Sunday, May 13, 2012

The Law of Least Effort

Deepak Chopra’s book, Fulfilling Your Dream with the Seven Spiritual Laws of Success , teaches us about the seven spiritual laws of success. (Chopra, 1994)  I want to talk about the fourth law – The Law of Least Effort.  I recently heard Deepak talking about this law of least effort. It resonated with me. I will elaborate my own experience with this law of least effort later. But first let’s talk about what the law means.

Basically, the philosophy is from the principle of economy which means “do less and accomplish more.” Chopra states that when you arrive at a place of harmony and love, this spiritual principle comes alive. In this place of harmony and love, what might be a faint idea comes into manifestation easily and effortlessly. I have experienced this when I feel like something is already here (manifested) and all I have to do is put the steps in action towards manifestation – and viola –it is here. No effort. Chopra relates that when our actions are motivated by love, miracles happen that are actually the expression of The Law of Least Effort. This works because nature is held together by the energy of love.  Operating out of love allows your energy to multiply and accumulate. This surplus of energy is then funneled to be channeled to create what you want.

So how do you do this? The first step is that you operate out of acceptance. You make a commitment to accept all that comes your way – people, circumstances, events and situations. It is knowing that the moment, right now, is exactly as it is to be. You carry a knowing that all is in perfect, universal order.

The second step is responsibility. This means you place no blame on a situation, including blaming yourself. If you aren’t blaming others, or yourself, you can access your creative inner self to respond to the situation as it is to you right now. Chopra says it eloquently as he reminds us that all problems contain seeds of opportunity and this awareness allows you to take the opportunity to transform this situation to something better.

The third step is defenselessness. This step encourages you to stop trying to persuade others to see or agree with your point of view. Relinquishing this gives you enormous amounts of energy to go towards The Law of Least Effort .
I have a saying that I often use when I go on vacation. The more naps I take the more money I make. It comes from the author Sark who wrote Succulent Wild Woman. (Sark, 1997) It sounds a bit like The Law of Least Effort.  I like it because I come from a family of doers and I can certainly hold my own in being productive.  But it is also easy to lose ourselves in being productive. I have to work at the “being” part of life and remind myself that true life fulfillment isn’t in the “doing”. And that even when I take naps, life can be in order, and I can manifest what I need to manifest.
Recently, I experienced a shift in something – maybe in my perception, or perhaps it was a shift in the way I do things and I actually accessed The Law of Least Effort. Regardless, the experience has my attention. I had found myself a bit on overload with projects that were in the works and new creations coming in at work. I couldn’t keep it all organized and so I ordered some project envelopes which were different colors and allowed all my papers to be organized and accessible when I needed the ongoing work for a particular project.  It took a week for them to arrive, but when they did I immediately filled them with my projects and felt a semblance of order, even though I still had mountains of work to get it all done.  Sometime during the next week, we were released from a commitment that was not right for us to continue doing.  Upon that release, I found myself at my desk looking at my projects. As I went through the “project folders” I found nothing pressing at the moment. Some of the projects were complete, and some had lost their urgency.  Nothing had to be done at that moment.  So I cleared my desk for that evening and went home lighter not worrying about all that had to be done.  I hadn’t done anything. But without doing, the doing got done.
It definitely had my attention, and I am aware of the same phenomenon going on at home.  In an effort to organize my weekend tasks I write a list.  Yet, even in looking at my lengthy list, I sense there is not a lot I have to do. There had been so much. I can only say that I am paying attention. And now you know why, when I heard Deepak Chopra talking about The Law of Least Effort , I felt like the universe had brought me the information I was looking for to answer my questions. I encourage you to try to this out. Get into a flow.  Stay present in your moment while accepting your moment, taking responsibility for the experience and remaining blameless so that your energy can exponentially build love and harmony, creating your life effortlessly.
Works Cited

Chopra, D. (1994). Fulfilling Your Dreams with the Seven Spiritual Laws of Success. San Rafael: Amber-Allen Publishing.

Sark. (1997). Succulent Wild Woman. New York: Simon and Schuster.






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