The Law of Attraction – Part 3

I've been thinking about this again and realise that this rediscovered journey into faith could resolve a few areas of confusion.

As I've mentioned before: I started my journey into the Christian grace message with my own revelation of what's come to be known as the Unionist message. Like others, I was led to believe that every little thing I did was an expression of the Holy Spirit living in me. Now I know this can't be true because not everything that I do is befitting of Christ. I liked the Unionist message because it went a long way towards explaining how ordinary people could achieve great, sometimes superhuman, things.  It also did a lot to relieve the burden of trying to be, do or have something your are not, through an effort of the will.

But I was always perplexed by what I would call The Evil Genius Syndrome: intelligent people using their ability and power for their personal gain, but to the detriment of the masses. The theory of Law of Attraction helps us to understand how people can use power, God-given power, for selfish or even evil purposes. I think it has something to do with the sheer power of believing in yourself.  There is a need to redefine selfishness. Fulfilling your own destiny and receiving blessings which benefit only yourself, are fine. Its only when your behaviour and actions adversely affect others, that it indeed becomes selfish and a bad thing.

When I think about it now, angels following people around, micro-managing every little things they say, think or do - it doesn't sound realistic. Even Law of Attraction points towards the inner self which is in tune with the Universe or God; and has the power to manifest those things you focus on and believe. I like the Unionist message in that it highlights those Bible verses that basically tell us that through Christ we are complete, possessing all the potential that we need to fulfil our destiny. Like others, I was confused because I was told that I already had the divine nature - but could hardly see any evidence of it in my life. The key to unlocking that God-given power from within, is through the mind. Firstly by establishing an overall positive disposition - predisposed to think positive thoughts and experience positive emotions, behaviour and experiences. Secondly, by exercising faith, Law of Attraction - they're the same thing really.

I prefer Law of Attraction to Word of Faith because its not limited to a Biblical framework. Kenneth Hagin always used to say in his books that whatever you wanted, see if there is a Bible verse that says you can have it. Darin Hufford of the Free Believers Network calls this Back-up Verse Theology. I know from experience that this can lead to extracting Bible verses out of their context and twisting them to suit a person's own needs. I'm sure everyone would agree that there are no Bible verses that say you can have a particular model of car (or any vehicle with an engine for that matter). Many Christian quote Philippians 4:19 as the basis for receiving what they want - but its rather generic, to say the least.

I can't help feeling frustrated with Hagin and Word of Faith. But I need to remind myself that Hagin was something of a pioneer for his time: he faced a great deal of opposition for extolling Biblical faith for healing and finances. Hagin also refuted following the Ten Commandments, pointing out the fact that we are under a New Covenant of love now; if we walk in love, we fulfil all the Ten Commandments. Hagin faced a lot of opposition for his stance on the Ten Commandments. At least Hagin got Christians thinking about living by faith and experiencing health and prosperity. Hagin also concurred with a lot of what the Unionist Message has to say. Grace preacher Joseph Prince often quotes Kenneth E. Hagin as being a major influence (perhaps the main influence, from what I gather) in his ministry.

Some teachers, including Hagin and Norman Vincent Peal (author of The Power of Positive Thinking) say that there is power in Bible verses. I believe in the power of God and the Gospel. I also value the Bible as a source of inspirational spiritual writings, which we can look to for guidance and encouragement.  But I'm inclined to believe now that any perceived power in Bible verses themselves is self-attributed, somewhat like the placebo effect. If someone experiences a miracle which they attribute to a Bible verse - I suppose it can't be a bad thing, in fact, its a good thing. But it doesn’t necessarily mean that a particular sequence of words has power, because they’re from the Bible.  I see that some Christians struggle to believe they can have, be or do some things - unless they're convinced that at least one Bible verse confirms it – this is rather restrictive, in my opinion.  I like Law of Attraction in that it focuses on the spiritual law of like-attracts-like, without getting distracted with many of the distractions of religion.  One can still believe in God and be a Christian, its just that Law of Attraction allows a shift of focus that might be beneficial for a time.

