In The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, a New York Times best-seller, Deepak Chopra suggests that personal success is not the outcome of relentless hard work or driving ambition, but of understanding our true nature as human beings and how to live in harmony with natural laws that govern all of creation. I learned these guiding principles many years ago through Ayurveda training at the Chopra Center for Wellbeing, and now teach aspects of them in my mind-body health programs.
In the natural world, creation comes forth with effortless ease. A seed doesn’t struggle to become a tree. It simply and effortlessly unfolds. So too can we, with a little help from these seven guideposts, and an affirmation for each day of the week.
Sunday’s Law of Pure Potentiality
The source of all creation is pure consciousness, which is potentiality seeking expression from the unmanifest to the manifest. If you have the desire, you have the ability to manifest that desire.
My Affirmation I’ll take time to be in silence each day and enjoy the moment. I’ll meditate for 20 to 30 minutes twice a day. I’ll commune with nature. I will practice non- judgment, and begin my day by saying: Today I shall judge nothing that occurs.
Monday’s Law of Giving and Receiving
When you give, you receive. If you want joy, give joy; if you want love, learn to give love. If you want appreciation, learn to appreciate.
My Affirmation Today, I’ll bring a gift to whomever I encounter—a smile, a hug, a compliment or a prayer. I’ll also gratefully receive the gifts that life offers me.
Tuesday’s Law of Karma or Cause and Effect
We reap what we sow, so plant good seeds. Choosing actions that bring happiness and success to others ensures the flow of happiness and success to you.
My Affirmation Today I’ll consciously witness the choices I make in each moment. I’ll realize that I often create whatever happens to me next. I’ll ask myself: What are the consequences of this choice? Will it bring fulfillment and happiness to me and to those affected?
Wednesday’s Law of Least Effort
Nature’s intelligence functions with harmony and love. When we harness these forces we create success and good fortune.
My Affirmation Today I’ll practice acceptance—accepting people, situations and circumstances as they are, not as I wish they would be. I’ll take responsibility for my situation and not blame anyone or anything for my situation, including myself.
Thursday’s Law of Intention and Desire
This is about creating an intention and directing our attention to it. Energy follows intention. Whatever we give our attention to grows stronger.
My Affirmation I’ll make a list of my desires. I’ll look at this list before going to sleep and when I wake in the morning. I’ll release it, trusting that when things don’t go my way there is a reason and that the cosmic plan has designs for me much grander than those I may have conceived.
Friday’s Law of Detachment
In order to acquire anything, we have to relinquish our attachment to it. This doesn’t mean that we give up our desires, rather that we move away from an attachment to the outcome, which can bind us to doubt, fear and insecurity.
My Affirmation I’ll participate in everything with detached involvement, allowing myself and others the freedom to be as they are without imposing my idea of how things should be. I will not force solutions
on problems—but rather allow solutions to emerge out of a problem.
Saturday’s Law of Dharma or our Purpose in Life
All of us as spiritual beings have taken physical form to fulfill a purpose in life, possessing a unique gift or special talent to give to others. When we blend this unique talent with service to others, we experience ultimate bliss.
My Affirmation Today I’ll awaken myself to the deep sacred stillness within my heart. I’ll make a list of my unique talents—along with all the things I like to do while expressing my unique talents.
When I express my talents and use them in the service of humanity, I create abundance in my life as well as in the life of others. And last but not least, I will ask myself daily, “How can I serve?” And, “How can I help?”
MARY BETH JANSSEN, CAyur, RYT, CMT, RYT-500, (marybethjanssen.com) is president of the Janssen Source, wellness director for a large Chicagoland Health Care Organization, and certified Ayurvedic and mind-body health specialist for the Chopra Center for Wellbeing.