Problems with the Law of Attraction
 

While I am a Believer of the law of attraction. I have used it to get quite a few things. Like Synthesizers, An Apartment, a new couch and a TV. The occasional parking space as well. But I can't shake the feeling something isn't right. For example.. A Hypochondriac will obsess about having Cancer. They worry about it night and day. Yet they don't get or have cancer. I know of a person with Schizophrenia who wholeheartedly believes that scribbles are this Valuable invention. He believes in it so much that one day he was crying tears of Joy because he thought MIT was gonna send him a big fat check for his inventions.His inventions were basically a Title and a paper of scribble. Noone can make sense of it. Except maybe him. He's never gonna get paid yet he wholeheartedly believes he will.

How come these 2 cases do not come to fruition when the law of attraction says they will receive??

If you read down the list of topics you'll find an anecdote about a woman winning a big lottery prize which she confirmed was through LoA. Responses here, including mine, were that if LoA was the real cause and the win was the real effect then it would be repeatable. We heard nothing more about it. Point is, can it be repeated. To be a "law" analogous to a physical law, the outcome has to be predictable.

The point is that a number of other factors can creep into the production/manifestation of a result. It could even be superstition as I suspect the lottery win was about. But that's only my conjecture.

The fact that I've recently acquired a new keyboard COULD be put down to LoA because I a) wanted one and b) knew I'd have it - but it was more likely down to perceiving that it would help my work and going out and buying it.

Some people are natural attractors (we have at least one on this forum) who talks about LoA but my interpretation of the "evidence" LOL is that she does no LoA stuff, just inwardly asks for something and it turns up.

It works for some, not others. Like you, I know someone who is so negative, worrying about losing her job, never having money to get by - yet she always does, has many more clothes than I, more gadgets, etc. And a few others. A guy who works in a studio I use always certain his latest production is going to be dead on - yet he always makes a mess and needs rescuing.
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Excellent response, Lorelyen.

I think there are very, very few actual 'universal laws'. Seems to me it's a term folks often use as a way of creating a sense of legitimacy to their beliefs and personal experiences.

Magical manifestation of one's desires does seem to happen for a lot of folks, but I still haven't heard of anyone reversing the aging process... or even of a single account of someone being able to live a healthy life without eating or drinking anything. There are limits.

The thing about LOA is you never actually know what someone is thinking or feeling.

In the case of the guy who believes every time that his next idea is going to be a big hit - you don't know if he truly believes that or if he is telling everyone it will be a big hit as a way to convince himself because he doubts himself.

In the case of a hypochondriac worrying about cancer and then never getting cancer, I think your fears can manifest in different ways.

LOA gives you the exact essence of what you think/feel. A hypochondriac may think they fear cancer, but that fear feeling would actually be caused by something else and that is what they would bring more of in their life.

My thoughts on the guy with scribbles is that because he has mental issues, his energy is split and so he can't really create his desires.

txs

Hey, thanks for the replies.. Gives me some things to think about.

I think we can make some assumptions about people we've known over a period of time. The problem is, will readers here be bothered to read a long entire story?! The person to whom I was referring has a positive enough attitude (toward most things, not just his musical work) but seems to rest on having a couple of successes. He expects success but it doesn't always come.

But you've hit on this point - there could be many factors at play. It could even be down to natural affirmation (which is SO often confused with LoA) like a successful businessperson does without thinking, keeping focus single-mindedly on goals and "winning". It could even be down to coincidence - or just reaching a decision about how to use resources.

What it amounts to for me is that it's - well, I hesitate to say this - but, a useless law - precisely because we really don't know whether a result is the direct cause of how people are using it. Unlike if you have a headache you take a favourite pain-killer knowing with maybe 95% certainty that it's going to work. Like you said:
So the LoA (which was earlier advocated by someone who has since been shown to be a bit of a fraud) might sound a nice exhortation for those lacking something but as a technique contains inherently doubts and it's limited in what it can achieve. It relies on vehemently believing you already have or what you want to be. I gave an example on another topic in this section. I AM a world famous concert pianist (so LoA tells me)....which is very hard to believe when I sit at a piano only to realise that I'm not, if nothing else because I don't have the hand span to play many big concert works!
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So....it's great (and important) to be optimistic but...don't let's overdo it!

