Editor’s Note:
After David Simon was diagnosed with a brain tumor, he found himself waking very early, reflecting on his life journey and what gives our human existence meaning. In the quiet hours alone, he distilled his musings into five core principles or awakenings that he believed were the most important aspects of life:

1. silence
2. love
3. nature
4. dharma (purpose)
5. healing

As he continued his treatment, David shared his reflections about these five awakenings at some of the Chopra Center’s retreats and workshops, and it was clear that his words resonated deeply in the hearts of everyone in attendance. In order to share the essence and power of the five awakenings with more people from throughout the world, the Chopra Center has created a new retreat called Silent Awakenings, a five-day inward journey inspired by David. The first Silent Awakenings retreat will take place this September 4–8 in the beautiful Northern California coastal retreat setting of Asilomar.
Learn more here >>

Each day of Silent Awakenings will be dedicated to one of the five awakenings, giving guests an opportunity to dive deep and experience each of these essential qualities of life. The retreat will be led by Dr. Deepak Chopra, Brent BecVar, and Amanda Ringnalda. Amanda is a talented and loving teacher – a Vedic Master certified as an instructor of Primordial Sound Meditation, Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga, and Perfect Health / Ayurveda. Amanda is also the Chopra Center’s Director of Operations & Events, overseeing the operations of our Wellness Center as well as orchestrating the Center’s signature workshops and retreats with grace and ease. In addition to her many roles, she is also a regular contributor to the Chopra Center’s 21-Day Meditation Challenge™, leading beautiful guided meditations for participants around the world.

We recently had the opportunity to sit down with Amanda in David Simon’s office as she reflected on the gifts David gave to so many people, including the teachings of the five awakenings and the power of simplicity.

Chopra Center: The first of the five awakenings is silence. David taught that taking time to experience silence, through meditation and other practices, is the most important thing we can do in a world whose noise, stimulation, and demands on our attention are ever increasing. In your experience with David and in immersing yourself in the Chopra Center’s teachings, what has silence come to mean to you personally?

Amanda: I have learned that silence is truly the teacher. Silence is our guru. It is the source that we are all seeking. It’s paradoxical that we are constantly seeking knowledge outside of ourselves. We read hundreds of books, we take course after course, we go online looking for more information, inspiration, and anything that will give us answers to our deepest questions. And yet everything we are seeking is already within us . . . in the silence. The answers are always inside but can be difficult to hear because of all the chatter in our mind. If we take some time to get quiet, we can more easily hear their whisper.

I think one of the things that David taught us so beautifully is that we can make our lives complicated or we can choose simplicity. After all, what could be easier than silence? Many of us make it complex and there’s a tendency to resist being in silence, or to feel somewhat fearful of it. As brilliant, talented, and learned as he was, I think David’s greatest gift was to make things simple and present these timeless teachings in a way that we can understand and use.

At the Chopra Center we teach a meditation practice that David and Deepak created, known as Primordial Sound Meditation. With this simple technique, we sit and witness the movement of our mind from our mantra to our thoughts. We observe the ebb and flow. Initially, the movement is very quick. But after sitting for a little while, we notice our thoughts start to quiet and the movement back and forth slows down. When our thoughts are slower, the space between our thoughts becomes longer. And this gap between our thoughts is where peace and silence await us.  Spend more time there, spend more time in peace. It’s really that simple.

For a long time, the Chopra Center has wanted to create a retreat like Silent Awakenings, where all the participants engage in an extended experience of silence. It’s an opportunity to literally unplug from the outside world and to give yourself space and time to shift your attention within. A silent retreat encourages you just to be.

Chopra Center: You’ve participated in several silent retreats. Can you share with us your experience of what it’s like to spend an extended period of time in silence?

