Who is John Ruskin?

[RT Wolf]

Re actions for wisdom. I dunno how you define wisdom, but for me Charlie Munger has lots of wisdom. He's the long time partner of Warren Buffett:

Capital Ideas Online > Seeking Wisdom – From Darwin to Munger

24 Standard Causes of Human Misjudgment

Charlie Munger - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Info + Links to more of his stuff at bottom of page.

He also has a book called Poor Charlie's Almanack, in which there's ten of his speeches which I really like.

Google would probably provide you with more, if you're interested.

[jrettig]

Thought is first cause in creation.

We use thoughts, words and actions to create. Words and actions are extensions of our thoughts. Thoughts are creating our life’s experiences.


Deliberate Creation

[Acting Like Godot]

Before anybody asks, I want to clarify one point.

Your actions can also attract events and circumstances. This is because thoughts attract event and circumstances, and action is a form of thought.

Thus if you take a lot of action on a particular goal, such action may itself attract events and circumstances that support that goal.

As usual, what events and circumstances your actions attract, are subject to the usual LOA rules, such as whether your actions are focused on the thing you want, or the lack of it; and whether your actions are performed with positive or negative emotion.

A small, recent example from me. Nothing dramatic, and nothing as exciting as some of my past examples. But perhaps it will be interesting for some of you. For more details, as recorded on my blog in late December and early January, click here:

Me The Grass Eater.

In late December 2007, I decided that I would start eating more healthily. However, I don't really know much about nutrition. I started thinking that I would first have to educate myself - among other things, I thought I would surf the Internet for info and also I would need to get a good, thick book about nutrition, to read up.

On 10 January, I bought a book on nutrition. Nothing strange - I was in a bookstore, I saw a nutrition book, I bought it. This follows, very obviously, from my own intention to get more information about nutrition. You can regard my book purchase as a simple example of "taking action" on a goal - I want to eat healthily, so one of my first few steps is that I take action (by buying a book) to get information on how to eat healthily.

Funnily enough, on that very same day, my wife met someone who works at my kids' school. They don't even know each other very well. But somehow they started talking about children's health, and then the person started saying that proper nutrition is very important for kids, and then the person said that it's important for everyone, not just kids ....

... and then the person just suddenly pulled out a brand new copy of a book on nutrition and GAVE it to my wife for free (it doesn't look cheap either). So my wife went home that day, and I said to her:

"Hey I bought a book today, it's about nutrition"

and she said, "Hey what a coincidence, someone suddenly gave me a free book today, and it's also about nutrition"

and so, that day, two new, thick, good nutrition books suddenly arrived in my reality, completely fulfiling my intention to get all the information I need about how to eat healthily.

My actions had everything to do with the arrival of one book.
My actions had nothing to do with the arrival of the other book.
But I believe that my thoughts had everything to do with the arrival of both books.

Now of course, some of you will say that this is just a coincidence. Plain fact is that in the past 2 years, so many positive coincidences have popped up in response to my positive thoughts, that it's just staggering.

I wish you guys would just try it out for yourselves. At one point, my wife seriously thought I might be going a bit crazy. Then she started trying it out herself, and wow, she got results too. Now she is such a great manifestator herself. The kind of intentions she chooses are often quite different from the kind of intentions I choose, and it is gratifying for me to see that LOA works for ALL kinds of intentions, as long as enough thought is supplied and it's positive.

(You should see the way she manifests taxis - she's stuck in a queue with six people in front of her - but she manifests for her instant taxi anyway. Next moment, two people inexplicably walk off and leave the queue, and then four empty taxis arrive all at once, and then the last person in front of her turns to her and says, "Why don't you go first? I am waiting for my husband." And so my wife gets the cab).

[moonrambler]

Thank you ALG, for all of your answers. I appreciate it a lot.

The story about the additional nutrition book is a good one!

[Acting Like Godot]

Oh, this is a digression ........ but I just want to share with you what else happened, later on that very same day that I had blogged about the two nutrition books arriving in my reality. In fact, it happened just 15 minutes after I finished blogging.