Time? Or timing? Could it be that simple?
I'm not sure.

There was one of those nice moments in town this morning. I was waiting at a road crossing next to a mum and young boy, about 8 - 10 years old. The light was green for the traffic. The boy snapped his fingers at the lights. Instantly they turned red to stop the traffic.

I had to smile. He said "There you are mum, I knew I could do it!"

I said, "See if you can be around when I'm on my way back, please!"

So...was this a magician in the making or coincidence. If coincidence he got his timing right. One magician (Pete Carroll) said magic is about organising coincidences.

Good one. Really like it.

Resting your success on just a few items is likely why he can't manifest them.

If, for example, someone thought abundance could only come to them through winning the lottery that would cause a lot of doubt and stress within them.

Doubt and stress slow your manifestation down. You have to be at peace and not care either way that something will happen, that is when it will manifest.

Your friend resting on the idea that he needs to have these few successes is likely causing a lot of internal energy blocks that he needs to clear up before he can make constant progress toward making it a reality.

txs

Thank you. What you say confirms my doubt about LoA. How can people themselves know? If they need this technique they probably know too little of their internal selves honestly to "clean the slate" first. Some here say it doesn't work because what people want isn't always what they need. That should be irrelevant. If you want it enough you'll manifest it according to the creed, no matter how much you actually need it. Then apologists and excuse-makers arrive to suggest this is the reason for failure rather than admit the practice itself is flawed.

As I said up there, success with anything occult needs fervent belief; and needs to be practicable. Affirmation will override hidden doubts. If it doesn't either the person isn't believing half enough or doing something else wrong / has to go back to the drawing board.
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@Lorelyen what do you believe the law of attraction is?

Difficult in that I don't believe in it except in the grossest terms where it's practical. Like, if you're a misery and want to attract easy-going, fun, happiness into your life, you have to get yourself optimistic.

I've given illustrations in this thread and others of why it can't work when it comes to specifics + some discussion here as to why. It isn't a law. It can't predict an outcome even with a moderate probability.

One of the principal instigators of this technique (I'm not allowed to mention names) was shown by adepts to be a fraud. He simply didn't believe what he was expecting others to believe but he has made rather a lot of money from his books.

So answering your question is about as easy as, well, asking "what do you believe a motor car isn't?"

I believe that is the trick to being a good salesperson... first believing it with conviction and second being able to turn that conviction into belief in others...

Even though my examples make me question the Law of Attraction I still cannot deny that it works.. I sat in my Lazyboy Chair and visualized a new TV and a New Couch.. 3 months later I got a new TV and Couch. And I didnt pay for them

I like your (whole) answer :happy8: and will agree on this. Actually I am not really a believer in laws, neither really in free will. I do believe there is a nature to things, and that maybe LoA is one of many ways that tries to explain something that really cannot fully be put into words. Personally I like something from Quantum I call Magnetic Resonance that is a theory that everything is an attraction between two equal opposites, and how there either is resonance or dissonance in the field between them. Now I had a strong personal experience one night where I was shown this, and how well it is in place in my life... thus it makes sense for me to perceive the world this way. Also now see the main point of yoga is to create resonance in my life; and it equally makes sense that if everything is vibration, then I have to be in the vibrational altitude of what I desire to resonate with. To me that is how I understood LoA when I heard it; still I agree that it is not a law. I do not see the underlying nature of reality to have any laws at all. Maybe that is just the Anarchist in me speaking... :icon_eek::tongue: haha

If i ask to win the lottery because deep deep down i want to prove to others I'm successful or look up to me. Then i will receive more of what I'm feeling which is a need to prove myself to others. Not winning the lottery. I will keep myself in lack of self worth with this path.

