Quote:
Originally Posted by moonrambler  There are some obvious flaws in the concept of LoA however, and I was thinking about another one last night -- the specification for detachment.
Plenty of times I've been completely attached to an outcome and things worked out the way I wanted. I've been strung out about an outcome, stressed, afraid, anxious, and wanting something really, really bad, and from everything I read about LoA, that is supposed to drive the desired object/event/person away, but it simply isn't true.
We keep being told that we're not manifesting something because we're too attached to the outcome, but that discounts all those experiences I've had where I was not detached whatsoever.
There also are plenty of times I thought "wouldn't it be cool" if something happened (detachment) and it didn't happen. And vice versa. |
But here IMO you simply don't fully understand the attachment / detachment outcome. It is not as simple and automatic as "I am attached, therefore it won't happen" or "I am detached, therefore it will."
The simplest, clearest explanation of the attachment/detachment concept I have found, is ironically not in any LOA book, but in a book about magick. The terminology is different, but the idea is the same.
Magick says that we create "thought forms" with our intentions. Once created, a thought form goes out, like an invisible living thing, into the universe, to fulfill the intentions that created it. A thought-form may be strong or weak; well-constructed or confused; positive or negative, depending on how good a job you did, in creating it.
An important aspect of magick is properly
releasing your thought form into the universe, so that it can go out there and do whatever is necessary, to fulfill your intention. It is something like the "detachment" concept of LOA/IM. For example, once you detach from your thought form, it goes out into the universe and starts organising the synchronicities that will bring to you what you want.
What if you remain
attached to your intention / thought-form? Well, basically whenever you start thinking about your intention / thought-form, you're calling it back. From wherever it is in the universe, it will have to come back to you. Therefore you're interrupting and interfering with its work (remember, it's out there in the universe trying to fulfill your intention).
Is it therefore
bad to be attached to your intention/thought-form? No, not necessarily. In fact, for certain kinds of intentions (for example, those which are not "one-off" but which you want to sustain for an extended period of time - like a thought form about "good health"), you do want to call the thought-form back periodically, so that you will further strengthen and empower it with additional thoughts (eg more thoughts about 'good health').
HOWEVER, the problem is when you have:
(i) successfully created a good thought-form (with strong desire; clear intention; deep conviction etc);
(ii) released it into the universe (so that the thought-form is now orchestrating events in the universe to help fulfil your intention)
AND THEN
(iii) later you start worrying about it, being anxious, being fearful that it won't work etc.
What has (iii) done? First you call the thought-form back, interfering with its work in the universe. Next, you start damaging the thought-form, weakening it, stripping it of its power. And that's because you're now thinking negative thoughts about why your intention won't happen; why you should be worried; etc etc.
Now ....... to answer your direct questions, Moonrambler, does detachment necessarily mean that your intention will come true? NO! Because in the first place, your thought-form may not have been well-formed.
For example, you didn't visualise clearly; there wasn't much desire in it; you were unsure and ambiguous of exactly what you wanted; you were distracted etc etc. So the thought-form was, in the first place, not well-constructed. In magical terms, you were a lousy wizard and you didn't do a good spell.
SO .... even when you have "detached", and the thought-form has been released into the universe, it doesn't necessarily manage to deliver the visible positive results that you were hoping for.
What about attachment? Does it necessarily mean that your attachment won't come true? NO! Firstly because your attachment may not be negative; if you keep thinking about your desires and you keep staying positive, you are in fact supplying more energy to your thought-form and making it powerful.
Secondly, if your thought-form was very well-constructed in the first place, it may possess enough energy to fulfill your original intention even though you had subsequently weakened your thought-form through anxious or fearful thoughts.
For example, suppose you had spent one whole year studying diligently for your exams and your intention is to do well. All this while, you're actually shaping a thought-form that says "Good Exam Results!". In the last week before your exams, you get very stressed and anxious and nervous. And yes, this zaps your thought form's energy. But don't forget, your thought-form has already built up a lot of energy, through your one entire year of diligent studying (which is an expression of your intention to do well). THEREFORE the fact that you're stressed, anxious, nervous etc during the last week doesn't necessarily mean that your intention won't be fulfilled.
A final tip from "Instant Magick" by Chris Penczak (I've mentioned this book before):
"A key factor in successful spell casting is learning to let go of your thoughtform, thereby letting go of your intention. If you don't let it go, it can't go out into the universe to create your desired intention. You call it back by thinking about it, worrying about it or getting upset about it. You drain its energy, taking back its power bit by bit, until it has none to fulfill your intention ............. If you could keep a completely upbeat attitude, and send it more energy, as many people try to do through repeated actions, then you could potentially empower the thoughtform. But for most of us, particularly beginners, our repeated thoughts come with doubts and fears. It's best to learn to let it go completely and not concern yourself with how a spell will manifest. Just be confident that it will because you crafted it properly."