How does the Law of Attraction work?
Have you found yourself asking… Does this Law of Attraction stuff really work? How does it work?
If so, I would like to pose a couple of other questions to you…
1. What do you have to lose to try it?
2. Why do you care about how it works?
As word spreads about the site, and new members sign up, I am still a primary contributor to the high Vibe it site. The topic of interest to me these days has been the Law of Attraction material. As I read up, it still amuses me how much hype there is pro and con surrounding the movie The Secret.
I am also struck by the number of extremely judgmental and hyper-critical posts and commentary on the topic. The comments seem to fall into a few broad categories… (this is where I get to be extreme and judgmental* :)
* note: - I am responding here to comments I have come across in blogs… I am not judging whole segments of the population at large…
- I am a scientist, or a “believer” in science. Your voodoo is not scientific, therefore, it must be rubbish. And, by the way, you are stupid for thinking these things. We all know science answers all of the important questions in life, and if science can’t prove it, then you might as well be worshipping the tooth fairy as far as I am concerned.
- I am a Christian… and we Christians know that JC is the ONLY way to salvation and heaven. You “Secret” people are a scary, scary materialistic cult that wants nothing but money, money, money. Therefore you must be evil. I think the devil might even be behind the Secret. (You could write a variation of this item for each religious tradition.)
- Then there are the people that consider themselves already so enlightened about the misery inherent in existence that it just plain strikes them as absurd that anyone could suggest otherwise.
- To be fair, I believe there are people who have evolved their own sense of things to the degree that they are already quite liberated from the common baggage that life brings with it. These individuals have no need to understand a different system because theirs already works just fine, thank you very much. I also believe that these individuals can thrive in a multitude of belief systems, and function well within the confines of long standing traditions.
Well friends, if I were to put on my Law of Attraction colored glasses - I would see that everyone that falls into the above categories are correct! That’s right… their opinions match the world they live in. The world they live in is created by their thoughts about that world. For some, it works very well. For others, life is nothing but a constant stream of conflict and failure. In other cases, it’s just a mixture that appears to be randomly served up by existence… sometimes good, sometimes hard.
This reminds me of the Dr. Wayne Dyer quote:
“Loving people live in a loving world. Hostile people live in a hostile world. Same world.”
If any of this critical thinking about The Law of Attraction concerns you, I would offer up a few ideas to stir the pot o’ thoughts in your noggin…
- Many of the critics are responding to “The Secret”, and what’s more… some of them haven’t even seen it, and are simply reacting to and resisting the hype and the media treatment of the movie. From what I understand, The Secret is a highly marketed and simplified version of some of the teachings of The Law of Attraction. It does not deal with the complex issues. No movie could deal with these complexities in a period of a couple of hours. Also, keep in mind that The Secret is new. The Law of Attraction is anything but.
- The Law of Attraction is many things to many people. This really bothers some people. It makes perfect sense to me. Abraham-Hicks teaches that their interpretation of TLOA is just one interpretation, and encourage everyone to find the interpretation that makes the most sense to them. This is radical… in that it directs the individual to trust themselves above organized institutions… that is to say, trust their real selves… their higher power, inner-self, inner being. Many of the critics seem very afraid of this concept. I think this fear is based on deeply held beliefs that people are inherently weak, stupid, sinful, or whatever other negative term you want to throw in there. The teachings I have tuned in to from the Abraham-Hicks material align much more closely with the idea that we are born as inherently good beings, and then we allow ourselves to become negative.
- Like any belief based system, you have to believe in order to get the benefits of the system. Critics, by definition, are not believers. Of course they don’t see the benefits.
- The teachings of The Law of Attraction will manifest in alignment with the belief system of the person receiving the teachings. What does this mean? It means that if a Christian has an open mind, and hears the message, this person is likely to benefit and actively, deliberately CREATE a more Christian life. If a person who is focused on the material plane of life listens and absorbs the message, this person will find greater happiness, and greater material prosperity. How is this different from any belief system??? It’s not.
So, let’s revisit the questions with which we began…
Does this Law of Attraction stuff really work?
I have yet to come across very many voices that have given it a real chance and walked away convinced that there is nothing to it. What is more common is to find people who have studied and worked with it for years, and have evolved their thinking and understanding well beyond the messages being broadcast by The Secret movie.
How does it work?
You will find many answers to this question on the web, and all around you. I believe the variety of answers to the How question directly correlates to the wonderful diversity of life experience and thought systems present in the people that come to experience the benefits of this way of thinking.
My response is to restate these questions:
What do you have to lose to try it?
If you are an open minded person, and looking for ways to extend your mind and spirit… you have nothing to lose. There are processes you will learn that will benefit you for a long time to come… whether you work with this material for one week or one year. Despite the attempts by the media to find a new boogie man here, there is nothing inherently risky, damaging, or destructive in the teachings of The Law of Attraction.
An honest dive into this material will bring to you more self-awareness and more self-knowledge. Those are always benefits according to my world view :)
Why do you care about how it works?
If you reason for caring is fear based, you might want to take a closer look at that fear first.
If you are worried about what others will think, or afraid it will take you places you don’t want to go… these are very self-limiting fears and constraints. You might find some relief from these constraints in the teachings of The Law of Attraction. You will certainly benefit from these teachings to a far greater degree if you set yourself free from these constraints early in the process.
The bigger point here is - why does it matter how it works, so long as it works? Of course, what it means “to work” will be different for everyone.
As my father always said “if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it”. I believe that trying to answer the How question is trying to fix a problem we haven’t really yet identified.
To borrow from the Abraham-Hicks teachings… do you really care how the water gets to your faucet when you are thirsty? Stop and think for a minute about the amazing variety and number of things we do each day as inputs into systems - the mechanics of which we don’t really understand.
So, How Does the Law of Attraction work?
Ok… let’s say you still want to know what I think about this question.
I’ll preface my answer with three important notes…
- My primary teachers on the topic of Intention and The Law of Attraction have been Dr. Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra, and the Abraham-Hicks material.
- My thinking is also heavily influenced by my exposure to the teachings of Christ, A Course in Miracles, and my training in college studying psychology and philosophy.
- Like you, I am always learning… my answer tomorrow will be slightly different from my answer today.
I tend to believe we have this thing I’ll call the brain-mind. The brain, from what I can tell, is a highly evolved and complex organ capable of reflection upon itself, and as such… is capable of reflecting on the nature of the Universe. Where the physical brain meets this element of self-awareness which is a 100% mirror of awareness of “other”… this is the brain-mind. Or, if you suits you better, you can call it the mind-brain :)
I tend to think of The Law of Attraction works by teaching us how to better use our brain-mind. It changes the focus. It helps us understand our point of Power… which is the Choice we have each and every moment.
Choice = Freedom = Power
It helps direct us to the Moment, where all possibilities unfold.
It liberates us from our self-created drama. Drama requires time. A past, and a future. The Now is drama free.
It reminds us that life is inherently Joyful. Our very existence is a demonstration of Abundance in the Universe. There is Joy in Being. To quote Abraham-Hicks… this is why we are called human beings, not human doings.
How The Law of Attraction works is by teaching the brain-mind to recognize patterns of how things work inside and outside of itself, and by teaching it how to use it’s own energy more efficiently, effectively, and in a way that is inherently more Joyful.
But don’t take my word for it. Give it whirl. Have some fun. Enjoy the journey!
Take a look at the high Vibe it site for more on the topic of The Law of Attraction. Have resources you’d like to share? Please submit them here for the benefit of others!