Amanda:  Yes, it’s really an amazing journey.  It’s somewhat indescribable but I’ll share what I can. The first couple of days I realized how external and outwardly focused I was in daily life. I felt really frustrated because I wanted to share with all the new people who were there at the retreat with me . . . to at least learn their name and a little bit about them. Then gradually a deeper feeling of serenity moved through me and I realized there was no need to say any of the things I had been bursting to express earlier. I had an opportunity to evaluate everything from a total witness perspective, and to notice whether my desire to speak was just a need to fill up space.  As the retreat continued, I found myself in a state of inner calm and spacious mind, quieter than I’d ever experienced it to be. And the wonderful thing is, the essence of this experience stayed with me long after I had left the retreat. Each day when I sit down to meditate, the pathway to silence is familiar terrain. It was as if the path once walked is never forgotten.

Chopra Center: The second awakening David talked about is nature. He loved working or sitting outside in his garden, and he often encouraged people to spend time in nature, enlivening our five senses with beautiful sights, sounds, tastes, aromas, and touch. Have you found that your relationship to nature has changed since you’ve been at the Chopra Center?

Amanda: Yes, and primarily because of David. About a year and a half ago, at one of our courses he gave the group a simple assignment. We were in Sedona, and he said, “You’re surrounded by so much beauty here, and in the remaining days I invite you take an opportunity to notice one small aspect of nature and really pay attention to it.”

That night I went back to my room and noticed a large succulent plant and its cluster of new flower blossoms, which were just about to emerge. I sat down and looked at it in detail. I took a picture of it in my mind and studied its details from right to left, from top to bottom, in and out, memorizing its beauty. It is a practice in itself to see the most delicate intricacies of nature. The presence of the creator became evident – as if revealing itself and its orchestration of the happenings of the universe.

Each day as I passed, I looked at this succulent as I left my room, came back at breaks, and returned in the evening. In just a couple of days the stalk had almost fully bloomed. As I watched the petals unfolding according to some inner timing, I thought, It’s all happening effortlessly. The flowers aren’t thinking, “Today I need to open two more millimeters.” They’re not thinking about deadlines, the list of things they need to do, or their future. They’re just being and allowing the process to flow through them.

I saw it as a lesson – we, too, can allow our blooming to flow through us. The more we let go and open, the more we see that the whole process of life can be quite effortless. While our lives are more complex (at least from our perspective) than a plant’s, we can also experience the same natural unfolding. Like us, a flower has to weather storms and obstacles, yet it keeps opening and evolving.

From this easy exercise David assigned us, I gained great wisdom about nature.

Chopra Center: Through his teachings and writings, David helped so many people let go of emotional pain and rediscover the love and wholeness that is our inherent nature. He chose love as the third of the five awakenings and encouraged people to live out their own greatest love story. Can you share a little about David’s perspective on love and how it weaves through the teachings of the Chopra Center?

Amanda: Yes . . . love is who we are and it is all we are. It’s all about Love. However, as David observed, many people have doubts about their own lovability – usually as an inadvertent result of being brought up by parents or caregivers who were, in David’s words, “emotional amateurs.” If we didn’t receive the message that we were lovable and we didn’t learn how to express our needs and emotions, we will probably experience a great deal of emotional turbulence and pain until we can awaken to who we really are, which is pure love.
There are a million ways to move beyond the blocks to love, and at some point people will notice the block and start to shift it. For me, it’s so extraordinary to be able to work in a space where I get to see this opening to love every day – not just in the guests at our programs and retreats, but in myself, in the staff members, and in all the other people whom we interact with. We stand as witness to each other’s transformation. There are few things that beautiful.

We have a misconception that love is tied to relationships, and specifically to intimate relationships. Of course, love is in relationships, but it’s in everything else, too. David described it as the “impulse that moves us from separation to unity.” At its root, the essence of love is unity. It’s yoga, which means the union of body, mind, spirit, and the environment. All of our teachings at the Chopra Center really are about love. Whether we’re talking about meditation, mindfulness, nutrition, wellness, relationships, abundance, spiritual awakening, or any other topic, the foundation of everything we teach is love, unity, and wholeness.
The Course in Miracles teaches that everything is a choice between love and fear. We don’t always see the options that clearly, but the more time we spend cultivating love, the more we will align with it and the more we will naturally choose things that are nourishing rather than destructive.  Again, it’s quite simple. Keep choosing love.

