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Acting Like Godot · 06-25-2009, 01:50 AM

Kanzeon, you might be surprised. If you really look very closely at LOA teachings (say, the version taught by Abraham Hicks) and at Buddhist teachings and Christian teachings, you will find many parallels and similarities.

They will not be identical. It is like how a chemistry textbook will discuss atoms and molecules, and how a physics textbook will discuss atoms and molecules. The discussion will not be identical. But there will be many parallels and similarities.

LOA is a loose term. It is the notion that your mind creates your reality. Then there is the question of what are we supposed to do with this notion, how do we apply it, what are we to make of it? And here there are many different schools of thought. Christianity and Buddhism influences also do come into the picture.

A simple example will be this book "The Amazing Laws of Cosmic Mind Power" by a Christian pastor, Joseph Murphy. A somewhat tacky title. But what is the book about? It is a collection of dozens of real-life anecdotes that this pastor has gathered, in carrying out his work as a pastor. Typically someone in his congregation will have a problem; the person comes to Joseph for advice and help, in his capacity as pastor; Joseph then teaches them and advises them to pray; then some highly improbable, miraculous event occurs, and the prayer is answered, the problem is solved.

Now if you read Joseph Murphy's advice on how to pray, you'll see that it is standard LOA advice. Pray with deep faith, conviction, confidence, positive emotions, use mental images; focus on the desired end result, even if you have no clue how it can possibly come about etc.

It is no different from, say, a book like "The Law of Attraction" by Michael Losier, or "The Master Key System" by Charles Haanel, who would not use the word "pray", but instead substitutes it with the phrase "think about your goals". In other words, you are to "think about your goals with deep faith, conviction, confidence, positive emotions, use mental images; focus on the desired end result, even if you have no clue how it can possibly come about etc."

There are even closer parallels between Buddhism and Abraham teachings. They are different philosophies built around the same subject-matter of mind/reality. I once considered Abraham's teachings to be a less evolved, less enlightened version of Buddha's teachings; then later I considered Buddha's teachings to be a less evolved, less enlightened version of Abraham's teachings; then I grew uncertain. And finally I read an explanation of the need for Buddha's 80,000 teachings - essentially, he had offered such a great number of different teachings, because different individuals are at different stages of spiritual growth, and he wanted to map a possible route for individuals at every different level. And I see now that the same could be said for Abraham; one takes whatever one is ready to take, from his teachings, and the rest of it, one leaves behind. Simple as that.

06-25-2009, 01:50 AM	#24 (permalink)
Acting Like Godot Banned Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 9,613	Kanzeon, you might be surprised. If you really look very closely at LOA teachings (say, the version taught by Abraham Hicks) and at Buddhist teachings and Christian teachings, you will find many parallels and similarities. They will not be identical. It is like how a chemistry textbook will discuss atoms and molecules, and how a physics textbook will discuss atoms and molecules. The discussion will not be identical. But there will be many parallels and similarities. LOA is a loose term. It is the notion that your mind creates your reality. Then there is the question of what are we supposed to do with this notion, how do we apply it, what are we to make of it? And here there are many different schools of thought. Christianity and Buddhism influences also do come into the picture. A simple example will be this book "The Amazing Laws of Cosmic Mind Power" by a Christian pastor, Joseph Murphy. A somewhat tacky title. But what is the book about? It is a collection of dozens of real-life anecdotes that this pastor has gathered, in carrying out his work as a pastor. Typically someone in his congregation will have a problem; the person comes to Joseph for advice and help, in his capacity as pastor; Joseph then teaches them and advises them to pray; then some highly improbable, miraculous event occurs, and the prayer is answered, the problem is solved. Now if you read Joseph Murphy's advice on how to pray, you'll see that it is standard LOA advice. Pray with deep faith, conviction, confidence, positive emotions, use mental images; focus on the desired end result, even if you have no clue how it can possibly come about etc. It is no different from, say, a book like "The Law of Attraction" by Michael Losier, or "The Master Key System" by Charles Haanel, who would not use the word "pray", but instead substitutes it with the phrase "think about your goals". In other words, you are to "*think about your goals* with deep faith, conviction, confidence, positive emotions, use mental images; focus on the desired end result, even if you have no clue how it can possibly come about etc." There are even closer parallels between Buddhism and Abraham teachings. They are different philosophies built around the same subject-matter of mind/reality. I once considered Abraham's teachings to be a less evolved, less enlightened version of Buddha's teachings; then later I considered Buddha's teachings to be a less evolved, less enlightened version of Abraham's teachings; then I grew uncertain. And finally I read an explanation of the need for Buddha's 80,000 teachings - essentially, he had offered such a great number of different teachings, because different individuals are at different stages of spiritual growth, and he wanted to map a possible route for individuals at every different level. And I see now that the same could be said for Abraham; one takes whatever one is ready to take, from his teachings, and the rest of it, one leaves behind. Simple as that.