SUTRA: Ritam (REE-tahm)
I am alert, awake to coincidences, and know that they are messages from God. I flow with the cosmic dance.
THE SEVENTH PRINCIPLE incorporates all the other aspects of synchrodestiny to form an approach to life that comes from peaceful awareness.
Ritam means “I am alert to the conspiracy of improbabilities.”
Every event has a particular likelihood of happening, or probability. The probability of winning the lottery is very low. The probability of winning the lottery without buying a ticket is even lower.
We maximize the probability that something will happen by our actions. And many of our actions are determined by our karmic conditioning—those interpretations of past experiences and relationships that form and affect our life’s memories and desires. If we have had past experiences of being lucky, the probability of buying a lottery ticket increases. But a person who has never won anything feels defeated even before the ticket is purchased, and may never buy the ticket at all.
In order to change your life, therefore, you must break free of your present karmic conditioning. You’ve got to change your interpretation of what happens in your life. You must transform yourself into the person for whom the probability of great things happening increases. And this transformation starts at the level of the soul. The soul gives meaning to events. The soul takes actions by influencing our minds. And for every action, there is a memory, an interpretation. Meaning, experience, interpretation, memory, desire—all of these are very closely connected through the karmic cycle.
We get used to a certain way of doing things and continue that pattern out of habit, simply because it is comfortable. In order to change your life, you have to find a way to break the pattern. This is not easy, but people do it every day. The best way is to watch for signs of new probabilities—and those signs come to us in the form of coincidences.
Coincidences are messages from the nonlocal domain, invitations to break our karmic bonds. Coincidences invite us to relinquish the known and embrace the unknown. A coincidence is a creative, quantum leap in the behavior of the universe itself. Since the known is itself a habit of past conditioning, creativity and freedom exist in the unknown—anything that breaks through the probability amplitude set by karma. That is why it is important to look for coincidences, to keep a record of them. When you notice coincidences, you can discover their hidden meanings for your life.
A coincidence is, by definition, a synchronistic experience. It comes from the nonlocal domain, and affects our world in unpredictable ways. The very fact that it’s a coincidence means that it is a message from God. We must take heed, and then take action. This is our opportunity for a creative response. The goal of enlightenment is to go beyond the probability pattern and experience true freedom. This is why it is important to never ignore a coincidence. Never pass up a chance to see what the universe has planned for you. And if you pay attention to coincidences, you’ll find that they accelerate, creating even more opportunities.
This is the secret of synchrodestiny. All the ideas presented here are the ruling principles of the universe. If you make them the guideposts of your own life, you live the life of your dreams. Understanding that these principles are not just abstractions, that actually they are operating in everything we do, is really more than just awareness: It’s really a kind of celebration. When you have mastered synchrodestiny, when you have learned to synchronize your life with the universe itself, you are celebrating the cosmic dance.
Go to a place where a lot of activity is taking place, such as a shopping mall. Buy something to eat from the food court. Sit on a bench. Close your eyes. With full awareness, taste the food, smell its aroma, and feel its texture. While keeping your eyes closed, pay attention to all the sounds in your environment. What’s that music in the background? Christmas carols? The theme song of a movie? Can you tune in to the conversation of the people next to you? Can you hear scattered phrases, words? Do any sounds strike you as attractive, or draw your attention more than others?
Now put your awareness in your body; feel everything around you. The hardness or softness of the bench or sofa—is it wood, or metal, or fabric?
Now open your eyes and observe the scene around you, the people walking, the colors, the shops, the items in the windows, and the art galleries.
Now close your eyes and in your imagination note once again what you have experienced—the tastes, the smells, the textures, the colors and the objects you saw, the sounds you heard. Now pick an item from each of your sensory experiences. An example of these might include the following: strawberry ice cream on your tongue, the smell of baking bread, the touch of craggy rocks under your feet, a beautiful painting of the sun setting over hills, Christmas carols, and the theme song from the James Bond movie Goldfinger. Now tell yourself that all these sounds, smells, textures, and tastes are part of a story. Ask yourself what the story is. Ask your nonlocal self to reveal the story to you. Now let go and assume that your nonlocal self will provide the answer in the form of a synchronistic experience.
The exercise above is an actual example of an experience I had at a shopping mall during Christmastime. One year later I was in Jamaica. I had taken a drive into the countryside. I saw a scene very similar to the picture in the painting—a beautiful sunset over a hill by the ocean. Upon inquiry I learned that this place was called Strawberry Hill and the James Bond movie Goldfinger had been shot here. There was a beautiful hotel on Strawberry Hill. I decided to go inside. They had a luxurious spa. The spa director was delighted to meet me, and he told me that he had been looking for me for the last several weeks because he wanted advice on Ayurvedic therapies. We ended up talking about a mutual collaboration. Several years later I also met the owner of the hotel, who was a record company executive. His wife had an illness for which she consulted me, and we became close friends. He helped me with great advice when I produced my first music CD with healing meditations. Many years later our friendships have continued to evolve, and we feel bonded to each other in the spirit of love; we know we are karmically connected.
Sutra Statements for the Seventh Principle
Imagine that you move in rhythm with the impulses of a conscious universe.
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Imagine that you dance to the rhythm of the universe.
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Imagine that your body’s rhythms are in perfect order.
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Imagine that your body is a symphony.
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Imagine that you are the harmony of the universe.
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Imagine that every time you seek something, the universe provides clues in the form of coincidences.
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Imagine that there is a connection between what happens in your dreams and what happens in your waking life.
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Imagine that you are transforming and evolving into a higher being.
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Imagine that there is meaning and purpose to everything that happens and everything you do.
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Imagine that you have a contribution to make to the world.
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Imagine that life is full of coincidences.
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Imagine that you notice what others may not notice.
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Imagine that you see the hidden meaning behind events.
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Imagine that life is full of peak experiences.
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Imagine that you have unique talents that you use to serve and help others.
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Imagine that all your relationships are nurturing and playful.
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Imagine that you delight in play and humor.
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