our sales staff will help you look for the perfect piece of furniture and match it with the textile of your dreams.

So start celebrating the change of seasons today and give your home an update with a custom upholstered piece of furniture that is all you. It might just make you wish it were a little colder outside, so you could stay in and admire your beautiful spring updates.

Be sure to check back tomorrow to read our recap of the event’s highlights !

Photo via The New York Times                                                                              

— Reveal

Bronx Warehouse Outlet: 1055 Bronx Avenue, 718-842-8772,
Store Hours: mon-fri 10-7, sun 10-6

— Reveal