Deepak Chopra’s holistic and spiritual views of life are so profound that they have offered millions around the world an opportunity to learn transformative concepts in coping with physical illness, emotional turmoil, stress, loss and many other factors that affect our wellbeing. In The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, Chopra outlines 7 powerful principles you can use to fulfill your deepest desires with effortless joy. If you put them into practice, you’ll realize that you can manifest whatever you’ve been dreaming about.
Based on natural laws that govern all of creation, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success shatters the myth that success is the result of hard work, exacting plans, or driving ambition. Instead, Chopra reveals a life-altering perspective on the attainment of success: When we understand our true nature and learn to live in harmony with natural law, a sense of well-being, good health, fulfilling relationships, and material abundance spring forth easily and effortlessly. The seven laws are as follows:
#1) THE LAW OF POTENTIALITY
The source of all creation is pure consciousness…pure potentiality seeking expression from the unmanifest to the manifest. And when we realize that our true Self is one of pure potentiality, we align with the power that manifests everything in nature.
I will put the Law of Pure Potentiality into effect by making a commitment to take the following steps:
- I will get in touch with the field of pure potentiality by taking time each day to be silent, to just Be. I will also sit alone in silent meditation at least twice a day for approximately thirty minutes in the morning and thirty minutes in the evening.
- I will take time each day to commune with nature and to silently witness the intelligence within every living thing. I will sit silently and watch a sunset, or listen to the sound of the ocean or a stream, or simply smell the scent of a flower. In the ecstasy of my own silence, and by communing with nature, I will enjoy the life throb of ages, the field of pure potentiality and unbounded creativity.
- I will practice non-judgment. I will begin my day with the statement, “Today, I shall judge nothing that occurs,” and throughout the day I will remind myself not to judge.
[Read: The Spiritual Essence Of Yoga]
#2) THE LAW OF GIVING AND RECEIVING
The universe operates through dynamic exchange…giving and receiving are different aspects of the flow of energy in the universe. And in our willingness to give that which we seek, we keep the abundance of the universe circulating in our lives.
I will put the Law of Giving and Receiving into effect by making a commitment to take the following steps:
- Wherever I go, and whomever I encounter, I will bring them a gift. The gift may be a compliment, a flower, or a prayer. Today, I will give something to everyone I come into contact with, and so I will begin the process of circulating joy, wealth and affluence in my life and in the lives of others.
- Today I will gratefully receive all the gifts that life has to offer me. I will receive the gifts of nature: sunlight and the sound of birds singing, or spring showers or the first snow of winter. I will also be open to receiving from others, whether it be in the form of a material gift, money, a compliment or a prayer.
- I will make a commitment to keep wealth circulating in my life by giving and receiving life’s most precious gifts: the gifts of caring, affection, appreciation and love. Each time I meet someone, I will silently wish them happiness, joy and laughter.
#3) THE LAW OF KARMA
The Law of Karma: Every action generates a force of energy that returns to us in like kind. What we sow is what we reap. And when we choose actions that bring happiness and success to others, the fruit of our karma is happiness and success.
I will put the Law of Karma into effect by making a commitment to take the following steps:
- Today I will witness the choices I make in each moment. And in the mere witnessing of these choices, I will bring them to my conscious awareness. I will know that the best way to prepare for any moment in the future is to be fully conscious in the present.
- Whenever I make a choice, I will ask myself two questions: “What are the consequences of this choice that I’m making?” and “Will this choice bring fulfillment and happiness to me and also to those who are affected by this choice?”
- I will then ask my heart for guidance and be guided by its message of comfort or discomfort. If the choice feels comfortable, I will plunge ahead with abandon. If the choice feels uncomfortable, I will pause and see the consequences of my action with my inner vision. This guidance will enable me to make spontaneously correct choices for myself and for all those around me.
#4) THE LAW OF LEAST EFFORT
Nature’s intelligence functions with effortless ease…with carefreeness, harmony, and love. And when we harness the forces of harmony, joy, and love, we create success and good fortune with effortless ease.
I will put the Law of Least Effort into effect by making a commitment to take the following steps:
- I will practice Acceptance. Today I will accept people, situations, circumstances, and events as they occur. I will know that this moment is as it should be, because the whole universe is as it should be. I will not struggle against the whole universe by struggling against this moment. My acceptance is total and complete. I accept things as they are this moment, not as I wish they were.
- Having accepted things as they are, I will take Responsibility for my situation and for all those events I see as problems. I know that taking responsibility means not blaming anyone or anything for my situation (and this includes myself). I also know that every problem is an opportunity in disguise, and this alertness to opportunities allows me to take this moment and transform it into a greater benefit.
