Have you ever had to sit by and watch a wonderful thing die a slow, humiliating death?
That’s pretty much how I feel right now as I watch from the sidelines as the glorious Law of Attraction is being both misunderstood by non-believers, and perverted into some grand money-making scheme by supposed followers.
The whole thing makes me ill, yet being a true believer and a true follower of the proper ways to utilize conscious creation in my life, I neither dwell upon nor give consistent thought to these negative circumstances.
Why, then, am I writing a blog post that calls attention to these things? After all, the LOA teaches only to notice – not to dwell upon – things that do not resonate with our desires.
I am writing – dear reader – so that you can see the difference between hype and hope, and so that an actual objective account of this situation can be given in order to avoid seeing a headstone like this one on display in public record.
There are two very basic reasons why the movie The Secret and subsequent teachings about the Law of Attraction have caused so much potential negativity in the world, and it boils down to nothing more exotic than human nature.
The need for Security
As a race, we have always had an instinctive need to know that “everything was going to be alright”. This need goes back as far as the days of prehistoric man seeking shelter in rock-solid caves, and continues as an integral part of society all over the world.
This quest for security has led us to scientific discoveries, philosophical understandings, and religious belief systems. Science, philosophy, and religion have been part of the human condition since time immemorial, yet suddenly an idea has come into the mainstream that challenges all three.
According to the Law of Attraction, science as we know it may not be as we know it anymore. Need proof? Go find me a quantum physicist who says he has all of the answers.
Philosophy itself has also been challenged by people who now say that humans have always had the ability to consciously create their lives. This throws historical record itself into chaos when you consider that this belief would have changed the very face of history had it been widely practiced centuries ago.
And what about religion? By using the LOA, are you denouncing your deity? Are you saying that there is no God? Are you saying that each of us IS God???
Whoa! This whole thing is starting to get a little bit out of control, isn’t it? Challenging science? Challenging philosophy? Challenging RELIGION??
I’m sorry, but this is just bringing up way too many questions that humans just don’t have answers for. Better to go bury that whole “attraction” business under a rock somewhere. We’ll all feel a lot better – a lot more secure – when things are back to the way they used to be and we had answers for all of this stuff.
Greed
I’m sorry to have to be the messenger for this less than savory bit of news, but it’s true. Greed is running rampant and everyone wants to cash in on the deliberate creation money train!
Ya know, it’s really funny that this is the case, because true believers know that abundance is everywhere and that greed itself is not only unnecessary, but that it will actually retard the power of the LOA, leaving the greedy person without the pot of gold they were hoping for
This greed has come up in every way imaginable, including teaching and coaching programs, books, seminars, audio programs, teleclasses, eBooks, and last, but not least, let us not forget the SPECIAL REPORT!
Whatever is in the SPECIAL REPORT must be really special, because this blog alone gets at least half a dozen spam comments every single day from alleged LOA practitioners who are offering the SPECIAL REPORT, and it’s FREE!
Okay, here’s a clue from me to you, SPECIAL REPORT PROVIDERS: I already know how to consciously create my life. If you had read through this blog you would know that I teach my readers how to create their lives, and your SPECIAL REPORT is of no interest to me or to my readers, which is why your daily spam comments keep getting deleted.
What about the rest of these product and service providers, though? There must be someone who really knows how to teach people to take control of their lives by using these principles.
You are absolutely right! Please don’t mistake my previous comments to mean that you shouldn’t listen to – and even pay for – the teachings of people who truly understand these concepts.
However, on that same token, do your homework. Any products or services that are being offered to you should at a bare minimum come with a money-back guarantee, and the seller or coach should have plenty of data to back up his/her expertise.
A blog that teaches about the Law of Attraction, a list of articles that teach about conscious creation, or a decent track record are all positive indicators. If someone has none of those, yet they are claiming to be an expert, what exactly are they an expert in, I wonder?
After reading all of this, is this really the end?
No, of course not! The principles of deliberate creation have been around literally since the dawn of time, and no present day insecurities or levels of greed are going to change that.
