
I came across the concept of “manifesting” in 2006 when the film “The Secret” was released. Intrigued by the metaphysical concepts the film alluded to, I began to research the subject. By this point in my process, I had already embarked on the journey of spiritual exploration in Hatha Yoga and meditation. The law of attraction was a natural tangent into the vast world of metaphysics and spirituality.
I began my exploration of the law of attraction with the most popular writings at the time. Esther Hicks published “Ask and it is Given” in 2004, a book on manifesting your desires to live a joyful life. Robert Kiyosaki author of “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” published in 1997 offered not only sound financial advice but also emphasized, “The single most powerful asset we all have is our mind.” Eckhart Tolle’s “The Power of Now” published in 1997, among many topics, explores the power of choosing what we put out into the world and how those energies return to us.
While I found these books infinitely interesting, my deep dive into the law of attraction revealed that current-day books were merely the latest version of formerly written texts. The film “The Secret” was inspired by Wallace Wattles' 1910 book “The Science of Getting Rich.” Hicks’ title “Ask and it is Given” plays off the Christian bible verse “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find.” Kiyosaki’s “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” was similar to Napoleon Hill’s 1937 “Think and Grow Rich” which emphasizes that success begins in the mind. A comparison between the newest and oldest versions, which spanned a 100-year time gap, revealed no major differences in the content, only variance in language and terminology.
So where did the knowledge of the law of attraction originate? While universal truths can never be created or destroyed, they can be forgotten and watered down. Literature describing how the mind can create and alter the material world goes as far back as ancient India to the Yoga Sutras; 5,000-year-old manuscripts. Sacred texts describing the inner workings of the cosmos, became the instruction manuals for advanced yogis in the snow-covered caves of the Himalayas.
One such great yogi was Paramhansa Yogananda, one of many spiritual pioneers who brought Eastern spirituality and yoga philosophy to the West. An exceptional spiritual leader and teacher, Paramhansa Yogananda taught about countless esoteric subjects, not excluding the power of the mind in creating one’s reality. The depth of knowledge Yogananda pulled from wasn’t just his inner spiritual realizations. He had the wisdom of an entire lineage of Self-Realized (enlightened) Masters to support his revelations of universal, Cosmic Truths.
Paramhansa Yogananda spoke about the law of attraction as Magnetism; a subtle force field that magnetizes matter and attracts matching frequencies through the power of resonance. Magnetism is the driving force behind the law of attraction and contains two elements: Desire and Energy. While there’s a lot more to be said about Desire and Energy as universal principles, a whole book’s worth to be said (!), I will focus on why the law of attraction doesn’t always attract for everyone.
Firstly, because the law of attraction is a universal truth, it’s equally available to everyone. However, the mastery each person brings to the practice inevitably introduces the variables that produce varying degrees of success.
Secondly, not all desires are created equally. While no desire is inherently “wrong” or “bad,” every desire does hold a unique frequency fingerprint tethered to the corresponding spectrum of vibration, ranging from expansive to contractive. The more expansive a desire is the higher its creative potential, and thus, the more successful the law of attraction will be.
Thirdly, a desire needs to be nourished with energy to create the power to impact the material world. Otherwise, it will remain a thought form, destined to live out its days as a mere yearning. A desire without fuel merely creates a feeling of wanting, and wanting typically begets more wanting. Therefore, the energy input is just as essential as the quality (expansive element) of the desire.
The energy input is derived from two primary sources: your emotions and physical actions, which combine to create your Personal Energy Field. Merge an Expansive Desire with your Personal Energy Field, and now you’ve just made your Personal Magnetic Field; a.k.a. your aura, containing the energy of your mind, emotions, and physical body. If you’ve never heard of a Personal Magnetic Field, I guarantee you’ve already experienced it in someone else. Most of us have observed meeting a new person we instantly felt attracted to and didn’t quite know why. Perhaps the individual was charming, intriguing, or captivating in some way. That wordless allure was their Personal Magnetism, a strong energetic pull that lured your attention and Personal Energy Field into theirs.
Lastly, if an Expansive Desire is fortunate enough to have a skillful manifester, the issues of Congruent, Consistent, and Unidirectional Energy Flow would also have been addressed. While the law of attraction is a simple enough concept, the practice of it is an art form; which I have only once found described in enough detail to get a reasonable start. Even with specifics in hand, I still found many questions unanswered, as if some level of intuitive insight might be the final ingredient to open the gates to conscious manifesting.
My conclusion, as to why the law of attraction is not consistent, is due to modern-day reintroductions that present an incomplete system. They miss essential details that prevent the process from fully forming; never mind the consistency issues. While the practical principles are indispensable, so is the artful nature and playful spirit between ourselves and Spirit; pun intended.
The law of attraction works. However, I’ve come to learn that the source of information is often more important than the information itself; and the practice and journey will far outweigh the original desire.
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