I like the way that Law of Attraction simply advocates attuning to your inner self to see what it is you really want. Experience has shown, however, that a confused, negative-minded person is often distracted by things they think they want, but don't really need. But it all comes down to the need to somehow first develop an overall balanced and solid disposition. Even "following the Word" by using the Bible as a guidebook, won't help much in the case of a confused person with a negative disposition. We must bear in mind that the Bible is open to human interpretation.  The same thing goes for sin: if a person is balanced and solid, they'll be inclined to know what’s right for them and have a good sense of what's right for everyone else, from a moral perspective. A person can't necessarily avoid sinning by being told what's right or wrong from their understanding of the Bible.

The Law of Attraction – Part 2

After listening to The Law of Attraction abridged version, I decided to download The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. The Secret is about Rhonda Byrne's experience with The Law of Attraction. Her marketing gambit with The Secret is in making reference to great people from the past - such as Plato, Mozart and the like, whom she claims used The Secret, although they might not have been aware of it. The book seemed to consist of a lot of quotes from various self help author's such as Joe Vitale and Jack Canfield. In fact, the quotes made up about 20 to 25 percent of the actual book. As you'd expect, there's not a great deal of new information in this book - it basically echoes what was already said in the LOA (as well as many other related books). However, there are some good points she makes. She emphasises the need to be grateful for what you have and to take the time to express that gratitude. She also emphasises the need to have positive emotions in order to attract positive circumstances. Rhonda Byrne recommends finding those things that make you happy and doing them when you feel down, in order to make a positive shift in your emotions.

As you'd expect, The Secret was full of anecdotes from well known self-help guru's of how they achieved amazing things. There's a testimony from Morris Goodman, the Miracle Man, who, after being paralysed from a plane crash, made a remarkable recovery through positive thinking. There's also a testimony from Jack Canfield, who was able to purchase a 4.5 million dollar mansion through believing in the success of his Chicken Soup for the Soul books. These people and their books often go on about how we can achieve anything we want. I'm uncomfortable with this approach as it encourages insecure people to try to attract incredible things into their life - things that they think will make them happy. What is evident to me is that in order to attract positive things into your life, you first have to be a balanced, secure and positive minded person first.

I read in a related book by James Weaver that its important to be content just as you are: you need to be able to live without those things that you're trying to attract. This probably goes a long way towards explaining why these things didn't work for me in the past. But I'm convinced that there is something to all of this - once you get away from all the marketing hype. In reality, I believe what we're able to attract is probably somewhat more down to earth than the stories we've been told. Its all about being true to what you really want in your heart - what is truly right for you at that time. But when a person is negative and confused - it becomes difficult to identity or to believe in those things. They say its as easy to attract a million dollars as it is to attract ten dollars. I suppose they're just trying to take the limits off our thinking. But its not an invitation to fantasise about things that are really not meant to be in our lives. There is a lot of confusion about this kind of thing and I wish self-help authors would do a lot more to clarify these things.

As I said before: I wasn't ready to use the Law of Attraction in the past as I was too negative. Its all about a person's disposition: if a person is positive, on the whole, they'll tend to attract positive people and things into their life; the reverse is also true. In fact, I'd say that positive people don't really have to use the LOA, as they're already using it, to some extent, without realising it. If a person is struggling with depression and anxiety, they'll no doubt want to attract a few, big, incredible things into their life, which they believe will change their life and make them happy. This approach won't work. For these reasons, I'd say that any method that shifts a person's overall disposition towards the positive, is more important than LOA related teaching and activity.

As a Christian I needed to focus on and accept the grace message. I needed to go beyond the righteousness-by-faith message of Joseph Prince, and to embrace the Freebeliever message, in order to take a critical look at religion and the church-life. Many Christians seem to stay at that stage: going over the grace message again and again. For me, I also needed to release negative beliefs by using The Work of Byron Katie. But now I feel that I can't progress much further with these methods. I've come a long way in the last five years and can honestly say that I've changed a lot and can be truly grateful for what I have. But I feel as if I'm living my life to fifty percent capacity. Some days I feel like my glass is half full, other times I feel my glass is half empty. I go from feeling genuinely grateful for what I have, to feeling unfulfilled.  I've made a big effort to come to terms with reality and to be happy with what I have, but I feel like I'm missing out on some things and I could do better.