Chopra Center: The fourth awakening is dharma, a Sanskrit term that we usually translate as our purpose in life. Could you share your understanding of dharma and how we can discover our true life’s purpose?

Amanda: Every single one of us has a unique talent or gift that can be expressed in our special way. When living in our dharma, we are able to touch the hearts and minds of other people easily and authentically. Simply put, it feels extremely good, on every level of our being, when we are engaged in purposeful work. Some of us feel like we haven’t found our purpose yet. The thing is, our purpose doesn’t need to be “found” because it’s not actually lost. We will come to recognize that it is, and always has been, part of us.

If you’re seeking a deeper sense of purpose, pay attention to what lights you up inside and spend time doing that. If you can’t do it every day, do it once a week or however often you can. When you a have a choice, favor the direction that is in alignment with whatever brings you joy and happiness – and with whatever brings joy and happiness to others.

When you wake up and think about your day, what activities make you excited? What thoughts fill you with butterflies of happy anticipation? What is it that draws friends or even strangers to you? When do you feel like time has flown by? If money were taken out of the equation, what would you spend your time doing?

David taught me a lot about divine timing and not pushing or forcing things to happen. When you look back at everything that has transpired in your life, you realize why something had to take five or ten years, why that heartache had to happen, why you didn’t meet someone until a particular time – it’s all perfectly orchestrated by the universe if we can surrender and release. It’s not easy, but it is simple.

Chopra Center: As a board-certified neurologist and expert in Ayurveda and traditional healing practices, David was a pioneer in mind-body medicine. His perspective on healing, the fifth awakening, was extremely different from the prevailing medical paradigm he experienced as a young medical student.  Can you tell us a little about David’s approach to health and wellbeing?

Amanda: What I learned from David is that our natural state is balanced and whole. From an Ayurvedic perspective, health is not just the absence of illness but a state of harmony and happiness. As with love and dharma, we tend to overcomplicate healing. We tend to look outside ourselves. David encouraged us to connect to our own wisdom and bodily intelligence rather than relying on the “expert” opinions. In fact, one of David’s most frequently quoted sayings is “The best use of a physician’s knowledge is to teach patients how to heal themselves.”

The more we experience the other awakenings of silence, nature, love, and dharma, the more we can open to healing. David taught a three-step process for nurturing our health.  The first step is to come into the present and accept the now. This allows you to see the choices available in this very moment and to respond creatively. The next step he taught was to accept the signals of your body, feeling all of its sensations and listening to its deepest messages.  While the mind tends to get caught in its own complications, the body resides in the present and is the most accurate guide to making the most healing choices.  The final step is to accept responsibility and commit to whatever action your expanded awareness has guided you to. This step is about making new choices and letting go of habits that no longer serve you.

Ultimately, David taught that healing is our return to the memory of wholeness. If we can expand our awareness beyond identifying ourselves as our body, our mind, our ego and all those temporary aspects of ourselves . . . and we can realize that our true self is pure consciousness, pure love, and pure spirit, then we will experience the deepest meaning of healing.

Chopra Center: Thank you for this wonderful conversation! Do you have any closing thoughts?

Amanda: David Simon was and will forever be an exceptionally brilliant soul and one of the most extraordinary teachers of our time. To spend the past six years working with and being taught by him will prevail among the greatest blessings of my life. May Spirit continue to give me and all of us the ability to participate in carrying out his legacy, guiding us to an understanding of expansion, unity, and true love. I know and I have seen and will continue to recognize David’s impact on this world within those who come through the Chopra Center – they are the reflection of his teachings. Namasté. I love you David.

Being in dharma means aligning your intentions, thoughts, words, and actions with your essence. This requires the power of commitment. A commitment is a contract between your body, mind, and soul. When you empower your intentions with commitment, your actions, thoughts, and feelings express your highest Self. You manifest your dharma in the world, bringing fulfillment to you and those affected by your choices.

You may have discovered your dharma in your work, as a parent, or in helping others move from constriction to expansion. Yet dharma is always unfolding, and we can continue to move along the most evolutionary path by enlivening the Law of Dharma in our lives. Here are a few practices that can help you deepen your connection to your own essence and purpose:

• I cultivate inner stillness through my meditation or yoga practice, which then allows me to hear the quiet messages that emerge from the deepest level of my being.

