Something everyone needs to know about LOA first. (not written by me)

[Iron Ur]

Hi all,

on this post I wanted to be tell explore the ideas about the law of attraction and why it does not work in the way that is commonly taught.  Many of you will know this having tried to create events using affirmations etc so if you have explored the ideas around the law of attraction and found them wanting, this post may help you.

The more I work with these ideas in my own development the more I realise there are fundemental issues with the common approaches to the law of attraction and in all honesty the common aproaches can actually lead to more stress in a person’s life than before they uncovered the idea of the law of attraction: there can be a feeling of being left high and dry with only part of the puzzle uncovered and workable.

So here I would like to help you understand why a different approach will be beneficial to you.

The question I would ask is why do you want to create something else in your life other than you have now?   The answer is obvious, because you are not happy and you think you need something else, more money, health, a better relationship, a new relationship, what ever it is will make you happy.    However the fundemental issue here is this: the reason that you do not have what you want is that you are not happy with yourself NOW…and until you accept your perfection, beauty, grace, intelligence and love you will NEVER have what you want, the law of attraction will not work for you. 

The issue is that most have got these ideas the wrong way around: you must love yourself, your life and reality first, then your life will naturally be filled with events and experiences that you will enjoy.  Do you see how this is different?

The key to having whatever you want in your life is to stop wanting and to accept the perfection of where you are right now and in doing that you stop the grasping and build a better relationship between yourself and your reality. The law of attraction tells us that you get what you focus on and the issue here is that knowing about the law of attraction without accepting the perfection of where you are right now, without accepting your own goodness and the goodnes of reality means that your efforts are doomed to failure and greater frustrations.

 

My advice then right now is to STOP trying to create anything. Just stop and take a week to re-asses your approach if it has not been working for you.  If you find yourself frustated then stop. Then try this:

 

1. Learn to stay present in the moment, just commit to this practice and learn to appreciate your perfection and the perfection of your life right now in each moment:  feel how it feels to be you and allow those feelings to deepen if you can.

2. Slow down as much as you can and relax: forget about the future and the past: forget trying to create anything: savour the moment.

3. Become more aware of your feelings and thoughts as they arise in the moment and learn to accept them and explore them. Become interested in who you are and why you are feeling and thinking:  ask yourself who is the thinking these thoughts?

4. Accept the goodness and beauty, the perfection and wisdom of reality and then accept yourself fullyand completely and part of that goodness and beauty, the perfection and wisdom that is you.

5.  Recognise yourself and reality is one: if you think reality,spirit,god or whatever you want to call it is wonderful, inteligent, loving, kind, passionate, alive, compassionate and exists at depths of beauty beyond your imagination, then accept these as descriptions of yourself and feel what that means to you.

In stopping trying to create anything you accept everything and in doing that you can learn to understand and accept your own deserving and wonderful nature.  The more you do that the more reality will fill your life with abundance and beauty, bringing what you want the most: a deep and satisfying sense of your own nature that has roots from the deepest parts of reality.

Please comment if you have anything to add, I would love to hear what you think,

enjoy, relax and be present,


(this was not written by me I found it online by semi mistake)

[nips_gratitude]

verrrrrrrry nice article...thnx fr sharing....thnk u soooo much....

[Ankur Sancheti]

Indeed Good Work!

[lucy7083]

I agree with the article you posted. We fail to be present in the moment and we search for happiness by consumerism and wanting what we do not have whether material wealth or non.  It is not easy to be in the moment or find peace in a moment, however, I believe it needs to be practised. Like bikram yoga. Smelling a rose. Cooking a meal. Or having a plan.

I guess at the end of the day in the pursuit of happiness the LOA can aid our journey.