I wanted to get the perspective of the LOA from someone lower down the food chain than Jack Canfield and his 4.5 million dollar mansion. So I downloaded a couple of eBooks by James Weaver to my Kindle. They're only short books, less than fifty pages, that relate his experience with LOA. James Weaver related things like how he was able to get some animals for his farm for free - through belief. He describes his experiences and some of the things he attracted, in the eBook, The 30 Day Attraction Experiment. In The Attraction Blueprint, James Weaver recommends a series of steps to attracting what you want in your life. He recommends taking time to determine what you really want and then making a written statement declaring that you already have it. He lists the techniques in the following order:
1) Visualisation; 2) Expressing gratitude; 3) Practising acceptance; 4) Reading your intention statement; 5) Eliminating limiting beliefs; 6) Raising your expectations; 7) Affirmations.

I've been thinking about what I really want. Unsurprisingly, a brand new Ferrari is pretty low down on the list.  I feel as if I'm in a stalemate situation now and that nothing will change unless I do something about it. So I'm going to make a written statement of my intentions for the things that are important to me now. James Weaver recommends reading your statement of intentions a few times first thing in the morning and last thing at night (and once or twice in between, during the day if you can).

The LOA and The Secret both quote Bible verses pertaining to asking, believing and receiving. It struck me that there is actually and accord between LOA and Word of Faith as taught by Kenneth E. Hagin. There are verses about faith in the Bible that cannot be ignored. It seems that with the focus that people put on the grace message, they seem to forget all about these verses of faith. But to do this would be to ignore a significant aspect of The Gospel of Jesus Christ. I couldn't get LOA-style self-help and Word of Faith teaching to work for me in the past. So when the grace message came along I kind of ring-fenced all of that off in my life. If there is no credibility to faith and LOA then that would refute a substantial amount of Christian and self-help teaching out there - including the Bible. I feel as if I've come full circle now and have returned to the very kind of teaching that set me on my spiritual path. Its good to know that perhaps all of that teaching in the past is not all bogus after all. But I'm interested in knowing more about why it didn't work for me in the past and, more importantly, how I can apply these teachings and methods into my life now.

The Law of Attraction – Part 1

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I've often referred to The Law of Attraction as being the Self Help/New Age equivalent of Christian Word of Faith. But in all honestly I'd never actually read or listened to LOA. So I recently decided to download the abridged version of the audio book from Audible. I just wanted to post my initial thoughts about it here.

The thing that surprised me the most was that the recording was from the eighties and was of Esther Hicks actually channelling the group of discarnate entities collectively known as "Abraham". Esther spoke with what I'd describe as an Eastern European accent while speaking on behalf of Abraham. She sounded rather robotic, a bit like an alien, I thought. I was not expecting this at all and felt it was a bit creepy. As you'd expect, there are red flags throughout the recording for most Christians. Only Freebelievers would be open-minded enough to listen all the way through. For example, there are references to reincarnation.
The main issue, which is the very essence of the theory, is that you are in complete control of your life through your thoughts; you can have anything you want if you can believe it; everything that happens to you is the result of the focus of your thinking. If you're the victim of an injustice then its your fault, because you attracted it through your wrong thinking. I believe that much of what happens in life is, to an extent, random. We often develop beliefs based upon random life occurrences. The study of this is known as Operant Conditioning.

I do believe to an extent, that our beliefs do attract circumstances to us, according to what we believe: whether they are good or bad.  I’ve experienced this myself, I believe, many times.  I also believe in some sort of "karma": if a person is driven by negative beliefs, attitudes, thoughts and emotions - they will attract negative circumstances as a result, directly or indirectly. This could be likened to some degree to punishment for sin - but more of a correction, a learning process, than mere punishment. But this operates on a more direct, physical level as well as a spiritual level. For instance, if a person's attitude is proud, their inevitable rudeness towards another will likely provoke hostility from them. Such a person cannot exactly say they are being punished by God as a result of this. If a person is depressed all the time, its likely they'll do little to attract other people to them, other than people who themselves are dull and depressed. I feel LOA does not quite cover this idea of karma. Although it could be implied through the generic idea of LOA.

