The 7 Spiritual Laws of Success
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Yes, I experienced it, I really did; the intense feeling of true happiness and success. Not just temporarily, but extensively for an uninterrupted period of several months. This was simply the most significant ‘achievement’ of mine: finding clarity, peace and happiness in a hectic and high-demanding life. This phase took the entire first half of 2007 and I came out the other end with much insight and understanding about myself and my purpose.
I have never felt so complete and content as I did during this period. With the most rewarding being the absolute stillness I felt within myself and the understanding that we can be truly and absolutely happy with living a simple life with very little material possession. Now, if this is your first visit here, this may sound a little mystical and hand-wavy. No, I am not a hippy, nor am I religious. I am just a girl, going through life, seeking that which we are all seeking: happiness.
What is my secret to happiness and success?
The Inspirations
The catalysts which pushed me into this phase were four books, for which I am extremely grateful. These books are:
- The Power of Now, By Eckhart Tolle
- The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, By Deepak Chopra
- Ways of the Peaceful Warrior, By Dan Millman
- Guaranteed Solutions, By Swami Nithyananda
I have gained so much wisdom through these books and each time I read them, it wasn’t the words which I was reading, but rather the message. The words from these pages brought me to a higher level of conscious awareness.
The Lifestyle
During the 6 months, I habituated several practices which helped me move into newer levels of understanding. My daily practices included:
- Meditation – Sitting in silent and calming my mind. 20-30 minutes a sitting. Twice a day.
- Listening to Meditative Music – Music have the power to shift our moods and calm our minds. I was particularly fond of Stan Richardson’s Japanese Flutes. Everyone who I’ve played it for love its calming effects.
- Vegetarianism – I was a raw vegan. You can read about Steve Pavlina’s current experiment with a raw diet. I loved the new gained energy I had. I did eat cooked food when dining out, but I refrained from eating meat.
- Mindfulness – I made a conscious effort to put my full awareness into anything that I was doing. Walking to work, preparing meals, eating, drinking water, listening to others talk.
- Being Inspired – I spent an hour a day reading or listening to something inspirational. I even hosted a weekly Eckhart Tolle meet-up group where we watched Tolle DVDs, meditated and connected with other people. This turned out to be a deeply enriching experience.
- Self Dates – I spent a lot of time with myself by myself. I overcame the need to be with other people and the fear of being alone.
- Daily Focus – From “The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success“, I broke the seven laws for each day of the week and focused on one each day. (more details below)
- Creative Expressions – photography, drawing or writing.
- Slowed Down – I stopped rushing from place to place, task to task, and started enjoying the miracles of Life; one moment at a time.
This may sound a little extreme, and I was indeed extreme. But I felt a compelling desire to do so, I felt a strong pull towards these practices, in order to satisfy a yearning from deep inside for peace, clarity and understanding.
What Is Success?
“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
Success is a topic I’ve spent many hours pondering and I’ve come to realize that it is so much more than just material wealth. Material wealth is only a small portion of your collective success potential. It is an experience as part of our journey as spiritual beings and yes, material wealth may make this journey more comfortable, but let’s not neglect the other dimensions of success: the success of sound physical health, fulfilling relationships, meaningful friendships, joy of self-expression, freedom from fear, the capacity to understand people and self-mastery.
Living The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success
In Deepak Chopra’s book, “The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success“, he gives us a spiritual look at success. You can have an extensive look at each law in his book, which goes into extensive detail. Here are the seven laws along with an example application found in the book:
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.“
Example Application:
- ‘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.’
2. The Law of Giving
“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.“
Example Application:
- ‘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.’
- ‘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 Cause and Effect
“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.”
Example Application:
- ‘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?”‘
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.“
Example Application:
- ‘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.’
- ‘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
“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.
And when we introduce an intention in
the fertile ground of pure potentiality,
we put this infinite organizing power to work for us.“
Example Application:
- “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.”
6. The Law of Detachment
“In detachment lies the wisdom of uncertainty . . .
in the wisdom of uncertainty list 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.“
Example Application:
- “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 detachment involvement.”
7. The Law of 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.“
Example Application:
- ‘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 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.’
How to Live the Seven Spiritual Laws?
Since there are seven principles, I focussed on a different law for each day of the week. Each morning, after waking up, I would read the law for that day and go over the three applications suggested. I would go about my day with these applications in mind.
I’ve found the applications to be a powerful exercise and served as an excellent reminder for where I wanted to be. In doing so, I felt a level of calmness that cannot be expressed in words.
I used seven index cards, and wrote a law on each one, and the respective applications on the back of each card.
