personal enlightenment develop your capability for unattachment is through daily mediation, 30 minutes each morning. This puts you in touch with your true reality and the paradox of being totally unattached to the outcome, while still enthusiastically and actively practicing steps 1-4. You will no longer see step 5 as a paradox that is counter to steps 1-4 and your goal. The purpose of unattachment is to minimize your radiating negative energy based on the fear of not achieving your goal. Such negative output could diminish or eliminate your chance for success [Figure 2]. There have been numerous critics of the Law of Manifestation; however, there are many texts that describe studies over the years which quite clearly indicate that this law truly works.3,4 It is based on an intimate combination of the principles of metaphysics and quantum physics. The reader is directed to other works for details.5 Practical Stories Last year I read a relevant editorial in the New York Times by columnist, Arthur C. Brooks.6 He shares a charming story of his visit to India. There he met a Hindu swami named Gnanmunidas at one of the temples in New Delhi. Most amazingly, the swami greeted Brooks with the modern vernacular, “How ya doin’, dude?” and in a Texas accent! As it happened, Gnanmunidas had grown up in Houston, the son of two Indian petroleum engineers, graduated from the University of Texas and as an entrepreneur went on to make a huge amount of money. However, Gnanmunidas had an “awakening” at age 26. He gave away all of his money and material possessions and moved to India. Six years later he had become an ordained Buddhist monk. His only worldly possessions are two robes, prayer beads and a wooden bowl. He is, in fact, prohibited from even touching money. Being an economist, Brooks queried Gnanmunidas, “Swami, is economic prosperity a good or bad thing?” As he held his breath for the response, the swami answered, “It’s good; it has saved millions of people in my country from starvation.” Brooks didn’t expect this answer so he pressed further, “I was sure you’d say that money was corrupting.” The swami laughed at Brooks and smiling said, “There is nothing wrong with money, dude. The problem in life is attachment to money [Figure 3].” He went on to explain to Brooks that the “secret” to a good life is simple: Abundance without Attachment. FIGURE 2: : Attachment can create fear which can minimize or eliminate your chance of success in practicing the Law of Manifestation.
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FIGURE 3: There is nothing wrong with making money; it’s attachment to money that causes problems and the inability to successfully practice the Law of Manifestation.
The Dali Lama in all his wisdom has often said that he does not see a problem with material things; it’s our misconception that “Satisfaction can arise from gratifying the senses alone.” Perhaps this works for the short term, but not for the long haul. Gnanmunidas, of course is right about the importance of money; the percentage of our global community living on $1 per day has decreased by 80 percent in our lifetimes.7 Bill Gates, who is deeply connected to this issue, predicts that almost no countries will be “poor” by 2035!8 The point Brooks is making is that those of us who are fortunate to have achieved abundance, should be grateful and share with others the means to get there. He underscores the point I have described above concerning The Law of Manifestation, “The real trick is . . . avoiding attachment.” Means to the End So what can you do to manifest wonderful things into your life and achieve long-term fulfillment? Here are two suggestions. ✔ Meditation: Commit 30 minutes a day to mediation. There are numerous resources that can teach you how to do this. It will take some time. Don’t be discouraged; that’s the key. This will put you in touch with your very core, your spirit, or soul, whatever you want to call it. And in doing so, you will create a set of life values that speak to you and truly make a difference. ✔ Unattachment: Practice, practice, practice! It will come and when it does, you will cherish your successes and be unaffected by those things that don’t work out. Also, the level of fear throughout your life will fall to nearly zero. Brooks has a few other good ideas: ✔ Collect experiences, not things: As time goes by you will remember the good experiences that occurred throughout your life, not the material things you collected. I still recall with vivid imagery and elation, the time I climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro; much more than the first car I bought. The same can be said for my wedding day and the births of my three daughters. ✔ Steer clear of excessive usefulness: Numerous studies show that doing things for their own sake, as opposes to things that are simply a way to achieve something else, leads to mindfulness, awareness and joy. Yes, shop-till-you-drop may work for a brief moment in time, but you will need to continue the process continuously for long-term fulfillment. And that can be quite costly, materially and emotionally! ✔ Find your spiritual core: Dig deep inside, helped
by meditation and find your true spiritual core. I’m not referring to organized religion, but if that works for you, fine. There, as Brooks points out, “You will transcend health, wealth, power, pleasure and fame—for moving beyond mortal abundance. Or, more to his point, “Woe be unto those who live and die by slings and arrows of worldly attachment.” To leave Ms. Byrne on a positive note, I think she has done many people a favor by introducing them to the concept of The Law of Manifestation, or as she calls it, The Law of Attraction. However, for The Law of Attraction to truly work, you must complete the contemplative series of steps summarized above with the final and key step of unattachment. Try it; it works! Sat, Chit, Ananda! Enjoy your journey, make a difference! James A. Cusumano, PhD ■
Rhonda Byrne, The Secret, Beyond Words, Hillsboro, Oregon, 2006. 2 Reviewer identified as “Longhorn 25” in the Kindle reviews of The Secret. 3 Deepak Chopra, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, Amber-Allen Publishing, San Rafael, CA, 1994. 4 James A. Cusumano, Cosmic Consciousness: Are We Truly Connected? A Journey to Well-being, Happiness and Success, Fortuna Libri, Prague, Czech Republic, 2011. 5 Ibid 6 Arthur C. Brooks, Abundance Without Attachment, New York Times, December 12, 2014. 7 Arthur C. Brooks, https://www.commentarymagazine. com/article/be-open-handed-toward-your-brothers-1/. 8 Bill Gates, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWPT8DqVOk&index=1&list=PLytTJqkSQqtreu8hXg5luK 6z_s00QudLN. 1
James A. Cusumano (www.JamesCusumano.Com & http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_A._Cusumano) is Chairman and Owner of Chateau Mcely (www.ChateauMcely.Com), chosen in 2007 by the European Union as the only “Green” 5-star luxury hotel in Central and Eastern Europe and in 2008 by the World Travel Awards as The World’s Leading Green Hotel. It is home to Chateau Mcely Forum™ (www.ChateauMcelyForum.Com) which offers programs that teach the principles of Inspired Leadership. He is a former Research Director for Exxon, and subsequently founded two public companies in Silicon Valley, one in clean power generation, the other in pharmaceuticals manufacture via environmentally-benign, low-cost, catalytic technologies. While he was Chairman and CEO, the latter – Catalytica Pharmaceuticals, Inc. – grew in less than 5 years, to a $1 billion enterprise with 2,000 employees. He is coauthor of Freedom from Mid-East Oil, released in 2007 by World Business Academy Press (www.WorldBusiness.Org) and author of Cosmic Consciousness – A Journey to Well-being, Happiness and Success, published in English and Czech by Fortuna Libri, 2011. His new book, BALANCE: The Business—Life Connection was published in 2013 by SelectBooks in New York City. It was published in Czech in October 2013 by Fortuna Libri.
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