Back in August, I stumbled upon a 2004 copy of “The Book Of Secrets” at a second-hand book stall at a farmers market in McGregor. This book seemed to almost call out to me, begging to be bought. The pages were charmingly discoloured, with yellowed edges – a sure sign of its journey through time (I wonder why the previous owner sold it to the second hand book dealer? Did they get so much value from the book that they wanted to pass on its wisdom, or the opposite?).
Anyway, fast forward to my December holiday, I was looking through my personal library and realized I had completely forgotten about this gem. Yet, as often happens with spiritual teachings, the timing was mysteriously perfect, even though it was a whole six months since the purchase.
The book captivated me so much I just couldn’t put it down. I found myself underlining and circling text, and making notes in the margins. There were moments where I repeatedly read a single sentence, struck by its depth and wisdom. The only other book that has this kind of impact on me is Neale Donald Walsh’s “Conversations With God.”
I’m eager to share with you some insights from “The Book Of Secrets” that deeply resonated with me. I understand that what I find profound might differ from your perspective, but I’m confident there is at least one sentence that will touch you in some way.
In this blog post I’ll share what stood out most for me about Secrets #1 to #7. Secrets #8 to #15 will be a separate blog post. I’ll keep my shares brief, just snippets really. Trust me, if I were to transcribe everything that moved me, I’d end up duplicating the entire Book Of Secrets. Consider this a teaser – a selection of quotes from Deepak Chopra’s 20-year old masterpiece that I hope will inspire you to buy and read the book yourself.
Quotes from Secrets #1 to #7
-
- You are not in the world, the world is in you. (p.21)
-
- Being a creator is more important than the whole world. It’s worth pausing for a moment to take that in. In fact, it is the world. Of all the liberating ideas that could change a person’s life, this one is perhaps the most freeing. Yet to truly live it, to be a true creator, a great deal of conditioning needs to be broken down. No one remembers being told to believe in the material word. Yet somehow we’ve learned to accept ourselves as limited beings. (p.27)
-
- The simplest definition of consciousness is awareness; the two are synonymous. (p.34)
-
- The more consciousness you have, the more potential you have to create. Pure consciousness, because it underlies everything is pure potential. (p. 34)
-
- Awareness is all that changes in the journey from separation to the one reality. (p.35)
-
- Eventually someone has to ask, “Who am I who is doing all this thinking?” That’s the question that leads to pure awareness. (p. 36)
-
- The glory of the spiritual journey is the same as its irony: You acquire full power only by realizing that you have been using that power all along to thwart yourself. You are potentially the prisoner, the jailer, and the hero who opens the prison, all rolled into one. (p.36)
-
- Any experience that brings you into contact with the silent level of awareness can be called meditation. (p. 45)
-
- Spiritual growth is spontaneous. The big events come along unexpectedly, and so do the small ones. A single word can open your heart; a single glance can tell you who you really are. Awakening doesn’t happen according to the plan. It’s much more like putting together a jigsaw puzzle without knowing the finished picture in advance. (p. 49)
-
- At crucial moments, however, the truth speaks to us; it tells us how things really are, not forever or for all people but right at this moment for us alone. (p. 59)
-
- In reality nothing exists outside the self. As soon as you begin to accept this one bit of knowledge, the whole purpose of life changes. The only goal worth attaining is complete freedom to be your self, without illusions and false beliefs. (p. 76)
-
- Losing sight of your boundaries doesn’t make you a “good person”. (p. 77)
-
- There are only three kinds of people in your life: those who leave you alone, those who help you, and those who hurt you. People who leave you alone are dealing with your suffering as a nuisance or inconvenience – they prefer to keep their distance in order to feel better themselves. Those who help you have the strength and awareness to do more with your suffering than you are able to do by yourself. Those who hurt you want the situation to stay the same because they do not have your well-being at heart. (p. 78)
-
- Fear has a way of roaming the mind at will. Depression darkens the mind; anger makes it erupt in uncontrollable turmoil. (p. 81)
-
- Stored memories are like microchips programmed to keep sending out the same message over and over. When you find yourself having a fixed reaction, the message has already been sent: It does no good to try to change the message. Yet this is exactly how the vast majority of people try to tame the mind.
-
- Manipulation tries to prove that anyone can be made to do what you want. Control tries to prove that no one can reject you unless you say so. Denial tries to prove that bad things will go away if you don’t look at them. (p. 86)
-
- …only when we admit the truth does the behaviour completely end. (p. 86)
-
- The universe has no fixed agenda. Once you make any decision, it works around that decision. There is no right or wrong, only a series of possibilities that shift with each thought, feeling, and action that you experience. (p. 92)
-
- The whole idea of I, me, and mine was erected on memories, and these memories are not really you. (p. 93)
-
- Even so, doubt is destructive to the one quality that awareness is trying to bring to you: knowingness. At a deep level, you are the knower of reality. Doubt is a symptom indicating that you aren’t in contact with the knower inside. It usually means that you are looking outside yourself when you have to make a choice. (p. 96)
-
- Social acceptances is the lowest common denominator of the self – it’s you as a social unit rather than you as a unique person. Find out who you really are; let fitting in be the last thing on your mind. (p. 96)
-
- In the one reality there are no wrong turns, only new turns. (p. 97)
-
- On some dimension or other, every event in life can be causing only one of two things: Either it is good for you, or it is bring up what you need to look at in order to create good for you. (p. 97)
-
- Every change you make, however small will be communicated throughout existence – quite literally the whole universe will be eavesdropping on you and lending you its support. From its point of view, the formation of a galaxy is no more momentous than the evolution of a single person. (p.117)
I can’t stress enough that the quotes above really are just short highlights of the many incredible teachings that stood out for me. There is soooooo much information, so many insights and ah-ha moments in “The Book Of Secrets”. The Secrets are profound concepts that can’t be fully appreciated by reading just one sentence in isolation – you really have to read this book for yourself.
You can read second batch of inspiring quotes from Secrets 8 to 15, in this blog post.
