Seven Spiritual Laws

I wrote this in an attempt to understand a lecture given by Depok Chopra. All the ideas and analogies are his.

A Spiritual Law is that law which allows the sequential unfoldment from that which is unmanifest into that which is manifest. It is the spontaneous flow of intelligence... energy and information. It exists in everything and is the animating force of life, through which everything in existence is created.

The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success are:

1. The Law of Pure Potentiality
2. The Law of Giving
3. The Law of Karma
4. The Law of Least Effort
5. The Law of Intention and Desire
6. The Law of Detachment
7. The Law of Dharma

1. The Law of Pure Potentiality:

In my essential state I am spirit. That is my internal reference point and the ultimate ground of being. In Bohm's Holographic Universe it is the implicate order from which everything emerges...the unified field. Experience of it is pure joy -- bliss. It is the source of everything, and we must purposefully be aware of it and spend time with it to experience it. Potentially we are one with it.

Generation of the creative process in the stillness of the mind.
Organization in the dynamism of the stillness of spirit which creates the mind.
Delivery and doing is in the body and the world.

Know the self as that mind...pure consciousness. If I align with that power then I am aligned with the Source of everything in the universe. But how do we do that? How do we get there? We do that through the experience of silence. I am pure spirit...to get in touch with that I must take time daily to:

A) Commune with nature and silently witness the intelligence in every little thing
B) Take time for silence and meditation
C) Cease from judging...experience the silence and get in touch with pure potentiality.

To paraphrase an ancient mystic:
I was not aware the day the lotus bloomed... there was sadness... it was unheeded. Then I began to experience a fragrance...like the summer trying to heed itself. Suddenly, I noticed that the lotus was blooming within my own heart.

The observer, the process of observation, and the observed are all one. There are poles of opposites...light and dark. Life moves through this. Accept it and spontaneously experience it without judgment and fighting.

There is an affirmation which goes:
Today I will judge nothing that occurs and therefore I will create silence in my mind and therefore I will communicate with the cosmic mind that is running the universe. It whispers to us in the silent spaces between thoughts. It orchestrates infinite diversity. Whatever I can imagine I can create. I will realize my goals...materially, emotionally, and spiritually.


2. The Law of Giving (and Receiving):

This frail vessel...empty again and again...fill it...still pour...still room to fill.

The universe runs on dynamic exchange. Dynamic systems are those systems that constantly move and change, live and breath, and have flux of energy. Giving and receiving are different aspects of the flow of energy. We must be willing to give that which we seek. That, in turn, will keep abundance and energy flowing through our lives. Christ said give and it shall be given unto you. It is a matter of circulation. If we stop the flow we interfere with intelligence and cause stagnation, decay, coagulation and death of energy. The human body is a devise which captures energy, circulates it, and gives it back to the universe.

We must also be aware of the intention behind giving. Give with a joyful attitude...a joyful frame of mind. This will become its own journey full of joy, exuberance, and immediate gratification. I say to myself, "Wherever I go, whoever I meet, I will give a gift and receive."
Of course, the most precious gifts are those of caring, affection, attention, appreciation, and love. Affection is touching in a caring way. Touching has the capacity to cause the release of healing biochemicals in the body of both the one touching and the one being touched. It is a physiological response. Attention is listening with our whole being. It circulates energy in your life.


3. The Law of Karma:

Karma is a Sanskrit word that means action...choice making. Every moment there are infinite choices available. We make them consciously or unconsciously. Every moment one choice is the most karmicly correct, appropriate, and evolutionary. It is the one that will bring joy and fulfillment to oneself and others who are affected by it. Every choice generates a force of energy that returns to us in like kind. If we chose that which is joy and happiness and fulfillment for others, it will be joy and happiness and fulfillment for ourselves. Help someone...be helped.

How do we actualize this law? Nature gives us a computing system...a system of intelligence...intuition...which is the finest level of feeling within ourselves. We can use that system to link to the spaces between thoughts where there is infinite correlation, infinite possibility. We have the ability to take an infinity of possibilities and simultaneously create events that will fulfill our desires.

Our bodies can think, kill germs, monitor the movement of the stars while incorporating that into our biochemical processes, and play music all at the same time. This is not a linear process, and every cell within the body has this ability. We can access it by listening to messages from the body...comfort/discomfort...pleasure/disgust. We can be tuned in to the messages and have a heightened sense of awareness. We can tune in to the finest level of feeling.

Cultivate body awareness and listen to what the body is saying. Ask the body...do you feel comfort or discomfort? The heart is an organ of wisdom and intelligence. Bring your choice from a level of subconsciousness to consciousness. Observe your choice without labeling it...just witness it...bring it to consciousness. Then foresee all the consequences of that choice and ask yourself, "Will this bring fulfillness and happiness to me and those affected?" Then ask the body, and "listen to how it feels."

The heart is wise and sober, not sentimental. In one of Castaneda's books Don Juan says that we do not need sentimentality on the path to realization. He says to beware of those who weep with it for they have realized nothing. What we need is sobriety. Witness the consequences and ask the body and listen. Ask the heart for guidance and listen. Say to yourself, "As I listen I will create all things I desire in my life."

Karma is the software of the soul. It is physical/subtle/ causal. There is an endless cycle of karma...action, memory, desire, action again. Every thought is karmicly generated. We cannot try to have a positive attitude, but our attitude will change if our choices are appropriate. The choices will produce a change in thought. Every thought is a memory or a desire... an interpretation or a choice. We are infinite choice makers and interpreters. If we use conscious choice making from a deep level then we can create what we want. Karma and giving are intimately related. Giving is karma...creating potentiality for space/time events in the future.

