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Day 43 of 50 ideas in 50 days is Joseph Campbell’s Pathways to Bliss. I have quoted Joseph Campbell for a long time, I love his work and his writing style, which has a poetic beauty. He describes ‘our bliss’ as the “welling up of the energy of the transcendent wisdom within you.” He encourages us to follow our bliss and his reason for suggesting this comes from the ancient Hindu texts, ‘the Upanishads.’ Inside, the texts tell us that there are 3 paths to enlightenment: sat (beingness), chat (consciousness) and ananda (bliss). He decided he best knew what ‘bliss’ felt like and made the decision to follow that path. He describes bliss as the joy you feel because God is flowing through you. It’s the happiness you feel through living on purpose. He also says, “when the call isn’t answered, you experience a kind of drying up and a sense of life lost.” It’s important to answer the call! You can keep with the same routine and  have the same problems surface again and again in your life. However, if you answer the call and direct attention to your purpose, it’s interesting how life tends to flow beautifully from that point on.
Joseph talks about our life path and says, “over and over again you are called to the realm of adventure, you are called to new horizons. Each time, there is the same problem: do I dare? And then if you do dare, the dangers are there and the help also, and the fulfilment or the fiasco. There’s always the possibility of fiasco, but there’s also the possibility of bliss.” That is life, there are no guarantees about what will happen and how it will turn out but should we never try because of the possibility of fiasco or failure? It is how we handle the fiascos that bring the possibilities of bliss. If we feel defeated and scurry back into our comfort zone, then the chance of experiencing bliss is extremely remote. However, if we follow our purpose then we have a greater chance of fulfilment because the fulfilment is in the actual journey. It is in the Pathway to Bliss.
Day 42 of 50 ideas in 50 days is The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra. I love this book! My mum gave this little masterpiece to me around 15 years ago and I have re-read it many times since. Alongside ‘Synchrodestiny’ it’s my favourite  book by Deepak. So it is with complete exhilaration that I give you his Seven Spiritual Laws of Success.
- The Law of Pure Potentiality – know that you have the potential and ability to do whatever you want. If you have the will, there is a way to reach your goals. Deepak says, “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…and the more you experience your true nature, the closer you are to the field of pure potentiality.” He talks about the connectedness to your inner source and in this place there is an absence of fear and immunity from criticism. Lovely!
- The Law of Giving – Simply put, give to others and you will receive it back. Give selflessly with joy and with no expectations of results. “The easiest way to get what you want is to help others get what they want.” If you want more of something, love, appreciation, good friendships, then be it, give it, allow it to flow. It is all energy, don’t allow it to stagnate.
- The Law of Karma – “The best way to understand and maximise the use of karmic law is to become consciously aware of the choices we make in every moment.” Be aware of what you say, your actions and the choices you make, be careful of negative, conditioned responses and be mindful of your interaction.
- The Law of Least Effort – There are 3 parts to this law. Firstly, acceptance, accept what is, if it is outwith your control. Accept someone for who they are, no sense in trying to fight what is. Secondly, responsibility, change what you can change, don’t be a victim, take responsibility and be constructive. Finally, defencelessness, no need to react and be defensive about things, stop reacting! You don’t need to prove anything to anyone.
- The Law of Intention and Desire – I love how Deepak distinguishes between these two things in that desire has attachment to it and intention has not. It is possible to harness the power of pure intention, independent of the outcome. He says, “intention is that quality of attention that is unbending in it’s fixity of purpose…you are able to maintain an unshakable serenity while being committed to your goal with intense passion.”
- The Law of Detachment – Do not get attached to the outcome so much that everything depends on it or you feel that your life will be lacking if you don’t achieve it. Focus only on what you need to do next, feel the joy of the process.
- The Law of Dharma – “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 goals.”
So what is your purpose? If you don’t know then perhaps it’s a good idea to take some stillness time to reflect on it. If you do know and you are not doing it, maybe you need to consider making some changes in that direction.
