Is the Universe Retarded?

[JPX]

I got into the Law of Attraction a couple of years ago with the whole "Secret" craze. I saw the movie, read the book, and followed the teachers as they made their media rounds.

Like many people, I stopped paying attention after a few weeks and got on with my "pre-Secret" life.

Last night I found a VHS tape with an Oprah show on "The Secret" from around that time, and the teachers on that specific show (Canfield, Ray, Beckwith, and Nichols) were talking about how you can't say "I don't want to be broke" or "I don't want to be alone" because all the Universe hears is "broke and alone", so you will forever be broke, alone, and miserable.

I guess I didn't think much of it back then, but now I'm wondering....how can this perfect and poweful Universe (or God, or whatever you call it) not understand what I mean simply by the way I stack my words together.

It seems pretty dumb to actually believe that if I say "I don't like men" the universe will hear "like men" and will turn me into a flaming homosexual.

I am open to believing in many things, but there has to be a more rational explanation to all of this.

[Angela]

I don't know the answer, but this is my favorite question to come along in some time!

[dyakub]

Through my reading, yes the universe is retarded but it is obedient and will only recieve what you're giving it despite the "I don'ts" and "I can'ts"

[Lil Chris]

This made me chuckle... Thank JPX

[Maguru]

Originally Posted by JPX

I got into the Law of Attraction a couple of years ago with the whole "Secret" craze. I saw the movie, read the book, and followed the teachers as they made their media rounds.

Like many people, I stopped paying attention after a few weeks and got on with my "pre-Secret" life.

Last night I found a VHS tape with an Oprah show on "The Secret" from around that time, and the teachers on that specific show (Canfield, Ray, Beckwith, and Nichols) were talking about how you can't say "I don't want to be broke" or "I don't want to be alone" because all the Universe hears is "broke and alone", so you will forever be broke, alone, and miserable.

I guess I didn't think much of it back then, but now I'm wondering....how can this perfect and poweful Universe (or God, or whatever you call it) not understand what I mean simply by the way I stack my words together.

It seems pretty dumb to actually believe that if I say "I don't like men" the universe will hear "like men" and will turn me into a flaming homosexual.

I am open to believing in many things, but there has to be a more rational explanation to all of this.

Great question! In your example, I take it you mean not sexually attracted to men? Perhaps it would make more sense if the universe actually responds to the "I" (who isn't attracted to men) and not the thoughts?
E.G. I am not attracted to females and never have been and so what I am really being is "attracted to men." Works for me!

[Bradshaw]

A good question actually. I can think of three possible answers for this question.

Pink elephant dillema
Try not to think of a pink elephant, and you will think of a pink elephant. Try not to think of being broke, and you will be broke. That's really it.

Not aiming for the moon
Let's say you go into alpha/meditate/visualize while intending "not wanting to be broke" or "not wanting to be alone", what are you going to imagine?

You're probably just going to visualize having a few friends, and having just enough money, instead of aiming much higher.

We can think of the concept of overwhelming force in this case. Imagine three separate intentions:

1. I am broke
2. I am average
3. I am wealthy

I'm making numbers up of course. But let's say intention one has a force of -50, intention two would have a force of +1, and intention three would have a force of +51 or more(since the person in question would be consciously visualizing it.)

The modest intention hardly has any force, but the "aim for the moon" intention has a lot more force. Of course this is assuming the person actually believes he can become wealthy.

Negativity is overrated
How true is it really that saying "i don't want to be x" won't work? One could argue that because we are thinking out of fear, it won't work and instead our fear keeps us stuck.

[backpocket]

Originally Posted by JPX

It seems pretty dumb to actually believe that if I say "I don't like men" the universe will hear "like men" and will turn me into a flaming homosexual.

Quote of the year.

[cylon]

Functionally retarded.

This is what happens when we start seeking answers outside of ourselves, and take other people's opinions as fact. Do you think it's the words that matter, or the dominant thought/vibration behind it? People attract all sorts of things without even remembering what words they were using in their mind.