However, greed and insecurity are at the moment still an integral part of human nature. For that reason you will continue to see plenty of negativity surrounding these concepts, and you will continue to see a lot of people exercising their greed in order to take advantage of those insecurities.
Draw your own conclusions! Don’t believe me, and don’t believe your friends, co-workers, or family members.
Do your own research and decide whether or not you want to believe in and practice the many wonderful concepts that make up the Law of Attraction.
At a bare minimum, these concepts will make your life a happier and more positive place to be, and that is a fact that I am willing to share with you free of charge, no security blanket needed.
Hi Aaron,
Great Piece as always- You know how to get me to think!
The special reports are truly special as we get tons of forum comments with everyone giving away the SAME special report.
What are your thoughts about the sgrprogram?
Hey, Ophelia!
:)I actually attended the opening conference call about the SGR program, and the irony of the situation is that the program does have value.
However, I gave them feedback after the call saying that there were 2 fatal flaws:
1) The people who would truly see value in the program are people who are already at least partially in tune with the concepts that it teaches, because…
2) The price barrier for entry is too high. Only people who really believe in the power of the LOA would be willing to pay that much for the program, and those people aren’t the ones who need it!
The fact that there is so much spam offering that special report (which promotes the SGR program) just proves the point. People who have something of value don’t have to resort to spam in order to distribute it – regardless of how much it costs.
Thanks for your thoughts, Ophelia. They are always welcome here!
I think you have made excellent points here.
The price barrier I do believe is a driving factor and it’s like a red flag to marketers as one sale for them equals $500.
And so the need to provide something of value is stripped away as the need to use this program to get rich quick is replaced.
It is my opinion that when the dust settles alot of people who have bought this program with the intention to make their money back and are new to Internet Marketing will be left with a the thoughts that Law of Attraction does not work and a -2k balance.
“Need proof? Go find me a quantum physicist who says he has all of the answers.”
Find me anybody that has ANY of the answers OR explain Quantum Mechanics as best you can. Science is a method of learning, the LOA (assuming real) would be able to be understood best through science. Also, going against science is what great scientists do, research a man called Al Ein…something, this is how science works, continually questioning the nature of existence and then questioning the answers.
Religion and philosophy are direct opposites; philosophy is all questions no answers and religion is an answer to a (infinitely answerable) meta-physical question which then NO-ONE is allowed to question.
LOA is falling more into the realm of religion utilising a human condition which Francis Bacon was quick to point out; paraphrased as: “you see what you want to see”.
There are scientific and logical suggestions to the LOA involving the subconcious, body-language (read confidence) and hyper-communication (see killing queen bees). But what about meta-physical? What about belief? It seems more if you believe something to be true it will become true would be a more universal explanation that would encompass not only LOA but science. It would be a simpler and more powerful concept also.
Nice writing, hope all works out for you, chap. Ta ra.
Hi Aaron,
What a great post! I posted about the same type of issue in my blog this week and as I was doing it, I could feel my vibe going down. I was giving WAY too much attention to what I didn’t like/want and was certain that I would end up being bombarded with more of it LOL. Luckily, I decided to refocus myself and get back to the issues that really ARE what I want, peace, joy and prosperity
:)Vickie
Ophelia,
That major commission for the affiliates was a red flag for me as well. I totally believe in paying affiliates and advertisers, don’t get me wrong. However, at $500 per commission, ethics goes right out the window, and as you said, belief in the LOA may become a casualty.
Also, a lot of the SGR materials were very high quality. I am talking about the physical materials – advertising pieces, the SGR briefcase, etc. Now, I am all for having class, but I think that charging someone $2,000 for a program so that the affiliate marketers can make a $500 commission, plus get a high quality leather briefcase is a little over the top.
Don’t get me wrong – Bob Proctor is one of my favorite mentors, and I recommend his products to anyone. However, the SGR program itself I think went a bit too far on the “cash” side and left a lot to be desired on the “helping others” side.
QM Dude,
You make great points! It does always boil down to belief, and that is where the “rubber meets the road” in the LOA debates. People who don’t believe in it can prove that it doesn’t work, while people who DO believe in it say that it works in their lives every day.
