[cgs]

I posted this in the really long thread, but since I think it died, Ill post it here again. I'd like to get peoples' thoughts on this.

I've recently doing quite a bit of thinking about I-M/LoA and if I believe it or not. I'm currently reading the book, "The Reason Driven Life: What On Earth Am I Here For?" by Robert Price and it has really caused me to take a step back and think about things. The book is meant as an atheist counterargument to Rick Warren's "The Purpose Driven Life" which is a book on bible-based fundamentalist Christianity, living your life for God, etc.

One of Power's main lines of thought is that belief in God (stick with me here, I'll get to I-M) trivializes human potential; puts it on the back burner, if you will. Ever notice how many monotheists attribute everything to God? Who gave me these talents? God did. Who caused hurricane Katrina? God did. "God help us", or "God, see us through these hard times". Christianity and many religions in effect totally trivialize human potential, pushing all responsibility to some deity or force. Law of Attraction does not do this to the same extent, as you are responsible for everything.

In I-M/subj. reality, there is no separate self. Yet, people talk about I-M as if there was. You say I attracted x and y into my life; the universe gave it to me. I am going to ask the universe for what I want. One of Erin's podcasts talks of "placing your order" with the universe, as if there is someone or something behind a counter passing things out. But why the whole I-M construct to begin with? If anything, wording like this creates a dichotomy in my mind, and subconsciously suggests to me that I am somehow separate from the universe.

Assume for the moment that the premise, the universe is totally neutral. It doesn't care about anyone or anything, or your goals for that matter. Nor can it even "care". The universe doesn't do or align anything for anyone; it just is. If you accept this, it may lead you to this line of thought: What if I-M is just a mental construct to explain the power of human action? What if human potential is all there is? What if you and you alone are responsible for getting what you want in life? You took the actions to get what you wanted. Perceived synchronisity is merely coincidence, but since you have raised your awareness and know what you want by visualizing your goals, you are able to capitalize on these situations to achieve what you want.

So then, is this disempowering? I don't think so. What you thought was the LoA will function just as before, but you realize its not the universe aligning things for you, but it is in fact, just YOU. YOU gave yourself x and y, not the LoA. Instead the power of human potential and your trust in yourself helped you obtain your goals. To me, that is even more empowering.

I'd highly recommend that book if this is at all interesting, whether you buy this line of reasoning or not. I don't know if I really have this argument fleshed out enough, but it has certainly caused me to think about the whole situation.