The words themselves are not the thought. The thought comes first, the words come second to give it structure.

[Elrond]

It's probably the pink elephant dilemma that Bradshaw mentioned.

[Akashic_Librarian]

If the idea of LoA is correct, then it wouldn't necessarily mean that the universe was cognizant. Think of it more as a mirror. Rather than a person who is giving what you ask for.

[TonyToneTone]

Hey JPX, it's what Bradshaw said in regard to imaging. PLEASE post more often as your posts are hilarious. Thanks!

[Frans]

What do you do when you have to deal with retarded people?
You formulate your thoughts in a way that they cannot be misunderstood.

[fellowtraveler]

Haha...back in the glorious 60's we used to say we didn't trust the world, because it's eyes were too close together...

Originally Posted by JPX

...you can't say "I don't want to be broke" or "I don't want to be alone" because all the Universe hears is "broke and alone", so you will forever be broke, alone, and miserable.

Because the main thrust of the thought is the "broke" or the "alone". Those words invoke the emotion in the thought. If thought is a frequency, emotion is the amplitude.

I guess I didn't think much of it back then, but now I'm wondering....how can this perfect and poweful Universe (or God, or whatever you call it) not understand what I mean simply by the way I stack my words together.

If you're looking at it as some do, the old bearded guy in the sky must look retarded in this regard. If you look at it as a system...not only that, as just a small subsystem of what the cosmos really is...maybe it's easier to see why this would happen.

It seems pretty dumb to actually believe that if I say "I don't like men" the universe will hear "like men" and will turn me into a flaming homosexual.I am open to believing in many things, but there has to be a more rational explanation to all of this.

LOL...

[Holistic Star]

Saying "I like men" wouldn't make you gay. For a start, "like" does not equal "want to have sex with"!

I mean, I like men, but I don't want to have sex with all of them. After all, what would you think if I said I also like kittens

Secondly I think if you said "I don't like men" enough times you would get exactly what you wanted. You identify all the things that you don't like about men, you would become increasingly more surly, hostile and more likely to perceive an innocent joke as a threat. People would react to your grumpiness and you would get plenty of reinforcement that men were mean, cruel and unfriendly and reinforce the belief of "I don't like men". So rather than maying you gay it would make you more disconnected and lonely!

Likewise if you said, " I wish my boss wasn't so mean" all you can think about is how mean your boss is, which makes you feel tense, which makes you less likely to report a problem as soon as it is discovered, which makes it more likely something will go wrong, which makes the boss meaner and so on.

It's not the words that you use, it's the feelings that you generate inside yourself that make the LOA work. The words are there as indicators to help guide us.

I was surprised on a hypnosis tape that I listed to today it used the words "my hearing is free of buzzing, ringing and tinatus" instead of something like "my hearing is clear and accurate" After the tape I kept thinking about buzzing and ringing in the ear!

So no I don't think the universe is retarded, I think it is more like a very literal computor programme. You get out, what you put in.

[Acting Like Godot]

You have to feel for the emotional quality and essential meanings of the words. Sounds abstract, but it's really not very difficult. I'll show you what I mean, with a practical exercise.

Originally Posted by JPX

"I don't want to be broke" or "I don't want to be alone"

Be an actor, for a few minutes. Pretend you're being filmed. The scene is exactly where you are now. The director's instructions are: "Stand up, walk aroud the room and say those lines aloud, as intensely as you can, repeatedly. Make it intense, as intense as you can. Put strong emotion into it."

Those are the only instructions. You are not told what the rest of the script is.

Go on, do it now.

"I don't like men"

Now, try the same exercise with the above line. Again, the only instruction is:

"Stand up, walk aroud the room and say those lines aloud, as intensely as you can, repeatedly. Make it intense, as intense as you can. Put strong emotion into it."

Go on... Just for fun. Then take note of your emotion/feeling, come back here and write about it, and I'll comment further.

(I'm not saying anything else at this point, so as not to influence you in any particular way on how you do the exercise).

[Liveformx64]

Regarding the nature of the law of attraction. The best was I think I can describe it is like this.

