The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire: Book Review

The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire. Deepak Chopra. New York: Harmony Books, 2003. 302 pp


Deepak Chopra’s, The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire, is not a new book. It was, after all, published in 2003. But if you have never read this book, its concepts may be refreshingly new to you.

You see, Chopra takes an old and very mystical theme—that of coincidence—and shows you how to read these signs from the universe that will inevitably (if you are alert) lead you to fulfill your life’s purpose.

But (and this is the really exciting part) you don’t have to sit passively by and wait for messages from the Universe, also called coincidences or synchronicities, to come to you. Rather, you can summon them to you.

How?

Chopra describes a two-pronged approach:

1. Attention – Paying attention to coincidences attracts more coincidences.

2. Intention – When you experience a coincidence, ask “what does this mean?” You don’t have to struggle to find the meaning, either. As soon as you ask, the Universe will happily (and usually swiftly) provide it.

I can personally vouch for the principle of attention. For the past several years, I have noticed that the minute I pay attention to coincidence, the more coincidences I experience. What I was lacking, however, was a way to decode these mystical signs. Deepak Chopra’s The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire has shown me a way to decode these messages that I intend to put to immediate use.

But that’s not all…

Chopra also shows you how to determine what he calls your synchrondestiny, or life’s purpose, by using meditation, archetypes, mantras, and sutras. He concludes The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire with 7 principles of sychrondestiny along with a daily practice that will bring you closer to your spiritual essence and toward discovering your life’s purpose.

In case you couldn’t tell, I am excited and impressed by this book. The information it contains is accessible to both the experience spiritual seeker and the novice alike. If you want to learn to work with coincidences to discover your life’s purpose, buy The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire today!

Meditation in San Francisco’s Public Schools. It’s about TIME

Image by Tory Byrne



If you have ever wished that meditation would be taught to (and practiced by) children in America’s public schools, your wish has been granted. It’s happened right now in California. In fact, meditation in San Francisco’s Public Schools has been going on for four years. Right now, three schools in San Francisco are teaching meditation to the student body and leading them in its practice.


One of these schools is Visitation Valley Middle School, a place where quiet-time has replaced time out as a way to temper the stress and anxiety of living in a rough and violent neighborhood, a neighborhood that the school’s principal equates with that of a war zone.

What happens when you see incredible violence on a daily basis? What happens when your very survival is threatened on an almost daily basis? What happens when fear and dread becomes a normal part of life?

Post-traumatic stress syndrome, that’s what. And this is where meditation is helping the children at Visitation Valley Middle School. Indeed, there is some evidence that meditation in San Francisco’s public schools is helping the children in many areas.

According to Natalie Jones of Crosscurrents from KALW News:

“Since the program started, test scores have gone up a little bit, attendance rates have gone up a little bit, and suspension rates have gone down, although the changes are only by a few percentage points.”

Yes, these changes are small, but remember…the students at Visitation Valley Middle School only practice meditation for “fifteen minutes at the beginning of their school day, and fifteen minutes at the end.” (Source: KALW News) With just a small amount of meditation practice, even a change of just a few percentage points is phenomenal.

I hope that the success of meditation in San Francisco’s public schools—which also include Everett Middle School and John O’Connell High School—will inspire other schools around the country to implement meditation programs for their students.

Now it’s your turn to voice your opinion.

Do you believe that public schools should teach and/or promote meditation?

OR

Do you believe that meditation should not be taught or practiced in public schools because you view meditation as a religion, the practice of which would violate the separation of church and state?

Inspiration Your Ultimate Calling: Book Review

Inspiration Your Ultimate Calling. Dr. Wayne W. Dyer. California: Hay House, 2006. 252 pp



Inspiration Your Ultimate Calling is Dr. Wayne W. Dyer’s attempt to teach you three things:

1. What inspiration is.

2. How to foster inspiration.

AND

3. How to live an inspired life

After reading this book, I feel that Dr. Dyer accomplished all three of these goals—admirably.

He begins by explaining that the word “inspiration” comes from the term “in spirit.” Thus, being inspired means being “in spirit.” When you live in spirit, there are no limits on what you can accomplish. When you live in spirit, you feel God’s guidance every day. When you live in spirit, every day of your life is a divine adventure.

Inspiration Your Ultimate Calling focuses on this one theme—living in spirit—throughout its 252 pages. Although some people may be irritated by the repetitious nature of this theme, Dr. Dyer is unapologetic about it, writing that the “oft-repeated” theme of this book is to, “Live in Spirit. [because] You came from Spirit, and to be inspired you must become more like where you came from. You must live so at to become more like God. (from the introduction of Inspiration Your Ultimate Calling)

Using his inimitable teaching style (using bullet points to highlight certain principles of inspiration along with techniques that you can use to put these principles into practice) Dr. Dyer guides you into developing inspiration. Moreover, throughout this book, Dr. Dyer relates true stories of inspiration—from his life and that of others—to show you what living an inspired life looks like.

In reading these stories, I recognized some of my own inspired moments…

• when synchronicities suddenly sprang up all over the place, guiding me to take certain actions.