There is no mention of God or a divine plan for your life. But to be fair, LOA does emphasise the fact that your inner being knows what is best for you and what you really want - I agree with that. But there seems to be no allowing for the fact that many people are confused and don't know what they want on a conscious level; or they think they know what they want, but actually want the wrong things; or they want the right things but with wrong motives. The focus of LOA is on what you want. In fact, Abraham constantly repeats the phrase, "What you are wanting", over and over again like a mantra.

I've covered what I see as the bad points - are there any good points?  Actually, yes, there are. I do believe in some kind of Law of Attraction: our persistent thoughts creating beliefs that attract circumstances of like-kind to us. I like the focus on our thoughts attracting like thoughts, people and circumstances. I like the fact that the focus is on self, rather than trying to control or judge others. When you realise that you are responsible (to whatever extent) for what happens in your life - you can take action to attract what it is you actually want. Then there is no need to control or judge other people, who are responsible for their own destiny.

LOA does not recommend monitoring all of our thoughts. But to simply be aware of this universal law and to make an effort to focus on the things you really want, instead of what you don't want. They recommend spending 15-20 minutes each day in a "workshop" in which you focus on what you want, with positive emotion. I like this idea of a workshop: it seems simple and practical.

In conclusion, I believe there could be something viable to the Law of Attraction - if you are open-minded about it. There are some things that you might no agree with, but you can mentally filter them out. The focus on being able to have anything you want through your thoughts, is somewhat exaggerated and imbalanced, in my opinion. But I like the focus on what you think about the most - you are likely to attract. The 15 minute workshop is a great idea. But it does not account for those who are immature, imbalanced and insecure. Personally, I unsuccessfully dabbled with ideas such as LOA in the past. I'm returning to things like this now because I've matured over recent years, so I feel ready to try these things. This maturity has come through time and experience, often painful experience. As a Christian, I had to detox from religion through the grace message: Joseph Prince's righteousness-by-faith emphasis, followed by Freebeliverism. At the same time as FBN, I also started The Work of Byron Katie, which helped me greatly in letting go of negative, confusing beliefs.

I Need…I’ll Never…

Ever since I found that one inquiry session with a particular belief is usually not enough to affect a significant change – I’ve been trying various different ways of scheduling my Inquiry sessions.

I find that I can effectively do two Inquiry sessions, back-to-back. Therefore, what I find works rather well is doing one Inquiry session in the morning and two back-to-back session in the evening. Like anything else in life, Inquiry is one of those things that has to be done regularly in order to see results. I’ve tried “marathon” sessions of The Work during week-ends, but I found it exhausting – but I know I can stick with 3 sessions a day.

Like any other Self-Help method and good habit, I sometimes miss sessions and get out of the habit of using Inquiry. But I’m convinced of the power and simplicity of The Work now, so not too much time goes by without me using Inquiry.

I’ve experimented with “round-robin” methods of Inquiry: questioning certain beliefs on one day, another set of beliefs the next day and so on. But what I’m doing at the moment is focusing on questioning three different beliefs, but focusing on a different aspect of those beliefs on alternate days.

Let me explain further: on one day I question a belief from the aspect that I’ll never have it, then the next day I focus on the aspect of whether I need that thing. I find that I need and I’ll never are both two sides of the same coin, so to speak.

When I believe that I’ll never have a certain thing, I lose conscious awareness of the fact that I’ve experienced the same, or similar things in the past; I forget in that moment that good things have happened to me, that I have some good things right now and that I’ve made good decisions in the past. When I inquire into a belief using I’ll never, my heart reminds me of times in my life when good things did happen and I made decisions that turned out well for me.

I’ll never or I can’t comes from a sense of despair, guilt and regret. Inquiry can bring a person out of this sense of despair and into a state of hope, as they realise that they can indeed have that thing. This is not fantasy, it is not about claiming or attracting things that we think we need – it is about maintaining optimism and hope – it’s about believing in the best for yourself.

