The Joy of Attraction

BTW, I wrote my most recent take on the law of attraction in an ebook called "A More Attractive Law of Attraction", which covers some of the ideas written here, but in much more detail. Marcus

I have written about the law of attraction quite a few times, sometimes in detail, and sometimes in passing. To summarise, I believe that there is some truth to the law of attraction. Yet my take on it is that we attract not so much what we want, but what we are. What I mean by this is that there is a constant interplay of consciousness and cosmos. You mind is deeply connected to those around you, to life and the universe. The very existence of synchronicity – meaningful coincidences - is suggestive of this.

However some takes on the law of attraction don’t quite resonate with me. I find The Secret videos and books, for example, to be far too materialistic, and there is too little about introspection or understanding the relationship between ego and Spirit. Basically, it’s all about “I want, and I shall have”. So I have tended to stay away from law of attraction philosophies.

This is why, much to my surprise, I found myself buying another book on the law of attraction recently. I was browsing a bookshop near my home in Discovery Bay, Hong Kong, when I stumbled across a book called (strangely enough) The Law of Attraction, written by Esther and Jerry Hicks. I have watched one or two short videos of the Hick’s on Youtube, so I already knew who they were. Esther Hicks is a channel, and she channels an entity called Abraham, which she says is actually a collective of advanced minds in another dimension.

Over the years I have taught myself to follow my inner guidance when making just about all decisions, and the moment I laid eyes on this book, the energy of it felt good. Many years ago I developed this capacity to feel intuitively by imagining a stream of consciousness moving out from my heart and into the thing I am “reading”. These days I don’t even need the visualisation part – my psyche immediately connects with whatever I focus upon, if I choose to do so.

The feeling I got with this book was one of light and peace. So I picked it up. I didn’t open it at first, but did a Quick Check, a particular divination method I often use to double check the “energy” on decisions. Much to my surprise, I got a very high reading. As I held it in my hand, it just felt good. Actually, I barely opened the book, just quickly taking a few seconds to glance at a sentence or two.

So, going against my rational mind (which has a slight aversion to such “channeled” books nowadays) I took the book to the counter and paid for it.

I must say that I am very glad that I did. This is by far the best material I have ever read on the law of attraction.

I particularly like the fact that the philosophy of the book is not so much about accumulating assets. The essence of the material is about coming to a greater awareness of the way you use your mind. Personal responsibility lies at the heart of the message, especially the need to take responsibility for the thoughts and feelings which one allows to enter the mind.

I found many of the ideas and techniques in the book very useful.

One part of the book talks about the “art of allowing”, which is an attitude of acceptance of whatever comes into your experience or perception. Non-judgment has long been a foundation of my own spiritual practice, and I found this idea of allowing to be perfectly compatible with it. What I noticed from applying the ideas in the book is that there are many things that I have not been allowing. Judgment brings forth a subtle desire for control and power over people, situations and things. If you pay careful attention to judgment, there is a certain destructiveness about it. Unfortunately, judgment also destroys love and acceptance. It creates walls between us and the world, and solidifies the ego’s sense of separation and alienation. I found that this became clearer in my own mind as I read the book and observed by own mind more closely during the days of the reading.

A simple process outlined in the book is to keep the mind focused upon what one desires, or what brings happiness, not upon that which one dislikes. Again, this is an idea that I was aware of, but I found revisiting this habit to be very powerful. Again, I observed that my mind was tending to gravitate towards a focus upon certain undesired situations, and that this created a negative shift in my physiology. By simply returning attention to the desired outcome, my energy changed immediately.

One idea that I really liked from the book is something called “segment intending”. The process simply requires stopping at certain points in the day, and allowing yourself to visualise and sense a desirous outcome for the event you are about to undertake. In a sense you are projecting a positive expectation into the event. I have been applying this to my life, and find it very powerful.

For a while I stopped visualising desired futures, because my focus is now upon being present. But now I see more clearly that the two concepts are compatible, as long as you release the expectation of the desired future at the end of the visualisation. If you don’t release, then you are projecting a subtle level of power and control, and this takes you away from presence, and from the connection with Spirit. Once you let go, you will tend to find joy in whatever outcome arises, even if it was not what you wanted.

I also liked a tool outlined in the book which is part of what it calls “deliberate creation”. This involves thinking of something which your heart desires, than increasing the “energy’ on its creation in the following two ways. First, write down three reasons why you want that thing, and secondly three reasons why you believe that you can create it. I have tried this, and I find that the process does create a subtle positive shift in energy. It forces the mind to imagine the positive outcome of an event. Often the mind will automatically do the opposite and come up with many reasons why you can’t have the thing you want. This method helps counter that.

These are not new ideas. I have read, and practiced many of them before, and you probably have too. However it seems that for me this was a case of being reacquainted with important truths at just the right time.

A few days before I came across this book I received a message from Spirit in the form of a song. I awoke one morning and the old Christmas Carol Joy the World was playing in my head (I receive a lot of guidance from songs). For a moment I couldn’t quite work out what the message was, but then as I reflected upon things for a day or two, I came to realise that it was time to allow more joy and happiness into my life. What has this got to do with The Law of Attraction? The answer is that a central theme of the book is about allowing joy. In fact the one idea which sticks in my mind from the book is where Jerry Hicks asks Abraham how we can tell if we have been successful in deliberate creation. Abraham’s answer was as follows.

You will know that you have been successful when the outcome brings you joy.

In my mind, I think it is this idea more than anything which sets The Law of Attraction apart from some of the more superficial books and philosophies on the same subject. It is not in the acquisition of more stuff that the life we live is judged, but in the joy and love we shine into the world.

I do have certain doubts about some aspects of the teachings. Like many law of attraction philosophies, Abraham says that all events we experience are attracted to us because of our thoughts, and that includes rapes and murder. I find this a little hard to accept, but who knows, maybe there is something here I don’t understand. I’m at the stage now in my life where I don’t need to believe or reject things emotionally, but instead allow the uncertainty or ambiguity of them to rest within my mind until such time as an understanding develops (and if it doesn’t that is fine). I can do this because these days I am spending more time in presence, living in the moment. In presence the intellect falls quiet, and you do not have to stake knowledge claims or believe anything. You just are.

Will reading this book and practicing its techniques bring into your life the things you want? You know, I’m not sure, and in a sense I don’t even care. I found the overall energy of Esther and Jerry Hicks and the teachings of Abraham to be gentle, joyous and generous. The Law of Attraction has been a very worthwhile read for me.

Marcus