Law of Attraction and Enlightenment

[fatherpaul]

Hehe..

Of course. But that isn`t easy to understand. And also, that kind of thinking can lead to erroneous thinking that there is nothing to do...

 

 

its not a matter of understanding or thinking.

[Pero]

its not a matter of understanding or thinking.

 

Yes and no...

But please, do you care to elaborate what you mean?

[freeform]

When I went deeply into LOA, I realised that it is not about wanting or needing or attracting even. Like Cameron I was torn between 'everything is perfect as it is' and 'you can get what you want' - very contradictory.

 

LOA as I see it now is like a lesson - a playfull lesson. In fact it has the above contradiction built in - and the final aha of the lesson is the integration of the contradictions. LOA only really works if you lose mental attachments to wanting/needing etc. It's a way of experimenting with your consciousness so that you can learn that wanting external material things is pointless - because there is a limitless amount of whatever you want in the universe and the act of wanting is what's blocking you from having the object of what you want.

 

If you're a kid and all you want is ice cream, then through doing LOA you realise that you can have limitless amounts of ice cream you get bored... then you want a bicycle - the LOA tells you the world is full of bicycles, so you want something else - and you carry on wanting new things untill the lesson drops into you and you realise that wanting these external things doesn't bring any happiness or feeling of completion or satisfaction.

 

Through playing the game of LOA you slowly become accustomed to feeling that the universe really is bountifull and will provide you with anything you need. Eventually you are left with the feeling that you already have everything in this moment - there is nothing that could ruin or improve this moment. This is followed by this feeling of 'letting go' - letting go of needs and desires, the need for control, preference and judgement.

 

For me the lesson is not - 'you can control the universe to get what you want' - but 'you are the universe and you already have everything you want'.

 

In the beginning though, what I wrote above is obscured, and probably sounds pretty silly 'in real life'. In the beginning the LOA brings your attention to your desires, beneath your surface desires are other desires, beneath those desires are more desires and so on - you learn to go deeper down the chain of desires, and it becomes obvious that the deeper you go down the chain the deeper you go into yourself... eventually you reach the 'ultimate desire' (and every 'desire chain' always leads to this 'ultimate desire') - the ultimate desire is always to become 'complete' or 'whole'.

[fatherpaul]

When I went deeply into LOA, I realised that it is not about wanting or needing or attracting even. Like Cameron I was torn between 'everything is perfect as it is' and 'you can get what you want' - very contradictory.

 

LOA as I see it now is like a lesson - a playfull lesson. In fact it has the above contradiction built in - and the final aha of the lesson is the integration of the contradictions. LOA only really works if you lose mental attachments to wanting/needing etc. It's a way of experimenting with your consciousness so that you can learn that wanting external material things is pointless - because there is a limitless amount of whatever you want in the universe and the act of wanting is what's blocking you from having the object of what you want.

 

If you're a kid and all you want is ice cream, then through doing LOA you realise that you can have limitless amounts of ice cream you get bored... then you want a bicycle - the LOA tells you the world is full of bicycles, so you want something else - and you carry on wanting new things untill the lesson drops into you and you realise that wanting these external things doesn't bring any happiness or feeling of completion or satisfaction.

 

Through playing the game of LOA you slowly become accustomed to feeling that the universe really is bountifull and will provide you with anything you need. Eventually you are left with the feeling that you already have everything in this moment - there is nothing that could ruin or improve this moment. This is followed by this feeling of 'letting go' - letting go of needs and desires, the need for control, preference and judgement.

 

For me the lesson is not - 'you can control the universe to get what you want' - but 'you are the universe and you already have everything you want'.

 

In the beginning though, what I wrote above is obscured, and probably sounds pretty silly 'in real life'. In the beginning the LOA brings your attention to your desires, beneath your surface desires are other desires, beneath those desires are more desires and so on - you learn to go deeper down the chain of desires, and it becomes obvious that the deeper you go down the chain the deeper you go into yourself... eventually you reach the 'ultimate desire' (and every 'desire chain' always leads to this 'ultimate desire') - the ultimate desire is always to become 'complete' or 'whole'.

