(MONEY Magazine) – Deepak Chopra, the New Age physician and best-selling author of Ageless Body, Timeless Mind, tries to merge materialism with spiritualism in his new book, Creating Affluence: Wealth Consciousness in the Field of All Possibilities (New World Library, $12.95). Chopra gave MONEY writer Elizabeth MacDonald a peek into his own finances as he explained his claim that you can meditate your way to greater wealth:

Q. How can a middle-income person become affluent? A. By achieving wealth consciousness, a state of mind that involves creativity and joy. To experience it, families should sit every day in silence for 20 minutes in the morning and evening to know themselves and to attain a peaceful inner state.

Q. How does that help? A. It eliminates the worry that makes you truly poor. If you are constantly concerned about money, then even if you have a billion dollars in the bank you are not rich.

Q. Does this mean that I shouldn't save? A. Many people spend their whole lives saving for retirement, but that is based on fear that "I will get to this stage and have nothing." I'm not saying you shouldn't save, but it should be a minor aspect of your concerns.

Q. You say truly wealthy people never worry about money because they know there's an inexhaustible supply. How can middle-income people tap that supply? A. First, find out who you are and get in touch with the source of your creativity. Second, learn how to serve your fellow human beings, rather than asking what's in it for me. Third, find your unique talent -- the thing that, when you do it, causes you to lose track of time. By combining all three, you can unlock the creative process and make money.

Q. Have you ever lost a lot of money? A. The day the stock market crashed in 1987, I went from having a million dollars to less than a hundred thousand. But do you know how much attention I gave it? One hour.

Q. Did you gain it back? A. Many times over.