Your brain is the instrument in which you tune into the universe. Your brain is a physical object, therefore it is subject to the laws of our dimension. One of the chemical laws of our brain is that it is impossible to hold two thoughts at once.

That being said lets deconstruct your statement. "I don't like men" To be affirming to yourself that you "don't like men" would imply you had to have posed the question to yourself, that there is a possibly that you like men.

Why you would be asking yourself this question can come from an infinity of reasons. But ultimately to be stating "I don't like men" to me would imply that you actually "don't want to like men". Not wanting to like men, has a negative in the sentence, but your affirmation at least in your mind is what you would call positive. However, since it is chemically impossible for the brain to hold a negative thought and a positive thought at the same time. The net effect of your thinking is ZERO.

Actually, your question has nothing to do with L.O.A. and everything to do with science.

However, whether the L.O.A. is just a fancy way of explaining how using our brain to think and act positively can bring you a better life, it really doesn't matter because the outcome is the same. If the LOA is just a way for people to visualize their dreams better and give them hope GREAT!

[jeff3]

What you focus on expands.

[Mindfuel]

Bradshaw is right. When you say 'I am not broke' or 'I am not alone', your mind reacts emotionally to these words, and your vibration will match being broke or alone. Personally, I think the Universe can understand everything you say, no matter how you stack it. We just need to make sure we are in emotional alignment with our intentions.

Simple really.

ps - your post made me laugh out loud!

[MacFly]

Originally Posted by JPX

I got into the Law of Attraction a couple of years ago with the whole "Secret" craze. I saw the movie, read the book, and followed the teachers as they made their media rounds.

Like many people, I stopped paying attention after a few weeks and got on with my "pre-Secret" life.

Last night I found a VHS tape with an Oprah show on "The Secret" from around that time, and the teachers on that specific show (Canfield, Ray, Beckwith, and Nichols) were talking about how you can't say "I don't want to be broke" or "I don't want to be alone" because all the Universe hears is "broke and alone", so you will forever be broke, alone, and miserable.

I guess I didn't think much of it back then, but now I'm wondering....how can this perfect and poweful Universe (or God, or whatever you call it) not understand what I mean simply by the way I stack my words together.

It seems pretty dumb to actually believe that if I say "I don't like men" the universe will hear "like men" and will turn me into a flaming homosexual.

I am open to believing in many things, but there has to be a more rational explanation to all of this.

imagine this

a chinese person is trying to tell you that he HATES oranges, and never want to even touch one. you see he's angry, he's so sad, he cries and constantly points to an orange on the table.

you are an intelligent person, but since you don't understand chinese, all you'll see is that he has a problem, he's so emotional, and the only thing you know that the orange is connected with his problem in some way. you wanna help him, so you stand up, grab the orange, and give that to him

he goes mad, cries, you don't know why, and you think he needs a lot more orange, cuz that one is not enough

[TonyToneTone]

Great example MacFly. I got a kick out of that.

[jeff3]

As someone mentioned, it may be that the "universe" simply responds to our input, much like you typing a message on the computer screen, the computer doesn't know what you are trying to say, it just responds. Most of the pioneers in the new thought movement called it the "universal mind" and thought of it as an impersonal force that does not think. Whatever the answer is, we do know the observed phenomena has been around forever and made it's way into stories about genies granting screwed up wishes, and , in the bible Job stated "all the things I've feared have come upon me", clearly indicating that his negative imaging manifested negative and undesirable events.

To answer this question we need a definitive explanation of how the process works, something I haven't seen yet. Theres lots of speculation, lots of "how to's", and lots of advice but no formula.

[bluedragon]

In Romania we have a saying: "that which you fear, you won't escape".

Essentially, when you say you don't want something, that thing is what you relate to, that is the only object in your sentence. You can't deny something without simultaneously being aware of that which you are denying.
What you focus on grows - thus, the explanation.

[Mindfuel]

Create a strong vision and align yourself with it in thought, belief, word and deed. Do whatever you need to do to get to this point.

