Is the Law of Attraction Exempt from War?
I've noticed a few people taking shots at the Law of Attraction and the Science of Manifestation.
More than a few are asking, "Are we attracting war?" or "Are we manifesting global warming?"
Let me address this with a story.
A few months ago a dear friend of mine had some personal problems. Rather than address them within himself, he lassed out at his friends, attacking some of them mercilessly.
It was not pretty.
After a few weeks passed and his inner thunder dissolved as he expressed it, he apologized to everyone he had hurt. Most of them accepted his apology. But one person didn't, and she took her time in leveling him with a tirade of her own.
It wasn't pretty, either.
That night my friend, shaken from being attacked, asked me, "Why am I attracting this abuse?"
Wasn't it obvious?
He had caused it to begin with.
What he received was what he attracted, and he attracted it because he first gave it.
This is how wars start, at least from the inside out.
Yes, we attract them.
Yes, we manifest them.
And yes, we did it with our own unconscious and conscious anger, hatred, frustration and more.
The end result in the outer world isn't pretty. But it didn't start there. It started inside.
Global warming is the same. So many angry people in the world have "heated up" the planet.
I'm aware that these concepts may seem more psychological than practical to you, but for me, it's exactly the place where everything begins: inside.
It's all about working with the "shadow" side of yourself. This is why I love the work of Debbie Ford, Jung, and the Hawaiian system called ho'oponopono. It says if you truly attracted everything in your life, then what you experience -- including the news of war or global warming -- is something you helped create, too, at least on some internal level.
I know a lot of people over simplify the Law of Attraction. They basically say if you think it, you get it. Well, we all know that isn't true. If it were, I'd be dating Lindsay Lohan by now.
The deeper truth is that you co-create your life.
I explain this in depth at the www.BeyondManifestation.com site.
Face it. You do not have total control over your life.
You have choice but you do not have control.
There are other elements at play, from the intentions and mindsets of others, to the intentions of the divine (whatever that energy field is called that is larger than both of us). You tend to attract others to you, and situations for yourself, by your thoughts, which lead to your actions. You're very much a central player in everything in your life. But you (and I) are far from consciously aware of what we are doing on virtually any level.
I'm sure at some point we will have more control, and can better consciously create what we prefer, but most of us are babes in the woods at this manifesting stuff. We're still learning, and s-l-o-w-l-y, at that.
This whole subject deserves more than a blog entry. But in this whole area of attraction, I see far too many people making these two fundamental mistakes:
1. Thinking they have all the power.
What an ego trip. You don't have total control. You aren't God. You can't just think something and manifest it. You have to take action, too. And you have to clear yourself of anything in the way of your deserving what you want. You have more power than you ever imagined, but you don't run the show. You barely run the projector.
2. Thinking they have no power at all.
This is worse. It's where you blame the president, the terrorists, your family, your past, the neighbors; anyone other than yourself, for what occurs. I'm sad to see so many people dismiss the Law of Attraction and Art of Manifestation because they feel powerless or look at the news and feel depressed. Blame is the worst crime of all. Right behind despondency. And when you think the outer world proves you have no power, then you've attracted exactly that: powerlessness.
I'm no expert on this subject. Yes, I'm in the movieThe Secret. Yes, I wrote the book, The Attractor Factor. Yes, I teach weekend workshops on the subject of Beyond Manifestation.
But I'm in kindergarten or maybe first grade when it comes to how all of this works.
I just know that there's more power in working with theLaw of Attraction than there is in dismissing it. I've seen a friend or two give in to the dark side and let their life dry up because it's so easy to give in to the doom and gloom reported by the media.
But the real winners and achievers in the world are the ones who think they have power and who take action, working with the Law of Attraction and not against it.
If you don't like war or global warming, do something about it, beginning by clearing the inside of yourself.
But don't blame the Law of Attraction for it.
That's what caused it to begin with.
Ao Akua,
Joe
www.mrfire.com
PS - You can see the August issue of my News You Can Use newsletter and all past newsletters (7 years worth) by going to www.mrfire.com and clicking on the "Past Newsletters" link on the left. Or just go to www.mrfire.com/nycu-archives/nycu-2006/august.html Enjoy.
More than a few are asking, "Are we attracting war?" or "Are we manifesting global warming?"
