THE SEVEN SPIRITUAL LAWS OF SUCCESS
A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO THE FULFILLMENT of YOUR DREAMS
By

DEEPAK CHOPRA

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS...............................................................ii INTRODUCTION......................................................................iv 1: THE LAW OF PURE POTENTIALITY..........................................1 2: THE LAW OF GIVING..........................................................13 3: THE LAW OF “KARMA” OR CAUSE AND EFFECT.......................21 4: THE LAW OF LEAST EFFORT................................................30 5: THE LAW OF INTENTION AND DESIRE..................................40 6: THE LAW OF DETACHMENT..................................................51 7: THE LAW OF “DHARMA” OR PURPOSE IN LIFE........................59 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION..................................................67 ABOUT THE AUTHOR..............................................................73 ALSO FROM DEEPAK CHOPRA..................................................74 THE CHOPRA FOUNDATION AN INVITATION...............................76 FRONT COVER FLAP...............................................................81 BACK COVER FLAP.................................................................82 BACK COVER MATERIAL..........................................................83

i You are As your As your As your what your deep, driving desire is. desire is, so is your will. will is, so is your deed. deed is, so is your destiny. —Brihadaranyaka Upanishad IV.4.5

ii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to express my love and gratitude to the following people: Janet Mills for lovingly nurturing this book from conception to completion. Rita Chopra, Mallika Chopra, and Gautama Chopra for being the living expression of The Seven Spiritual Laws. Ray Chambers, Gayle Rose, Adrianna Nienow, David Simon, George Harrison, Olivia Harrison, Naomi Judd, Demi Moore, and Alice Walton for their courage and commitment to a vision that is awesome, inspiring, lofty, noble, and life-transforming. Roger Gabriel, Brent Becvar, Rose Bueno-Murphy, and all my staff at the Sharp Center for Mind-Body Medicine for being inspiring examples to all our guests and patients. Deepak Singh, Geeta Singh, and all my staff at Quantum Publications for their unflagging energy and dedication. Richard Perl for being such a great example of self-referral.

iii Arielle Ford for her unshakable faith in self-knowledge and her infectious enthusiasm and commitment to transform the lives of so many people. And Bill Elkus for his understanding and friendship.

iv

INTRODUCTION
Although this book is titled The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, it could also be called The Seven Spiritual Laws of Life, because these are the same principles that nature uses to create everything in material existence—everything we can see, hear, smell, taste, or touch. In my book, Creating Affluence: Wealth Consciousness in the Field of All Possibilities, I have outlined the steps to wealth consciousness based on a true understanding of the workings of nature. The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success form the essence of this teaching. When this knowledge is incorporated in your consciousness, it will give you the ability to create unlimited wealth with effortless ease, and to experience success in every endeavor. Success in life could be defined as the continued expansion of happiness and the progressive realization of worthy goals. Success is the ability to fulfill your desires with effortless ease. And yet success, including the creation of wealth, has always been considered to be a process that requires hard work, and it is often considered to be at the expense of others. We need a more spiritual approach to success and to affluence, which is the abundant flow of all good things to you. With the knowledge and practice of spiritual law, we put

v ourselves in harmony with nature and create with carefreeness, joy, and love. There are many aspects to success; material wealth is only one component. Moreover, success is a journey, not a destination. Material abundance, in all its expressions, happens to be one of those things that makes the journey more enjoyable. But success also includes good health, energy and enthusiasm for life, fulfilling relationships, creative freedom, emotional and psychological stability, a sense of well-being, and peace of mind. Even with the experience of all these things, we will remain unfulfilled unless we nurture the seeds of divinity inside us. In reality, we are divinity in disguise, and the gods and goddesses in embryo that are contained within us seek to be fully materialized. True success is therefore the experience of the miraculous. It is the unfolding of the divinity within us. It is the perception of divinity wherever we go, in whatever we perceive—in the eyes of a child, in the beauty of a flower, in the flight of a bird. When we begin to experience our life as the miraculous expression of divinity—not occasionally, but all the time—then we will know the true meaning of success. ***