There is the age old question of whether the universe is preordained (deterministic) or whether we have freedom of choice. When we are unaware, then we are determined ... Pavlovian...at the mercy of our reactions to what anyone else does or says. But if we are aware (and spirituality is a progression into that domain of awareness that is more aware...aware of awareness itself) then evolution is the nature of life. Karma is the ultimate affirmation of freedom. Swami Vivikananda has said, "Karma is the eternal assertion of human freedom. Our thoughts, words, and deeds are the threads of the net that we throw around ourselves."


4. The Law of Least Effort:

Lao Tsu (an ancient Chinese prophet) said, "An integral being knows without knowing, sees without looking, accomplished without doing." Nature's intelligence functions effortlessly. It is carefree...full of harmony and joy. If we harness those forces with laughter, we can create with effortless ease. Nature works with the intelligence of total mind...Generation...Organization...Delivery. It is spontaneous and frictionless. With total mind access we can do less and accomplish more. This is the opposite of what we generally think and do. We work hard. We are ambitious. We want the certainty of the known. But the unknown has creative potential.

How do you put this law into practice? How do you align with total mind?

A.) The Principle of Acceptance:
Accept this moment as it is. The universe has conspired to create it. It is precious. Put your attention on it in the presence of the infinite total mind that creates everything. If things are not going your way then you must let go of how you think it should be. The universe has plans...surrender to this moment and accept things as they are, not as you wish they would be.

B.) Responsibility:
It means simply the ability to have a response. The more you create response and challenge...the more responsible you are. Problems are opportunities for growth. You must re-label them. You must get in touch with your feelings and emotions as you have them. Life moves between the two banks of pleasure and pain. If you do not release pain or accept it as it happens, then it will manifest later as anger, anxiety, and fear. When these are directed at the self then guilt arises which depletes energy and results in depression. These arise if you do not get in touch with your pain as it occurs. Responsibility is the ability to surrender to pain as well as to pleasure. Life moves between the two banks. The problems arise when you get stuck on either bank.
One affirmation of freedom goes as follows:
No one can hurt me unless I let them. If my internal reference is my ego, then I will be offended at everything. If my internal reference is the All, then no one can hurt me.

C.) Relinquish the need to defend your point of view:
The Yoga Sutras say that you are invincible when you practice defenselessness. When you are defenseless...all around you cease to feel hostility. Therefore there is nothing to attack.

5. The Law of Intention and Desire:

Desires are the mechanics of creation. The Rig Veda (an ancient Hindu scripture) says that in the beginning was desire. It was the first seed of the universe. It is the connection between the existent and the nonexistent. Desire is pure potential seeking manifestation.

Inherent in every desire and intention is the mechanics of fulfillment. When we introduce intent into pure potentiality, it sets into process all things. We can desire from a level of silence...in a field of silence...retaining an internal reference to total mind awareness. Then we let the universe handle it. In his Perennial Philosophy, Aldous Huxley said that in desire itself is the whole process through which everything is created.

List your desires and then surrender them to the womb of creation. Practice present moment awareness. Every physiological function has infinite organizing power and potential. A cell is a conscious entity. The totality that is your body is a conglomeration of cells that already know how to fulfill their desires. The world is an extension of your body. Everything is connected. Let cosmic mind orchestrate the infinity of space/time events to bring about the outcome. If the cells of the body can do it ...then why can't you?


6. The Law of Detachment:

The Upanishads (ancient Hindu scriptures) say that there are two golden birds on a tree...the ego and the Self. The ego tastes the sweet and sour fruits of the world while the Self looks on in detachment.

There are two centers of being in action. The ego (which is the objective referral) takes action, anticipates response, experiences fear, can feel wounded, and is subject to the bounds of time. The Spirit, which is beyond the masks of the ego, is timeless. If the Spirit is cultivated as the internal reference point, then you can be an alert witness of your life with a sort of detachment. You recognize that you are not the roles that you are playing. You may play many roles, but you are not them. Become aware and stop identifying with the roles. A spontaneous detachment will occur...a detachment from the goals. You still have goals, but you are not so attached to them. You become process oriented, not outcome oriented. You walk the road because you want to walk it...enjoying the scenery.

Certainty and security are based on the past. There is a wisdom in uncertainty that creates freedom from that past, freedom from the prison of the known. It opens you up to the field of all possibilities...the dance of the universe. The known is a rigid framework. When you surrender to the unknown, you step into the field of infinite possibility all the time. Things happen that you never anticipated. There is an element of opportunity and surprise, and yet preparedness.


7. The Law of Dharma:

Dharma has to do with your purpose in life. Khalil Gibran wrote that "when you work you are the flute through whose heart the whispering of the hours turns to music...you are the cloth woven from the heart threads for your beloved to wear." Dharma contains that sense of beauty and of "doing the right thing". To align with dharma involves the recognition of several principles:

A.) Each person alive has unique gifts, special talents for service to others. When you use those gifts in your own unique way you open yourself up to escape time and experience timeless mind. It is easy to remember experiences where you were so involved in doing something you enjoyed that you lost track of time. Generate...Organize... Deliver. Experience joy, ecstasy, exultation.

B.) We are here to help each other. We can change the internal dialogue. The ego says," What's in it for me?" The Spirit says, "What can I give?" When we give up our self centeredness, we open ourselves up to universality.

C.) We can experience the Higher Self. We can recognize that we are not human with occasional spiritual experiences...but spirits with occasional human experiences. We need to lovingly nurture the god/goddess in embryo which is within each of us.

Make a list of your talents and ask yourself, "How can I put them to service for humanity?" Joseph Campbell said that when you want to know what it is that you are supposed to be doing with your life, you should follow your bliss. Then you will be in tune with dharma.

We are gods in embryo... connected to the Source that creates everything. As our awareness of this fact expands, awareness itself shifts and new states of awareness become possible and accessible. We begin by merely desiring to begin.