Download: For your conveniences, I’ve created this set of cards in digital format for you to print out and try out for yourself.
(Download DOC Format) (Download PDF Format)
Book: I highly recommend getting a copy of the book. I bought mine as a used copy from Amazon for about 50 cents.
What is your definition of Success? What has brought you the most happiness from your experience? Talk to us in the comments, we’d love to hear from you. See you there.
This is one of the most insightful books I have ever read. I especially like the way it is broken down into actionable items.
Great post Tina, you summed Deepak’s work up very well. I think carrying around the cards is a great idea too, perhaps I will make some myself. =)
The Law of Cause and Effect, No. 3, is indeed one of the most fundamental laws in nature (for instance it is a basic law in physics), but many fail to see that the same law is at work in other areas of everyday life (in the society for example) . And, of course, as you point out, it is one of the most fundamental spiritual law as well.
If you like Deepak Chopra and the 7 laws, then you will love Wayne Dyer.
His two books/audio books:Manifest Your Destiny: The Nine Spiritual Principles for Getting Everything You Want & Meditations for Manifesting.
The second are especially excellent meditation exercises for instilling Gratitude and envisioning your day. Very powerful.
I got both of these from my public library and listen to them almost daily (and I rarely have the patience to reread books or see movies twice)
Kudos, keep up the spiritual journey, your sharing is important to us1
8 April 2008
Dear All
On today’s showing of a live daily (monday-friday) current affairs discussion programme that I watch on British television one of the topics was “success and selfishness”.
For me success is enjoying every day in some simple way, be content, grateful and appreciative of all your possessions, being respected, having good morals, ethics, principles, good manners, respect for everyone and everything (sometimes it is hard to be respectful to some others when they possess unreasonable behaviour e.g. committing serious crimes, vandalism, irresponsible/unsocial behaviour and actions).
Fail to understand why many people are entrapped in the rat-race, a materialistic and commercial world, obsessed with money and power. They are shallow, self absorbed, rude, arrogant, aggressive, have highly inflated egos and deluded living in their unreal (unknown to them) world.
For me personally the most precious possession is “being me”, being a decent human being, helping others when I can, caring about others and numerous very serious/important issues like “binge drinking” for example. It is truly so sad and tragic that many are participating in this awful destructive (financially and healthwise) so called epidemic.
With sincere best wishes.
Peter
A very wise man of 59 years.
Bournemouth
Dorset (County)
England
UK
Thanks for the post. It is inspiring. I agree acheiving success is just another beginning to another level.
Wonderful post, thank you.
Hello, I don’t know if it’s too late to digg vote (will try later) but wanted to say ‘thank you’ very much for this post.
Today I saw the Deepak Chopra book & thought, ‘I can’t afford this’ then chanced on your site & now I will work on your cards & then go back next week and get the book.
Thank you.
Hi Tina,
Excellent article.
Thanks for the separate pdf.
I have seen several of deepak chopra’s interviews and read his articles but i didn’t read any of his books.
The seven laws would be helpful to anyone to become a successful person.
The law of giving,the law of cause and effect,the law of intention and desire and the law of purpose look familiar than the others.
Thanks for sharing.
Best Wishes,
Kannan Viswagandhi
http://www.growing-self.blogspot.com
I was just browsing through your archives, and wow. The PDF is a great accompaniment to the book. I have read a few of Deepak’s books and I love them!
Sometimes my boyfriend tells me I’m too extreme, too. He tries to be the rock that doesn’t move with the tide. I just go with the flow, and if that means trying something new and “different” (i.e. raw veganism) than that’s fine by me.
Thanks again for the great article.
please send to my mail-id main point of above topic.
Great Article, I consider myself a student of these principles aswell.
Success is there for everyone aslong as they are ready to go and get it.
I read your blog often, and always agree with your articles. Great Stuff :)
Please check out my website
http://www.thelawofsuccess.blogspot.com
Thanks in advance
Very Truly Yours
Allen Loomis
Great Blog, I read it often. I to consider myself a student of the law of success. Keep up the great effort and the hard work. We all appreciate it.
Check out my blog if your interested :)
http://www.thelawofsuccess.blogspot.com
Everything in the universe follows these laws of success. No wonder they are successful for us too :) For example, these laws work on a cell level. Every cell in our body follows these laws.
Here is a list of empowered peoples qualities that compares to cells:
1. Cells have a higher purpose.
Their purpose is to serve the body as a whole under any circumstance. This is their number one priority. Their individual wellbeing comes second. Selfishness is not an ability they possess.
