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Originally Posted by Kanzeon  That, roughly, is similar to the view, in Hindu philosophy, that everything is God, and that God is playing hide and seek with himself by dressing up as various selves. |
Yes, approximately 330,000,000 different selves. People often think that there are many gods in Hinduism, but actually what Hinduism says is that God (or Brahman) is so complex that it expresses itself through 330,000,000 different gods.
Anyway, there was a sidetrack. Back to the LOA. It's interesting that you should mention Hinduism, because the American history of the LOA is definitely traceable back to India's spiritual teachings.
(Or perhaps it's really not that interesting. As I have mentioned before, all of these are merely different maps of the same territory).
Anyway, about the traceable history. One of the early references to the exact phrase "Law of Attraction" in the US was by the American William Walker Atkinson. He wrote many books on the topic, one of which was entitled "Thought Vibration or the Law of Attraction in the Thought World", published in Chicago, in 1906.
Atkinson's influences are well-known. For example, he also wrote books under the pseudonym Yogi Ramachakara; and wrote books with titles such as "The Inner Teachings of the Philosophies and Religions of India " and "Advanced Course in Yogi Philosophy and Oriental Occultism".
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Anyway for a modern interpretation of the LOA in the context of India's spiritual traditions, there are better and more recent books to read. For example, I recommend "
Power, Grace and Freedom" by Deepak Chopra which explains the LOA (although IIRC he carefully avoids using that phrase throughout the book) in the context of the Vedas.
(The Vedas are a large body of texts from India, and are the oldest sacred texts on Hinduism).