I wrote this post and this post, both of which address belief vs. non-belief regarding the LOA. As you indicated, the belief or lack of belief in the fact that “what you see is what you get” is at the core of it all.
Great call on tipping the hat to that Al guy, by the way! For someone who had a lot of things figured out, he sure was fond of pointing out the fact that he didn’t have anything figured out…
:)Vickie,
I appreciate your positive feedback, and I know exactly what you mean!
After initially setting up Google alerts for blog posts that mentioned anything to do with the LOA, I realized recently that I had started deleting the notifications after just a cursory glance because the whole affair was just causing me to have a negative reaction to something that I firmly believe in!
It was the realization of that fact that was the inspiration for this post to begin with, and I have to tell you, I feel a lot better now that I:
a) Got it off my chest, and
b) Helped to clear up the debate for others
That’s a win/win situation!
Thanks for continuing to help spread the positive vibes and the proper education, Vickie!
Hi Aaron,
How funny that I wrote about something so similar today. Great article buddy!
Thanks, Shama!
I just read yours and you are so right about “surrendering”. People who are always looking for a reason for things not to work will invariably find one!
Great post Aaron… the one very IMPORTANT thing that everybody seems to have MISSSED when it comes to the LOA and conscious creation is that it is NOT about what the EGO desires and wants. It is about coming from the authentic Self and manifesting what is in alignment with the Self and the Higher Good.
Obviously the ego self can high jack the whole process, but than we are just stuck exactly where you said – in insecurity and greed.
True wealth is not measured by the size of our bank accounts, not the number of possessions we have. True welath is measured by how much we feel we are able to freely GIVE away – whether it’s our time, expertise, or even money and possessions.
Those who MOST need to understand and learn about conscious screation are those who do not have the means to pay for the courses/books/dvds out there, who do not even BELIEVE that this might work. Those are the people that need to be reached out to and shared with.
Those who do understand the laws of conscious creation and are already working with them in their own lives are the best people to do this… and it helps if one lives by the law of tithing because if we were all to give away ten percent of ourselves, either in time or money or possessions… the wealth that we do have would spread and multiply beyond our wildest dreams.
Now that would be something huh?
Great post, very powerful, haven’t been to your site in awhile and have some catching up to do.
Much joy,
Kara-Leah
Great Post Aaron! I felt a little unsettled in the title of this piece but love your conclusion. The concept of Deliberate Creation will never die.
The true Secret is you don’t need a book, a DVD, a coach, a program, or anything else. If you want some truly insightful, live-changing information, take 30 minutes a day and listen to the most intelligent being in your universe…YOURSELF!!!
Stay Positive,
Andy
Kara-Leah,
You make so many great points in your comment, and I especially like what you said about being in touch with yourself and also about the education being truly needed by the people that presently don’t believe.
Our own inner-selves – or intuition – will always guide us on the right path as long as we listen to it.
As far as the people who can learn from these concepts, it is a difficult “catch-22” because it is hard to make a believer out of a non-believer, even if that is the positive intent that you have from the beginning.
That is actually one of the reasons why a lot of my posts lean towards effective personal development “concepts,” rather than specific LOA principles.
They are one in the same on many occasions, so I try to write about ideas that will give people the benefit of the LOA without forcing them to decide whether or not they actually believe in it.
It’s a hard line to walk sometimes!
:)Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts, Kara-Leah. They are always welcome!
Andy,
You are SO right! We always have been – and always will be – our own best teachers!
Out of all of the knowledge that I have ever received, it was not by blindly following what I was taught that I achieved success, but rather by comparing those teachings to my own inner-beliefs.
Thank you so much for joining in the conversation and sharing your opinions, Andy!
Hi Aaron,
Great post! Yesterday I searched through mybloglog and I was amazed at how many blogs are written about “the secret and the law of attraction”. It was just surprising and it seems you have noticed it too.
The fact is “the law of attraction” has been written about and studied since ancient times. “the Secret” is nothing new, just well marketed!