 

yes

[林愛偉]

This is a pretty big question for me. At heart my take is that law of attraction has alot of positive things but where it falls apart in respect to awakening or enlightenment is the center of LOA..you..is seen through. If "you" are no longer the main attraction of your life LOA isn't so interesting.

 

By the same token, we see many people in the "dream state" have great success in wordly matters, making money, attracting what they want.

 

I was actually thinking of starting this thread yesterday saying how awakening is bs and LOA is where it is at to become "successful". But at this moment I have doubts about that.

 

Adyashanti said something that I think sums it up well. Someone asked him about law of attraction, attracting the business, the woman that he wanted to him and how that related to awakening. Adya said with LOA you try to get the girl that you want. When your awake, if the girl that you want wants to be with someone else your so happy for her that she got what she wanted.

 

Thoughts?

 

 

The reason people are more successful than others is simply due tot eh process of Karma. When one becomes more smarter, intelligent, understands certain things more than others, it is due to their karma. One attains enlightenment due to their cultivation and karma. What conditions are within that persons mind, and their capacity to cultivate the wisdom to change them.

Cultivating sincerely (concentrating strongly, single mindedly) results in attaining what you have in mind. How much you are attached to it will determine the conditions for your experience, and further outcomes.

 

Peace,

Aiwei

[Cameron]

The reason people are more successful than others is simply due tot eh process of Karma. When one becomes more smarter, intelligent, understands certain things more than others, it is due to their karma. One attains enlightenment due to their cultivation and karma. What conditions are within that persons mind, and their capacity to cultivate the wisdom to change them.

Cultivating sincerely (concentrating strongly, single mindedly) results in attaining what you have in mind. How much you are attached to it will determine the conditions for your experience, and further outcomes.

 

Peace,

Aiwei

 

Thanks. To expand a little on what you said, you need good teachers. I don't care how focused you are for a modern person to have any hope of "Enlightenment" they need to be working with some enlightend teachers.

 

There is what I percieve to be a negative trend here that people with litte knowledge or wisdom should openly give advice on important matters of spirituality. If your interested in enlightenment..find a teacher to help you. Even qigong. I get emails from people here asking my advice on qigong practices. Ime not a qigong teacher. I love qigong and may do a qigong training program at some point but wouldn't consider myself in any kind of postion to speak on enlightenment, cultivation etc. At best I see this site as a nice place for networking and sharing ideas..not a place to be giving anyone advice on what they should practice(Ime not talking about strongly reccomending practices or teachers..that is probably very helpful).

 

Anyway, sorry to go off topic on this thread.

[林愛偉]

Thanks. To expand a little on what you said, you need good teachers. I don't care how focused you are for a modern person to have any hope of "Enlightenment" they need to be working with some enlightend teachers.

 

There is what I percieve to be a negative trend here that people with litte knowledge or wisdom should openly give advice on important matters of spirituality. If your interested in enlightenment..find a teacher to help you. Even qigong. I get emails from people here asking my advice on qigong practices. Ime not a qigong teacher. I love qigong and may do a qigong training program at some point but wouldn't consider myself in any kind of postion to speak on enlightenment, cultivation etc. At best I see this site as a nice place for networking and sharing ideas..not a place to be giving anyone advice on what they should practice(Ime not talking about strongly reccomending practices or teachers..that is probably very helpful).

 

Anyway, sorry to go off topic on this thread.

 

 

One does need a Good Knowing Advisor to assit them in any manner of cultivation. That Good Knowing Advisor may not necessarily be in a physical human body. Depends on one's cultivation, skill in means, fate.

 

 

 

Peace,

Aiwei

[Cameron]

One does need a Good Knowing Advisor to assit them in any manner of cultivation. That Good Knowing Advisor may not necessarily be in a physical human body. Depends on one's cultivation, skill in means, fate.