[Iron Ur]

This is a pdf from one of my teachers, this I hope everyone reads it and I would like to ask this be pinned up so people don't have to dig for it

By Deepak Chopra
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 realise that our true Self is one of pure potentiality, we align with the powerthat 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, 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 allpervasive 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 behaviour are always in anticipation of a response. It is therefore fear-based. 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. The law of pure potentiality ¶7

That is the essential difference between object-referral and self-referral. In self-referral, you experience your true being, which is unfearful of any challenge, has respect for all people, and feels beneath no one. Self-power 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 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 non-judgment. 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 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.

The Seven spiritual laws of Success ¶8
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 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. 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 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.
9 The law of pure potentiality
¶
As you gain more and more access to your true nature, you will also spontaneously receive creative 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.

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 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, 1 will enjoy the lire 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.

[Inge]

Thanks, Iron ur!

Your are really a true angel... you put so much effort in all your posts, I really appreciate all of them!

Just want you to know this, and a big THANK YOU!!!!


Inge

[BELE]

Iron Ur: This may help, if that's where your problem is.

However, the idea that we (basically) need to clear all our issues and acquire self realisation before we can use the law of attraction may more often be an unnecessary limiting belief and thus work as an obstacle. Remember: LOA works all the time, 24/7, and we actually get what we focus on. Sometimes, it is of course more difficult than we believe (heavy, emotionally charged issues, where we cannot let go of our doubts or of the wanting), but sometimes it's also much less difficult than we believe (we just daydream about things that we believe we may like, although we never thought much about them and therefore are not really attached to them, and suddenly they just appear in our lives). This is what often happens, I believe.

I also believe it is when we do, by chance, attract that what our heart most deeply desires, but don't realise this at first and therefore act carelessly, so that we loose it, and than try to use the law of attraction to get it back that the difficulties do, because of the heavy attachments, turn into major obstacles. Then we just cannot let go of the wanting. Still, maybe we are able to trick LOA into solving our problem.

Think of the situation where you lost a boyfriend or girlfriend. Maybe you didn't think much of that person, who just due up in your life, when you where together. But after they left, you realise that this was really the love of your life. You want that person back, and as you cannot let go of the wanting LOA doesn't work. Why then not focusing on getting another bf/gf, who's qualities are even more appealing to you and who you love even more. You don't really want this person, but still you should like the idea of such a person existing and getting into your life, so there are no attachments and LOA should work. After this new person has arrived, you will probably stop wanting the other and therefore that one should reappear. Has anybody tried this?

[Samruddhi]

Hi Iron........
Very well.....
Exactly, totally agree with you.
Someone says “Past is history, future is dream and Today is present” a present (gift) from God. So enjoy each n every moment of today.  Tomorrow would be very late to live.

Your affirmation should be always in present tense, you are confirming that you are getting whatever you desire and universe has not choice then giving it to you.

Of course, if you want other should love you then first you love yourself. 

Very nice article! Keep it up!!

[Ginny]

However, the idea that we (basically) need to clear all our issues and acquire self realisation before we can use the law of attraction may more often be an unnecessary limiting belief and thus work as an obstacle.

I think what people mean (at least what I mean), is that you often have unhelpful ways of thinking (in terms of LOA) if you are still dealing with particular issues. You might be telling yourself that you are giving yourself positive affirmations, but your heart is still despairing and convinced that the thing you want (usually the one you love, because it always seems to be relationships that give people the most grief) will never come to you. If you are unable to get yourself in a positive mindset, it may be because you need to work on your issues first.

[Iron Ur]

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. This frail vessel thou emptiest again and again, and fillest it ever with fresh life. This little flute of a
reed thou hast carried over hills and dales, and hast breathed through it melodies eternally new. . . . Thy infinite gifts come to me only on those very small hands of mine. Ages pass, and still thou pourest, and still there is room to fill. — Rabindranath Tagore, Gitanjali

The second spiritual law of success is the Law of Giving. This law could also be called
the Law of Giving and Receiving, because the universe operates through dynamic exchange. Nothing is static. Your body is in dynamic and constant exchange with the body of the universe; your mind is dynamically interacting with the mind of the cosmos; your energy is an expression of cosmic energy.