• when I would have prickly, goose bumpy “aha” moments, knowing that God had just spoken to me

• when I felt led by a force much greater than myself

Those were inspired moments that I shall never forget. Nor will I forget the lessons I learned from reading Inspiration Your Ultimate Calling. This book inspired me to want to live an inspired life more consistently, and I believe that it will do the same for you.

"What Would You Do?" Episode--An Amazing Case of Compassion and Bravery

I love watching the television show, "What Would you Do?" Every week, at least one of the several stories on this show moves me to tears at the incredible compassion and bravery of other people toward total strangers. From them we can learn a lot about morality, responsibility, and doing the right thing for our neighbors. This segment made me bawl like a baby. Watch this video and tell me what you think.

Unspoken Prayers

Many of us think of prayer as a spoken plea (usually given on our knees with bowed head) to God. But prayer is so much more than this traditional model. In fact, you probably, and unknowingly, pray constantly throughout the day. These are called unspoken prayers, and they are just as effective and powerful as are the spoken kind.



Image by abcdz2000

 Unspoken prayers are any thoughts, desires, needs that you have throughout the day. These unspoken prayers go straight to Source, who immediately starts working on the fulfillment of your desires.

So the next time that you have a desire or yearning for something (which, if you’re like most people, is all the time), start expecting that the answer is on its way. Then start watching for the mystical sign posts that will inevitably (if you pay attention) lead you to fulfillment of your desires.

After you experience a few almost immediate answers to your unspoken prayers, you will feel such an awe-inspiring connection to your Source. You will know that you are never alone. You will know that Source is ever-responsive to all of your needs and desires, no matter how small they might be. You will know that the Kingdom of God is, indeed, within you.

Evidence of Help from Spirit, No Matter how Small

God…


The Source…

The Spirit…

The Universe…

Whatever you choose to call the force is always there to help you in matters big and small. And the help usually comes in unexpected ways and at totally unexpected times. Case in point…

Today at work, I had a sudden desire to order a special book for my sister, a book about dying that discusses how loved ones who have passed on frequently send us signs that they are alright. The signs they send, moreover, are frequently very healing to their grieving loved once. This book also talks about the reality of near death experiences. I read this book many years ago, and I have to say that it is the best book I have ever read on this subject.

In the past decade or so, several close family members have passed away—our father, our brother, our sister, and, last year, our mother. Ever since our mother passed away, I have been trying to find this book among my many spiritual books at home without success. I also could not remember the name of the book or the name of the author.

So today, when I went on my 15 minute break, I took a book with me to read (something I seldom do at work). The book, written by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, is called Inspiration your Ultimate Calling.

Almost immediately, on page 20 of the hardback edition, is this line about Dr. Dyer’s father: “You can select Melvin Lyle Dyer as your father.”

That’s it, I almost shouted out loud. The author’s name is Dr.Melvyn Morse. What kind of a synchronous event is this? (And don’t even get me started on the last name of “Dyer,” being the focus of Dr. Morse’s book—death and dying,) I’m getting chills just thinking about it now. (If you’re interested, the name of the book is Parting Visions, but it is out of print. I have ordered a “like new” used copy from eBay to send to my sister.

Now, here’s an unanswerable, but thought-provoking question…that morning, did Spirit know that I would need to know the name of that author later in the day and, thus, inspired me to take Dr. Dyer’s book to work with me?

Ask and it is Given: Book Review

Ask and it is Given: Learning to Manifest your Desires. Esther and Jerry Hicks (the Teachings of Abraham). California: Hay House, 2004. 311 pp


Ask and it is Given is a unique book being written, as it were, by nonphysical entities who collectively call themselves “Abraham.” For more than twenty years, Abraham has been channeling spiritual messages through Esther Hicks.

The teachings of Abraham/Hicks mostly concern the power of attraction. According to their teaching, God does not give us, nor deny us, anything. We, by the power of our own thoughts and emotions, attract to us that which claims the majority of our thoughts. For instance, if you constantly think about your lack of money, you will continually experience financial lack because your lack is where you are putting your attention.

If you have financial problems, you probably pray something like this: “Dear Heavenly Father, please send me money to pay my bills and feed my children. We never have enough money dear Lord. I am so scared. When will I get a break from these financial problems? We are on the brink of bankruptcy. Please HELP!!!”

Do you know what you just prayed? You just prayed for more financial problems. Why? Because there is no such thing as exclusion in the law of attraction. Everything that you notice, even if it is something that you do not want, is included in your vibration that will attract more of what you don’t want.

The answer, then, is to only focus on what you do want. And just how do you do that? By reading Ask and it is Given, of course.

This book is a great, easy to understand, and inspirational read. It explains every aspect of the law of attraction in depth. But it does something even more valuable to help you attract that which you desire. Ask  and it is Given includes 22 powerful, easy to practice processes that you can use immediately to start manifesting your every desire.

If you not only want to learn about the law of attraction but also want to learn how to use it to achieve your every dream, this is the only book you’ll need. Buy it today, try some of the 22 powerful processes lovingly given to you by Abraham/Hicks, and co-create the life of your dreams.

Then write me and tell me how Ask and it is Given changed your life. I would love to hear about it!