vi Before defining The Seven Spiritual Laws, let us understand the concept of law. Law is the process by which the unmanifest becomes the manifest; it’s the process by which the observer becomes the observed; it’s the process by which the seer becomes the scenery; it’s the process through which the dreamer manifests the dream. All of creation, everything that exists in the physical world, is the result of the unmanifest transforming itself into the manifest. Everything that we behold comes from the unknown. Our physical body, the physical universe—anything and everything that we can perceive through our senses—is the transformation of the unmanifest, unknown, and invisible into the manifest, known, and visible. The physical universe is nothing other than the Self curving back within Itself to experience Itself as spirit, mind, and physical matter. In other words, all processes of creation are processes through which the Self or divinity expresses Itself. Consciousness in motion expresses itself as the objects of the universe in the eternal dance of life. The source of all creation is divinity (or the spirit); the process of creation is divinity in motion (or the mind); and the object of creation is the physical universe (which includes the physical body). These three components of reality—spirit, mind, and body, or ob-

vii server, the process of observing, and the observed—are essentially the same thing. They all come from the same place: the field of pure potentiality which is purely unmanifest. The physical laws of the universe are actually this whole process of divinity in motion, or consciousness in motion. When we understand these laws and apply them in our lives, anything we want can be created, because the same laws that nature uses to create a forest, or a galaxy, or a star, or a human body can also bring about the fulfillment of our deepest desires. Now let’s go over The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success and see how we can apply them in our lives.

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1

THE LAW OF PURE 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 the universe. In the beginning There was neither existence nor non-existence, All this world was unmanifest energy... The One breathed, without breath, by Its own power Nothing else was there... —Hymn of Creation, The Rig Veda The first spiritual law of success is 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. Pure consciousness is our spiritual essence. Being infinite and unbounded,

2 it is also pure joy. Other attributes of consciousness are pure knowledge, infinite silence, perfect balance, invincibility, simplicity, and bliss. This is our essential nature. Our essential nature is one of pure potentiality. 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. The Law of Pure Potentiality could also be called the Law of Unity, because underlying the infinite diversity of life is the unity of one all-pervasive spirit. There is no separation between you and this field of energy. The field of pure potentiality is your own Self. And the more you experience your true nature, the closer you are to the field of pure potentiality. The experience of the Self, or “self-referral,” means that our internal reference point is our own spirit, and not the objects of our experience. The opposite of self-referral is object-referral. In object-referral we are always influenced by objects outside the Self, which include situations, circumstances, people, and things. In object-referral we are constantly seeking the approval of others. Our thinking and our behavior are always in anticipation of a response. It is therefore fear-based.

3 In object-referral we also feel an intense need to control things. We feel an intense need for external power. The need for approval, the need to control things, and the need for external power are needs that are based on fear. This kind of power is not the power of pure potentiality, or the power of the Self, or real power. When we experience the power of the Self, there is an absence of fear, there is no compulsion to control, and no struggle for approval or external power. In object-referral, your internal reference point is your ego. The ego, however, is not who you really are. The ego is your self-image; it is your social mask; it is the role you are playing. Your social mask thrives on approval. It wants to control, and it is sustained by power, because it lives in fear. Your true Self, which is your spirit, your soul, is completely free of those things. It is immune to criticism, it is unfearful of any challenge, and it feels beneath no one. And yet, it is also humble and feels superior to no one, because it recognizes that everyone else is the same Self, the same spirit in different disguises. That’s the essential difference between object-referral and self-referral. In self-referral, you experience your true being, which is unfearful of any challenge, has