Let me address this with a story.
A few months ago a dear friend of mine had some personal problems. Rather than address them within himself, he lassed out at his friends, attacking some of them mercilessly.
It was not pretty.
After a few weeks passed and his inner thunder dissolved as he expressed it, he apologized to everyone he had hurt. Most of them accepted his apology. But one person didn't, and she took her time in leveling him with a tirade of her own.
It wasn't pretty, either.
That night my friend, shaken from being attacked, asked me, "Why am I attracting this abuse?"
Wasn't it obvious?
He had caused it to begin with.
What he received was what he attracted, and he attracted it because he first gave it.
This is how wars start, at least from the inside out.
Yes, we attract them.
Yes, we manifest them.
And yes, we did it with our own unconscious and conscious anger, hatred, frustration and more.
The end result in the outer world isn't pretty. But it didn't start there. It started inside.
Global warming is the same. So many angry people in the world have "heated up" the planet.
I'm aware that these concepts may seem more psychological than practical to you, but for me, it's exactly the place where everything begins: inside.
It's all about working with the "shadow" side of yourself. This is why I love the work of Debbie Ford, Jung, and the Hawaiian system called ho'oponopono. It says if you truly attracted everything in your life, then what you experience -- including the news of war or global warming -- is something you helped create, too, at least on some internal level.
I know a lot of people over simplify the Law of Attraction. They basically say if you think it, you get it. Well, we all know that isn't true. If it were, I'd be dating Lindsay Lohan by now.
The deeper truth is that you co-create your life.
I explain this in depth at the www.BeyondManifestation.com site.
Face it. You do not have total control over your life.
You have choice but you do not have control.
There are other elements at play, from the intentions and mindsets of others, to the intentions of the divine (whatever that energy field is called that is larger than both of us). You tend to attract others to you, and situations for yourself, by your thoughts, which lead to your actions. You're very much a central player in everything in your life. But you (and I) are far from consciously aware of what we are doing on virtually any level.
I'm sure at some point we will have more control, and can better consciously create what we prefer, but most of us are babes in the woods at this manifesting stuff. We're still learning, and s-l-o-w-l-y, at that.
This whole subject deserves more than a blog entry. But in this whole area of attraction, I see far too many people making these two fundamental mistakes:
1. Thinking they have all the power.
What an ego trip. You don't have total control. You aren't God. You can't just think something and manifest it. You have to take action, too. And you have to clear yourself of anything in the way of your deserving what you want. You have more power than you ever imagined, but you don't run the show. You barely run the projector.
2. Thinking they have no power at all.
This is worse. It's where you blame the president, the terrorists, your family, your past, the neighbors; anyone other than yourself, for what occurs. I'm sad to see so many people dismiss the Law of Attraction and Art of Manifestation because they feel powerless or look at the news and feel depressed. Blame is the worst crime of all. Right behind despondency. And when you think the outer world proves you have no power, then you've attracted exactly that: powerlessness.
I'm no expert on this subject. Yes, I'm in the movieThe Secret. Yes, I wrote the book, The Attractor Factor. Yes, I teach weekend workshops on the subject of Beyond Manifestation.
But I'm in kindergarten or maybe first grade when it comes to how all of this works.
I just know that there's more power in working with theLaw of Attraction than there is in dismissing it. I've seen a friend or two give in to the dark side and let their life dry up because it's so easy to give in to the doom and gloom reported by the media.
But the real winners and achievers in the world are the ones who think they have power and who take action, working with the Law of Attraction and not against it.
If you don't like war or global warming, do something about it, beginning by clearing the inside of yourself.
But don't blame the Law of Attraction for it.
That's what caused it to begin with.
Ao Akua,
Joe
www.mrfire.com
PS - You can see the August issue of my News You Can Use newsletter and all past newsletters (7 years worth) by going to www.mrfire.com and clicking on the "Past Newsletters" link on the left. Or just go to www.mrfire.com/nycu-archives/nycu-2006/august.html Enjoy.
If you like the free articles on this blog, let Joe know by buying him his all-time favorite gift - an Amazon gift certificate. His email is joe@mrfire.com Click Here!
posted by Joe Vitale | 4:15 AM
20 Comments:
Joe,
I love this post.