Day 41 of 50 ideas in 50 days is Money and the Law of Attraction by Esther and Jerry Hicks. Perhaps another of those books I may have put off reading had I not been doing 50 ideas in 50 days. I’m so glad I have been introduced to the wisdom in another of Esther and Jerry’s works.
The most important thing to consider where the Law of Attraction is concerned, for anything, be it money, relationships, job etc, is what state of mind you are in. The more positive frame of mind you are in indicates your connection to source and inner guidance, this allows positivity and abundance to flow. The book says, “shortage of time is not your problem. Shortage of money is not your problem. Shortage of Connection to the Energy that creates worlds is at the heart of all sensations of shortage that you are experiencing.” So, in other words, when we are having a bad day, we are probably running a whole lot of negative chit chat and are quite disconnected from our inner source.
So, in order to live in a place that is more connected and as a result, manifest the kind of life we want, “the most valuable skill that you could ever develop is the skill of directing your thoughts toward what you want – to be adept at quickly, evaluating all situations and then quickly coming to the conclusion of what you most want – and giving your undivided attention to that.” So if you find yourself thinking about what you don’t want, or about the lack of something in your life, stop and immediately direct your thoughts to something more constructive, creative and positive. Practise this often. Even if it seems really difficult at first if you are so much in the habit of focusing on the negative or the lack of something, Esther and Jerry suggest something very helpful. It’s called The Pivoting Process. Simply put, “whenever you recognise that you are feeling a negative emotion (it is really that you are feeling the lack of harmony with something that you want)…ask yourself, what do I want?” It’s important to stop that flow of negative thoughts and focus on what you do want to manifest in your life. After all, the Law of Attraction works like a magnet with your thoughts and how connected you are to your inner source.
So understand that money, like everything else is fundamentally energy. Stop the flow of negative thoughts, practice positivity, the Pivoting Process, you will find a greater connection to your inner source and the positive, more fulfilled side of the Law of Attraction.
Day 40 of 50 ideas in 50 days is Your Erroneous Zones by Dr. Wayne Dyer. This was Wayne’s first book and it is packed full of wisdom for taking control of your life and not letting negative thinking dominate it. The main idea of Your Erroneous Zones is self-reliance, in other words, we don’t need approval from outside to know that what we feel inside is right. Wayne says, “using yourself as a guide and not needing the approval of an outside force is the most religious experience you can have.” Wayne has certainly learned this from life experience, growing up in an orphanage after his father left and his mother couldn’t afford to care for him and his siblings. Self-reliance was a matter of survival for him. If he had settled on the viewpoint of being a victim of his circumstance and sought his value from an outside source, his life would have been a completely different story.
 Wayne says, “if you believe in yourself fully, no activity is beyond your potential. The entire gamut of human experience is yours to enjoy, once you decide to venture into territory where you don’t have guarantees.” If you set limitations and truly believe that you can’t go beyond them (consciously or unconsciously) then you won’t. Change and transformation happens when we venture outwith our comfort zone. The belief you have about what is happening and what lies ahead will shape that transformation. Wayne stresses the importance of having a fountain of strength that comes from inner security. He says, “this is the only lasting security, the only real security. Things can break down, a depression can wipe out your money, your house can be repossessed but you, you can be a rock of self-esteem.” Wise words from someone who knows because he has lived it.
Wayne urges us to take action and begin the process of what we wish to achieve by doing it now. No procrastination necessary here. He says, “the only thing holding you back is you and the neurotic choices you have made because you don’t believe you are as strong as you really are. How simple…just do it.” Advice that echoes many self-development authors, action cures all worries, doubts and negativity about your abilities. For the vast majority of the time that we worry about doing something causes far greater internal suffering than actually doing it. Trust in your guidance and inner resources, they are a source of never-ending strength.
Day 39 of 50 ideas in 50 days is Thresholds of the Mind by Bill Harris. Neuroplasticity is a favourite subject of mine, the power to mould and shape our minds to install the changes we want. Bill focuses on the power of meditation and says, “whatever the technique, the effect on the brain is substantially the same: synchronisation of the two brain hemispheres – and after much practice, an experience of connection with the rest of the universe, accompanied by profound inner peace and happiness.” So how does it work? Meditation, as well as hypnosis, slows down the brain to give a greater balance of the two hemispheres and as a result, creates a more peaceful state of mind.