Thats it in a nutshell!

We can analyse (and believe me I have), but this is the formula which can never fail.

[Trezker]

Something I'm wondering is why "I can't get a job" doesn't get you a job?

[Dan.Linehan]

Originally Posted by Trezker

Something I'm wondering is why "I can't get a job" doesn't get you a job?

It's all about the core beliefs -- not just verbiage.

If you believe the words, "I can't get a job" then that is the reality you'll create for yourself. If you recite "I am rich, I am rich, I am rich" but you feel totally poor and desperate, you'll create a reality that includes perpetual poverty and desperation laced with soothing affirmations.

If you truly believe you are heroic, you'll act as heroically as you know how to, every day. If you recite "I am heroic" but you feel timid and scared or guilty inside, you'll create a reality in which it makes sense to be timid and scared, or to feel guilty inside.

If you are timid and scared but want to be heroic, you need to take some time to visualize how a hero would act in your shoes, not just recite the words. Imagination is crucial. When you imagine how a hero would act you are mentally preparing yourself to act that way too. You are mentally practicing the creation of that reality for yourself.

By the same token: If you are poor and want to be rich, take the time to visualize how a rich person would act in your shoes. Use your imagination. Don't just recite words.

LOA is much more than just reciting affirmations. It's a way of being. It's installing core beliefs about your reality and following through on them.

Finally, never go full retard.

[stellasky]

Why would you give him an orange when it seems he's obviously distressed about it? This example certainly makes the universe seem retarded. If we're all conciousness and are all "one" then the universe must have a clue, a knowingness as to what we're trying to manifest.

Perhaps its about manifesting what's "right" for you. If you keep focusing on what's not right for you, you'll keep getting what's not right until you finally clue in on what's right for you and then manifest it?

[JPX]

I appreciate everyone's answers to my original query.

Just to clarify, I don't think the Universe (or God) is retarded or developmentally challenged in any way. But it's the way some of the folks out there selling CDs and DVDs make it seem.

Also, the "flaming homosexual" statement was an extreme example. I have nothing against anybody.

I was very pleasantly surprised reading your answers, so thank you. I have learned a lot.

[Eisho]

Originally Posted by JPX

I got into the Law of Attraction a couple of years ago with the whole "Secret" craze. I saw the movie, read the book, and followed the teachers as they made their media rounds.

Like many people, I stopped paying attention after a few weeks and got on with my "pre-Secret" life.

Last night I found a VHS tape with an Oprah show on "The Secret" from around that time, and the teachers on that specific show (Canfield, Ray, Beckwith, and Nichols) were talking about how you can't say "I don't want to be broke" or "I don't want to be alone" because all the Universe hears is "broke and alone", so you will forever be broke, alone, and miserable.

I guess I didn't think much of it back then, but now I'm wondering....how can this perfect and poweful Universe (or God, or whatever you call it) not understand what I mean simply by the way I stack my words together.

It seems pretty dumb to actually believe that if I say "I don't like men" the universe will hear "like men" and will turn me into a flaming homosexual.

I am open to believing in many things, but there has to be a more rational explanation to all of this.

Good question. I suspect the answer lies in some tenuous scientific experiment that no-one outside LoA circles takes seriously.

Eisho

[TonyToneTone]

I was thinking about this earlier today and if you are sitting around thinking: "I don't like men" and are in a negative vibe, most likely you are going to attract men you don't like.

[Lauxa]

Originally Posted by Trezker

Something I'm wondering is why "I can't get a job" doesn't get you a job?

Well, I think it can, but it depends on the subtext.

If you think "I can't get a job" and then list out to yourself all the examples on how you have tried to get a job and how they haven't worked and think how you are such a failure because this isn't working for you and how you must be lazy and incompetent or else you could get a job... well, then it won't work.

On the other hand, if you think "I can't get a job" and then visualize how your life would look if you could get a job and then ask what you are lacking that you can't get a job and determine that if you are not motivated and skilled enough and then think about how that would feel to be more motivated and skilled... well, now you are on the right track.