The Law of Attraction
Manifesting an Introduction
The law of attraction is the belief that your thoughts shape your physical reality, and positive thoughts can yield positive outcomes, while negative thoughts can cause harm. Some people believe it affects all aspects of life, with a focus often on finances and relationships, as well as health and other areas. To some, this belief is a case of psychology and the power of mindset, and to others, it’s a metaphysical truth about reality, and to others yet, it’s a pseudoscientific grift.
As a thought, it can be difficult to trace the history behind the law of attraction, but it gained popularity and notoriety in the 19th century in America, and has seen a resurgence in the 21st century through New Age beliefs, as well as neo-religious and contemporary self-help movements. Both Helena Blavatsky and Wallace Wattles wrote about the concept of attracting what you want in the 19th century, and both of them were important in the new religious movements at the time, including New Thought and Spiritualism. Both authors claimed to have learned about the concept through ancient philosophical traditions, including Hinduism, Christianity, as well as Ancient Greek and Egyptian thought.
Influenced primarily by Helena Blavatsky, another author in the 20th century would make sure the belief gained widespread and mainstream appeal. That author was Napoleon Hill, who wrote “Think and Grow Rich”. With that, Hill removed some of the religious and supernatural elements of the belief and instead relabeled the belief as a way of self-improvement and made it more digestible for an increasingly sceptical and secular audience.
Further attempts to blend the belief with science were made by Rhonda Byrne in her book ‘The Secret’, where the law of attraction is further defined and ‘proven’ through alleged scientific method, modern psychology, as well as religious practice. While the scientific claims in the book, particularly relating to quantum physics, have been criticised and rejected at large by the scientific community, the book has made waves across the world and over 30 million copies have been sold, and it’s been translated into over 50 languages.
The law of attraction, thus, isn’t a new idea, and as a belief, it's supported by anecdotal stories rather than empirical evidence. Despite that, the powers of our minds still elude us, and psychologists, scientists, and grifters are all interested in the potential ability inherent in perspective and mindset.
This post will not deal with the power our minds have on our reality; instead, it will raise the question of what we desire and why, when it comes to manifesting things into our lives, do we so often turn to the material and desires of the self? To accept the idea that your thoughts are brought to life and that your focused attention manifests your desires, is to accept that you reject all else you do not focus on. That seems like a lot of responsibility - is the manifestation of your personal success more important than solving world hunger? More crucial than resolving conflicts? Is a new car of more significance than inner peace? Advocates of the law of attraction often quote the Bible as a way to affirm the metaphysical foundation of the belief. In particular, these two passages:
“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” - Mark 11:24
“If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” – Matthew 21:22
The material often takes precedent over the spiritual when it comes to manifestation, and spiritual and religious practice without compassion and ethics becomes dark and twisted ideas. It seems no wonder then that the esoteric practices were kept hidden. A knife cuts bread, which gives life, but in the wrong hands, it can also take a life away.
The secular world has done with religious and spiritual beliefs as it has done with all other ideas: turned them into commodities and weapons of egotistical amplification. With a focus on the self, our own brains, capable of tremendous things (including but not limited to: projecting and experiencing life), are being told to use their power for selfish desire. The law of attraction is alluring to people because it appeals to their lower senses; it promises wealth and personal success. Who wouldn’t want that?
An orthodox monk might claim you can manifest the kingdom of heaven by focusing your thoughts on divinity and turning to God, but that doesn’t really have the same appeal, does it? We’ve become sceptical, and while we can believe our minds can manifest literally anything we desire, we often stop right there. We stop at what we think we want. It’s foolish and stupid to wish to have a relationship with God, and to spend our precious brainpower cultivating concepts like compassion, peace, and joy seems pointless compared to imagining ourselves rich and powerful.
What Do You Wish For?
If you recognise the power of mindset, why do you limit it to the material? Why stop at the clouds when the infinite beyond hides in plain sight at the horizon’s line? We hope to understand the Godhead when we can’t understand ourselves. What we desire reveals our true nature; it reveals what we’ve done with our free will. We’ve chosen to limit ourselves and to blindly believe in the illusory nature of the physical. If you don’t have a plan, someone else has a plan for you.
We chase the moonlight, and endlessly we fall exhausted when the dawn comes. We let the day burn away our dreams, and we bury them in shallow graves, and the spectres haunt us, yet we refuse to acknowledge their existence. The mental is only real when it’s pain, and we scold the joyous people who have acknowledged the supernatural nature of bliss. All is measurable except for happiness, and what is not measurable is not real.
Why manifest what doesn’t exist when we can have tangible careers, physical relationships, and lie on a bed of cash? What’s the result? What is it that you hope to achieve? You claim money isn’t happiness but that it can be bought, and that fulfilment comes through self-realisation, then why are you imagining the journey there and not the end goal? Because you know when the nightmare ends, there’s nothing more to fear, and that’s frightening, isn’t it? Everything you imagine is real - so tremble in fear at the shadows you let your mind cast.
What a terrible burden to bear, to be solely responsible for all in the universe, and what a terrible fate to have your hands washed in blood. Your full consciousness is always experiencing more than you are at any given time; you experience but a fraction of a small, directed and attentive part of your consciousness. Your subconscious and the respective higher levels of your consciousness are at all times also manifesting thought into reality, and through a very complex spiritual machinery, your reality unfolds in front of you, not entirely caused by you, but entirely experienced through your own unique lens.
At all times, we live by grace, and our manifested thoughts are entirely our own, but in aspects of ourselves we rarely acknowledge or interact with. To limit ourselves to the shallow puddle which is our active consciousness is to fail to recognise the ocean within us. Interacting and being in control of your entire being is difficult, but perhaps not impossible. What I’m getting at is the fact that there are so many aspects of your mind that you can’t control most of them, for example, in what part arises the desire which you try to satisfy?
I want you to consider, if you believe in these kinds of practices, that you don’t stop at the immediate, and that you don’t get lured in by the promise of material wealth and personal success. Try something different for a change - manifest yourself completely detached from that desire. Imagine your spiritual success and become living proof of a living God.
Final Words
The law of attraction is a belief that has a shaky and unverifiable history; it remains popular in self-help circles and some religious movements, and it’s the belief that you attract into your physical reality whatever you put your mind to, both good and bad. Advocates of the belief claim it has roots in ancient history and religions, and sometimes cite religious texts as proof. Imagination and mindset are powerful psychological and perhaps even metaphysical tools that can shape your reality, at least to what you experience right now.
However, it’s important to pair these kinds of beliefs and practices with ethics and compassion, as has been prescribed through religious dogma. The reason for it is important, and philosophy, especially into the stranger realms of human thought, can become existential horrors if not tackled correctly. Grounding yourself in reality can be important, but it’s also important not to base yourself entirely in the material.
Widen your horizons and don’t let your mind stop at what you can see, let it roam what you can feel and explore the aspects of life that are immeasurable and seemingly unreal. Don’t settle for less, and always seek something higher, something grander and more important than your tiny selfish desires. The seeker is the finder, and should you only turn your mind to know the Truth, it will make itself abundantly clear, but as long as you are satisfied thinking you know all there is, it shall forever remain out of sight and out of reach for you.
Do not be afraid of the power you have, and if you truly believe you have the power to change the world, then do it, but start with yourself. Seek the highest and do not settle for less. You reap what you sow.
Godspeed.