• I connect to my life’s purpose by asking someone I know truly loves and cares about me, “What do you think is my best quality, trait or talent?”

• I ask myself, “How could I bring more creativity, passion, or joy into what I am doing?”

• I nurture a shift in my internal dialogue from “What’s in it for me?” to “How can I serve?” I notice how when I am doing what I love, I am able to bring joy and inspiration to those around me.

• I look for opportunities to do one thing for another person that brings a smile to their face.

• I consider what I would like most to hear from someone and I say these words to another person.

• I take the time to do something that I love and share my enthusiasm or creation with another person.

If we are willing to make a new commitment to translate our intentions into choices, peace, happiness, love, and abundance begin flowing into our lives. We align with our sacred purpose and fully live our dharma.

With love,
David

7 Keys to Empower Your Intentions (from the Chopra Center Newsletter)

The essence of a spiritual journey is relinquishing our attachment to a particular outcome, yet each of us has intentions and desires we’d like to see manifest in our lives. The wisdom traditions offer guidance that can help us increase the probability that our good intentions will translate into the outcomes we seek.

1. One-pointedness
The Vedas tell us that purity of thought and fixity of purpose are the secret to a life of fulfillment. Ask yourself, “What do I really want?” Consider, to the extent possible, how manifesting your desire will influence and enhance the quality of your life. Then, make a commitment to take the first step along the path to fulfillment.

2. Discipline.
Discipline is the commitment to learning and practice. The word discipline derives from the same root as the word disciple, which means “being open to receive.” The fruit of discipline is grace – the universe adds its power and creativity to your capability, and you manifest something that at one point seemed beyond your reach.

3. Timing
Mastering the power of intention includes honoring the rhythms of life. There is a time to act and a time to practice forbearance. Staying tuned in to the synchronistic clues around you enables optimal results with minimal effort.

4. Discernment
Attention is the most powerful force in human awareness. Whatever we place our attention on grows stronger in our lives. Apply your attention with conscious discrimination, and nature will support you in the fulfillment of your desires.

5. Surrender
We have control over our next choice, but no control over the consequences of our choice. Knowing this, focus your resources on the choice in front of you, set the desired trajectory, and then let go, observing the outcome with curiosity and amusement. Like an accomplished archer, become clear on the target, pull back your bow to a point of stillness, release the arrow, and see what happens.

6. Oneness
Return to the state where all desires arise and are fulfilled. Bringing silence into your daily practice through meditation and yoga cultivates a state of abundance consciousness. Whatever you are seeking to accomplish in the world of form and phenomena, you can access the feeling you are striving to generate by quieting your mind and entering into the state of timeless awareness.

7. Reflection and Lightheartedness
It is easy to waste life energy taking credit for our accomplishments and casting blame for our failures. Instead of focusing on self-importance or self-pity, this energy would be better invested in making use of the lesson learned to make more evolutionary choices. Spiritual warriors practice sobriety without taking themselves too seriously. In this way, we align our personal wants and desires with universal intent. Nature then supports the fulfillment of our desires, as the line between individual and universal becomes nearly indistinguishable.

Have faith that the universe will help organize your intentions and hope that the consequences of your intentions will bring peace, happiness, love, and meaning to you and all those affected by your choices.

Best wishes for an evolutionary New Year.

With love,
David

Enjoy David’s article from the Chopra Center’s December newsletter . . .

Think of someone you love with every cell in your body. It might be your child, a parent who always encouraged you, or your spouse. Or maybe your beloved pet or a life-long friend. If you can feel or envision this expansive state of lovingness, you will recognize that it is possible to care for someone so much that your only desire is for that person or being to be happy. Now consider how you would feel if you could embrace this level of love for yourself.

If you loved yourself as much as a mother loves her children, what choices would you make?  You might imagine that, like a devoted mother, you’d want your kids to take good care of themselves. You’d hope that they would eat healthy foods, get enough rest, and avoid self-destructive behavior. You would encourage them to associate with intelligent, creative, and compassionate people. You would encourage them to find their passion in life and develop skills that would allow them to create material abundance while doing those things they enjoy the most. You would want them to have a life of happiness, health, love, and freedom.

