Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra

Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra

“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.” – Deepak Chopra

Deepak Chopra is an Indian American author, speaker, and advocate of alternative medicine in the New Age spiritual movement. He is one of the influential teachers who contributes to the widespread popularity of the mindfulness meditation movement in North America and Europe.

He founded the Chopra Foundation with the purpose to promote world peace through cultivating healthy lifestyle health and expanding spiritual consciousness for a life of holistic well-being. The Chopra Center Meditation regularly holds the Oprah & Deepak 21-day Meditation Experience as part of the efforts to promote meditation.

As of 2015, Chopra has written 80 books, 21 of them New York Times bestsellers. His book The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success was on The New York Times Best Seller list for 72 weeks. Here is the summary of the key points in the book:

Spiritual Law #1: Law 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.…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.” – Deepak Chopra

3 Commitments to Apply the Law of Pure Potentiality:

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 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 throb of ages, the field of pure potentiality and unbounded creativity.
3. 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.

Spiritual Law #2: Law of Giving

“The more you give, the more you will receive, because you will keep the abundance of the universe circulating in your life. In fact, anything that is of value in life only multiplies when it is given.” – Deepak Chopra

3 Commitments to Apply the Law of Giving:

1. Wherever I go, and whoever 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.

Spiritual Law #3: Law of Karma (Law of 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 like kind…If we want to create happiness in our lives, we must learn to sow the seeds of happiness. Therefore, karma implies the action of conscious choice-making.” – Deepak Chopra

3 Commitments to Apply the Law of Karma:

1. 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.
2. 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?”
3. 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.

Spiritual Law #4: Law of Least Effort

“Nature’s intelligence functions effortlessly, frictionlessly, spontaneously. It is non-linear; it is intuitive, holistic, and nourishing. And when you are in harmony with nature, when you are established in the knowledge of your true self, you can make use of the Law of Least Effort.” – Deepak Chopra

3 Commitments to Apply the Law of Least Effort:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.

Spiritual Law #5: Law of Intention and Desire

“Intention is the real power behind desire. Intent alone is very powerful, because intent is desire without attachment to the outcome.” – Deepak Chopra

3 Commitments to Apply the Law of Intention and Desire:

1. 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.
2. 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 that I have conceived.
3. 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.

Spiritual Law #6: Law of Detachment

“The Law of Detachment 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 don’t give up the intention, and you don’t give up the desire. You give up your attachment to the result.” – Deepak Chopra

3 Commitments to Apply the Law of Detachment:

1. Today I will commit myself to detachment. I 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.
2. 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, disorder, 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.
3. 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.

Spiritual Law #7: Law of Dharma or “Purpose in Life”

“According to this law, 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.” – Deepak Chopra

3 Commitments to Apply the Law of Dharma:

1. I am going to seek my higher self, which is beyond my ego, through spiritual practice.
2. I am going to discover my unique talents, and finding my unique talents, I am going to enjoy myself, because the process of enjoyment occurs when I go into timeless awareness. That’s when I am in a state of bliss.
3. I am going to ask myself how I am best suited to serve humanity.