Nobody argues with gravity. Someday nobody will argue with “the law of attraction”!
You always say it well!
Thanks Aaron!
Great post, Aaron. I especially liked your conclusion – that we each should draw our own conclusions.
LOA and deliberate creation do require faith and belief on the one hand, but on the other hand, it’s easy to put many of the concepts to the test, with small things around which you don’t have any resistance.
Karen,
I really appreciate your positive feedback – it means a lot!
Yes, there are a TON of blogs that are talking about the LOA now, and there is nothing wrong with that. However, as you indicated, it is funny that people think it is “new” just because it has been so well marketed lately.
Eventually the roar will die down and – just like gravity – people will simply start to realize that the LOA works automatically whether they want it to or not.
On the other hand, maybe I could start writing ebooks and coaching programs about how to use the Law of Gravity! 😉
Belle,
You said the magic word – RESISTANCE! 🙂
That is what it all boils down to, and whether people want to draw a conclusion that leads to belief in the LOA, or if they want to think the whole thing is nonsense, either way their level of resistance (or lack thereof) will create their own existence for them.
And, in the end, that is pretty cool. Who would have thought this whole time that we could each create our lives like drawing on an Etch-a-Sketch?? ;)~
Thanks for joining the conversation, Belle!
Yeah, I see it too. It’s the same in music and film: someone has an idea that has resonance, and becomes successful. Their passion and belief in their work propelled it, but now lesser minds want a piece of all the excitement. Hence the so called “knock-off”.
But so what? If you have found this to be true in your life, then all of that doesn’t threaten you, right?
Thanks for writing this article!
Tristan,
YES! You’ve nailed it! That is exactly why this issue is so ironic. The people who are jumping on the wagon just to make money are not passionate about the subject, and the naysayers are certainly not passionate.
However, true believers in the Law of Attraction know that they will be able to consciously create the life that they want to live – regardless of what everyone else is doing.
Irony at its finest! 🙂
Hello, Aaron.
I am glad you are motivating people to THINK, THINK, THINK, one of the hardest things for many people to do.
You are doing a great job at motivating them.
What amazes me most is that MOST people do not know that the Law of Attraction is simply the Law of Belief, which simply states “What you deeply believe at the Subconscious level, that you materialize in your life”, oe “It is done unto you as you believe”, “What you believe is what you get” and “What you PREDOMINANTLY FOCUS ON you become materialized as your reality”,
“Man manifests, at all levels of existence, all his subconscious beliefs”.
Another amazing thing is that MOST do not really understand this law and how it operates. It is totally impersonal, unbiased. It doesn’t care whether you believe in any God or not, It doesn’t care whether you operate out of love or pure greed. You don’t believe me, huh? EXAMPLE: The “elite’ of the so called new world order, a very destructive group, uses very successfully the Law of Attraction to concentrate in their hands most of the wealth, power and control on this planet BECAUSE that is what they PREDOMINANTLY focus on. They believe they deserve that wealth, they know they will get it and they do, they BELIEVE they are entitled to do whatever they want to with their wealth to control and enslave the rest. The Law of Attraction doesn’t care. It works in their favor because of what they believe and what they PREDOMINANTLY focus on.
On the other side, most people with deeply religious beliefs are suffering lives of limitations and frustration because what they believe and what they focus on! The Law of Attraction is materializing for them all their limiting beliefs, values and rules.
The law doesn’t care whether one is christian, jewish, muslin, buddhist, etc., etc., etc. The law doesn’t care whether one believes in one god, many gods or no god at all. The law doesn’t care if one operates out of love or pure, unadulterated greed and love for power and control. The Law indeed operates as if God (or whatever your own conception is ) were holding a MIRROR REFLECTING BACK TO YOU exactly what YOU believe, exactly what YOU predominantly focus on.
The ONLY way to control the Law of Attraction and make it work to your advantage is by identifying and eliminating as many limiting, conflicting beliefs, values and rules as you can identify.