Take Tesla for example. Most of his inventions are being used today and he didn't want payment or recognition for any of it. And at the time no one gave him credit and thought half the stuff he wrote about was far fetched. Even Einstein said he was the smartest man alive. Its all about the vibration behind what you're attracting. And why you're doing it. The most successful manifestors achieved all they did because it was fun, it called to them. they didn't seek fame or money. They sought to accomplish what was in their dreams and thoughts.

Those worrying about getting cancer are worried about not getting it. they are in the feeling of having to protect and monitor everything. You'll probably notice over time they will slowly find more things to worry about that "could" cause them harm. Also in the case with cancer they think all they do (Worry) keeps them cancer free. hence the lack of cancer....

As far as the mental disability example. How many people believe he is crazy?
does he believe this as well deep down? has he been "diagnosed" has he been convinced he has an illness. because if someone convinced me that i was crazy i would constantly feel as though people were thinking that about me. Adding more scenarios where i would attract people thinking that. Even allowing my mind to control this fantasy of my craziness even more. Even your story strengthens this by you elaborating to us about this guy that he is truly crazy.

I notice LOA works more by what you feel and think opposed to just what you say.

But you must also factor in the collective Conscious coming into play.
Most notice that when you have a goal or plans that you're more successful when you don't tell anyone. This is taking the collective out of the equation.
If you tell a friend or family of plans some may worry about the worst case scenario happening or even go as far as making predictions of what will happen with your Manifestation. adding power to that actually happening especially if you trust and value their opinion.

This is why i cringe when i read threads in the TF section where someone is bashing their EX and telling everyone what happened to them and getting so many people to feel bad for them and help them attract another scenario just like that one where more people will feel bad for them!

Completely agree..

I consider anything a law when i see the "LAW" affecting others lives even though they don't believe it one bit with thier mind.

That's all the proof i need outside my own personal experiences with what i have come to find is unchangeable. Its applicable in all religions has many names and is in almost facet of daily life including science. were beyond this being a theory and needing proof. Science has already proved it. this is like that comparison of karma and faith.

That reminds me of the time my Grandfather's Wife wanted to put him in a Nursing home. I knew it was wrong for him and she was just doing it out of anger. He can't be alone, but he can walk, talk, feed himself and hold a decent ( if somewhat crazy) conversation.

My Mom told me that the next day they were going to go look at a potential Nursing home. I said, " Oh no, she's not! She will NOT put my Grandfather in a Nursing home! He does not belong there!". I was furious and I just knew someway, somehow I WOULD put a stop to it!

Turns out, I didn't have to do anything. As soon as my Mom said she wasn't going with her, she backed down. She said she was just angry. Well, so was I LOL!

The problem I see is how do you prove loa works or doesn't work either way? I think the op brings up good points, as in cases of people with mental illness or who have what is referred to in the DSM-5 as "grandioso" ideas about themselves? Well if loa is an unbiased, working law, wouldn't someone become what they believe, regardless of if they have a mental illness or not?

The other problem, is in the case of supposed working examples of loa, how do you prove that it was the loa that caused them to get what they want and not something else? I mean, how do you know for sure?
People can list examples of it working, but there are plenty of examples of it not working as well, can you really explain those away? How can you be sure your explanations are correct? There's too many variables to prove anything by how I see it.
Plus, how come nobody ever talks about specifics of loa? Such as how long does it take for it to happen to still be loa? How long do you wait? If I visualize something and 30 years later it happens, is that still loa? Nobody ever talks about time, and nobody ever talks about the fact that we are in a co-creation, creating along with all the other souls on Earth and how we affect each other in co- creating. I'd like to see these teachers address that, because nobody ever does.

What it all comes down to is this, you either believe it or you don't. If you do and it works for you, awesome.

If it doesn't, well it doesn't and you'll find something else you can believe in.

No one can sit down and prove anything to you. You have to prove it to yourself and the only way for that to happen is for you to try it yourself and see if it's something that works for you.