Peace,

Aiwei

 

 

Ime not sure I agree with that. I think the whole physical body thing is kind of important But hey..whatever works!

[林愛偉]

Ime not sure I agree with that. I think the whole physical body thing is kind of important But hey..whatever works!

 

 

:-)

 

And that is why for you, a good knowing advisor will appear in body form. It is all according to our capacity to understand, awaken. Enlightenment can be sudden or gradual, but it is neither sudden nor gradual.

 

AMITUOFO

 

Peace,

Aiwei

[Cameron]

:-)

 

And that is why for you, a good knowing advisor will appear in body form. It is all according to our capacity to understand, awaken. Enlightenment can be sudden or gradual, but it is neither sudden nor gradual.

 

AMITUOFO

 

Peace,

Aiwei

 

 

More than a few have already appeared. But it's up to each individual to engage the process or not. Probably most people don't want enlightenment and I think that is probably totally appropriate. My gut says none of us can hold out forever, but as Adyashanti says some people can hold out for a damn long time(lifetimes..if you beleive in them).

[林愛偉]

More than a few have already appeared. But it's up to each individual to engage the process or not. Probably most people don't want enlightenment and I think that is probably totally appropriate. My gut says none of us can hold out forever, but as Adyashanti says some people can hold out for a damn long time(lifetimes..if you beleive in them).

 

 

Living beings do hold out for a long long time. Cultivating is not easy, and one can't be lazy with it.

It only seems like a lifetime because of a different body, but it really is just another manner of our karma taking form. A body is as myriad as our karma. As heavy our karma, as many forms will manifest. Karma lighter and lighter, forms lighter and lighter. No Karma, no form, and even no no form.

 

"Karma ended, and emotions empty,'defines a true Buddha.

Karma heavy and emotions turbid,

defines a living being."

 

Taken from Hui Neng Sixth Patriarch, Chan School China.

 

 

Peace,

Aiwei

[Leidee]

Has anyone seen Steve Pavlina's blog? I have only discovered it today and it does have some interesting ideas about LoA. It seems Steve is a believer but he also discusses things that can affect LoA which are (briefly) polarity and subjective reality (which he may have pilfered from other writers/thinkers).

 

I haven't read into it enough at this stage to make any informed decision one way or another and am just putting it out there as an additional avenue for adventurous discussion

 

Peace

L

[Cameron]

It's a fun topic. I say have fun with it either way..don't take yourself or life too seriously. I think the Taoists have a great attitude about all this stuff and recognize humans desire for good furtune,long life,success etc along with cultivating the way for spiritual liberation and enlightenment.

 

balance..balance..balance.

[Leidee]

Yes, it is all fun.

 

I think one of the big things that LoA has done for me personally is helped me to recognise that my thoughts are an ACTION which can create consequences - whether those consequences are manifested by the universe or whether the action of thinking creates an emotional reaction within me.

 

L

[mat black]

Yes, it is all fun.

 

I think one of the big things that LoA has done for me personally is helped me to recognise that my thoughts are an ACTION which can create consequences - whether those consequences are manifested by the universe or whether the action of thinking creates an emotional reaction within me.

 

L

 

 

Very well said Leidee.

[gendao]

Has anyone seen Steve Pavlina's blog? I have only discovered it today and it does have some interesting ideas about LoA. It seems Steve is a believer but he also discusses things that can affect LoA which are (briefly) polarity and subjective reality (which he may have pilfered from other writers/thinkers).

No, where is it?

[Leidee]

http://www.stevepavlina.com/

 

 

 

[Leidee]

[beancurdturtle]

There's nothing "wrong" with the "law of attraction" and "The Secret." And the tactics can work to reach the assumed objective. It's focused on things with the assumption that things and "success" are worthy life objectives.

 

The false assumption is that when our expectations are met, we will be happy. The LOA is not flawed, but it's target is.

 

The objective should be to let go of expectations. Without expectations, you will always be content.

Edited July 2, 2007 by beancurdturtle