The traditional order of manifesting your intentions through the law of attraction is this -

1.Visualize your desires
2.Let go of your attachment to your desires
3.Receive your desires

Hence, if you want to manifest money, you have to visualize clearly how much money you want and when you need that amount of money. You also have to hold positive thoughts about that money and avoid any worries or negative thoughts that may cancel out the desire you projected to the Universe. This Universe is an impersonal force that you can command with your thoughts, so everything must come from the mind, your mind.

God on the other hand, who is a personal force (as distinguished from the Universe), has His own version of the law of attraction, which to my mind is simpler and a lot easier to follow. It goes like this:

“Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.”

There is only one step that is asked of us – to seek God's Kingdom. It's as simple as that! In return, all these things shall be added unto you.

God will provide you with everything you need in order to fulfill your life purpose. He's the One who will be taking care of everything else! God can do this because He is not a mere impersonal force, but a personality that moves, that thinks, that creates, and that pursues us always because He is the first mover of the Universe, and the Source of all.

But that's not the best part of it. The best part is that providing for our daily needs is just an “add-on”. When we've already found God's Kingdom, we'd have found the most important thing!

This gives us the correct perspective in life, and allows us to focus only on the most importat goal as we cannot serve two masters at the same time.

Wealth creation is not bad. In fact, God knows how badly we need it, and even promises He will Himself take care of it. What's bad is when we focus on wealth alone and forget everything else.

“For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and yet loses his own soul?”

I am not saying that those who make use of the traditional law of attraction seek only material wealth. Some seek better relationships, some the realization of their life dreams. But even these pale in comparison to God's Kingdom, which is God's Love itself, the greatest good and joy we could ever have. Let not your hearts be troubled. Seek Him first, and everything else shall be added unto you!

22Then Jesus said to his disciples: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. 23Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. ²⁴Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! ²⁵Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? ²⁶Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

²⁷"Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ²⁸If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! ²⁹And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. ³⁰For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. ³¹But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

© Jocelyn Soriano for I Take Off The MASK!, 2010. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
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The Law of Attraction simply states 'that which is like unto itself is drawn.' This means that we attract the things that happen to us according to our vibration, according to our thoughts, whether they be positive or negative. If we think of good thoughts, good things happen to us. If we think of negative things, negative things will flood our existence.

We have seen the truth in this by observing optimistic people, and how they affect others around them through their positive vibration. We also see this through patterns that people have in their lives, as if those patterns have been programmed somehow to attract certain things or events. We see people who seem to have the gift of luck and always seems to win in raffle draws or casino games. On the other hand, we see people who always seem to attract some kind of accident in their lives, as though they have a death wish, or a guilt that couldn't allow them to live in safety and peace. All these things have a seed of truth in them, and we may even actually be able to affirm them in our own lives.

However, what can often mislead people is the notion that through the Law of Attraction, we can rid ourselves of all suffering in this life and magically manifest every good thing man could ever possess.

"All is well. You did not come here to fix a broken world. The world is not broken. You came here to live a wonderful life. And if you can learn to relax a little and let it all in, you will begin to see the universe present you with all that you have asked for." - Abraham

(I've quoted the above because it is one of the more famous quotes I often see being associated with the Law of Attraction, and which could be interpreted by readers in such a way as to neglect other truths of our humanity and existence.)

How can we say that this isn't a broken world when 25,000 people die of hunger each day? Children in Africa die of malaria. Children labor to feed their families instead of going to school and enjoying their childhood. Innocent people are being jailed. Women are being harassed. Whole nations are being robbed through corruption of its officials. Husbands and wives are being betrayed. People in Haiti are still trying to recover after a disastrous earthquake claimed thousands of lives and left thousands more homeless and orphans and left with but a flicker of hope to carry on.

It isn't that the Law of Attraction does not play a role in such situations. It isn't that we cannot use its principles to help people who grope in the dark.  But the exaggeration of the application of its principles, as well as its objectives and premise could very well mislead us from the many truths in this life, one truth being, that suffering is unavoidable.

Why is suffering unavoidable? We cannot avoid suffering in this world for these two reasons:

• That we are fragile and imperfect physically
• That our souls are wounded and imperfect as well

No person can ever claim exemption from physical weakness, sickness and death. We are like vampires who have a consistent hunger in us, for though we eat, we get hungry again. Though we drink, we thirst yet again.   Our passions, though they may be a source of pleasure, are the same things that enslave us. And we could never ever have enough. Always shall we want for more or we shall be bored of our very existence in this life.

