What does
success mean to you? Are you successful right now and if not,
why not? Can it be that what we are all looking and striving for is
only an illusion? In
The
Seven Spiritual Laws Of Success, Deepak Chopra addresses
some of the most pressing and unanswered questions regarding success
and he offers a unique and insightful approach to an age-old desire
that we all seem to be born with
.
Deepak Chopra defines success as ‘the continued expansion of happiness
and the progressive realization of worthy goals’. This definition is
quite different to society’s rules for success, which is almost always
connected to material gain or external recognition. Although these
things are often the result of success, it is by no means the cause or
even the definition of success.
A recent explosion in so-called ‘success literature’ flooded a whole
lot of ideas into the popular culture. Human nature’s desire for
success and ‘having more’ sends us all flocking to the bookshops to
soak up the latest ‘tips’ and ‘tricks’. Although most of these books
send out a very positive message, very few of them ever drill down to
the very nature of success and what it really takes to be successful as
a human being. What makes Deepak Chopra’s
The Seven Spiritual Laws Of
Success so unique is that it is a completely different
approach to success that is not based on ‘strategies’ but on the inner
laws that govern your very being.
While most of the success literature on the market focuses on the mind,
psychology and actual ‘how-to’ advice,
The Seven Spiritual Laws
draws on Deepak Chopra’s background in the healing arts and the ancient
spiritual wisdom of the East. In the rational western society we tend
to focus on ‘things and stuff’ and no matter how much we get, the more
we want and the idols and role models in our society end up either in
rehab or in an early grave. Something seems to be missing in our very
definition of success and what we aspire to as a society.
One of the most fundamental lessons in
The Seven Spiritual Laws of
Success is that true and lasting success is an internal
process and that it has very little to do with what goes on outside of
you. When you realize that who you really are is not your body, but
that you are essentially a spiritual being having a human experience,
you can start to shift your attention to creating not just success but
that sense of inner peace, fulfillment and joy that is the very purpose
of your life here on earth. Living with an inner sense of peace every
day of your life, having harmonious and joyous relationships,
contributing to life and having energy, enthusiasm and eagerness is
what
The Seven
Spiritual Laws Of Success is all about.
Success is not something that is fixed at any given point in time. It
is an ongoing process and it is not defined by definitive moments or
events. As clichéd as it may sound, success is a journey and a process.
Remember that the purpose of traveling is not to reach a destination,
but to travel and to experience everything along the way with joy and
appreciation. As long as your success is limited to ‘things and stuff’
you will never be successful as you will always need more of it just to
feel successful. When you draw your success and fulfillment from inside
you, and when you realize that your spiritual need for success is what
you are really aiming to satisfy, ironically, all the ‘things and
stuff’ will start coming to you in amounts greater than you ever
thought possible.
What so many people fail to grasp is that all the material wealth and
success is the result of ‘what you are’ as a person. In
The Seven Spiritual Laws Of
Success, Deepak Chopra outlines the seven laws and how you
can use and apply these laws in your life to create whatever you
desire.
Now let's go over
The
Seven Spiritual Laws of Success and see how we can apply
them in our lives.
1) The Law of
Pure Potentiality
This law is based on the fact that we are, in our essential state, pure
consciousness. Pure consciousness is pure potentiality; it is the field
of all possibilities and infinite creativity. When you discover your
essential nature and know who you really are, in that knowing itself is
the ability to fulfill any dream you have, because you are the eternal
possibility, the immeasurable potential of all that was, is and will
be. One way to access the field is through the daily practice of
silence, meditation and non-judgment. Spending time in nature will also
give you access to the qualities inherent in the field: infinite
creativity, freedom and bliss.