I alluded to what you said here to an extent in my latest post on the Israel/Lebanon issue. (I am of Middle Eastern - specifically Persian - background by the way, so I have an intimate first-hand knowledge of the events that transpire over there on a tragically regular basis and their relevance to the LOA).
You are right. In those regions, as well as everywhere else where there is sedition and turmoil, the Law of Attraction plays loud and clear. It's very tragic that people dismiss this Law on pretext that "the innocent who suffer didn't attract suffering". It's not a matter of victimization as a result of the law. It's a matter of how the Law is misused by the few rotten apples that spoil the whole basket. It's ultimately a matter of responsibility.
Peace.
Arman
success-rants.blogspot.com
Hi Arman. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. The fact that you have a more personal relationship to the events, and yet see the bigger picture, makes your observations all the more relevant - more so than mine. I am very grateful you are speaking your mind and helping all of us to awaken. - joe
Hi, Joe
I'm one of the people taking shots at the 'Law of Attraction' and I'm perfectly happy to take the karma. You may have already read my posts at Mark Joyner's Blog and the Powerful Intentions Forum.
There may well be some sensible ideas and real science in there somewhere, but who has ever actually demonstrated the existence of a Law of Attraction? Or even the probable existence, which would be sufficient in this case. Contrary to the propaganda, its existence or probable existence hasn't been demonstrated by quantum mechanics. Ask a quantum physicist. Quantum behaviour only operates at subatomic levels. At superatomic levels, including cellular levels, the laws of classic Newtonian physics still apply.
And claims that my namesake was a teacher of the 'Law of Attraction' are pure bunk. He uses the phrase ONCE in The Secret of the Ages and its use is clearly metaphorical and not at all, in any case, to do with the aligning of vibrations or anything remotely like it.
I've yet to encounter any experiences attributed to a Law of Attraction that can't be explained by neuroscience and such realities as perceptual filtering, deep brain computation, and memes, or by the law of large numbers. Or the awesome interpersonal communication opportunities of the internet age.
Whatever it was intended to be, the 'Law of Attraction' is simply coming across to me as a bunch of hippy dippys pushing New Age fantasies.
And, until I'm persuaded otherwise, I'm siding with James Randi on this one.
With best wishes,
Bob Collier
Hi Bob,
I'm not familiar with you or your posts, but thanks for checking in. I enjoyed your level headed comment.
I have no idea what the original Robert Collier felt about the Law of Attraction and didn't mention him in my post, so I'm not sure where that comment came from. I'll leave that one alone.
As for LOA being explained with "neuroscience and such realities as perceptual filtering, deep brain computation, and memes, or by the law of large numbers," I would say that that IS the LOA.
You're simply defining it in a different way. It's a little like those folks who say "chi" doesn't exisit by saying "It's just heat coming off your body." Ah, yes, exactly. That's how it looks to the left-brainer. It's still the same thing.
I have to agree that a lot of new agers are being mushy headed about what's really happening in creating their lives. They seem to be dismissing hard work, action, luck, and other elements, all of which help determine our reality.
The bottom line for me is a fundamental premise of psychology: You get more of whatever you focus on.
Think it's all bunk and that's what you'll look for and find. Think there's some truth to it and that's what you'll look for and find. And either way, you're demonstrating the LOA.
For me, the question is: Which belief serves you better? Whichever it is, enjoy.
Live long and prosper,
Joe
Hi Joe Vitale,
I am perusing others blogs on this site and I find we have many shared interests.
I LOVE ho'ponopono.
In this post, I did take exception to reading you wanted and thought of "having" Lindsay Lohan, child actress,...
it creeped me out. Then I thought I should comment and ask you how would I use the method of Ho'ponopono to work this out in myself?
sincerely, Healing Room
Thanks for the thoughtful reply.
I agree that way too many people over simplfy the LOA.
I'm a great believer in cognitive psychology, and coauthored a book on it.
I'm also a great believer in taking action, and do it daily.
I think my book, "The Attractor Factor," explains the process the best I know how to do it. It's just that too many people read it with filters, overlooking the elements of getting clear (step three) or realizing larger forces are at work (step five).
all in all, we're all still learning.
Me, too.
joe
To the person who wrote they "take exception to reading you wanted and thought of "having" Lindsay Lohan, child actress,..."
First, Lindsay is no longer a child actress. She's an adult.
