How to Succeed In Spite Of The Recession: 'The Soul Of Success'
When the going gets tough, the tough get meditating.
A few weekends ago I had the privilege of attending The Soul of Success seminar with Marianne Williamson and Deepak Chopra in Los Angeles.
In these times of economic uncertainty, Marianne and Deepak had decided to transmit a message of spiritual and economic empowerment to their audience.
As a vivid demonstration of their commitment to helping their students, they offered scholarships to those who requested it. Several attendees had taken up the offer from places as far-flung as Florida and Tennessee.
Marianne has always believed in accommodating those seeking her teachings regardless of their finances, and she certainly practiced what she preached in this workshop.
I only had a vague idea of what the workshop would entail, but having had both Deepak and Marianne as teachers for many years, I implicitly trusted their message and method.
Marianne began with a powerful prayer and a 90min lecture exhorting us to cultivate a profoundly spiritual approach to success. Drawing upon the Course in Miracles, she reminded us that there is only one problem in life, and that is separation from god (or source, or Brahman, or universal good, or whatever you prefer to call it). There is no sunbeam that is separate from the sun, and so there is no person who is separate from the source. 'Ego' is simply the false belief that we are separate beings.
Depending on whether we feel separated from or connected to source, we will harbor different sets of beliefs. The former state leads to beliefs that problems loom large and are insurmountable. The latter state leads to beliefs that we are in the presence of a being that can erase any problem in a minute. As Marianne put it, "Don't tell god how big your recession is; tell the recession how big your god is."
Since "the vision of one world costs you the vision of another," it's of paramount importance to practice good mental hygiene. The Course in Miracles says "You will be at the effect of the rules of the world you believe in, so have faith in the world you want," as opposed to the one you may see unfolding around you.
Do you believe that you inhabit a world of abundance and joy? Then that's what you'll experience. Do you believe that you inhabit a world of scarcity and pain? Then that's what you'll experience.
The idea is to become, through accumulated repetition, the kind of person who sees things differently. When that happens, your world will have no choice but to transform. As the Course in Miracles says, "moving mountains will be small compared to what you will do." And so the 'big question' becomes 'Dear god, how can I be the person that I'm capable of being?'
To enable real success in your life requires a little bit of letting go and letting be. This involves two steps: 1) Becoming the person who's willing to receive the plan and 2) Becoming the person who's willing to implement it.
At the same time, a little bit of humility is in order here. Marianne said, "You can't go all the way yourself. You can go to the point that ego can take you, and then god lifts you up the rest of the way." This goes along with her mantra that "you are the faucet, not the water."
This was one of the most powerful points of the seminar: when you encounter fear of success, it's only because you're making it about you. Well, it's never about you. It's about serving the world. Success comes when you remove your own blocks to love.
Marianne ended her segment with a written meditation on our perfect day. We wrote out what a perfect day would look like for us -- what we would be creating, how we would be serving, and what we need to have taken away from us to make it all possible. Now that I read that meditation, I realize how powerful it was and how seldom we engage in this kind of positive visualization.
The afternoon segment was with Dr Deepak Chopra. He started out by saying that 'The Soul of Success' has two components to it: soul and success. So we should think about each component. First, we discussed success.
We then did an exercise to define success for ourselves by creating a mind map. This mind map looked like a hub-and-spoke diagram, with 'success' as the hub and its components as the spokes. As a group, we came up with some good components: love, purpose, peace/happiness, abundance, connection to source (plus an extra one for me: self-actualization). Then we came up with spokes to those spokes -- in other words, the true actionable meaning of love, purpose, happiness, abundance and connection to source.
But what is purpose really? "If you had all the time and money in the world, how would you express yourself? That is your purpose."
To motivate the discussion of the soul, he cited Wilder Penfield's open brain experiments and the idea that your mind has a choice-maker and an interpreter that can't be found anywhere in the brain. That's the soul part of you: "Your soul isn't in your body -- your body is in your soul."
From here, Dr Chopra went into the vibratory nature of the universe, oscillating between on and off. In the 'off' there is the discontinuity which has "infinite possibility, knowledge and creativity and the power of intention." This is the realm of pure consciousness where the soul resides.
From this arose another useful exercise: mind-mapping your Soul Profile. Dr Chopra broke it down into seven components: your life's purpose; your contribution; your unique skills and talents; what you look for in a good friend; peak experiences; what you bring to a relationship; and archetypes.
The archetypes, "the fundamental blueprint of the self," were particularly powerful: "You won't achieve greatness unless you embody your archetype; your life will be ordinary."
For women, some of the archetypes were Athena (wisdom), Demeter (earth mother), Aphrodite (love and sensuality), Persephone (sorceress) and Hera (Power). Consult this excellent book by Agapi Stassinopoulos for more on female archetypes. Archetypes for men were the Redeemer (Buddha, Jesus), the wise seer (Merlin), and the Warrior (Mars).
Finally, as a technique for calming the mind and accessing the soul of success, Dr Chopra introduced the mantra (from Sanskrit man = mind, tra = instrument). By repeating a sound like 'om' or 'rama' with no history and therefore no karma, you can cancel out thought and achieve pure consciousness.