The flow of life is nothing other than the harmonious interaction of all the elements and forces that structure the field of existence. This harmonious interaction of elements and forces in your life operates as the Law of Giving. Because your body and your mind and the universe are in constant and dynamic exchange, stopping the circulation of energy is like stopping the flow of blood. Whenever blood stops flowing, it begins to clot, to coagulate, to stagnate. That is why you must give and receive in order to keep wealth and affluence, or anything you want in life, circulating in your life. The word affluence comes from the root word ‘affluere,’ which means, to flow to. The word affluence means “to flow in abundance.

 Money is really a symbol of the life energy we exchange and the life energy we use as a result of the service we provide to the universe. Another word for money is “currency,” which also reflects the flowing nature of energy. The word currency comes from the Latin word ‘currere’ which means ,to run, or to flow. Therefore, if we stop the circulation of money ‘ if our only intention is to hold on to our money and hoard it — since it is life energy, we will stop its circulation back into our lives as well. In order to keep that energy coming to us, we have to keep the energy circulating. Like a river, money must keep flowing, otherwise it begins to stagnate, to clog, to suffocate and strangle
its very own life force. Circulation keeps it alive and vital. Every relationship is one of give and take. Giving engenders receiving, and receiving engenders giving. What goes up must come down; what goes out must come back. In reality, receiving is the same thing as giving, because giving and receiving are different aspects of the flow of energy in the universe. And if you stop the flow of either, you interfere with nature’s intelligence.
In every seed is the promise of thousands of forests. But the seed must not be hoarded; it
must give its intelligence to the fertile ground. Through its giving, its unseen energy flows into material manifestation.


The Seven spiritual laws of Success ¶12
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. That which doesn’t multiply through giving is neither worth giving nor worth receiving. If, through the act of giving, you feel you have lost something, then the gift is not truly given and will not cause increase. If you give grudgingly, there is no energy behind that giving. It is the intention behind your giving and receiving that is the most important thing. The intention should always be to create happiness for the giver and receiver, because happiness is life-supporting and life-sustaining and therefore generates increase. The return is directly proportional
to the giving when it is unconditional and from the heart. That is why the act of giving
has to be joyful — the frame of mind has to be one in which you feel joy in the very act of giving. Then the energy behind the giving increases many times over.

Practicing the Law of Giving is actually very simple: if you want joy, give joy to others; if you want love, learn to give love; if you want attention and appreciation, learn to give attention and appreciation; if you want material affluence, help others to become materially affluent. In fact, the easiest way to get what you want is to help others get what they want. This principle works equally well for individuals, corporations, societies, and nations. If you want to be blessed with all the good things in life, learn to silently bless everyone with all the good things in life. Even the thought of giving, the thought of blessing, or a simple prayer has the power to affect others. This is because our body, reduced to its essential state, is a localized bundle of energy and information in a universe of energy and information. We are localized bundles of consciousness in a conscious universe. The word “consciousness” implies more than just energy and information — it implies energy and information which is alive as thought. Therefore we are bundles of thought in a thinking universe. And thought has the power to transform. Life is the eternal dance of consciousness that expresses itself as the dynamic exchange of impulses of intelligence between microcosm and macrocosm, between the human body and the universal body, between the human mind and the cosmic mind.

When you learn to give that which you seek, you activate and choreograph the dance with
an exquisite, energetic, and vital movement that constitutes the eternal throb of life.
The best way to put the Law of Giving into operation to start the whole process of
circulation — is to make a decision that any time you come into contact with anyone, you will give them something. It doesn’t have to be in the form of material things; it could be a flower, a compliment, or a prayer. In fact, the most powerful forms of giving are non-material. The gifts of caring, attention, affection, appreciation, and love are some of the most precious gifts you can give, and they don’t cost you anything. When you meet someone, you can silently send them a blessing, wishing them happiness, joy, and laughter. This kind of silent giving is very powerful. One of the things I was taught as a child, and which I taught my children also, is never to go to anyone’s house without bringing something I never visit anyone without bringing them a gift. You may say, “How can I give to others when at the moment I don’t have enough myself?