Something else arrived in my reality. Also directly linked to healthy eating. A striking synchronicity.

And basically, this is just how things happen, when your mind is focused on an intention. The universe just keeps sending all sorts of things your way, all related to your intention.

[Lola]

hey cdn - I don't really have time to chat now - just wanted to say good to see you. I miss arguing with you!

[moonrambler]

Originally Posted by Acting Like Godot

Oh, this is a digression ........ but I just want to share with you what else happened, later on that very same day that I had blogged about the two nutrition books arriving in my reality. In fact, it happened just 15 minutes after I finished blogging.

Something else arrived in my reality. Also directly linked to healthy eating. A striking synchronicity.

And basically, this is just how things happen, when your mind is focused on an intention. The universe just keeps sending all sorts of things your way, all related to your intention.

What's cool is there's a mix of synchronicity and things that seem to 'just happen,' along with the clearer awareness in regard to intention which highlight possibilities. It sometimes feels like grabbing onto a speedboat and off we go!

[Acting Like Godot]

Originally Posted by moonrambler

Of course now I have to mention the two instances you recently talked about, where you were so happy to manifest a large amount of money and it didn't require any action other than visualization.

You were referring to this and this. I got (or rather my wife got) $22,000 out of the blue, the first time. The second time, I got $12,000 out of the blue.

Both times, the news that the money was on the way happened within ONE day of my manifestation. Both times the money came from a source which I didn't even expect at all. I just asked for money without knowing where the heck it would come from.

That's a hit score of two out of two. (Because, as I said, I don't have a habit of asking for money like that. Those had been the only two times I did it).

NOW, for the (potentially) exciting big news ......

I asked for money again, on 4th February. $5,000 or better, I said. Again I had no idea where the money might come from.

The very next day (yesterday), in the morning, I get a new job offer! Out of the blue. Note: I didn't apply for it, I wasn't looking to change jobs, I told nobody that I want a new job ...... And the offer has come! This could be a chance to negotiate for an extra $5,000.

AND THEN, later that night, I receive some news that I may (possibly) get a bonus at work, after all!

This is despite the fact that last December, my team members and I had been EXPLICITLY told that we would be getting zero bonuses. (We work in a bank, in the area of credit derivatives, and we had been (and are) very hard-hit by the subprime crisis fallout).

Anyway, nothing confirmed yet ...... Too early to be counting chickens .... but again, you could regard these two incidents as illustrating how quickly the universe can respond to your intention.

From the perspective of my personal life, I am detaching from the outcome .... If the job offer works out, then it is for the best .... If the bonus happens, then it is also for the best .... If neither happens, life goes on and I shall be happy and positive anyway ....

But from the perspective as a LOA experimenter, I am waiting very EAGERLY to see what happens next!!

3 out of 3, 100% hit score, all within one day of the manifestation .... WOULDN'T THAT BE COOL!!

[Acting Like Godot]

Wowee, my prospective new employer just emailed me (like, 30 minutes ago) and wants to meet me early next week to discuss the offer over lunch.

The universe is moving quick!

[moonrambler]

These stories are inspiring, ALG!

[Acting Like Godot]

I just did the lunch interview!

Basically it's all systems go. The guy says, "The job is yours, if you want it." He says he will stop talking to other candidates until I revert to him on the offer.

I have told him my current salary and that my current employer is about to announce an annual salary increment anytime now (should be this week). My interviewer says that he is willing and able to improve significantly on my current salary + increment.

Although I stopped short of asking him how much he will improve on my current salary increment, my feel is that an increase of $5,000 is definitely on the cards. I mean an increase of $5,000 per month.

Cdn2wheeler, are you reading this? Don't give up on the LOA, my friend. It really works!!

[cdn2wheeler]

Yes, I've been following the thread, and I'm very happy that you're getting good news.

Currently, I've been witnessing a situation whereby a very dear friend of mine used the processes of LoA to influence the outcome of a child support and access court case against her ex husband.

