I remember the first time I came across The Law of Attraction. And I also remember when the big wave hit after Oprah featured The Secret on her wildly popular show. For several months at least, this fundamental personal growth paradigm was at the center of my life. I quickly began recognizing important synchronicities and profound connections throughout many areas of my life. My most important goals even seemed to be manifesting faster than ever before. Life was good.
And then it all sort of faded away…
Of course, good things are definitely still happening. I just don’t quite feel that same “zing” I once felt. And, appropriately enough, the world around me stopped showing its interest. (Yes, very interesting indeed.)
In the last few days, I have started turning my attention back to the this wonderful energy source. I am a firm believer that the attraction principle really is a matter of intention and self creation.
For example, simply by writing and then posting this article here at Mindful Source, I’ll begin to see reflections very soon. Perhaps you, dear reader, have even missed The Law of Attraction lately. And, so… here you are.
I do believe that some of the personal growth process is about gradual integration – eventually, something learned should become somewhat automatic and less conscious. Still, a review of the basics is always in order.
Perhaps a useful analogy here would be learning a new academic subject - Math or English for example. You may be adept at applying the concepts learned during the actual learning period (a school semester) but the ideas will likely slip away at some point without review and renewal. Personal growth is no different. Unfortunately many of the systems, books, seminars, and other materials available in this genre often encourage short-sighted approaches to self improvement. Would you expect a teacher or coach to ever suggest that your growth and change process is going to be easy??? That’s the real Secret.
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4 Responses to “Reviving the Law of Attraction and the Secret”
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The Secret is the latest and by far the worst example of a HIGHLY profitable trend where self-help gurus with fabricated new age titles and little relevant education, credentials or legitimate expertise brainwash us into believing that they know what is best for us, our marriages and our families.
Often their only contribution to society is introducing some exotic sounding, new age philosophy. However, they often cleverly form an incestuous group of like-minded “experts” who cross-promote each other by swearing their success is due to following the beliefs of another member of their “cult!” All the while, they ply the airwaves jockeying for an ever-larger audience by appearing in the national media to garner third-party endorsements.
The Self-Help Movement has become the Self-Destruct Movement by diminishing or destroying our critical thinking skills to choose and evolve on our own. We have given up the freedom to build healthy lives, marriages and families based on our unique history and life experience. Instead many victims, blinded to the value of their own life experiences, are attracted to the latest secret in self-help, in an attempt to find out what they should think, feel and how they should act… this is the definition of a cult.
The solution is a return to our (common) senses! The best way out of this learned “self-helplessness” is to go cold turkey. Stop following ALL self-help gurus now. Begin, instead, to reclaim your natural, God-given ability to think for yourself. The common sense that was once readily available to all of us is still there free of charge and waiting to be applied to just about any challenge we might face in life… all you have to do is use it.
Please, let’s all work together to stop the flock of “sheepeople” who blindly move from one UNPROVEN concept to the next, looking for the answers to life’s challenges that you already possess and that is the OBVIOUS!
Hi John,
You definitely did not read about the intricate workings of this concept. The trick is that whatever is on the mind, you ’see’. This is easily proven (see my article http://blog.gettingrichthecertainway.net/2007/09/experiment-on-law-of-attraction.html)
Now all you need to do is keep your mind on what you want and you will ’see’ the way to it. It is just making use of out unconscious. Nothing mysterious.
Olivier.
John,
Thank you for adding your comments. Your points are well meaning and important.
While I do agree that independent critical thinking is an extremely important part of any personal growth paradigm, I disagree with the rather hasty generalization that popularized self-help concepts offer only “some exotic sounding, new age philosophy” for the masses to “blindly move from one UNPROVEN concept to the next.”
Is there much more available than “The Secret,” “The Law of Attraction,” and the like? Absolutely. Does that necessarily negate the power and effectiveness of these readings? Definitely not.
I agree that some so called “self help gurus” out there are in it mainly to make money. There are bad apples in every field.
Although I appreciate your comments, they seem mostly fear based to me. If you argue in favor of critical thinking, why do you insist that other people follow your line of thinking only???
Thanks again for the contribution!
-Jason
Although I didn’t write the article being commented on, I’d like to add to the conversation. I haven’t read “The Secret” or “The Law of Attraction”, but I’ve read a decent amount of self-help books, some of my favorites being “The Seat of the Soul” by Gary Zukav and the “Conversations with God” series by Neil Donald Walsch. As an avid student of philosophy, I can argue that there is a good deal of overlap between what these folks are saying and what many Western philosophers, especially the existentialists and pragmatists, are saying. There is an even deeper connection between these “self-help” authors and Eastern philosophy writers, including Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, a Tibetan Buddhist guru, and Thich Nhat Hahn, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk. Not every doctrine is the same, but there are more consistencies than you may realize. If the self-helpers have an advantage, it is readability and ease of understanding for “regular folk.” Not everyone wants to read philosophical writing that is hundreds of years old, and often hard to understand and get anything out of. As a philosopher, I want to suggest that what self-help writers are doing is fill the niche that academic philosophy has vacated. Centuries ago, philosophy was not as detached from the “real world” as it is today. But the questions are the same, and people want answers. I share some of your sentiments regarding self-help writing, but I’d suggest that you take it with a grain of salt, focusing on the essence of a teaching rather than the specifics of a practice. Most of these folks have at least something valuable to say, and I find more wisdom in the generalities than the particulars. And if you want something more “concrete”, check out Trungpa Rinpoche or Sarte. You might like them better.
Regarding your appeal to common sense and thinking for yourself, I want to offer that we develop our skills by seeking to understand, analyze, and dissect the work of others. Thinking must be developed, just like anything else, and this cannot be done in a vaccuum.