Bill has created a meditation system called Holosync that can hold your brain in the theta state after a few minutes. The theta stage is stage 3 in the slowing down of the brain and it requires many years of meditation usually, to experience. Most of our day to day experience is in the beta state (alertness, arousal, anxiety, fight or flight). When we are in relaxation, meditation or pre sleep state, we experience alpha brain patterns. Dreams, memory and deep meditation are when our brain is in the theta state and delta brain waves are dreamless sleep and the collective unconscious.
Bill makes an important point about using Holosync that is significant with personal development in general. He says, “no matter how gung-ho you are, no matter how eager you are to be in great shape, you don’t run a marathon in the first week.” The results come steadily with daily practice and conscientious discipline. This then remoulds the brain and utilises its plasticity.
Another big idea in Bill’s work is the idea that resistance causes suffering. He says, “it isn’t that change is painful; it’s our resistance to the process that creates the pain…end the resistance and the discomfort ends.” This is an idea that has been addressed by many self-help authors, to resist reality is futile and can cause much pain, both physical and mental. The amazing author and teacher of ‘Hypnobirthing,’ Marie Mongan cites this to be one of the main reasons for the experience of pain in childbirth. Fear creates the fight or flight syndrome which sends oxygen and blood to the arms and legs – away from where they should be in the birthing process. This causes extreme tension which then causes the pain. Breathing, relaxation, going with the flow creates an experience as it should be and one that has been experienced by so many women in other parts of the world for thousands of years due to their positive social conditioning.
Bill says, “not resisting what is does not mean that you cannot want to change what is and the difference is one of the attachment to the outcome.” The secret is to have happiness and contentment within oneself and one that is not dependent on external results.
Day 38 of 50 ideas in 50 days is The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire by Deepak Chopra. If it’s thanks to my father for introducing me to Chogyam Trungpa and as a result, Pema Chodron then it’s thanks to my mother for introducing me to the work of Deepak Chopra. He is an amazingly talented teacher, healer and writer who has a tremendously straight-forward yet profound writing style and his wisdom shines through his words.
 I love Deepak’s idea of ‘living from your soul,’ it’s the place of intuition and creativity, it calls you and directs you to fulfil your purpose. He says, “if we could learn to live from the level of the soul, we would see that the best, most luminous part of ourselves is connected to all the rhythms of the universe. We would truly know ourselves as the miracle makers we are capable of being.” Living from the soul means moving past the limitations of the conscious mind, the fear, the hesitation, the disbelief, because it stops us from living truly and on purpose. Those conscious mind limitations come from a place of conditioning, of being told what is true and accepting it. It is important to trust that part of ourselves that is connected to something greater.
“If we were able to live at the level of the soul all the time, there would be no need for hindsight to appreciate the great truths of life.” It’s quite amazing when you have hindsight about an experience that felt so difficult at the time, yet when looking back, you can see things objectively and understand the lesson from it, how it has made you grow. When living from the soul, it’s possible to appreciate the lesson as it is at the time without getting absorbed in the illusion of what is happening. It’s important to ask yourself, “what is the message here? What’s the significance of this?” A shift in perspective can make such a profound difference in your well being. Deepak says that asking this question is one of the major ways to, “consciously participate in the creation of our lives by understanding the world that is beyond the senses.” In this way, such questions lead to greater knowledge of self and life experiences. As a result, it ensures that you are a participant in the creation of your life and not a result of the conditioning of others.
Day 37 of 50 ideas in 50 days is The Power of Intention by Dr. Wayne Dyer. This week is turning out to be quite an amazing one, there are two Wayne Dyer posts this week (the other is on Friday) what a treat! Dr. Dyer is another of my favourite writers, he is an incredibly learned man and is a strong individual who lives his methods 100%. I read The Power of Intention a few years ago and I particularly love listening to the audio programme for the sole reason that I love his beautiful voice!