It didn't work. She's shattered.

This isn't about money or "getting stuff" or even "being a better person." It's about the safety and security of her children. And yet now her children are going to suffer because of the chaotic nature of the court system.

LoA works? Seems that in your case, ALG, perhaps it is. Seems that in other cases, though, it's wildly unreliable.

[pharmboy]

"The thing that we want is brought by thought. By action we shall receive them." Wallace Wattles The Science of Being Great

Originally Posted by cdn2wheeler

OK, I'm back, but just for a minute.

Over the past 6 weeks or so I've been on the receiving end of a series of harsh shocks involving health, relationships and career. None of these were my own making.

But, in keeping with the concept of 100% responsibility (hat's off to Angela for that), I did some research and questioning as to why these shocks were presented to me at this time, in this order, and at this stage in my life.

What I believe I've discovered goes to the core of what LoA is all about.

This is where John Ruskin (1819 - 1900), art critic, social gadfly and author, comes in. Jack Canfield - the Chicken Soup for the Soul guy - uses a Ruskin quote in his (Canfield's) Success Principles coaching materials.

And True Believers probably aren't going to like it very much.

Ruskin wrote, "What we think or what we know or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence. The only consequence is what we do."

Through my own experimentations with LoA, what has become abundantly clear is that "asking the Universe" for what you want, regardless of what it is - or what you want to be - makes up about 10% of results.

Sure, there will be the occasional "hit," and some might consider random "hits" as some sort of proof that LoA without action actually has some merit. But, in short, they're wrong.

Life is random. And even in this chaos, sometimes things seem to come together. But we end up creating meanings for these events when no meanings exist. We see cause-and-effect patterns in events that have no cause-and-effect. Humans do this; it's an evolutionary adaptation and has served us well for millennia. "Og ate mushroom. Og died. Me no eat mushroom," or, "Og make noise in forest. Sabre-toothed tiger heard Og, killed and ate him. Me no make noise in forest."

The vast majority of what we wish to bring into our lives comes not from who we are or even what we believe. It comes from what we do.

That is extraordinarily liberating.

Now, one can argue that what we do comes from what we are. That's fair comment. But it also misses the point.

We don't have to ask our Higher Selves or our Guardian Angels (if they even exist; my suspicion is that those who think they've tapped into some sort of supernatural consciousness have deluded themselves into thinking that their active imagination is some sort of alternate reality. But there simply isn't any such thing. If there is, prove it). We don't have to tap into our core unconsciousness. We don't have to visualize, we don't have to imagine, we don't have to pray, we don't have to change the fundamental foundations of who we are, we don't have to cultivate some sort of Zen-like consciousness.

By all means, if that's your thing, then go right ahead. But don't think for a moment that it's actually going to make much of a difference unless you attach an action to it.

We just have to do. We just have to make verbs out of our desires.

But without the verbs, we're dreaming. We're fantasizing. We're living in a world that doesn't really exist.

So how does this relate to those things that avalanched upon me over the past few weeks and turned my comfortable life upside down?

It means that I did not bring those things onto myself through some inner fault. It means that I'm not being somehow punished or getting my own back through some sort of karma. It means that the "universe" isn't out to feed me a bucketful of sh!t because I somehow deserve it. It means that what's taken place is not a reflection of who I am.

These things just are. The only context and meaning they have is the context and meaning I give them. And in keeping with 100% responsibility, I choose NOT to give them meaning because they don't have any.

The principles of LoA - the visualization, the "think as it already is" and all the rest - are all fine and relatively innocuous. There's really no harm in them unless they're relied upon to provide a result without some sort of action.

"The only consequence is what we do."

There's a direct connection between what we do and what we get. There is, alas, no connection whatsoever between who we are or what we think or what we believe or how strongly we believe it and what we get.

I know this runs completely counter to the basic principles of LoA. And I, for one, am hugely thankful for that.

So there you have it. Stop dreaming. Start doing.

(Hey, this is my post number 1000. Kewl.)