2) The Law of
Giving
This law could also be called the Law of Giving and Receiving, because
the universe operates through dynamic exchange. The flow of life is
nothing other than the harmonious interaction of all the elements and
forces that structure the field of existence. Because your body and
your mind and the universe are in constant and dynamic change, stopping
the circulation of energy is like stopping the flow of blood. Whenever
blood stops flowing, it begins to clot, to stagnate. That is why you
must give and receive in order to keep wealth and affluence—or anything
you want—circulating in your life. Thus, the more you give, the more
you will receive
3) The Law of
Karma (or Cause and Effect)
"Karma" is both action and the consequence of that action; it is cause
and effect simultaneously, because every action generates a force of
energy that returns to us in kind. Everyone had heard the expression,
"What you sow is what you reap." Obviously, if we want to create
happiness in our lives, we must learn to sow the seeds of happiness.
You can use the Law of Karma to create money and affluence, and the
flow of all good things to you, any time you want. But first, you must
become consciously aware that your future is generated by the choices
you are making in every moment of your life. If you do this on a
regular basis, then you are making full use of this law. The more you
bring your choices into the level of your conscious awareness, the more
you will make those choices which are spontaneously correct—both for
you and those around you.
4) The Law of
Least Effort
This law is based on the fact that nature's intelligence functions with
effortless ease and abandoned carefreeness. This is the principle of
least action, of no resistance. This is, therefore, the principle of
harmony and love. When we learn this lesson from nature, we easily
fulfill our desires. Least effort is expended when your actions are
motivated by love, because nature is held together by the energy of
love. When you seek power and control over other people, you waste
energy. When you seek money or power for the sake of the ego, you spend
energy chasing the illusion of happiness instead of enjoying happiness
in the moment. When your actions are motivated by love, your energy
multiplies and accumulates—and the surplus energy you gather and enjoy
can be channeled to create anything that you want, including unlimited
wealth.
5) The Law of
Intention and Desire
This law is based on the fact that energy and information exist
everywhere in nature. A flower, a rainbow, a tree, a human body, when
broken down to their essential components are energy and information.
The whole universe, in its essential nature, is the movement of energy
and information. The only difference between you and a tree is the
informational and energy content of your respective bodies. You can
consciously change the energy and informational content of your own
quantum mechanical body, and therefore influence the energy and
informational content of your extended body—your environment, your
world—and cause things to manifest in it. Intention lays the groundwork
for the effortless, spontaneous, frictionless flow of pure
potentiality.
6) The Law of
Detachment
This law says that in order to acquire anything in the physical
universe, you have to relinquish your attachment to it. This doesn't
mean you give up the intention to create your desire. You give up your
attachment to the result. This is a very powerful thing to do. The
moment you relinquish your attachment to the result, combining
one-pointed intention with detachment at the same time, you will have
that which you desire. Anything you want can be acquired through
detachment, because detachment is based on the unquestioning belief in
the power of your true Self. Attachment comes from poverty
consciousness, because attachment is always to symbols. Detachment is
synonymous with wealth consciousness, because with detachment there is
freedom to create. True wealth consciousness is the ability to have
anything you want, anytime you want, and with least effort.
7) The Law of
"Dharma" or Purpose in Life
The seventh spiritual law of success is the Law of Dharma. (Dharma is a
Sanskrit word that means "purpose in life.") This law says that we have
taken manifestation in physical form to fulfill a purpose. You have a
unique talent and a unique way of expressing it. There is something
that you can do better than anyone else in the whole world—and for
every unique talent and unique expression of that talent, there are
also unique needs. When these needs are matched with the creative
expression of your talent, that is the spark that creates affluence.
Expressing your talents to fulfill needs creates unlimited wealth and
abundance.
The Seven
Spiritual Laws of Success are powerful principles that
will enable you to attain self-mastery. If you put your attention on
these laws and practice the steps outlined above, you will see that you
can manifest anything you want—all the affluence, money and success you
desire. You will also see that your life becomes more joyful and
abundant in every way, for these laws are also the spiritual laws of
life that make living worthwhile. ###
Adapted with permission from
The
Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, copyright 1994 by Deepak
Chopra.
Deon Du Plessis is the author of
The
Self Improvement Gym, a website dedicated to helping
ordinary people create extraordinary lives.
http://illumen8.com
FEATURE: Deepak Chopra, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success 
