don't give up. There's nothing wrong with you, and there's nothing wrong with the way the universe works. Furthermore, you are utterly and completely worthy of experiencing a life of abundance and joy. And—here's an important piece of good news—you already possess everything you need to create that life. Because you are a soul. That means you were born with innate spiritual intelligence. That means direct and immediate access to the Divine was built into you at the factory. That means the creative powers of desire, imagination, will, and intention are all at your fingertips. Hafiz, the peerless Sufi mystic, knows this little secret about you:
All the talents of God are within you.
How could this be otherwise
When your soul
Derived from His
Genes!
—Hafiz, from “All the Talents of God,” The Gift, translation by Daniel Ladinsky
Here's another little secret: You chose this human experience, and you came to live in beauty, not in pain—to consume life, not to be consumed by it. You came to create life, and at the soul level, you know how to do that. You've just humanly forgotten, as we all have. But the truth is still alive and waiting. The great masters, the Buddha and Jesus, told us ages ago how to create an abundant life and—guess what?—they did not say get clear about what you want and ask for it. The Buddha said, “When conditions are sufficient there is a manifestation.” Jesus said, “[W]hen we pursue a right relationship with the Universal One and allow this relationship to realign our lives, we produce a condition of receptivity in which anything we need to help us complete our purpose in life will be supplied by the universe.”
Although they lived six hundred years and thousands of miles apart, and gave birth to two very different spiritual traditions, the Buddha and Jesus taught exactly the same thing: you create a beautiful life by creating fertile conditions, not by asking for anything. In my own words, what I hear them saying is this: You can have anything you want—why, you can have things you don't even know you want—but not by focusing on them. Instead, put your undivided attention on your connection with the vibrant presence of the Divine within, and your life will change. It has to. It is the natural order.
Sound like a paradox? It is. It's the Great Paradox of Prosperity. Get used to paradox. It's one of the Divine's favorite games. So is creation. In The Lotus and the Lily, you will play with many creation toys. You will learn the cosmic power of the mandala. You will play with Soul Slinky waves of intention and gratitude. You will awaken your inner shaman and be amazed at what you can do. You will discover the power of naming your past and your future. And you will experience the generative power of your own voice.
It all sounds rather magical, but it isn't. It's natural order—the same natural order that produces an abundant harvest on a physical farm. A wise farmer will tell you that planting a seed takes a few seconds. The real value is in the preparation of the soil. Fertile fields produce lush crops. That abundant beautiful life you want? That's one very lush crop. So for the next twenty-eight days, you will walk your spiritual fields, plucking weeds, removing rocks, and nourishing your soil with twenty-eight essential spiritual truths. When the fields are ready, you will give yourself a special Soul Day. On that day, you will clarify your conditions and plant the seeds of your beautiful life in a highly charged and deeply personal Intention Mandala. Then you only have to watch what happens. Because when conditions are sufficient, there will be a manifestation.
These fields of the soul lie beyond our popular understanding of the law of attraction. This doesn't mean the law of attraction is wrong; it means that we've been limiting ourselves to one small corner of our creative capability. Why ask for one thing or another when you can create fertile conditions in which everything you need is supplied? Here's a comparison of the principles of Law of Attraction and those we'll be using:
| Law of Attraction | The Lotus and the Lily |
| human at the center | divine at the center |
| how to ask | how to live |
| ask for things | create conditions |
| ego | soul |
| external | internal |
| desires | purpose |
| effort | effortless |
| control | allow |
| material goods | heaven on earth |
Does heaven on earth sound implausible? It's not. The Buddha and Jesus pointed the way. All we have to do is follow.
Come. Out here, the pastures are beautiful and the harvest is rich. Out here, anything is possible. Out here, all the talents of your soul come out to play. Out here, all is well. More than well, all is divine. Everything is unfolding according to divine will. Welcome, you are on your way!
The Story Behind the Lotus and the Lily
I discovered the process described in this book the same way I discovered deep soul writing, which I introduced to readers in Writing Down Your Soul—on my knees. I stumbled onto deep soul writing trying to navigate a terrifying divorce. Out of sheer desperation, I picked up a pen and poured my woes onto the page. There, I made a startling discovery: the connection to Source is in your hands. You ask for guidance, and you receive it. It's that simple. Thousands of people have been making the connection ever since.
Thanks to Writing Down Your Soul, my career leapt from human-resources consultant to spiritual writer. This, I thought, was a very good thing. When my book came out in early 2009, I happily traipsed around the country teaching deep soul writing. Every day brought new stories of lives changed by the guidance and comfort received on the page. But those trips were financed on my already-burdened credit cards. By November, I had to face the reality that I was bankrupt. I sat down with my son and told him how ashamed I was to be in such a pickle. I couldn't even say the word bankrupt; it came out as a little sob. My son, Jerry, wise before his years, said, “Mom, there's nothing to be ashamed of. I'm proud of you. You're doing the work you want to do. If bankruptcy is the next step, take it.” With his words the shame dissolved, and I called a bankruptcy attorney. But his first available appointment wasn't until the following February. What was I supposed to do till then?
The next morning, I said my prayers and got in my sacred writing chair. I told Spirit all about my financial woes and my loving son and the appointment with the attorney. I asked a lot of hard questions: Why, if I'm doing the work I'm here to do, am I broke? How did I get here? What am I supposed to be learning? Where's the blessing in bankruptcy? I want a beautiful life! I want real prosperity. How do I create that? Tell me how to create a beautiful life, and I will do it.
Well, I received answers. I was told to write at the very deepest soul level every day of December. And I was told exactly what to write about and in what order.
Week 1: Spend a week in preparation. Learning how to create life is deep; you need to prepare yourself.
Week 2: Look back at your life. There are gifts buried in there that you haven't explored and don't understand.
Week 3: Release and forgive. You are full of old wounds that haven't been released, and until you release them, there is no room for the new to grow.
Week 4: Before you ask for anything, get clear about what you want and why you want it, so you are sure to create a life of purpose and joy.
This outline made sense to me. In fact, it sounded similar to what I'd been doing on my annual Soul Day. Every New Year's Day, I'd spend time in prayerful preparation, then I'd write about the year just completed and all the gifts and learnings I received, and finally, I'd talk over what I want for the new year.
This process had always worked, but it had been wildly effective on January 1, 2006. That year, no matter what I asked for, I received it. I said I was ready for my marketing partner, and five days later, the news and information outlet United Press International (UPI) invited me to write a weekly column. I said I was ready for my publishing partner, and book publisher Conari Press contacted me in June. I asked for a relationship, and met a man thirteen days later in my favorite restaurant. That year, 2006, was far and away my most magical year to date. I wanted another year like that.
On