Wayne gives us 4 steps for connecting to The Power of Intention:
Exercise your discipline by building strong habits. Do the things you know that you should be doing and live with the connection to your intention/ideal.
Develop wisdom every day, your greatest classroom and teacher is your day to day life and you.
Open your heart and learn to love more and more, love who you are, what you do, everyone and everything around you. Practise unconditional love.
Surrender to the force that’s bigger than you. Life can be an uphill struggle if you fight against it instead of connecting to the flow that is intention.
And to help us along the way, Wayne suggests another of my mind fooling tricks, ‘acting as if’ - until you are! He says, “act as if everything you desire is already here…treat yourself as if you already are what you’d like to become.” What happens as a result? You’re brain is fooled into believing that what you are imagining is actually reality and the more you focus on it, the more your psychology and physiology is adjusted. Importantly, with the Law of Intention, you must be in alignment with that which you are seeking. Wayne says, “this is a universe of attraction and energy. You can’t have a desire to attract a mate who is confident, generous, non-judgemental and gentle and expect that desire to be manifested if you are thinking and acting in non-confident, selfish, judgemental or arrogant ways.” What are you projecting? Remember that the universe always finds a vibrational match. Act as if, truly believe it and you will notice the changes in your experiences, your appreciation and the people that come into your life. Dr. Dyer details the seven faces of intention as, “creativity, kindness, love, beauty, expansion, unlimited abundance and receptivity.” Intend to have each of these in your life every day by practising and incorporating them into your day to day experience.
Day 36 of 50 ideas in 50 days is The Places That Scare You by Pema Chodron. Pema is one of my favourite writers for a number of reasons. For one, I have always had the utmost admiration for anyone ordained as a monk or nun and 100% lives their tradition, as Pema does. Another is that her teacher, Chogyam Trungpa is one of my all time favourite teachers. I have been reading his work since primary school. Finally, she is dedicated to applying Buddhism to everyday life and making it accessible to all and The Places That Scare You does exactly that. Many of the most wonderful methods for healing and seeing things clearly are mentioned in this book.
 Negative thought patterns need to be interrupted as soon as they happen. Pema says, “the fear habit, the anger habit, self-pity habit – all are strengthened and empowered when we continue to buy into them. The most compassionate thing we can do is interrupt these habits.” It’s really important to catch the negative thought pattern and begin to replace it. Before long if you begin to think that negative thought, you will automatically think more positively as you are in the habit of interrupting the thought and replacing it. Pattern interrupt is a favourite technique of mine in NLP and helps you get out of the negative pattern or habit by choosing something different in its place that is not associated with the behaviour.
One negative thought that Pema focuses on in particular is holding a grudge. (You can also include things like anger, hatred and resentment here.) She says, “we’d be wise to question why we hold a grudge as if it were going to make us happy and ease our pain. It’s rather like eating rat poison and thinking the rat will die.” What a powerful analogy. There is a similar idea by the Dalai Lama about hot burning coals and hatred/anger. Displaying these emotions toward someone is lifting burning coals with the view of throwing them at the object of our anger but then holding on to them. It’s ourselves we hurt by this process. Pema goes on to say that when we continue to entertain these negative thoughts, “it’s like trying to get flowers to grow by pouring cement on your garden.” She says, “rather than appreciate where we are, we continue to nurture our dissatisfaction.” And the alternative (appreciation) is one of the single most important things we can do for happier life experience.
Begin to notice the beauty and blessings all around you. When you do this, your mind will begin to automatically find the beauty every day instead of focusing on what’s negative and dissatisfying. Pema says, “we can train in rejoicing in even the smallest blessings our life holds. It’s easy to miss our own good fortune; often happiness comes in ways we don’t even notice.” So what do you focus on? If you believe your life and experiences are full of negativity, your mind will filter all the good stuff and find the negatives to feed your illusion. Instead, practise looking for things to appreciate and your mind will follow by finding the abundant blessings that are all around you, every day.
Day 35 of 50 ideas in 50 days is The Monk Who Sold his Ferrari by Robin Sharma.