- Today my awareness will remain established in Defenselessness. I will relinquish the need to defend my point of view. I will feel no need to convince or persuade others to accept my point of view. I will remain open to all points of view and not be rigidly attached to any one of them.
#5) THE LAW OF INTENTION AND DESIRE
The Law of Intention and Desire: Inherent in every intention and desire is the mechanics for its fulfillment. Intention and desire in the field of pure potentiality have infinite organizing power. When we introduce an intention in the fertile ground of pure potentiality, we put this infinite organizing power to work for us.
I will put the Law of Intention and Desire into effect by making a commitment to take the following steps:
- I will make a list of all my desires. I will carry this list with me wherever I go. I will look at this list before I go into my silence and meditation. I will look at it before I go to sleep at night. I will look at it when I wake up in the morning.
- I will release this list of my desires and surrender it to the womb of creation, trusting that when things don’t seem to go my way, there is a reason, and that the cosmic plan has designs for me much grander than even those I have conceived.
- I will remind myself to practice present-moment awareness in all my actions. I will refuse to allow obstacles to consume and dissipate the quality of my attention in the present moment. I will accept the present as it is, and manifest the future through my deepest, most cherished intentions and desires.
#6) THE LAW OF DETACHMENT
The Law of Detachment: In detachment lies the wisdom of uncertainty…in the wisdom of uncertainty lies the freedom from our past, from the known, which is the prison of past conditioning. And in our willingness to step into the unknown, the field of all possibilities, we surrender ourselves to the creative mind that orchestrates the dance of the universe.
I will put the Law of Detachment into effect by making a commitment to take the following steps:
- Today I will commit myself to detachment. I will allow myself and those around me the freedom to be as they are. I will not rigidly impose my idea of how things should be. I will not force solutions on problems, thereby creating new problems. I will participate in everything with detached involvement.
- Today I will factor in uncertainty as an essential ingredient of my experience. In my willingness to accept uncertainty, solutions will spontaneously emerge out of the problem, out of the confusion, order and chaos. The more uncertain things seem to be, the more secure I will feel, because uncertainty is my path to freedom. Through the wisdom of uncertainty, I will find my security.
- I will step into the field of all possibilities and anticipate the excitement that can occur when I remain open to an infinity of choices. When I step into the field of all possibilities, I will experience all the fun, adventure, magic and mystery of life.
[Read: Mindfully Nurturing Your Kid’s Spiritual Awareness]
#7) THE LAW OF DHARMA OR PURPOSE IN LIFE
Everyone has a purpose in life…a unique gift or special talent to give to others. And when we blend this unique talent with service to others, we experience the ecstasy and exultation of our own spirit, which is the ultimate goal of all goals.
I will put the Law of Dharma into effect by making a commitment to take the following steps:
- Today I will lovingly nurture the god or goddess in embryo that lies deep within my soul. I will pay attention to the spirit within me that animates both my body and my mind. I will awaken myself to this deep stillness within my heart. I will carry the consciousness of timeless, eternal Being in the midst of time-bound experience.
- I will make a list of my unique talents. Then I will list all the things that I love to do while expressing my unique talents. When I express my unique talents and use them in the service of humanity, I lose track of time and create abundance in my life as well as in the lives of others.
- I will ask myself daily, “How can I serve?” and “How can I help?” The answers to these questions will allow me to help and serve my fellow human beings with love.
There is a natural sequence for the application of these laws in your daily life that may help you to remember them. The Law of Pure Potentiality is experienced through silence, through meditation, through non-judgment, through communion with nature, but it is activated by the Law of Giving. The principle here is to learn to give that which you seek. That’s how you activate the Law of Pure Potentiality. If you seek affluence, give affluence; if you seek money, give money; if you seek love, appreciation, and affection, then learn to give love, appreciation, and affection.
Through your actions in the Law of Giving you activate the Law of Karma. You create good karma, and good karma makes everything in life easy. You notice that you don’t have to expend a lot of effort to fulfill your desires, which automatically leads to an understanding of the Law of Least Effort. When everything is easy and effortless, and your desires keep getting fulfilled, you spontaneously begin to understand the Law of Intention and Desire. Fulfilling your desires with effortless ease makes it easy for you to practice the Law of Detachment.
Finally as you begin to understand all the above laws, you begin to focus on your true purpose in life, which leads to the Law of Dharma. Through the use of this law, by expressing your unique talents and fulfilling the needs of your fellow humans, you begin to create whatever you want, whenever you want it. You become carefree and joyful, and your life becomes an expression of unbounded love.