I need comes from a sense of lacking security and acceptance: the belief that I am not whole, lovable and effective, just as I am right now. I need affirms that I need something in order to be happy, safe and accepted by others. When anxiously hold onto the desire for something that I think will make me happy – I at once move away from the certainty that I am love, I am complete and that I have everything that I need in this moment.

When I cling to I need – I look to other people, achievement and material things to fulfil me, instead of embracing the fulfilment of the incredible person I am in this moment.

In order to address an anxious thought from more than one perspective, try asking I need and I’ll never…

Byron Katie Quotes

Byron Kathleen Mitchell, or Byron Katie as she is better known, was born on the 6th of December, 1942 in the U.S.A. Her published books include "Loving What Is", "I Need Your Love—Is That True?", "Question Your Thinking, Change the World", and "A Thousand Names for Joy: A Guide to Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are".

Byron Katie is known the most for the simple process of self-inquiry which she calls “The Work”. This process is four questions followed by what is known as a “turnaround”. This process is an effective way of finding freedom from stressful thoughts. You can find out more at this link: http://thework.com

Here are some popular quotes by Byron Katie:

• "Life is simple. Everything happens for you, not to you. Everything happens at exactly the right moment, neither too soon nor too late. You don't have to like it... it's just easier if you do."
• "All I have is all I need and all I need is all I have in this moment."
• "The miracle of love comes to you in the presence of the un-interpreted moment. If you are mentally somewhere else, you miss real life."
• "Placing the blame or judgment on someone else leaves you powerless to change your experience; taking responsibility for your beliefs and judgments gives you the power to change them"
• "Nothing comes ahead of its time, and nothing ever happened that didn't need to happen."
• "When you argue with reality, you lose, but only 100% of the time."
• "All the advice you ever gave your partner is for you to hear"
• "As long as you think that the cause of your problem is “out there”—as long as you think that anyone or anything is responsible for your suffering—the situation is hopeless. It means that you are forever in the role of victim, that you’re suffering in paradise."
• "A thought is harmless unless we believe it. It’s not our thoughts, but our attachment to our thoughts, that causes suffering. Attaching to a thought means believing that it’s true, without inquiring. A belief is a thought that we’ve been attaching to, often for years."
• "When they attack you and you notice that you love them with all your heart, your Work is done."
• "Whatever it takes for you to find your freedom, that's what you've lived."
• "If you put your hand into a fire, does anyone have to tell you to move it? Do you have to decide? No: When your hand starts to burn, it moves. You don’t have to direct it; the hand moves itself. In the same way, once you understand, through inquiry, that an untrue thought causes suffering, you move away from it."
• "Don't be careful. You could hurt yourself."
• "Nothing comes ahead of its time, and nothing has ever happened that didn't need to happen."
• "Since the beginning of time, people have been trying to change the world so that they can be happy. This hasn’t ever worked, because it approaches the problem backward. What The Work gives us is a way to change the projector—mind—rather than the projected. It’s like when there’s a piece of lint on a projector’s lens. We think there’s a flaw on the screen, and we try to change this person and that person, whomever the flaw appears on next. But it’s futile to try to change the projected images. Once we realize where the lint is, we can clear the lens itself. This is the end of suffering, and the beginning of a little joy in paradise."
• "Seeking love keeps you from the awareness that you already have it—that you are it."
• "You move totally away from reality when you believe that there is a legitimate reason to to suffer."
• “If I think that someone else is causing my problem, I’m insane.”
• “There is only one problem, ever: your un-investigated story in the moment.”
• “If our thinking is clear, how could work or money be the problem? Our thinking is all we need to change.”
• “I don't let go of concepts - I meet them with understanding. Then they let go of me.”

A Better Perspective on Money – Self-Talk Script

Here is an example of a Self-Talk script that I wrote in order to give myself a better perspective on money.  Rather than just using the typical affirmations that declare I attract money – I decided to listen to what my heart was telling me when I questioned my stressful thoughts using The Work of Byron Katie.  I decided to put some of the salient points from my Inquiry sessions on money and corporate success – into my Self-Talk scripts.

I realise that it’s more important to make good decisions with my money, than to have a fancy job title and high salary figure.

It is my right to prosper financially, get my needs met and live a good quality of life - regardless of my performance in the workplace.

