Chapter 16

Sometimes it seems like your dreams will always remain just out of reach. It's sometimes so close that you can almost touch it, feel it, taste it, but for some reason it always falls through. If you're working on putting your leg behind your head, you may feel you make steady progress only to get injured. If you're saving money to travel the world, own your own home, or start a new business, it may feel like a sudden emergency always eats your savings. While it may seem like some people have it all, make no mistake, everyone who you think has it all has put in countless hours of hard work. But there is a kind of a magic balance between dogged persistence and open receptivity. For the hardest workers sometimes the missing element of success is just relaxing and letting it all in. For the most optimistic dreamers sometimes the missing element is accepting how much effort it will take to make something real.

Find the sweet spot of balance between too much effort and too little effort. Find the place where you work hard and remain open to receiving. This balancing act is itself the spiritual path. To walk the path of your life with balance, strength and grace is itself the goal.

Stand together for a cause you believe in. Rise up on your own. Don’t try to take anyone down as you climb the ladder of your life. It makes me sad when there is in-fighting in the yoga world, when we try to take each other down instead of build eachother up. I don’t care what style of yoga you practice, whether you’re a master of handstands or simply enjoy resting in child’s pose, whether you study the Upanishads or prefer to simply feel the inner body. All that matters is that each time you get on your mat your heart grows bigger, your soul shines brighter and you are spiritually stronger.

We need solidarity in the yoga world. We are all yogis, committed to living a more peaceful life. Yoga is one. It is a spiritual path aimed at an inner experience of lasting peace. Just for today, let’s drop the in-fighting, name calling, blame game that so often drowns out what is really important. We are all people whose yearning for love finds a home in the sacred spiritual practice of yoga. Just for today, let’s stand together as yogis, making the world a more peaceful place and respond with mutual respect and understanding. 

Trust that all is well. In the field of dreams that is your life there are more moving parts than you could ever possibly control. So don't try to control it all. Trust the unseen world of good things yet to come. All is unfolding in your favor. Get out of your own way. Trust. Surrender. Believe. With faith all things are possible. Even the impossible. What is a miracle but the impossible becoming possible? What is more miraculous than love winning out over war? There are miracles around you everywhere. See the miracle of every smile, every flower, every sunrise, every act of forgiveness. Open your eyes and see the everyday miracles of life. The spirit is with you. You are never alone

While you may feel daunted standing at the edge of a mountain of doubt, never give up. Suddenly tectonic shifts open new passages that were previously blocked. A ray of light shines through an impenetrable darkness. And the mountain moves, not through force or will, but through love and surrender. Stand with courage and strength and ask for your mountain to move. Ask for your miracle. Then wait for it and work for it, with humility and non-attachment, no matter how long it takes. Ask for your miracle today! Because who are you not to? With faith the size of a mustard seed your mountain will move, walls will come crumbling down, chains will be broken, freedom will pierce your heart with joy. And you will finally know exactly who you are. 

Do you believe in luck? 

Are things really random? 

Or is there a gentle and powerful force that secretly guides the events of your life? 

When you're at the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing, I think there has got to be more than just a series of coincidences at work. When I look back at my peak achievements I can see clearly that I wasn't a lone ranger. All I accomplished was granted to me by a benevolent force greater than I could have imagined. Yes I worked, and yes many people also contributed, but the real magic of arranging seemingly lucky moments was far beyond our control. What if serendipity is really grace in disguise? What if the path to success is not only through effort and dogged perseverance, but also through humility and reverence? What do you think? Is it all random? Is it just up to Lady Luck when you spin the roulette wheel of life? Just because a butterfly flaps its wings at some remote location across the world, the ricochet effect cannot be the reason you and your true love happen to take the same flight and meet at the airport.  Nothing seems random to me. The world is rich with meaning and symbols. Even traffic isn't random. There is a pattern and order to everything. In fact, you could say that there is a divine order to things. And maybe when you feel really lucky you are in fact just really connected to the source of all order, wisdom and knowledge.