I was first introduced to The Monk Who Sold his Ferrari by my friend Ben, who raved about the book and shared the ideas inside. I found that they really resonated with me. Robin writes a story that is similar to The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho) in style and features an attorney (as opposed to a shepherd) who has a health scare and decides to change his life. (Selling his Ferrari and going to the Himalayas) The attorney the shares the nuggets of wisdom with his student, John who tells the story.
Robin talks about investing in yourself and he uses an analogy that I think is wonderful, he says, (paraphrase) that by saying you are too busy to slow down and invest yourself is like saying you are too busy driving to stop for gas. I’ve never heard it said like this before and it’s brilliant. If you don’t stop for gas, then the car will stop and you won’t get to where you want to get to anyway. Lo and behold, that’s what happens to the body eventually, if you don’t rest and nourish yourself properly. He says, “investing in yourself is the best investment you will ever make. It will not only improve your life, it will improve the lives of all those around you.”
So if you don’t think you have the time to exercise, read, meditate, or write a journal then Robin gives another powerful suggestion. Rise with the sun. He says, “those who rise with the sun all have one thing in common. They all have a purpose that fans the flames of their inner potential.” I really agree with this. When you feel that you are on purpose or that you are investing that extra time in your personal growth, it’s really difficult not to rise with the sun. I have found doing this much easier since I moved to a country that has so much sunshine. Just before sunrise, the kookaburras begin their laughing call to start the day and it’s so difficult not to be alerted from your slumber by this. Also, the sun is so bright at sunrise in Queensland that even the strongest blinds don’t block it out. It’s nature’s way of getting us up to greet the day with the rest of the living things. (It’s also the quietest time to do some things on your own – undisturbed.)
I’d like to finish by sharing Robin’s ‘7 Timeless Virtues of Enlightened Living’ with you because I do believe he has everything covered here.
- Master your mind – choose your thoughts, repeat some empowering mantras and affirmations every day.
- Follow your purpose – love what you do and live your dream.
- Practise Kaisen – have consistent and never-ending improvement.
- Live with discipline – if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well.
- Respect your time – focus more time and energy on the things that work and those you love.
- Selflessly serve others – expect nothing in return.
- Embrace the present – live in the now, you will be happier, more content and you will fully experience life.
Day 34 of 50 ideas in 50 days is The First 30 Days by Ariane De Bonvoison. The Buddha said, “the only constant in life is change” and that being said doesn’t always mean that we can handle it well. In her book, ‘The First 30 Days,’ Ariane addresses this with the view of making any change in your life a little easier. She has 9 principles for change. She says “people who successfully navigate change…”
- Have positive beliefs.
- Know that change always brings something positive into their lives.
- Know they are resilient, strong and capable of getting through anything.
- Know that every challenging emotion they feel is not going to stop them and will guide them to positive emotions that help them feel better.
- Know that the quicker they accept the change, the less pain and hardship they feel.
- Use empowering thoughts and words, think better thoughts and express their feelings.
- Know that they are connected to something bigger than themselves.
- Are not alone; they surround themselves with people who can help, who have the right beliefs and skills. They create an environment that supports change.
- Take action. They have a plan and know how to take care of themselves.
This advice is priceless. I’ve never been a huge fan of change and have found it the most difficult thing to deal with in my life, especially change in relationships. This list is incredibly empowering and by focusing on these points, I can really see how change can be such a different experience. It’s all in the way that you view things. Ariane calls those who embrace the change, ‘change optimists’ because they see it as an opportunity to grow and know that something good is just around the corner.
I love the point that Ariane makes about fear – that we should accept it and not find it threatening in any way. “In our culture, we are much too focused on trying to get rid of the fear and too little focused on learning to live with the fear and incorporating it into our daily lives and actions. That’s one of the secrets of people who take big risks and make changes quickly. They have the same fear as anyone else but for them it’s not an unfamiliar, threatening emotion.” It’s important to accept the fear as part of life and as you do it, it becomes easier and easier to experience it, welcome it and know that it is part of the only constant in life – change.
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