And I don't want to "have" her, in whatever way you imagine. My talk about her is joking. I'm in love with my Nerissa.
As for how to use ho'oponopono on this issue, you have to say "I love you" and "I'm sorry," because what you feel is what needs healed.
Be well,
joe
Hi Joe Vitale,
Thankyou very much for answering my first post. I really appreciated being heard. I like most of what you wrote here and I felt you deserved my honest feedback.
In your post about Laws of Attraction you said:
"They basically say if you think it, you get it. Well, we all know that isn't true. If it were, I'd have Lindsay Lohan by now."
Lindsay Lohan was born July 2nd, 1986. Like you, I am 50ish........I consider her a child.
sincerely,
Jennifer at Healing Room.
To Puggy01 (and with Joe's permission; this might be a bit of a long post),
I personally am very new to the whole "Commercialised LOA" scene, so in no way am I writing this to sound like an expert on the topic.
Nevertheless, I think that CD's, seminars, books and the like on the topic have their place; they are a good starting point, quite simply because the majority of people are so side-tracked by everyday circumstances that they just forget about The Law altogether!
This, besides the fact that I've yet to come accross a single work on the topic that claims to be the "be all, end all" on the LOA subject, and nor have I come accross a single teacher who claimed to abide by the law 100%.
Still, I don't think this should detract from the necessity of communicating the LOA to people everywhere, in a way they can at the very least be made aware of its existence. Sure, it's not a linear transaction like you so aptly put it, but on the other hand the human mind likes to complicate things.
Could it be that we are over-complicating something unnecessarily? Could it be that we are going through the route of "You MUST know WHY exposing yourself to the sun gives you Vitamin K or else it just wouldn't work, no matter what those health-gurus say about doing something as simple as getting 30 minuts of sunlight per day" - rather than - simply listening to a teacher who's "been there, done that" and GETTING the necessary amount of sunlight and letting the process run its own course?
The Taoists understood the flow of Chi through the meridians; the practive of Fa' Jin; the healing power of certain herbs; the conversion of Jing to Chi and then Chi to Shen (Spirit) via sexual alchemy and the like; all in the context that such is the "Tao". Such is "The Way" or "The Way It Is". They did not over-complicate things by trying to go through a "Paralysis by Analysis" to understan the reasoning behind why Chi cultivation works or how its implications come about.
Now one could argue that they had a very linear, and therefore deficient, view of things, but as `Isa al-Masih (`Arabic for "Jesus Christ") said: "From their FRUITS, you shall know".
One could also argue that he had a very linear view of LOA in enjoining us to "Be Perfect, as The Father in Heaven is Perfect", or in teaching us to "Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you."
And so on.
Now don't get me wrong, in no way am I suggesting that it's easy. Cultivating Chi is not easy. Cultivating Shen-power is not easy. Keeping the ego in check to let the LOA take its course unhampered is not easy. But by the same token, it's not that the LOA process is itself difficult; it's just that removing the hurdles from its path - imagined self-serving preconceived beliefs and notions on what "should" transpire according to how we want the LOA to "work" - is where the real challenge lies.
Hence, why I think the "Letting Go" chapter in Joe's book is possibly the most important one.
Peace.
I certainly agree with your post on this Joe.
I'd like to add another point. If you decide to live in such a volatile area as Lebanon or Israel for that matter, then you should expect for war and terrorist bombings to happen.
As you said Joe, we don't have total control, it's a group thing. If you want your family to be safe, do you move in to the most dangerous neighborhood? I don't think so.
The people who live hear are knowingly in the worst neighborhood. Just the act of living there demonstrates the Law of Attraction in action.
They were attracted to such a dangerous part of the world. Maybe not the babies (Karma could be involved as well.)
And as to another post regarding the Law of Attraction. To me it's as obvious as night and day. I've proved it to myself literally hundreds if not thousands of times.
Any time I start brainstorming ideas I then start attracting more and better ideas. In when it comes to this I've seen the Law of Attraction work 100% of the time.
So it certainly attracts ideas, then I end up finding books and then people along those similar idea patterns.
Some things simply take longer to manifest, but the first level of the Law of Attraction are your own thoughts. They instantly change and the vibration around you changes as soon as you change your thoughts.
