The Law of Giving & Receiving

Chopra gives this law a concrete, three-part daily commitment at the end of the chapter (“In order to put the Law of Giving and Receiving into operation, I will make a commitment to take the following steps”):

1. Set the intention each morning. Begin the day deciding that wherever you go and whomever you meet, you will bring them a gift. This primes the whole day; the rest is execution.
2. Give a gift to everyone you encounter. The gift need not be material. Chopra is explicit that a compliment, a flower, or a silent prayer/blessing all count. The point is the intention to give and the act of giving something in every interaction — “today I will give something to everyone I come into contact with.”
3. Gratefully receive. Decide to receive the day’s gifts too — both from people (a compliment, help, money, a kindness) and from nature (sunlight, birdsong, rain, the first snow). Chopra stresses that refusing to receive blocks the flow as surely as refusing to give; gracious receiving completes the circuit.
4. Silently wish happiness for everyone you meet. Each time you encounter someone — a stranger, a colleague, a family member — silently wish them happiness, joy, and laughter. This costs nothing, can be done with anyone, and keeps the most “precious gifts” (caring, affection, appreciation, love) circulating.
5. Keep the most valuable gifts circulating. Chopra ranks the intangible gifts highest: caring, affection, appreciation, and love. Prioritise giving these freely, because they are inexhaustible — you never run out, and giving them is what most reliably brings them back. (Sourcing note: the three commitments — give a gift to everyone, gratefully receive, silently wish each person well — and the “compliment, flower, or prayer” examples and the currere/currency etymology are Chopra’s, from the Law of Giving chapter. The numbered protocol is a faithful description of his commitment list, not a reproduction of the book text. Short quoted phrases are attributed.)

Deepak Chopra (b. 1947) laid out the seven laws in The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success (Amber-Allen/New World Library, 1994), one of the best-selling spiritual self-help books of its era.

The Law of Giving draws on the Vedic principle of reciprocal flow and on dāna (generosity) traditions, reframed for a Western success-and-abundance audience in a lineage that runs through New Thought prosperity teaching.

It pairs in his system with the Law of Karma (every action returns) and the Law of Pure Potentiality (the silent field his So Hum meditation accesses).

Loving-kindness / mettā (Buddhist) — silently wishing happiness to each person met is structurally identical to mettā practice.

• Dāna (generosity) practices — Buddhist and Hindu cultivation of giving as a path quality.
• Tithing / prosperity giving (New Thought, Christianity) — give first to keep the flow of supply open.
• Gratitude practice — the “gratefully receive” half maps onto modern gratitude journaling and savouring.
• Random acts of kindness — the secular descendant of “give a gift to everyone you meet.”

Giving to get. Doing it as a transaction to manifest money corrodes the very mood-and-connection mechanism that makes it work. Give for its own sake; the return is a by-product, not the aim.

• Skipping the “receive” half. Many people give compulsively and deflect compliments, help, or rest. Chopra is explicit that receiving graciously is half the law. Practise saying “thank you” and letting it land.
• Only counting material gifts. A compliment, attention, a blessing, a held door — these are the intended currency. Don’t wait until you “have something to give.”
• Over-giving / self-depletion. The gifts are meant to be small and sustainable. Generosity that breaches your own needs or boundaries is not this practice.
• Forgetting the silent well-wishing. It’s the cheapest, most portable, and most overlooked step — usable with literally everyone, including difficult people.