4 respect for all people, and feels beneath no one. Selfpower is therefore true power. Power based on object-referral, however, is false power. Being ego-based power, it lasts only as long as the object of reference is there. If you have a certain title—if you’re the president of the country or the chairman of a corporation—or if you have a lot of money, the power you enjoy goes with the title, with the job, with the money. Ego-based power will only last as long as those things last. As soon as the title, the job, the money go away, so does the power. Self-power, on the other hand, is permanent, because it is based on the knowledge of the Self. And there are certain characteristics of self-power. It draws people to you, and it also draws things that you want to you. It magnetizes people, situations, and circumstances to support your desires. This is also called support from the laws of nature. It is the support of divinity; it is the support that comes from being in the state of grace. Your power is such that you enjoy a bond with people, and people enjoy a bond with you. Your power is that of bonding—a bonding that comes from true love. *** How can we apply the Law of Pure Potentiality, the field of all possibilities, to our lives? If you want to

5 enjoy the benefits of the field of pure potentiality, if you want to make full use of the creativity which is inherent in pure consciousness, then you have to have access to it. One way to access the field is through the daily practice of silence, meditation, and nonjudgment. Spending time in nature will also give you access to the qualities inherent in the field: infinite creativity, freedom, and bliss. Practicing silence means making a commitment to take a certain amount of time to simply Be. Experiencing silence means periodically withdrawing from the activity of speech. It also means periodically withdrawing from such activities as watching television, listening to the radio, or reading a book. If you never give yourself the opportunity to experience silence, this creates turbulence in your internal dialogue. Set aside a little time every once in a while to experience silence. Or simply make a commitment to maintain silence for a certain period each day. You could do it for two hours, or if that seems a lot, do it for a one-hour period. And every once in a while experience silence for an extended period of time, such as a full day, or two days, or even a whole week. What happens when you go into this experience of silence? Initially your internal dialogue becomes even more turbulent. You feel an intense need to say things. I’ve known people who go absolutely crazy

6 the first day or two when they commit themselves to an extended period of silence. A sense of urgency and anxiety suddenly comes over them. But as they stay with the experience, their internal dialogue begins to quieten. And soon the silence becomes profound. This is because after a while the mind gives up; it realizes there is no point in going around and around if you—the Self, the spirit, the choice-maker—are not going to speak, period. Then, as the internal dialogue quietens, you begin to experience the stillness of the field of pure potentiality. Practicing silence periodically as it is convenient to you is one way to experience the Law of Pure Potentiality. Spending time each day in meditation is another. Ideally, you should meditate at least thirty minutes in the morning, and thirty minutes in the evening. Through meditation you will learn to experience the field of pure silence and pure awareness. In that field of pure silence is the field of infinite correlation, the field of infinite organizing power, the ultimate ground of creation where everything is inseparably connected with everything else. In the fifth spiritual law, the Law of Intention and Desire, you will see how you can introduce a faint impulse of intention in this field, and the creation of your desires will come about spontaneously. But first, you have to experience stillness. Stillness is

7 the first requirement for manifesting your desires, because in stillness lies your connection to the field of pure potentiality that can orchestrate an infinity of details for you. Imagine throwing a little stone into a still pond and watching it ripple. Then, after a while, when the ripples settle down, perhaps you throw another little stone. That’s exactly what you do when you go into the field of pure silence and introduce your intention. In this silence, even the faintest intention will ripple across the underlying ground of universal consciousness, which connects everything with everything else. But, if you do not experience stillness in consciousness, if your mind is like a turbulent ocean, you could throw the Empire State Building into it, and you wouldn’t notice a thing. In the Bible is the expression, “Be still, and know that I am God.” This can only be accomplished through meditation. Another way to access the field of pure potentiality is through the practice of non-judgment. Judgment is the constant evaluation of things as right or wrong, good or bad. When you are constantly evaluating, classifying, labeling, analyzing, you create a lot of turbulence in your internal dialogue. This turbulence constricts the flow of energy between you and the field of pure potentiality. You literally squeeze the “gap” between thoughts.