This is also the purpose of empowered people, they seek to serve humanity as a whole. They do not see things in concepts of accidents or coincidences. They realize everything is synchronized with purpose. They are not surprised when the information they seek comes to them, when the possession they desired shows up, or when someone they have being thinking about calls.
2. Cells do not plan ahead, they do what needs to be done in the moment.
They survive by knowing that whatever they need, the body will supply what they need, as they serve the body. Literally, through medical research, the cell only stores 3 seconds of oxygen and food supply in the cell wall.
Empowered ones live in a state of serving the whole and trust that the universe will supply their needs, by serving their purpose.
3. Cells work with all other cells and see all cells as part of the whole.
Every cell has a purpose, therefore every cell is important, significant, and has a reason for being.
Empowered people do not judge others and see everyone as equal human beings.
4. The essence of a cells nature is to give.
Every cell in the human body is always giving and as a result all the cells maintain every other cell, making the process of receiving automatically produced.
Empowered people give everything of themselves to provide value to everyone on the planet. Since they are willing to give and are committed in giving everything, they receive the same value back. You must give value first in order to attain value.
5. Cells listen to the body through many devices, but the most common is through a chemical reaction. This chemical reaction tells them exactly what to do in order to serve the body.
Empowered people always listen to the chemical reactions of their emotions. They use their emotions as a guide to know if they are in an empowered state. If they are feeling lower energies of frustration, pessimism, negativity, annoyance, depression, etc, then they know they are not aligned with empowerment or the universe.
Being aligned means they only feel positive emotions. They always follow with their emotions. They do not live their life by “shoulds”, “shouldn’ts”, or “have tos”. They flow with emotions. If something is stressful, they leave immediately. If they are unhappy with something, they analyze what’s making them unhappy: their thoughts, words, or actions to a given thing. Then they do whatever it takes to correct the problem, in order to align themselves back with empowerment.
6. Cells are always changing, evolving, and adapting to the conditions of the body.
The human body can eat something never digested before and still manage to succeed. The cells do not reject anything just because it is new, the cell will not hang on to old behavior patterns.
Empowered people go with the flow of the universe. If the evolving universe changes, empowered people change with it. No matter how fearful, unknown, or wrong it may seem. Something new will always seem wrong at first, because you never tried it before.
Empowered people trust that the universe knows something that they do not. They have no fears of the future because they know they create the future in the now. Right now they are empowered and therefore they are creating empowered experiences.
7. Cells have an instinct to know that they are going to die.
In order to keep the commitment of serving the body, they naturally reproduce. Through the reproduction process: the knowledge, wisdom, information, skills, talents, and ability to be the most effective cell possible, is transferred to their offspring. Cells survived and got to the point they are at (820 million years of evolution) through this process.
Empowered people empower their offspring by eliminating the generation gap. In this, they are accepting their physical death, but at the same time creating immortality.
8. Cells desire what other cells desire.
If the body desires something, all the cells desire it to. In meeting the bodies desires (by being committed to the bodies needs), the cells automatically meet theirs.
Empowered people desire for others, what they desire for themselves. For example, I desire for everyone on this planet to be happy, the only way to be happy is through positive thinking because I know it leads to positive beings of empowerment.
I desire this for everyone, hence I wrote an article on how to do just that and in turn it makes me happy knowing that others have the potential of being happy. By meeting your desire, my desire is met. I desire for you, what you desire for you.
9. Cells do not have the ability to rationalize that something is impossible.
Their main concern is the wellbeing of the body and if the body needs/desires something, then they intend and attend to that desire by paying attention to it. They know that if the body needs/desires something then they have the ability to give it just that, or the need/desire would not be there in the first place. They have nothing to prove, they just follow their purpose.
Empowered people intend their needs/desires to happen. They apply success by having a conviction point of view that nothing is impossible. They do not allow themselves to think about what they do not desire to happen, since they realize that thinking that way leads to pessimism and thinking pessimistic only leads to more things to be pessimistic about.
The empowered have nothing to prove to anybody. They do not give their point of view unless asked. They do not argue, debate, or converse in lower energies of this type. They know that getting involved in this kind of conversations leads to frustration and they seek to stay aligned with empowerment.
10. Cells do not take anything for granted.
When they see bacteria, they see an opportunity to determine rather it is invading or helpful. No matter what position the cells are in, they always see an opportunity to meet the cells or the bodies needs/desires.
To the empowered everything in their life is seen as an opportunity, even the setbacks, obstacles, and delays. They are grateful for everything because they realize that there is an opportunity in everything. For example, the setback may lead them to meeting the right person to help them achieve something.
Thank you again Tina for living consciously and flexing your consciousness :)
Thank you so much for this wisdom <3
Thank you so much for your generosity in sharing the cards, I so appreciate them.