[moonrambler]

Originally Posted by cdn2wheeler

Yes, I've been following the thread, and I'm very happy that you're getting good news.

Currently, I've been witnessing a situation whereby a very dear friend of mine used the processes of LoA to influence the outcome of a child support and access court case against her ex husband.

It didn't work. She's shattered.

This isn't about money or "getting stuff" or even "being a better person." It's about the safety and security of her children. And yet now her children are going to suffer because of the chaotic nature of the court system.

LoA works? Seems that in your case, ALG, perhaps it is. Seems that in other cases, though, it's wildly unreliable.

In all the reading I've done around here about people's experiences, I get the sense that the LoA works better when approached more generally in some respects, and not so much when trying to influence other people (for instance, a judge.)

Targeting $5,000 is one thing, but I wonder if it works better to have visualized the $5,000 rather than one specific job (e.g. customer service manager) at one particular company (e.g. BigShot Trucking Inc.). That narrows everything down so much that it seems to perhaps inhibit the LoA.

I don't know how your friend was using LoA, but I'm wondering if visualizing her children's safety and security, happiness and peace of mind, would be more effective than trying to influence a court case.

[Acting Like Godot]

Listen, Cdn2wheeler. This is the first time I'm doing something like this as well, let's see how it works ......

Originally Posted by cdn2wheeler

Yes, I've been following the thread, and I'm very happy that you're getting good news.

Currently, I've been witnessing a situation whereby a very dear friend of mine used the processes of LoA to influence the outcome of a child support and access court case against her ex husband.

It didn't work. She's shattered.

This isn't about money or "getting stuff" or even "being a better person." It's about the safety and security of her children. And yet now her children are going to suffer because of the chaotic nature of the court system.

..... last night I did an IM exercise concerning your friend and her children. I went in quite deep into my own consciousness, until my head was swimming in colours, and I have put some positive intentions out into the universe concerning her situation.

I have intended that the children shall be safe and secure, and beyond that, I have intended for something big and obvious to occur in your friend's reality as soon as possible, and in any case no later than within the next 7 days, so that your friend will know that this is so.

(If I were religious, I would say that yesterday I entered into intense prayer and asked God to help your friend and her children, and asked God to send a sign to tell her that help is on its way. But since I am not religious, I only say that last night I have used the LOA last night to help your friend and her children).

I do not know anything about your friend's situation beyond what you have said, and I do not know what can happen to make my desired outcome occur, but anyway I have done it. If nothing happens, then nothing happens; if something happens, do come back and tell me about it, ok.

I don't think I've ever done an IM exercise with so little available info before. I felt it necessary to visualise something, so I have visualised two boys, aged 5 and 8, one is Sam and the other is Matthew, and your friend has a name which starts with the letter "B", and funnily enough you are also in the picture, it looks like you're somewhere outdoors trying to fix the kids' bicycle or something. Doesn't matter if this is wrong, I just need to get some kind of mental fix on them; maybe I put you in, because I need to connect to them, and the connection is through you. The universe should be smart enough to figure out what I'm really trying to intend, and that is all it should take.

Oh, you look like you're balding somewhat. I can see the shiny top of your head when you stoop down to fix the bike.

CANCEL, CANCEL. Universe, it is not my intention to inflict hair loss.

[Acting Like Godot]

I cannot resist myself .... I just gotta tell you guys!!! See earlier post below - I'd done a manifestation on 4th Feb for more wealth, and got a new job offer out of the blue.

The story continues:

17th Feb - I manifested intensely for more wealth again.

18th Feb - I manifested again.

19th February (YESTERDAY) - A huge sum of money arrives in my life. Almost a quarter of a million dollars!.

Detailed account here.

Do yourselves a BIG favour, folks - learn the LOA!

[Bradshaw]

He he he, well done ALG!

[dancer]

Wow! That's really cool. Congratulations, ALG. I've taken a break from LOA, but you inspire me to get back to it.

[mochamajesty]

ALG

I must say, that your results are amazing! Congrats!

[moonrambler]

Wow ALG, you are something else.