My job title and salary figure are not indications of my ability to prosper financially and get my needs met. There is a lot more to do with prospering financially than earning a salary. What really counts is making good decisions with my money, buying and selling things at the right time, making good investments, saving diligently and being careful with how I spend my money.

I know that happiness has very little to do with how much money I have in the bank. I can be truly happy and content with whatever I have in this moment.

The best thing that I can do to prosper financially is to maintain peace of mind – free from worry about money. When my mind is at peace, I am in a position to make good decisions. A peaceful mind knows how much, when and with whom.

I know that currencies, interest rates, inflation, trade deficits and house prices fluctuate all the time. But I don’t look to those things to determine my prosperity – I look to the wisdom within me to make the right decisions that will steer me through life to financial victory. So while the economy goes up and down – my mind and emotions remain steady.

When it comes to climbing the corporate ladder – I realise that my success in the workplace is not just determined by what I achieve corporate success also requires confidence, people skills, kindness and courtesy and a happy disposition. So I make every effort to ensure that these vital life skills are always at work in me.

The Love Factor – Part 3

There seems to be an assumption in self-help circles that if you attain or achieve a certain thing, such as wealth, then all the happiness and sense of happiness, fulfilment, security, significance and self-worth that you mentally associate with it – will also be yours to possess. But many people have experienced that even when they get that promotion and pay-rise, romantic partner or even fame and fortune that they have always dreamed of – it does not change who they are and how they feel.

So if we take all these things into consideration, it seems that Self-Talk, although promising and potentially useful – could actually be rather imbalanced and incomplete, unless we factor love and the development of character into the equation.

When it comes to love, I believe that The Work of Byron Katie is the best thing I’ve ever come across. The Work does not seek to give people formulas and principles to live by; neither does The Work give you a whole lot of New Age spiritual-sounding theories. The Work is like a framework within which you question your own anxious thoughts with four questions and a “turnaround” – to discover that what you thought was true, is not true. The real wisdom that you gain from Inquiry is from within your own heart – not necessarily from someone else’s theories.

The anxious mind says…

• I need this or that to be happy.
• I need to work harder so I can achieve more.
• People should appreciate me more.
• So-and-so should be like this or that.
• I’ll never, I can’t…

Inquiry refutes all of these things and more, bringing you to the “turnaround” which is just as true as or truer than the original statement. Inquiry is a process of self-discovery and freedom from the fears, taboos, ideals and grudges that have held you captive for so long.

In the past, people have assumed that love is making an effort to be nice to a person; a warm, “gushy” feeling on the inside; or a strong attraction towards a person. But reality, love is much more than these things. I believe that love has a lot more to do with acceptance: of yourself as you are now, of other people as they are and of your current circumstances. Fear tries to predict the future and control circumstances. Love embraces the present and seeks to make the most of now. Fear looks to the other person to make more of an effort, to be different, to change to be someone they are not. Love accepts the other person as they are and seeks to change the way you see that person from a negative to a positive light.

Inquiry seems to be the premier method of changing attitudes and garnering love by finding truth from within. However, I don’t believe that Inquiry is suitable for re-programming your subconscious mind – that is where Self-Talk comes to the fore.

All in all I believe what will work to change a person’s life by changing the way they think – is by somehow channelling the results of Inquiry back into your Self-Talk scripts. In this way, the wisdom you discover within yourself in relation to your anxious thoughts can be used to re-programme your subconscious mind. Otherwise, you run the risk of one of two things:

1. You use Self-Talk or other affirmations method to re-programme your mind, but you are to busy trying to meet goals, achieve the impossible and get more money - than developing character and love.
2. You use Inquiry to discover the truth behind your stressful thoughts. You come to see that those thoughts aren’t true. But for some reason, those anxious thoughts keep on cropping-up, time and again, with just as much stress as before.

One of the results of this combination between Inquiry and Self-Talk will be a set of Self-Talk scripts that might differ somewhat from what you would normally expect. There will be the usual affirmations of achievement and believing in yourself, but there will also be affirmations which see things from a different perspective.

I will hopefully post some examples of these alternative Self-Talk scripts soon.