There is NO other way because the Law of Attraction is activated by the VIBRATIONS of your predominant thoughts acting like magnets. And the THOUGHTS you think, the ones producing the vibrations responsible for activating the Law of Attraction, are in the PREDOMINANT direction of your beliefs, values and rules.
The type of beliefs, values and rules DETERMINES what you THINK about PREDOMINANTLY. And these predominant thoughts are causing the vibrations (frequencies) which activate the Law of Attraction (Law of Belief) to attract to you RESULTS that are in perfect HARMONY with your beliefs, values and rules.
It is not that complicated once you know all this.
Now, the only remaining step is to find the most effective techniques to identify and eliminate the greatest possible number of limiting, conflicting beliefs, values and rules. And then IMPRINT in your Subconscious the TYPE of beliefs, values and rules that will produce the PREDOMINANT THOUGHTS, which in turn will produce the right vibrations (frequencies), to attract into your life what you truly desire.
Keep the mind of the people stimulated. Keep making them THINK. They need someone ;like you. Great work.
Leo Foster.
https://www.makemoneyfastgetrichbeamillionaire.com
Leo,
Your views on the Law of Attraction are very similar to mine. It is all about belief. If you don’t believe in the Law of Attraction, then it won’t work for you.
You are also dead-on about people manifesting what they primarily focus on – even if that focus is not deemed by others to be “positive”. I talk quite a bit about that in my eBook ‘Energy Harmonics‘. The concept of “good” or “bad” is completely irrelevant because it is all about the point of view of the observer.
However, if the observer focuses on something that is good or bad from their unique point of few, they will still get it, even if it is something that they didn’t want!
I appreciate all of your thoughts, Leo, and I’ll keep doing my best to make people think! That’s what *I* focus on! 🙂
Hello, Aaron.
What can I say except that your response is ABSOLUTELY ACCURATE. Truthfully, I could have not said it better myself!
I am also absolutely certain that your INTENTION of keeping focused on making people think and become aware of how they manifest things in their life and the “whys” will find a very harmonious and powerful response through the Law of Attraction.
May you keep attracting to you the very best the Universe has to offer.
Very sincerely,
Leo Foster.
https://www.makemoneyfastgetrichbeamillionaire.com
Hi Aaron and everyone,
I really agree with what Leo said and its something I haven’t heard in the LOA world. Your beliefs determine your reality and what you manifest. I hear very few people explaining how to change your beliefs so that you can manifest what you truly want. Aaron, what is your paypal e-mail address?
Thanks,
Paul Ladendorf
Hi, Paul.
The idea of us creating our own reality is becoming more and more mainstream, even for people who don’t believe in the Law of Attraction. If you start talking about Quantum Physics or the “observer affect,” this whole game takes on a new meaning!
Thanks for joining in the conversation!
p.s. – My PayPal email is aaron@aaronpotts.com
I had to use that address. It helps me remember my name! {grin}
To truly understand what the “secret” is we must first look within ourselves and find a balanced nature (a sound mind). The secret will only work with “AFFIRMATIVE ACTION”, natural laws will always exist, but with the ability to choose how we perceive we are able to manipulate our environment. Einstein said it best “every action has an equal or opposite reaction”. The world will always continue to age with that same process. Whether we believe it or not. There is a universal perception which allows us to function on a basic level that enables us to facilitate our needs and essentially our wants.
This quote is grand:
“…with the ability to choose how we perceive we are able to manipulate our environment…”
It points out that it is the perception that matters, not just the observation.
One person can look up at the night sky and see a beautiful veil of stars, while another person can look up at the night sky and wish he was inside watching television. It’s all in the perception. 🙂
Thanks for your comment!
I could not have said it better and in fact have said very similar things at my own site.
After I watched The Secret, I felt as though I needed a really, really long shower.
Thanks for articulating it much better than I did.
Susan,
Thanks for stopping by and for sharing your feedback!
It’s funny, because in today’s day and age, people are looking harder than ever for answers, yet as soon as a system/philosophy/method comes about that might actually work, it gets shot down or taken advantage of before it even has a chance to be proven in the long run.
‘The Secret’ has become both a 4-letter word, while at the same time being a source of hope and inspiration for so very many people.