 You can bring a flower. One flower. You can bring a note or a card which says something about your feelings for the person you’re visiting. You can bring a compliment. You can bring a prayer. Make a decision to give wherever you go, to whomever you see. As long as you’re giving, you will be receiving. The more you give, the more confidence you will gain in the miraculous effects of this law. And as you receive more, your ability to give more will also increase. Our true nature is one of affluence and abundance; we are naturally affluent because nature supports every need and desire. We lack nothing, because our essential nature is one of pure The law of Giving
¶
potentiality and infinite possibilities. Therefore, you must know that you are already inherently affluent, no matter how much or how little money you have, because the source of all wealth is the field of pure potentiality — it is the consciousness that knows how to fulfill every need, including joy, love, laughter, peace, harmony, and knowledge. If you seek these things first — not only for yourself, but for others — all else will come to you spontaneously.

APPLYING THE LAW OF GIVING
I will put the Law of Giving into effect by making a commitment to take the following steps:
(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. The Seven spiritual laws of Success ¶14

[purebliss]

Excellent post! Thank you!

[lovely]

Iron Ur,thanks a lot for adding sparkles of hope n happiness in our life wid such wonderful post.......

[Iron Ur]

3 The law of .karma. or 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.
Karma is the eternal assertion of human freedom.
. . . Our thoughts, our words, and deeds are
the threads of the net which we throw around ourselves.
. Swami Vivekananda

The third spiritual law of success is the Law of Karma. .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. There is nothing unfamiliar about the Law of Karma. Everyone has heard the expression, .What you sow is what you reap.. Obviously, 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. You and I are essentially infinite choice-makers. In every moment of our existence, we are in that field of all possibilities where we have access to an infinity of choices. Some of these choices are made consciously, while others are made unconsciously. But the best way to understand and maximize the use of karmic law is to become consciously aware of the choices we make in every moment. Whether you like it or not, everything that is happening at this moment is a result of the choices you.ve made in the past. Unfortunately, a lot of us make choices unconsciously, and therefore we don.t think they are choices . and yet, they are.
If I were to insult you, you would most likely make the choice of being offended. If I were to pay you a compliment, you would most likely make the choice of being pleased or flattered. But think about it: it.s still a choice. I could offend you and I could insult you, and you could make the choice of not being offended. I could pay you a compliment and you could make the choice of not letting that flatter you either. In other words, most of us . even though we are infinite choice-makers . have become bundles of conditioned reflexes that are constantly being triggered by people and circumstances into predictable outcomes of behaviour. These conditioned reflexes are like Pavlovian conditioning. Pavlov is famous for demonstrating that if you give a dog something to eat every time you ring a bell, soon the dog starts to salivate when you just ring the bell, because it has associated one stimulus with the other. Most of us, as a result of conditioning, have repetitions and predictable responses to the stimuli in our environment. Our reactions seem to be automatically triggered by people and circumstances, and we forget that these are still choices that we are making in every moment of our existence. We are simply making these choices unconsciously. If you step back for a moment and witness the choices you are making as you make those
choices, then in just this act of witnessing, you take the whole process from the unconscious
The Seven spiritual laws of Success ¶16
realm into the conscious realm. This procedure of conscious choice-making and witnessing is very empowering. When you make any choice . any choice at all . you can ask yourself two things: First of all, .What are the consequences of this choice that I.m making?. In your heart you will immediately know what these are. Secondly, .Will this choice that I.m making now bring happiness to me and to those around me?. If the answer is yes, then go ahead with that choice. If the answer is no, if that choice brings distress either to you or to those around you, then don.t make that choice. It.s as simple as that. There is only one choice, out of the infinity of choices available in every second, that will create happiness for you as well as for those around you. And when you make that one choice, it will result in a form of behaviour that is called spontaneous right action. Spontaneous right action is the right action at the right moment. It.s the right response to every situation as it happens. It.s the action that nourishes you and everyone else who is influenced by that action. There is a very interesting mechanism that the universe has to help you make spontaneously correct choices. The mechanism has to do with sensations in your body. Your body experiences two kinds of sensations: one is a sensation of comfort, the other is a sensation of
discomfort. At the moment you consciously make a choice, pay attention to your body and ask your body, .If I make this choice, what happens?. If your body sends a message of comfort, that.s the right choice. If your body sends a message of discomfort, then it.s not the appropriate
choice.

