DEEPAK CHOPRA’s one week plan for… Getting What You Want
by Yasmin Boland

Deepak Chopra, now in his 60s, believes we can all get what we want. All we have to do is learn about what he calls Synchro-destiny …

The key to Synchro-destiny, says Deepak, is asking questions out loud without trying to find answers. This, he says, allows the Universe to provide you with what he calls “Synchro-destiny”.

Indeed. What Carl Jung called “synchronicity” and James “Celestine Prophesy” Redfield called “meaningful coincidence”, Chopra has coined “Synchro-destiny”.

He says it’s “the key to getting you whatever you want out of life”. It’s the way the ‘Universe’ (aka God, Source, the Field) helpfully points us all in the right direction, with gentle hints and nudges.

WHAT IS SYNCHRO-DESTINY?

Deepak – who, with his cute, gap-toothed grin and little jelly belly is much more cuddly in the flesh than his promotional pictures would have you believe – was keen to discuss Synchro-destiny the day we met in his plush office at the Chopra Centre For Well Being in one of San Diego’s most exclusive suburbs.

Example 1: You’re not happy in your job. For the first time in months you check out the newspaper employment section. Your dream job is advertised.

Example 2: You’re clearing out your shelves and find a book loaned to you by a friend you haven’t seen for years. That night you bump into that friend at a party.

Example 3: You are walking through a new neighborhood and see the apartment of your dreams. You get chatting to a man out on the front lawn, who turns out to be the apartment owner and who tells you the flat is available for rent.

Synchro-destiny is when things “fall into place”; when events seem “fated”; when you feel as though the Universe is “trying to tell you something” and you “go with the flow”.

“I believe our destiny is influenced by synchronistic events,” Deepak explains in a mellifluous, Indian accent (already a GP, he moved to the US in 1970).

“Most people just brush unlikely events (like those described above), saying ‘oh, that’s just coincidence’ but I don’t think so.

“I think every coincidence is meaningful. Synchronistic events weave your destiny. Once you understand the mechanics of it, you can consciously use intention to fulfil almost any desire you have.

“When you first experience it, it almost sounds like something you can’t explain, something so improbable that I’ve started calling it the conspiracy of improbabilities. Let me give you an example…”

Hold tight. This is a long story but it’s worth getting through…

“I had finished my Love Poems of Rumi CD and was looking for advice on doing a video to go with it. I was sitting in my library thinking about it and I got a phone call from my daughter, who was in India at the time. She said ‘What are you doing, Dad?’ and I said ‘I’m just sitting here thinking about maybe I need some film footage to give this CD a visual expression’.

“She replied: ‘You know, there’s a woman in England who does this kind of work – who takes poetry and gives it a visual form. Her name is Sophie Miller. I met her when I worked at MTV’.

“About 15 minutes later, my phone rang again and it was a friend of mine, Morgan, calling me from England. I hadn’t heard from him in six months. I asked if he knew the name Sophie Miller. I said ‘I’m curious because I have an idea I would like to get in touch with her about’.

“He didn’t know her but that evening he was at a cocktail party in London, and standing next to someone he didn’t know, by the name of Alec. Alec’s mobile phone rang and he answered it and said ‘Hi Sophie’. Morgan interrupted and said ‘Sophie who?’. Alex said ‘Well, it’s none of your business, but it’s Sophie Miller’ so Morgan then had a conversation with her, got her phone number and called me back.

“When he called I was on my way to do the Larry King Show in LA, so he got my car phone number and said ‘Guess what Deepak, I have this woman’s phone number for you’.

“I said “Morgan, I’m driving right now, so I can’t write it down, but I’ll be in LA _” early, so leave the number on my voice mail and I’ll check it’.

“So I get to LA an hour early and find a parking lot at the corner of Sunset and Doheny and call my voice mail and Morgan has left a number for Sophie, which happens to be an LA number.

“So I think ‘that’s weird’ and call the number and she picks up the phone. I say ‘don’t you live in England?’ and she says ‘I do, but I’m in LA just for today. I’m doing a shoot’.

“So I say ‘Where are you?’ and she says ‘I’m at the corner of Sunset and Doheny’. I say ‘Give me the address and she says 333 Doheny’. I was at her doorstep. I got out of the car, rang her doorbell and gave her my CD.

“That’s synchrodestiny.”

Wow.

CAN WE ALL DO IT?

“What you have to realise is that as soon as I introduced that intention in the morning, that started the ‘conspiracy of improbabilities’ which linked people from India to England to San Diego to LA. By the time I received the information I was already where I needed to be.

“I expect it. It happens all the time. My intention created it and collected the improbable events together, to get me what I wanted.”

Can we all do that, I wonder, or was it a more powerful chain of events because you’re Deepak Chopra?

Deepak pauses. “Yes, it is more powerful because I am doing it. I am a student of it, and have been for many years, and for me it’s normal. If it doesn’t happen then I ask what went wrong. But we can all do it”

HOW TO GET SOME SYNCHRO-DESTINY INTO YOUR LIFE…

FOR USE BY MERE MORTALS – a one week plan to Synchro-destiny

So how can the rest of us harness these powers? Exclusively for Good Medicine, Deepak spells out a How To Get What You Want Through Synchro-destiny Plan. Try it for a week and see the results.

1. LOOK FOR SET-UPS – in your upsets

First you need to examine your potential hurdles. There is an old 1960s concept that there is no such thing as an upset. Rather, ‘upsets’ are ‘set-ups’ – situations sent ‘by the Universe’ to teach us something we need or want to learn.

“Looks for times when you are anxious,” says _Ã~ Deepak. “Anytime you have emotional turbulence you should ask yourself What is the deeper significance of this? What is Spirit teaching me?’.