Everyone sees what they truly want to see in the end!
Hi Aaron,
Thanks for the warm welcome.
I love your site and am grateful to have stumbled upon it.
Susan Kerr Jacoby
thepracticeofattraction.com
Why would anyone have to pay to have learning sessions of the laws of attraction? It is something that you can practice from home and for free. Information about it is all over the Internet. So how much money are people really making off of this concept.
Hey, Tappie.
The Law of Attraction is just like anything else – there are some people who “get it,” and some people who want more information so that they can be more proficient.
And yes, you are absolutely right. It doesn’t cost a dime to “use” the Law of Attraction – it’s working all the time whether or not someone pays for information about how to use it more effectively.
In addition, although the LOA is always “on,” it doesn’t hurt for people to learn about the many different ways that people can create the all-important feelings that power the LOA. For that, some people give away their methods, so people charge for them.
The most important thing is – and has always been, that we FEEL GOOD. All else pales by comparison. 🙂
I agree Aaron, but all I am saying is that if someone wants to learn about it, all the information is out there for free. It just takes wanting to find it. I guess people have the right to pay for what ever services they want, but I am new to the LOA and I know within myself that it works because of something that I feel on the inside of me and because all of the negative things that have happened to me in the past started off with a negative thought as though I was expecting these bad things to happen and they did. So if it can work with negativity, then it should be able to work with positivity. We just need to change our thinking patterns.
I think that people just need help in learning to stay focused and also do the work behind the desire as well. I say that because things dont just magically appear; there is some form of an action that causes things to come to past, and I know that a person can have what they want if they focus on it and do what is necessary to get it.
Example: You want a high paying job, but that high paying job requires a bachelors degree, therefore, you set that goal in your mind, focus on doing the things that are required to bring it to pass such as get through college and get a degree, and last but not least, start sending out resumes. This is the act of aligning yourself with your desired goal and making yourself ready to receive it.
I would say that there is more to attracting things than just positive thinking and asking for it. A lot of people don’t get what they want, because they are not in alignment with that goal. You can’t ask for a high paying job and have no credentials, you havent prepared yourself, and you have no education. Even if you got the high paying job with out the credentials and self preparation, you would end up loosing it. This is why being in alignment is very necessary.
I believe that we have to do our part and this opens us up to the Universe and it’s whole world of possibilities.
Tappie,
I absolutely agree that action is always a required part of effectively using the Law of Attraction. In fact, that is one of most important things that people need to learn via their LOA education – whether they pay for that education or not.
Also, part of the confusion comes in with regard to the example that you gave of what type of action to take. It is certainly true that the actions we take need to be in alignment with our goals, but at the same time the universe plays its part by providing opportunities for action that may not always be so obvious.
Even getting training/education for a high-paying job is something that seems obvious, but is not always necessary. A high-paying job is something that CAN be achieved – and even kept – without the training and education on the front end, provided that ultimately value is given to the employer or the customers by the person who gets that job.
In short, yes, we should act in alignment with our goals, but at the same time we should not always assume that a certain type of action is required. The possibilities to attract success are not only endless, but that success can also come in forms that we could not possibly imagine at the beginning of the journey.
Aaron, I think your right. Perhaps an action isnt always necessary, because sometimes there are things that happen that you can’t even explain how it happened. I know, it has happened to me before, therefore, I think that sometimes all it takes is faith in the fact that what ever it is you need will be provided. So I agree that some things do require action and some things don’t.
I agree that there is indeed a fine line between wanting money and greed.
Because what is enough money? It will be fundamentally different if you live in Africa or America.
I want financial independence. I think/believe that for this I need a lot of money. But I indeed struggle with the question whether this is greed or not. That might explain why the attraction is so slow.
Olivier.
Olivier,
As James Ray and many others have pointed out, wanting plenty of money is not a sin, but rather that having enough money to travel and learn and to have the resources to better yourself and humanity is the ultimate goal.
If we learn from everything – and we do – then the more we can experience, the more we can learn. Greed in and of itself is a subjective concept.