 For some people the message of comfort and discomfort is in the area of the solar plexus, but for most people it.s in the area of the heart. Consciously put your attention in the heart and ask your heart what to do. Then wait for the response . a physical response in the form of a sensation. It may be the .faintest level of feeling . but it.s there, in your body. Only the heart knows the correct answer. Most people think the heart is mushy and sentimental. But it.s not. The heart is intuitive; it.s holistic, it.s contextual, it.s relational. It doesn.t have a win-lose orientation. It taps into the cosmic computer . the field of pure potentiality, pure knowledge, and infinite organizing power . and takes everything into account. At times it may not even seem rational, but the heart has a computing ability that is far more accurate and far more precise than anything within the limits of rational thought.

You can use the Law of Karma to create money and affluence, and the flow of all good things to you, any time you want. But first, you must become consciously aware that your future is generated by the choices you are making in every moment of your life. If you do this on a regular basis, then you are making full use of the Law of Karma. The more you bring your choices into the level of your conscious awareness, the more you will make those choices which are spontaneously correct . both for you and those around you. What about past karma and how it is influencing you now? There are three things you can do about past karma. One is to pay your karmic debts. Most people choose to do that . unconsciously, of course. This may be a choice you make, also. Sometimes there.s a lot of suffering involved in the payment of those debts, but the Law of Karma says no debt in the universe ever goes unpaid. There is a perfect accounting system in this universe, and everything is a constant .to and fro. exchange of energy. The second thing you can do is to transmute or transform your karma to a more desirable experience. This is a very interesting process in which you ask yourself, as you.re paying your karmic debt, .What can I learn from this experience? Why is this happening and what is the message that the universe is giving to me? How can I make this experience useful to my fellow human beings?.

17 The law of Carma or Cause and Effect By doing this, you look for the seed of opportunity and then tie that seed of opportunity with your dharma, with your purpose in life, which we.ll talk about in the Seventh Spiritual Law of Success. This allows you to transmute the karma to a new expression. For example, if you break your leg while playing sports, you might ask, .What can I learn from this experience? What is the message that the universe is giving me?. Perhaps the message is that you need to slow down and be more careful or attentive to your body the next time. And if your dharma is to teach others what you know, then by asking, .How can I make this experience useful to my fellow human beings?. you may decide to share what you learned by writing a book about playing sports safely. Or you may design a special shoe or leg support that prevents the kind of injury you experienced. This way, while paying your karmic debt, you will have also converted the adversity into a benefit that may bring you wealth and fulfillment. This is the transmutation of your karma into a positive experience. You haven.t really gotten rid of your karma, but you are able to take a karmic episode and create a new and positive karma out of it.

The third way to deal with karma is to transcend it. To transcend karma is to become independent of it. The way to transcend karma is to keep experiencing the gap, the Self, the Spirit. It.s like washing a dirty piece of cloth in a stream of water. Every time you wash it, you take away a few stains. You keep washing it again and again, and each time it gets a little cleaner. You wash or transcend the seeds of your karma by going into the gap and coming out again. This, of course, is done through the practice of meditation.