Secondly, no person could ever claim to be perfect spiritually as to be perfect in all virtues, and hence, will not be able to hurt another. We are neither omnipotent nor omnicient. We can't even read the minds of our friends in order to avoid misunderstandings. Our two greatest pains in this life are such that first, we could not be loved in exactly the way we wanted to be loved, and secondly, no matter how hard we try, we could not love the people who matters most to us in the way that they truly deserve to be loved.

The Law of Attraction is not a blanket solution to all of the world's problems, but a tool which can be used to alleviate the suffering of many people.

If we would allow this principle to simply make us focus on our own selfish goals, to close our eyes from the suffering of our fellowmen, and to naively see the meaning of this life as nothing more than having fun, then we'd have been deceived from our own humanity.

At the same time, we may form a very great disrespect for the suffering of other people. Coldly, we may accuse them of merely being stubborn, of not being strong enough or wise enough to be able to think positive thoughts so that they would attract more favorable conditions.

Who are we to judge other people when we could not even be in their shoes for a single day? What will you say to the mother who mourns for the death of her only son? Or to a bride who could no longer see her husband? How could you comfort a child who had been harassed and stolen from her innocence? (see my article 'Positive Thinking Fails The Law of Attraction')

Some perspectives tend to link the Law of Attraction exclusively to good feelings, as though sorrow and other emotions are never part of being human.

It is the great poet and writer Kahlil Gibran who was able to link Joy and Sorrow, and the purposes they have in our lives:

“Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.
...The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.
...When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.”

Even the Gospel is filled with this wisdom:

“Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.”

Only in heaven will we be able to reach the perfection that such perspectives promise. On earth, we are bound by the Law of Duality, of mornings and evenings, of many winters and springtime that we must bear.

This is the state of man's fall into sin as clearly stated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church which we quote here:

Before the Fall, man lived in a state of original holiness and justice, in which he was in friendship with God and in harmony with the world around him. ...Man was in union with God, and he had perfect self-mastery, being unsusceptible to temptations of the flesh, greed, or self-assertion.

Humanity lost its state of original holiness and justice, which constituted four general losses. Man lost his harmony with (1)God, (2)other men, (3)himself, and (4)nature. As well, he lost sanctifying grace (faith, hope and love), the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and the four preternatural gifts (see question, “What was the condition of man before the Fall?”). The loss of the preternatural gifts means that we are subject to ignorance, obedience is difficult, we are subject to suffering and death, and we are inclined to sin (this inclination is called concupiscence). In general, the natural powers of our human state were (and still are) wounded, no longer able to function to perfection. However, they were wounded, but not lost. We are able, with the grace of God through Jesus Christ, to heal our wounded nature. In the Sacrament of Baptism, we are given sanctifying grace, and through prayer and the other Sacraments, we can receive again the gifts of the Holy Spirit and grow in grace and virtue. The preternatural gifts will be restored and bettered in heaven (we can partially remedy some on earth). Eventually, in heaven we will be completely healed and restored. In fact, because of the mercy of God, our condition heaven will be better than it was before the Fall.

(Read also my article 'Can Man Save Himself?')

To close our hearts to the sorrow and suffering of our fellowmen today is to be less than human, and to be empty of the joy of sharing their happiness when such happiness finally comes.

Let me quote another teaching of Abraham-Hicks on the Law of Attraction:

GUILT GETS YOU NOWHERE. Guilt is self-deprecation. You are love of self, love of all, you are love. You cannot be love and guilt at the same time...

On the contrary, to be without guilt is to be incapable of love as well. I know only one type of people who are without guilt, and they are called PSYCHOPATHS.

Wikipedia defined psychopathy/ psychopath as follows:

Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterized by an abnormal lack of empathy combined with strongly amoral conduct, masked by an ability to appear outwardly normal.

Psychopaths lack a sense of guilt or remorse for any harm they may have caused others, instead rationalizing the behavior, blaming someone else, or denying it outright.Psychopaths also lack empathy towards others in general, resulting in tactlessness, insensitivity, and contemptuousness.

Summing it up, The Law of Attraction is only one perspective that could help us alleviate the sufferings we and/or our fellowmen experience today. It shouldn't be an escape mechanism, nor should it overshadow other truths that give meaning to our humanity. We are yet imperfect, hence, anything we could ever manifest through believing in the law of attraction and applying its principles would be less than perfect as well (See 'The Law of Attraction and The Key of Transmutation'). We need God's Grace to change us and achieve for us the things that could truly meet our heart's desires. (See my article 'How To Receive More Than We Ask or Imagine')There is a very thin line between a truth and a lie. May we be wise enough to discern what could bring us nearer to authentic love of self and of others, which is the true meaning of life.

© Jocelyn Soriano for I Take Off The MASK!, 2010. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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