So if you find yourself getting worked up about something – for example, it looks like you might lose your job – ask yourself Where can I go from here?’. If your relationship is rocky, ask yourself Do I really want this relationship and do I want it for love or because I don’t want to be alone?’. Once you start asking questions, your sub-conscious will provide the answers.

2. LOOK FOR THE SIGNS – that you’re on the right track

Once you have acknowledged that the Universe is out to help you, not out to get you, look for signs about where you should go next.

Says Deepak: “Anytime an improbable event occurs – and that’s anything which is outside the realm of statistical probability – that’s a clue or omen. After any improbable encounter, meeting, relationship, situation, circumstance (such as seeing the job of your dreams advertised or bumping into a long lost friend the day after you think of them), ask yourself – Why did that happen and what is the deeper meaning?’

And as well as looking for signs about where you should go, watch for omens that you are on the right track.

For another example, a few years back Deepak was pondering how to format his next book, which was to become The Way Of The Wizard. He knew the concepts he wanted to work with, but wasn’t sure how to package it.

“I suddenly got the idea for using the Merlin format … As I had the idea, my kids were playing in the next room, and they switched on the tv and there was a show on Merlin.

“An hour later, I went to the grocery store and in the mall there was a Merlin movie playing. Coming home, I saw a magazine ad for some ridiculous toy – called Merlin.

“That night, when I went to sleep, a friend called from New York, pretending to be Merlin on my voice mail.

“And so I knew it was a good idea. That book went on to be Number 1 on the New York Times Bestseller list.”

3. KEEP ASKING QUESTIONS – without searching for answers

Einstein said: “The important thing is not to stop questioning.” Jesus said “Ask and you shall receive”. Deepak says: Ask, ask, ask.

Which explains my LA questioning antics. Deepak had told me: “Just be asking questions and not worrying about the answers.”

A perfect way to do this is to literally ask questions you want answers to out loud as you walk around doing your daily business – though preferably when no one else can hear you!

You could ask:

Why did I bump in “x” today?
How can I earn enough money to do what I want?
What do I need to feel happy?
How can I make “x” happen?
Which direction should I take next?

“You don’t have to get the answer, just ask the question. The answer is provided in terms of situations, circumstances, people and events – just keep asking questions – that’s the most important thing.

“The other thing is to always _D look beyond the obvious. Don’t try and interpret the signs, just keep asking questions and let situations, circumstances and events be the answer.”

4. DON’T BE SCARED – by yourself

When we get one of these ‘hints’ from the Universe, it can be a gut instinct or it can be fear. Learn to differentiate between the two.

“Everything is an interpretation and it’s interpretation which creates events. Interpretation, and your perception, is influenced by your imagination, which comes from memory, which is an interpretation of a past event.

“So how you interpret an event will determine the reality. If you interpret it fearfully you will get a fearful outcome, but if you interpret it in a way which says ‘ this is meant to take me to a new level of awareness’ then that’s what will happen.”

5. KEEP A DIARY – every day

You may, at first, find yourself overwhelmed with messages and meaningful symbols and events. In order to remember them all and to make sense of them, Deepak suggests you keep a journal. Write down events, conversations, meetings and circumstances which seem to ring a bell and/or seem to be pointing you towards an answer or a new direction.

“Keeping a diary is a good because when you write something down it forces you to dig into your subconscious automatically.”

6. PAY ATTENTION – to your dreams

Like so many New Agers and psychologists, Deepak believes that dreams hold many key answers to our questions.

“They are the sub-manifest domain of your awareness, your subconsciousness, and they give you hints and clues in symbolic language.”

Once again, don’t try and find an answer in your dreams, just ask more questions. Writing your dreams down as soon as you wake up is about the only way to guarantee remembering them. Better still, if you have a tape recorder, keep it by your bed and dictate your dream as soon as you wake up from it.

And “don’t be frightened by your dreams”, says Deepak. Look at the bigger picture.

“A dream about death, or someone dying, for example, well, it’s actually quite a good dream because it’s about change or transformation.”

7. USE DEEPAK’S AFFIRMATIONS – for one week

For one week, at least, start your day by reading one of these affirmations.

Sunday
My spirit is a domain of awareness which connects everything with everything else
Monday
Relationship is the most important thing in my life
Tuesday
My intentions are infinite organising power
Wednesday
My inner dialogue is not always about me but also about how can I help
Thursday
I know how to deal with emotional turbulence
Friday
I am looking for the conspiracy of improbabilities
Saturday
I understand the dance between the masculine and the feminine

“Spend some time thinking about each in the morning – and keep it in your awareness all day – and you’ll see how it starts to explain itself.”

8. MAKE LIKE A YOGI – and meditate

Deepak also recommends meditation and says “it is the only way to consciously evolve”. He adds that meditating can calm the emotional turbulence which sometimes gets in the way of our understanding life situations.

Free and inexpensive meditation courses abound these days, but if you don’t want formal training, sitting quietly, eyes closed, listening to the rise and fall of your breath for 15 minutes every day is a good start. Preferably do it after reading that day’s affirmation.

“Sitting quietly is not the same thing as formal meditation and doesn’t take you to the same level of awareness but it will help you relax.”

9. DO IT – only if you’re ready

Finally, Deepak suggest trying his methods only when you’re ready. And if you think that day will never come, that’s OK with him too. Heck. While he does free public meditation nights at his San Diego centre, businesses pay him $22,500 for a three-hour lecture. What do they pay you?

“You should never try or even attempt to change a person’s mind,” says the man who’s been called everything from a guru to a conman.

“There’s a saying ‘A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still’.”

10. And thusly, Deepak rests his case.

C Yasmin Boland 1999