As soon as I get negative and start complaining things tend to get worse for me, I attract traffic and parking tickets, accidents of all types, etc.
So I haven't seen anything disprove the Law of Attraction. Maybe we don't have total control over our outer worlds and maybe we also need to take action, but our thoughts are a very important part of the equation.
Roger
Hi, Joe
I agree with everything you say. And that's what's irritating me about this whole Law of Attraction thing.
Everything attributed to it, that I'm aware of at least, can be explained or defined in other ways that are *more rational*. So, in effect, it's not necessary for a 'Law of Attraction' to exist for events to be adequately explainable. In fact, my research tells me that the concept of a 'Law of Attraction' has already been debunked by real science. Certainly the mushy head version.
Which leaves me back at square one with the same questions that nobody seems able to answer. What exactly is the Law of Attraction supposed to represent? Where did it come from? How is it *officially* defined? By whom? Who discovered it? Is it really a law? Why is it a law? Who says so? Who first used the phrase 'Law of Attraction'? Who knows the answers to these questions?
I think the 'Law of Attraction' is a figment of somebody's imagination, and not in any way a law in the commonly accepted sense of that word at all. That makes it a very misleading way of explaining things.
Probably best if I ignore it and get on with my life and continue to explain the correlation between my thoughts and my experiences in other ways. :)
With best wishes,
Bob Collier
Hi Sean. My blog post answers that very question. Take another look.
But to answer it a little deeper, if there is war in your life -- even if it is overseas -- then it's up for you to heal.
How you do that is up to you.
Thanks. - joe
Hi Ray,
Thanks for the invite to comment.
For those that don't know, the reticular activating system is core to the teachings of Maxwell Maltz and his Psycho-Cybernetics method. If you haven't studied it, then by all means do so. It is powerful.
I think my blog entry that caused all these comments is about war and events that seem outside of your control. The reticular activating system is what you use within yourself to help activate your own behaviors and results.
I'm not aware of anyone sitting and programming themselves with the Maltz method to bring world peace.
But maybe that's what Ghandi did.
Anyway, I urge you and everyone else to use everything in your power to find peace within and to achieve the results and happiness you seek. By doing that, you will help the world.
Joe
Bob, and others, as far as I know the first use of the phrase "Law of Attraction" was in the book "Thought Vibration Or the Law of Attraction in the Thought World" (1906) By William Walker Atkinson. One hundred years ago today. -joe
Hi Joe,
I am a former student from your Mentoring Group - what an amazing experience that was!
Your article on the Law of Attraction and War was amazing. I had been having trouble distinguishing truth from lies in the media about Israel's attacks on Lebanon. I have Israeli friends who have given me their side of the story, but yesterday my brother presented the 'facts' from the other side.
Your article put it in perspective. If nobody attracted conflict or war there would be none. Simple as that.
When are you going to put out 'Joe's book of Blogs'?
I'd rather read your work than your compilation publications.
Keep inspiring us
Joan Small, Gold Coast Australia
Here's something that has come to me while meditating on the movie The Secret, and asking God how it fits in with the teachings in The Bible (I'm a bible-believing Christian (just so you understand the context of my comments! ;-)).
The clear thought that came to me was - the "Law of Attraction" is another term for what the bible calls "The Law of Sowing and Reaping". In other words, you reap what you sow. On a basic level, if you sow corn, you will reap corn. Applying this to our lives, if you "sow" friendship, you will "reap" friends. If you sow anger, you will reap anger.
Now, in Christian circles (at least, the ones I travel in) this is usually understood to only apply to actions and attitudes, but in this instance I saw that it applied also to our very thoughts. For example, If I sow (in my thoughts) a parking spot near to the shopping center door, then I will reap (in my physical world) that parking spot (as mentioned in The Secret, and as I have found true in my own life). If I sow abundance in my thoughts in all areas of my life (relationships, spiritual, financial, health, ...), then I will reap that abundance in the physical expression of those areas.
Please realise, I'm certainly not putting myself forward as an expert or authority on these matters. I'm just another traveller on the journey, trying to make sense of the world and my place in it. I just thought it might be helpful to the discussion, as it has been to me, to throw this one in. To shine a light on the topic from a different angle...
Have fun,
Tim
Hi, Joe
Thank you very much for the pointer to the William Walker Atkinson book. I greatly appreciate it and will get on to tracking it down.