These are experiences that we all would like, and my hope is that if you aren’t already treating yourself as the magnificent, lovable being that you are, you will begin today. You can start by asking yourself how you are currently nurturing your body, heart, and mind.

Here are some questions for reflection:

Body

• Am I nourishing my body with healthy food?

• Am I generally getting plenty of restful sleep or do I need to make this more of a priority?
• Do I take time each day to quiet my mind in meditation or another mindfulness practice?
• Am I giving my body the opportunity to move consciously through activities that enhance my flexibility, strength, and endurance (such as yoga, walking, hiking, sports, etc.)?
• Am I taking advantage of the healing power of the senses by surrounding myself with nurturing sights, sounds, tastes, touch, and smells?
• Do I need to let go of any non-nurturing habits or addictions, such as overeating, smoking, or overspending?

Heart

• Is there anything I’m holding onto from the past that is causing me pain in the present? If the answer is yes, am I taking steps to release emotional toxicity and heal my heart?

• Am I able to maintain healthy boundaries and honor my own needs?

• Do I practice conscious communication with the people in my life?

• Am I part of a loving community of like-minded individuals who share core beliefs and intentions.
• Do I have a light-hearted approach to life? Am I able to be responsible yet not take myself too seriously . . . allowing me to engage with others from a more expanded sense of self?

Mind

• Each day, do I set my intentions with the mind-set that either my desires will be fulfilled or I will learn something of value?

• Am I open to seeing the world from new perspectives, even those that seem in opposition to my usual point of view?

• Am I continuing to learn new things that expand my mind and increase my enthusiasm for life?

• Am I cultivating an internal dialogue that supports unlimited possibilities for myself, my loved ones, and the world?

As you read these questions, notice if any of them resonate with you as something you want to shift in your life. Then choose just one area to begin with and write down the smallest possible step you can take to begin to give more to your body, heart, or mind. In reality, they are inextricably connected, so the benefits of nurturing one aspect will ripple out into all areas of your life – and beyond. Have fun and see what you can create!

With love,
David

We invite you to join us wherever you are in celebrating a man who helped bring such powerful teachings for inner peace, healing, and love to so many people around the world.

We love you, David.

Here is David’s message for September . . .

We are all part of an infinite ocean of vitality, love, and joy. Yet when we’re caught in the turmoil of an agitated mind or heart, our access to that unbounded source is obscured.  While it’s natural for our emotions to ebb and flow, if we are consistently feeling depleted, stuck, depressed, or even “comfortably” numb, then it’s very likely that we are holding onto something that is no longer serving us. We migh t be hanging onto a painful memory, a toxic relationship, or a negative belief that drains our life energy and prevents us from experiencing our inherent happiness.

The classical psychoanalytic description of depression is “anger turned inward.” Someone caused you pain but you were unable to express your feelings because the consequences of showing your hurt and anger seemed too great. A caregiver neglected or abused you but you feared that showing your distress would provoke further abuse.  A lover betrayed you but you were afraid that setting an appropriate boundary would lead to abandonment. You tolerated your supervisor’s demeaning behavior because you were worried about losing your job. In all of these scenarios, you were unable to find an appropriate outlet for your legitimate emotions, so you most likely turned them against yourself.

Finding Emotional Freedom
Inherent within any problem is its own solution. By taking some time to tune into your inner wisdom, you will find the guidance that will help you release your stored emotional toxicity and rediscover happiness – even if you have been carrying your burden of pain for quite some time.  Here is a simple but powerful process that you can use:

Tune into Your Inner Wisdom
Begin by taking a few minutes to quiet your mind, then ask the question What am I not dealing with in my life?  Consider each of your important relationships and listen to the messages of comfort or discomfort your body is sending.

If the message is one of distress, ask yourself What do I need to do to reduce or eliminate this distress?  The answer usually lies close to the surface and will rush into your conscious awareness simply by asking the question. For most non-nourishing relationships, you have three choices: change it, release it, or continue to suffer. Once you’ve made your choices conscious, it is much more difficult to choose to suffer.