All actions are karmic episodes. Drinking a cup of coffee is a karmic episode. That action generates memory, and memory has the ability or the potentiality to generate desire. And desire generates action again. The operational software of your soul is karma, memory, and desire. Your soul is a bundle of consciousness that has the seeds of karma, memory, and desire. By becoming conscious of these seeds of manifestation, you become a conscious generator of reality. By becoming a conscious choice-maker, you begin to generate actions that are evolutionary for you and for those that are around you. And that.s all you need to do. As long as karma is evolutionary . for both the Self and everyone affected by the Self . then the fruit of karma will be happiness and success. APPLYING THE LAW OF KARMA OR CAUSE AND EFFECT I will put the Law of Karma into effect by making a commitment to take the following

steps:

(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.
The Seven spiritual laws of Success ¶18

[Iron Ur]

4 The law of least effort

Nature 5 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.
An integral being knows without going, sees
without looking, and accomplishes without doing.
. Lao TZU
The fourth spiritual law of success is the Law of Least Effort. This law is based on the fact that nature.s intelligence functions with effortless ease and abandoned careful ness. This is the principle of least action, of no resistance. This is, therefore, the principle of harmony and love. When we learn this lesson from nature, we easily fulfill our desires. If you observe nature at work, you will see that least effort is expended. Grass doesn.t try to grow, it just grows. Fish don.t try to swim, they just swim. Flowers don.t try to bloom, they bloom. Birds don.t try to fly, they fly. This is their intrinsic nture. The earth doesn.t try to spin
on its own axis; it is the nature of the earth to spin with dizzying speed and to hurtle through space. It is the nature of babies to be in bliss. It is the nature of the sun to shine. It is the nature of the stars to glitter and sparkle. And it is human nature to make our dreams manifest into physical form, easily and effortlessly.
In Vedic Science, the age-old philosophy of India, this principle is known as the principle of economy of effort, or .do less and accomplish more.. Ultimately you come to the state where you do nothing and accomplish everything.

This means that there is just a faint idea, and then the manifestation of the idea comes about effortlessly. What is commonly called a .miracle. is actually an expression of the Law of Least Effort. Nature.s intelligence functions effortlessly, fric-tionlessly, 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 or the Law of Least Effort. Least effort is expended when your actions are motivated by love, because nature is held together by the energy of love. When you seek power and control over other people, you waste energy. When you seek money or power for the sake of the ego, you spend energy chasing the illusion of happiness instead of enjoying happiness in the moment. When you seek money for personal gain only, you cut off the flow of energy to yourself, and interfere with the expression of nature.s intelligence. But when your actions are motivated by love, there is no waste ofenergy.

When your actions are motivated by love, your energy multiplies and accumulates . and the surplus energy you gather and enjoy can be channeled to create anything that you want, including unlimited wealth. You can think of your physical body as a device for controlling energy: it can generate, store, and expend energy. If you know how to generate, store, and expend energy in an efficient way, then you can create any amount of wealth. Attention to the ego consumes the greatest amount of energy.

When your internal reference point is the ego, when you seek power and control over other people or seek approval from others, you spend energy in a wasteful way. When that energy is freed up, it can be rechanneled and used to create anything that you want. When your internal reference point is your spirit, when you are immune to criticism and unfearful of any challenge, you can harness the power of love, and use energy creatively for the experience of affluence and evolution. The Seven spiritual laws of Success In The Art of Dreaming, Don Juan tells Carlos Castaneda, .. . . most of our energy goes into upholding our importance. ... If we were capable of losing some of that importance, two extraordinary things would happen to us: One, we would free our energy from trying to maintain the illusory idea of our grandeur; and two, we would provide ourselves with enough energy to catch a glimpse or the actual grandeur of the universe.. There are three components to the Law of Least Effort . three things you can do to put this principle of .do less and accomplish more. into action.

 The first component is acceptance. Acceptance simply means that you make a commitment: .Today I will accept people, situations, circumstances, and events as they occur.. This means I will know that this moment is as it should be, because the whole universe is as it should be. This moment . the one you.re experiencing right now . is the culmination of all the moments you have experienced in the past. This moment is as it is because the entire universe is as it is. When you struggle against this moment, you.re actually struggling against the entire universe.