8 The gap is your connection to the field of pure potentiality. It is that state of pure awareness, that silent space between thoughts, that inner stillness that connects you to true power. And when you squeeze the gap, you squeeze your connection to the field of pure potentiality and infinite creativity. There is a prayer in A Course in Miracles that states, “Today I shall judge nothing that occurs.” Non-judgment creates silence in your mind. It is a good idea, therefore, to begin your day with that statement. And throughout the day, remind yourself of that statement each time you catch yourself judging. If practicing this procedure for the whole day seems too difficult, then you may simply say to yourself, “For the next two hours, I won’t judge anything,” or “For the next hour, I will experience non-judgment.” Then you can extend it gradually. Through silence, through meditation, and through non-judgment, you will access the first law, the Law of Pure Potentiality. Once you start doing that, you can add a fourth component to this practice, and that is regularly spending time in direct communion with nature. Spending time in nature enables you to sense the harmonious interaction of all the elements and forces of life, and gives you a sense of unity with all of life. Whether it be a stream, a forest, a mountain, a lake, or the seashore, that connection with nature’s intelligence

9 will also help you access the field of pure potentiality. You must learn to get in touch with the innermost essence of your being. This true essence is beyond the ego. It is fearless; it is free; it is immune to criticism; it does not fear any challenge. It is beneath no one, superior to no one, and full of magic, mystery, and enchantment. Access to your true essence will also give you insight into the mirror of relationship, because all relationship is a reflection of your relationship with yourself. For example, if you have guilt, fear, and insecurity over money, or success, or anything else, then these are reflections of guilt, fear, and insecurity as basic aspects of your personality. No amount of money or success will solve these basic problems of existence; only intimacy with the Self will bring about true healing. And when you are grounded in the knowledge of your true Self—when you really understand your true nature—you will never feel guilty, fearful, or insecure about money, or affluence, or fulfilling your desires, because you will realize that the essence of all material wealth is life energy, it is pure potentiality. And pure potentiality is your intrinsic nature. As you gain more and more access to your true nature, you will also spontaneously receive creative

10 thoughts, because the field of pure potentiality is also the field of infinite creativity and pure knowledge. Franz Kafka, the Austrian philosopher and poet, once said, “You need not leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. You need not even listen, simply wait. You need not even wait, just learn to become quiet, and still, and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked. It has no choice; it will roll in ecstasy at your feet.” The affluence of the universe—the lavish display and abundance of the universe—is an expression of the creative mind of nature. The more tuned in you are to the mind of nature, the more you have access to its infinite, unbounded creativity. But first, you have to go beyond the turbulence of your internal dialogue to connect with that abundant, affluent, infinite, creative mind. And then you create the possibility of dynamic activity while at the same time carrying the stillness of the eternal, unbounded, creative mind. This exquisite combination of silent, unbounded, infinite mind along with dynamic, bounded, individual mind is the perfect balance of stillness and movement simultaneously that can create whatever you want. This coexistence of opposites—stillness and dynamism at the same time—makes you independent of situations, circumstances, people, and things.

11 When you quietly acknowledge this exquisite coexistence of opposites, you align yourself with the world of energy—the quantum soup, the non-material non-stuff that is the source of the material world. This world of energy is fluid, dynamic, resilient, changing, forever in motion. And yet it is also non-changing, still, quiet, eternal, and silent. Stillness alone is the potentiality for creativity; movement alone is creativity restricted to a certain aspect of its expression. But the combination of movement and stillness enables you to unleash your creativity in all directions—wherever the power of your attention takes you. Wherever you go in the midst of movement and activity, carry your stillness within you. Then the chaotic movement around you will never overshadow your access to the reservoir of creativity, the field of pure potentiality.

APPLYING THE LAW OF PURE POTENTIALITY
I will put the Law of Pure Potentiality into effect by making a commitment to take the following steps: (1) 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

12 at least twice a day for approximately thirty minutes in the morning and thirty minutes in the evening. (2) 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.

(3)