Gain Clarity
The next question to ask yourself is What is preventing me from making the changes I know are necessary to restore my balance, energy, and joy? Listen to the responses that occur to you and be aware that this is the point at which excuses and rationalizations tend to come up. The voice of justification tends to use the word but – “I know I need to set clear boundaries with my neighbor but . . . ” or  “I would be better off ending this relationship, but . . .”

You can always find plenty of reasons to stay with the known rather than exploring the unknown, yet if your current choices aren’t bringing you happiness and fulfillment, it’s time to change your direction or accept the consequences. Envision the event lines that flow from the choices you’re considering. Remember that as the author of your life, if you don’t like the old script, you can write a new one.

Release and Forgive
Release the burdens that are constricting your heart. While you can’t  change the past, you can reinterpret it and use what you’ve learned to move towards greater expansion. Stop torturing yourself with recriminations and resentments. Instead, begin forgiving anyone whose actions have created pain for you –  including yourself.

As we’ve experienced at many of the Chopra Center’s emotional healing workshops, creating a release ritual can be profoundly beneficial. You can write a letter, draw a picture, or choose an old photo to serve as a container for the toxic feelings you are going to release. After expressing your emotions, tear up the object, burn it, or flush it down the toilet, consciously letting go of the noxious energy that has been limiting your happiness and creativity.

Feelings of pain and disconnection are warning signals from nature that something needs to change. If you fail to listen to the message that the pain is carrying, it will likely get more intense until you are forced to pay attention. I encourage you to listen carefully to the signals your inner being is sending and trust that your soul is guiding you to greater truth, wisdom, love, and peace.

With love,
David

After David’s recent surgery, he has been recovering at home as well as taking the opportunity to travel to his hometown of Chicago  – and to Maui to spend time with his family in that beautiful natural setting.  He is now back in San Diego, continuing on his healing path and occasionally speaking at Chopra Center events.  On behalf of David and his family, we thank you as always for  the incredible  support and love and messages you send each day.  We are grateful for this loving community of  compassionate souls from all around the world.

Namaste,

The Chopra Center Staff

As the saga of my life continues, I wanted to let you know that I will be undergoing a second surgery this Wednesday to hopefully improve the quantity and quality of my life. My physicians are optimistic that this process will be helpful to me, my mind, and my body, and I’m actually looking forward to benefiting from this next step in my treatment. If you are so inclined, please send your love and best wishes.

As always, I enjoy your messages, funny stories, and jokes, which you can continue to share here on this blog.

With love and appreciation,
David

A couple of weeks ago, David hosted a staff satsang for the Chopra Center staff and family. As if to honor the occasion, the  unusual rain and cold weather we’ve had this spring in San Diego gave way to a perfectly serene and clear evening.  We gathered outside on David’s large patio overlooking green hills and valleys. As the sun grew softer and colorful hot-air balloons drifted by in the distance, David shared some his recent reflections about the gifts this illness has brought into his life, including the opportunity to grow closer to his family and a much deeper appreciation of life’s spiritual essence. He also shared that he is writing a new book called “The Five Awakenings,” in which he’ll share the awakenings he has had since his diagnosis on five themes: silence, nature, love, dharma, and healing. We’re looking forward to the words of wisdom from a man who has given so much to so many.

Thank you for being part of our extended family, and know that while David isn’t able to respond to all the emails and kind words, they are deeply appreciated.

with love,
The Chopra Center Staff

“In his work as a doctor, healer, and teacher, David Simon has touched the lives of thousands of people throughout the world for more than 30 years,” said the Center’s event coordinator, Amanda Ringnalda. “In the past few months since his diagnosis, so many individuals have reached out to David through emails, blog posts and phone calls, offering their prayers of healing and gratitude and blessings. Our intention for this event was to create a way for the extended community to come together with the collective intention for healing.”

Donations for the event are going to the U.C. Foundation Brain Cancer Research Fund. Contributions are still being accepted here.

We will be  posting videos and photos from the event as they become available.