Instead, you can make the decision that today you will not struggle against the whole universe by struggling against this moment. 1 his means that your acceptance of this moment is total and complete. You accept things as they are, not as you wish they were in this moment. This is important to understand. You can wish for things in the future to be different, but in this moment you have to accept things as they are. When you feel frustrated or upset by a person or a situation, remember that you are not reacting to the person or the situation, but to your feelings about the person or the situation. These are your feelings, and your feelings are not someone else.s fault. When you recognize and understand this completely, you are ready to take responsibility for how you feel and to change it. And if you can accept things as they are, you are ready to take responsibility for your situation and for all the events you see as problems. This leads us to the second component of the Law of Least Effort: responsibility.

What does responsibility mean? Responsibility means not blaming anyone or anything for your situation, including yourself. Having accepted this circumstance, this event, this problem, responsibility then means the ability to have a creative response to the situation as it is now. All problems contain the seeds of opportunity, and this awareness allows you to take the moment and transform it to a better situation or thing. Once you do this, every so-called upsetting situation will become an opportunity for the creation of something new and beautiful, and every so-called tormentor or tyrant will become your teacher. Reality is an interpretation. And if you choose to interpret reality in this way, you will have many teachers around you, and many opportunities to evolve.

Whenever confronted by a tyrant, tormentor, teacher, friend, or foe (they all mean the same thing) remind yourself, .This moment is as it should be.. Whatever relationships you have attracted in your life at this moment are precisely the ones you need in your life at this moment. There is a hidden meaning behind all events, and this hidden meaning is serving your own evolution. The third component of the Law of Least Effort is defencelessness, which means that your awareness is established in defenselessness, and you have relinquished the need to convince or persuade others of your point of view. If you observe people around you, you.ll see that they spend ninety-nine percent of their time defending their points of view. If you just relinquish the need to defend your point of view, you will in that relinquishment, gain access to enormous amounts of energy that have been previously wasted. When you become defensive, blame others, and do not accept and surrender to the moment, your life meets resistance.

 Any time you encounter resistance, recognize that if you force the situation, the resistance will only increase. You don.t want to stand rigid like a tall oak that cracks and collapses in the storm. Instead, you want to be flexible, like a reed that bends with the storm and survives. Completely desist from defending your point of view. When you have no point to defend, you do not allow the birth of an argument. If you do this consistently . if you stop fighting and The law of least effort resisting . you will fully experience the present, which is a gift. Someone once told me, .

The past is history, the future is a mystery, and this moment is a gift. That is why this moment is called .the present... If you embrace the present and become one with it, and merge with it, you will experience a fire, a glow, a sparkle of ecstasy throbbing in every living sentient being. As you begin to experience this exultation of spirit in everything that is alive, as you become intimate with it, joy will be born within you, and you will drop the terrible burdens and encumbrances of defensiveness, resentment, and hurtfulness. Only then will you become light-hearted, carefree, joyous, and free. In this joyful, simple freedom, you will know without any doubt in your heart that what you want is available to you whenever you want it, because your want will be from the level of happiness, not from the level of anxiety or fear. You do not need to justify; simply declare your intent to yourself, and you will experience fulfillment, delight, joy, freedom, and autonomy in every moment of your life. Make a commitment to follow the path of no resistance. This is the path through which nature.s intelligence unfolds spontaneously, without friction or effort.

When you have the exquisite
combination of acceptance, responsibility, and defenselessness, you will experience life flowing with effortless ease. When you remain open to all points of view . not rigidly attached to only one . your dreams and desires will flow with nature.s desires. Then you can release your intentions, without attachment, and just wait for the appropriate season for your desires to blossom into reality. You can be sure that when the season is right, your desires will manifest. This is the Law of Least Effort.
APPLYING THE LAW OF LEAST EFFORT
I will put the Law of Least Effort into effect by making a commitment to take the following
steps:
(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.
The Seven spiritual laws of Success ¶22