Thursday, May 28, 1998

Applying old Indian principles to a small business

By NANCY MICHAELS

and MARK MAGNACCA

Scripps Howard News Service

Deepak Chopra has become one of the most well known people in the field of alternative medicine. Chopra is an M.D. who practiced traditional Western medicine for the first 10 years of his career and then discovered the ancient Indian approach to health care called Ayurveda. His books include "Perfect Health," "Quantum Healing" and "The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success."

One thing that makes him unusual is his belief in the mind's power to affect the body. Although this idea has become widely accepted, it wasn't long ago that most regarded the mind-body connection as nothing more than New Age psychobabble.

Chopra has taken many of his principles on health and applied them to success. We've found these to be most appropriate for anyone running a small business. In "The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success," he outlines the following:

The Law of Pure Potentiality. This law says that the source of all creation is pure consciousness. The essence of this law is that you have within you the ability to manifest virtually whatever you can think of.

The Law of Giving. The assumption here is that the universe operates through dynamic exchange. Giving and receiving are different aspects of the flow of energy in the universe. The law of giving is about the fact that what you put out is very often what you get back. A practical application of this is that if you want to receive help from somebody you must be willing to help somebody else. Very often the person you help will be someone other than the person who ultimately helps you. But the idea is that you have to be willing first to give before you can receive.

The Law of Cause and Effect. This is also called the Law of Karma. The essence of this law comes down to the biblical concept that you reap what you sow. What you put out in the universe has a direct effect on what you get back.

The Law of Least Effort. This law is where Chopra has a somewhat different philosophy than much of the traditional self help world. Chopra says that "if you observe nature at work you will see that least effort is expended. Grass doesn't try to grow, it just grows. Fish don't try to swim, they just swim."

The Law of Intention and Desire. In this law Chopra talks about the fact that inherent in any desire you have are the mechanics for its fulfillment. In other words, virtually anything you can dream up you can accomplish. The point behind this law is that what you think about expands. You will tend to attract into your life that which you think about most.

One of the ironies of this law is that people tend to obsess about what they fear most. For example, the person who is in debt keeps thinking about his money problems, thus continuing the pattern of debt. When that person starts thinking instead about what he really wants -- financial independence -- that shift in mindset can have a profound effect.

The Law of Detachment. This says that in order to acquire anything in the physical universe you have to relinquish your attachment to it. Like the Law of Least Effort, you can't only not push it, you have to be willing to let go.

The Law of Dharma, or purpose in life. This says that we're all here for a purpose. This means that you have a unique talent and a unique way of expressing it. Your mission is to find out what your purpose is and then to act on it. This law is perhaps the most significant of all because it's from this belief that the rest fall into place. We have seen countless examples of people who felt that they were floundering in their life, then once they decided to do something else, they found their true purpose in life.

While some of these concepts may seem esoteric, many of them are grounded in the fact that people who accomplish their dreams have incorporated these principles into their life.

(Nancy Michaels is a small-business marketing consultant in Concord, MA. Mark Magnacca is a small-business marketing expert in Upton, MA.)