Altogether the day spent with Marianne and Deepak was worthwhile and deeply transformative for me. Here's a story from a fellow participant:
Prior to attending the seminar, I was trying my best to get work so that I could pay my bills and rent. No matter how hard I tried or how positive an attitude I kept, nothing was working out for me!
Then I sat down in the room, and simply was! Too many wonderful things happened that day alone to describe it all here.My focus is now in alignment and I'm excited about each step of the Journey. I've been energized and inspired. Deepak talked about detachment. For the first time I truly understood what that meant: it's not about the destination, it's about the Journey. Once you get that... everything else falls into place!
Marianne Williamson and Deepak Chopra are two teachers with sterling intentions at the forefront of helping folks elevate their consciousness. I encourage you to see them live the first opportunity you get.
Join me in Los Angeles for a reading of The Tao of Dating for Women: The Smart Woman's Guide to Being Absolutely Irresistible on Wed 15 July at 7pm at Book Soup.
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email: dralex(at)thetaoofdating.com
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Strange. I saw the picture with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in it and went to look at the article only to find it had nothing to do with Maharishi. Is that a traditional bait-and-switch?
I know Deepak was with Maharishi for years, but why did you put that picture of Maharishi there, when the article was about some lady and made no reference that I could find to Maharishi?
Deepak Chopra is the prodigal son of Maharishi.
Deepak chose to leave the TM movement in order to persue his economic gain. He was concerned with supporting his family. I guess he couldnt trust his scource to support them. Any way, Maharishi ( as Deepak wrote ) said he would treat Deepak indiferantly. Its a casting off if you will.
I have no ill will towards Deepak or any one else.
On a scale of one to a million in terms of ones level of spiritual evolution, It is my Opinion, Maharishi was and is a million and Deepak would be in the hundreds, there is no comparison. It is my Opinon that Maharishi was pure light and Deepak is pure intellect.
I am sad that they would use a picture of Maharishi when Maharishi himself cast them off. The TM movement would never dream of useing a picture of Deepak to promote anything.
It is really to bad that the falling out accured, I think Deepak would have gained enough grace to evolve much more rapidly had he stuck with the movement.
As it looks to me however, Deepak still needs to evolve much much more to even come close to that of the average sidha living in fairfield Iowa and meditating regularly in the domes.
Still, people evolve at thier own pace from their own level and I am sure Deepak helps some of those who are taking thier first steps.
Thanks Dr. Benzer,
Both of these teachers are wonderful. I've read their books, but haven't had the chance yet to see either of them live. I will though.
I like her analogy with the rays of the sun. And especially liked the perfect day. I'm going to write that one down for myself. It'll be fun.
Thanks for the upliftment.
It is so cool that you wrote down your perfect day. You have a chance of recognizing it when it happens.
THE WORD ABUNDANCE BOTHERS ME
WE HAVE LOTS OF ABUNDANCE HERE IN THE USA,
WALL STREET, WASHINGTON DC
BUT AT WHAT EXPENSE?
WHAT HAVE WE LEFT THE REST OF THE WORLD?
WE SEEM A BIT SELF ABSORBED, HOW WILL I BECOME SUCCESSFUL?
AS WITH A FOREST, WE ARE CONNECTED UNDER THE SURFACE BY OUR ROOTS,
AND WE AFFECT ONE ANOTHER
UNTIL ALL ARE FREE, NONE ARE FREE
Until we free ourselves, we cannot free others.
Abundance isn't just about money. You can be poor and live in abundance, surrounded by friends who love you and a life you appreciate every minute of the day. The word Dr. Chopra uses that resonates with me is "affluent.
Best way to improve your life
and survive the Buush Depression
is to meditate 20 minutes in the am and 20 minutes in the pm - and avoid Republicans.
This article was ... obscure.
Success means very different things to individuals, and trying to present a catch all formula is probably a doomed to approximation at best. It does not occur as an endpoint in a life, but as a way of life.
You are successful when-
*you SPEND time rather than saving it
*the people you love, love you back
*there are no more things you feel that you have to get
But does love need to be reciprocal in order for it to be considered as, "successful?"
People....
You really want to find true success?
Free yourself from the desire to be successful
I agree with AngieMom57.
I am a student of "A Course in Miracles" and it brings me great comfort and peace. I recommend reading Gary Renard's book, "The Disappearance of the Universe" which is a nice introduction to the Course, for those who are not familiar. For me, it was a very enjoyable read.
Peace and Love to All.
There are a lot of opportunities in crisis for companies who did their homework. Eventually, market will narrow, but next two years will be though ones for the enterprise.
http://man
Thank you Dr. Alex Benzer for sharing your experience at the Soul of Success Seminar. At, 48, I have learned to let go and not control my life; rather, it is the journey that will be revealed to me. Also, by eliminating much of the mass media, the channels of my soul are now open to pick up divine messages - "Simplify To Find Purpose," and " It's Only About Love." Each of us has the power to bring pain or misery into our lives and with the aid of spiritual masters can we learn how to listen to our true inner "divine voices" to lead the correct paths our life will take.
And this is why I keep reading the Huffington Post ;-)
These types of postings help me to REMEMBER.
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