With best wishes,
Bob Collier
Hi Joe,
This reminds me of what a phsychic reader once said to me. He said, "it's true that we create our own reality...the only trouble is, our reality is continually bumping up against other people's realities!"
I guess the key is learning how to co-create in a way that we all get what we want. Maybe that's the next level of Attractor Factor...there you go! "Attractor Factor Volume 2 - When Realities Collide!
Peace Out!
Tracy 'Power Gal' Monteforte
WTPowers.com
"Thought Vibration Or the Law of Attraction in the Thought World" (1906) by William Walker Atkinson.
Okay, so it’s not ‘The Law of Attraction’ but ‘The Law of Attraction in the Thought World’. That’s a (very big) distinction that a lot of people I've encountered seem to be disregarding.
This book is very interesting. To me at least, what I'm looking at is clearly in no way, shape or form a ‘law’.
It's a hypothesis.
And it's based on an assumption - that there IS a uniform explanation for all metaphysical phenomena.
There might not be.
Some apparently ‘metaphysical’ events, as we’ve already noted, can be rationally explained by neuroscience. Many subliminal effects occurring between people in physical proximity have been shown to be chemical in nature. The claim that quantum mechanics ‘proves’ that everything in the universe is connected, my research tells me, has already been debunked by quantum physicists. Likewise, the idea that our thoughts influence behaviour at subatomic levels has been shown to be a misunderstanding derived from Neil Bohrs’ unfortunate choice of the word ‘observation’ to describe what causes waves to collapse into particles – in fact, the
‘observer’ can be an inanimate measuring device, no human presence required. Perhaps
‘quantum physics doesn’t say what you probably think it says’ would be a useful caveat all round. Especially if you’ve seen the movie What The Bleep Do We Know?
Regarding Atkinson’s assertion that our thoughts travel out from our heads to communicate with the thoughts of others and vice versa, I personally like that hypothesis because it seems to me to have a certain reasonableness to it. It does often *seem* to be a plausible explanation for some events and it’s probably better than no explanation at all – or something entirely irrational - as long as it’s kept in terms of “MAYBE this is what happens …”
My research, however, indicates that this proposition is actually now 150 years old and in all that time nobody has ever been able to demonstrate its validity under scientifically controlled conditions. As William Walker Atkinson clearly hoped somebody would do by now. It’s not impossible, of course, that it might be demonstrated one day – since, theoretically, nothing’s ever impossible and, in the same way, it can’t be definitively disproven - but I wouldn’t put any money on it getting beyond a hypothesis right now.
Another thing about ‘The Law of Attraction in the Thought World’ is that it seems to me Atkinson is using the word ‘attraction’ in the same metaphorical sense as Robert Collier did in The Secret of Ages.
If I set off from point A and somebody else sets off from point B and we meet up with each other at point X, was it simply a random conjunction in time and space or were we attracted to each other? The highly selective nature of personal awareness might well suggest the second interpretation if I *believe* in a ‘Law of Attraction’ and this particular meeting is of great significance to me. For example, if something associated with the other person matches something I’m looking for. How many goals was it Mark Victor Hansen said we should write down? 1001, I think. In any event, if something matches something, it can easily be turned into an event like that occasional day in the year when your horoscope is close enough to being accurate you actually remember it.
I think Atkinson’s use of the word ‘attraction’ in formulating his hypothesis may simply be an association with his ideas about radio waves and electromagnetism.
I think the 'Law of Attraction' is just a quasi-scientific forerunner of the Unified Field Theory that's being used as a convenient vehicle for the promotion of entirely unscientific New Age beliefs.
I don't have any problem with accepting the idea that our thoughts are creative. I use mind programming techniques and I know they work.
But, when it comes to actually explaining the correlation between our thoughts and our experiences, IMO, humble or otherwise, the ‘Law of Attraction’ belongs with the myths and the urban legends.
Believers may, perhaps, suggest that it's my lack of belief in a 'law of attraction' that's attracted to me the evidence that supports my lack of belief, but there's nothing I can do about that. :)
Exitus ex disputatio
Bob Collier
Hi Joe,
I thank you and congratulate you for your generosity in sharing all your knowledge and honesty with the rest of us.
All the best to you.
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