What is a ‘Line of Balance’
Hi,
I found this picture whilst browsing the internet:
http://cid-adebcb5f70ecb7c7.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Inspiration/Charlie%7C_YinYang%7C_LineOfBalance.jpg
I realise that I am a bit thick, but how come this symbol has been around for thousands of years and no-one
has come up with this before?
Thanks,
Fae
Tina,
Thank you for your fabulous blog. I have really enjoyed listening to Deepaks audio of the 7 Laws.
I really enjoy his voice and would recommend it to anyone !
Keep up the good work.
Simon
Living in harmony with ones self is as hard as one allows it to be. We all tend to beat our selves up at feeling like we have not done enough.
Time seems to perpetuate at a rate which does not allow us to formulate all the thoughts that race through our minds in each waking moment.
But who has all the answers? I can tell you this, there are many answers out there but how do you know it is the correct one for you?
We are each individuals, with individual habits and patterns and yet we live in a society that demands we follow the masses!
Too many today struggle with getting ahead; making money, juggling a career, paying bills, raising a family and keeping up with the Jones’s’! Let’s face it we are all living in the circus ring of life.
Everyone either is performing in center ring or off to the side trying not to get eaten by the tigers, lions or bears, and most certainly not stepped on by elephants!
Then there are the ones up in the stands; sitting up there watching from the bleachers as the ones down below entertain them!
Almost a year ago I shut down; I gave up my home, car and job and just started walking! Then as it got cold outside I locked myself in the room I was staying in and said very little to anyone person.
I left center ring!
My sense of awareness only heightened! So once again I began to talk to people, but this time on the internet like I did before my sudden need to shut down and as I helped those who stumbled along my path I asked nothing, ok I asked them to; do something nice for a perfect stranger and this was my way for a little while out from the masses!
This was safe, as I was hidden behind my screen; I could shut my laptop down when others became to close.
You see I have some sort of gift of awareness that allows me to see things in others that only they should know. OK! There I said it out loud!
This gift was practically beaten out of me as a child and growing up I simply learned how to keep it to myself!
I’m still trying to keep it to myself and now I’m a grown; divorced, mother of two young adults.
But I also know that what happens to us as a child can be given peace as an adult!
I left that room a few short months ago and moved about an hour out of the city and in with a man I loved from the very second I herd his voice on the phone.
Now after a bit of happiness, joy, turmoil and then joy which only turned back into to turmoil he wants me to go!
I have no job, no real place to go or no means on how I am going to get there and you know something I should be sad, very unhappy and full of further turmoil but im not!
I guess in keeping with my circus theme, even the ones off to the sidelines of the ring, standing around with their shovels and large pans and pails scooping up the poop from the animals have their own brand of misery.
So what makes me any different I ask?
I went into my room closed the door and sat for a few hours in an upright position, with my legs crossed and my arms loose in front of me and saw nothing until the pure calm.
That was last week and I am still of the same mind set!
The only difference is as I seek answers to how to proceed somehow; job hunting through Craig’s list, researching ways to locate an answer. I find myself at your website!
I have no phone, no car, and no money to get from point A to point B. Hell! Right now the circus is looking pretty good!
I do however, have skills, I am a gifted artist and published
writer; I won a few awards in University, and although I am pretty much stuck up here amongst the trees; far from much of anything.
I know that I will find away to get out of here, finish my book and rejoin the living.
I just wanted to say although I cannot at this time afford any of your CD’s I now have something further to set my goals upon!
Please understand I am not asking for help that came from the second I crossed my legs and closed my eyes and meditated.
Your website simply synchronicitaly (and I believe) spiritually reiterated what I already knew when I opened my eyes once again; that stress is only given life in the absence of the time it takes to locate the power from with.
Well I spent the afternoon reading all that your website offered and I wanted to say thank you, for now and for my future!
jrain
Hi Tina… I like some of the applications you used, especially the meditation for 20 minutes a day twice a day. However the desire thing always throws me. Your list of desires seems to contradict the one below it where you say you let things be as they appear. (I’m paraphrasing) I have read that the Buddha said desire is the root of suffering and Byron Katie also seems to speak this same message. And desires are future based and Eckhart Tolle speaks only of the “Now”. I wonder what you and the others will say about this.
These are great insights, but I suggest something very different and much easier. Find the inner peace within you, the flow, and life lives itself harmoniously and abundantly. There is no need then to analyze and memorize and use index cards for seven laws or the ten commandments or Buddhist precepts; in fact, with great relief you will find there is no need for external authorities at all.