Chopra - The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire: Harnessing the Infinite Power of Coincidence to Create Miracles

DEEPAK CHOPRA

Harmony Books

NEW YORK

CONTENTS

PART ONE
The Promise of Unlimited Potential

PART TWO
Paving Destinys Path

8 The First Principle: You Are a Ripple
in the Fabric of the Cosmos

9 The Second Principle: Through
the Mirror of Relationships I Discover
My Nonlocal Self

10 The Third Principle: Master
Your Inner Dialogue

11 The Fourth Principle: Intent Weaves
the Tapestry of the Universe

12 The Fifth Principle: Harness
Your Emotional Turbulence

13 The Sixth Principle: Celebrate
the Dance of the Cosmos

14 The Seventh Principle: Accessing
the Conspiracy of Improbabilities

To Rita, Mallika, Gotham,
Candice, Sumanth, and Tara:
you orchestrate the synchronistic
dance of my universe

I, the fiery light of divine wisdom,
I ignite the beauty of the plains,
I sparkle the waters.
I burn the sun and the moon and the stars,
With wisdom I order all rightly.
I adorn the earth.
I am the breeze that nurtures all things green.
I am the rain coming from the dew
That causes the grasses to laugh
With the joy of life.
I call forth tears, the aroma of holy work.
I am the yearning for good.

HILDEGARD OF BINGEN
(10981179)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

To all the students who have attended Synchrodestiny courses at the Chopra Center over the years; you have validated through experience the knowledge contained in this book;

To Sarah Kelly, Kristin Hutchens, and Jill Romnes, for your vital assistance with those courses;

To my partner, David Simon, for his stimulating and challenging discussions, which continually extend the intellectual horizon;

To Carolyn Rangel, Felicia Rangel, and Anne Marie Girard, for their dedication to this knowledge, and to its advancement;

To my editor, Peter Guzzardi, for his impeccable editing skills, and for his help in preparing this manuscript;

To the staff at the Chopra Center, for your support that makes possible anything I might achieve.

INTRODUCTION

M iracles happen every day. Not just in remote country villages or at holy sites halfway across the globe, but here, in our own lives. They bubble up from their hidden source, surround us with opportunities, and disappear. They are the shooting stars of everyday life. When we see shooting stars, their rarity makes them seem magical, but in fact, they streak across the sky all the time. We just dont notice them during the day, dazzled as we are by sunlight, and at night they emerge only if we happen to look up at the right place in a clear, dark sky.

Although we think of them as extraordinary, miracles also streak across our consciousness every day. We can choose to notice or ignore them, unaware that our destinies may hang in the balance. Tune in to the presence of miracles, and in an instant, life can be transformed into a dazzling experience, more wondrous and exciting than we could even imagine. Ignore it, and an opportunity is gone forever. The question is, Would you recognize a miracle if you saw one? If you recognized it, what would you do? And if you could somehow orchestrate your own miracles, which miracles would you choose?

Beyond your physical self, beyond your thoughts and emotions, there lies a realm within you that is pure potential; from this place anything and everything is possible. Even miracles. Especially miracles. This part of you is interwoven with everything else that exists, and with everything yet to come. I have dedicated my life to exploring and teaching ways to tap into this infinite field of possibilities so that we can redirect and improve our lives materially, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. In previous books I focused on specific outcomes. For example, Ive written extensively about attaining perfect health, finding the path to love, and discovering how to know God. This book was written with a broader goalto guide you to a way of seeing the profound truth that lies behind the illusion of everyday life, and by doing so to discover your true destinyand how to shape it. This is the path to fulfillment, and eventually to enlightenment.

For more than a decade I have been fascinated by the idea that coincidence is involved in guiding and shaping our lives. We have all experienced events that might be considered amazing or uncanny. Perhaps you were cleaning out a closet and found a gift from someone you hadnt spoken with in years; then an hour later, out of the blue, that person rings you on the phone. You might have read a newspaper article about an experimental skin cancer treatment, and for no apparent reason you decided to save that particular newspaper. A month later, a relative calls to say that he just received a diagnosis of skin cancerand that information in the article you saved influences his choices and ends up saving his life. Or perhaps your car breaks down on the side of a deserted road, and just when you had resigned yourself to being stranded for hours, the very first vehicle that comes along is a tow truck.

Can such moments be ascribed to mere coincidence? Of course they can, but on closer examination they can also prove to be glimpses of the miraculous. Each time we have an experience like these, we can choose to dismiss it as a random occurrence in a chaotic world, or we can recognize it for the potentially life-altering event it may prove to be. I do not believe in meaningless coincidences. I believe every coincidence is a message, a clue about a particular facet of our lives that requires our attention.

Have you ever listened to that calm, quiet little voice deep inside you? Did you ever get a gut feeling about something or someone? That little voice and that gut feeling are forms of communication that usually turn out to be well worth heeding. Coincidences are also a kind of message. By paying attention to lifes coincidences, you can learn to hear their messages more clearly. And by understanding the forces that shape coincidences, you can come to influence those forces and create your own set of meaningful coincidences, take advantage of the opportunities they present, and experience life as a constantly unfolding miracle that inspires awe in every moment.

Most of us go through life a little afraid, a little nervous, a little excited. We are like children playing hide and seek, wanting to be found, yet hoping we wont be, biting our nails with anticipation. We worry when opportunity approaches a little too closely, and hide deeper in the shadows when fear overcomes us. This is no way to go through life. People who understand the true nature of reality, those whom some traditions call enlightened, lose all sense of fear or concern. All worry disappears. Once you understand the way life really worksthe flow of energy, information, and intelligence that directs every momentthen you begin to see the amazing potential in that moment. Mundane things just dont bother you anymore. You become lighthearted and full of joy. You also begin to encounter more and more coincidences in your life.

When you live your life with an appreciation of coincidences and their meanings, you connect with the underlying field of infinite possibilities. This is when the magic begins. This is a state I call synchrodestiny, in which it becomes possible to achieve the spontaneous fulfillment of our every desire. Synchrodestiny requires gaining access to a place deep within yourself, while at the same time awakening to the intricate dance of coincidences out in the physical world. It requires understanding the profound nature of things, recognizing the wellspring of intelligence that endlessly creates our universe, and yet having the intention to pursue specific opportunities for change as they appear.