What is the purpose of the LoA?

[JHL]

One lesson I remember vividly from my school days came out of a biology lesson. The teacher stated that, in Biology, structure is always related to function. Something is designed the way it is, not by accident, but based upon its specific function and purpose.

So, turning to the LoA - we know (more or less) how it works. We know what it does. The million dollar question is: keeping mindful of the meaning and purpose of life, what is the function of the LoA, based on how it works?

Put another way, knowing it works the way it does (a 'magnet' oriented by your beliefs, thoughts, attitudes, etc) - what, therefore might its intended purpose be in the context of the meaning of life?

For me, its an important question. I see so many people trying to invoke the LoA willy-nilly for whatever takes their fancy. But how many people have stopped to really consider what the point of LoA actually is?

I'm not claiming I have the answer. I've also used the LoA for some of my own fanciful whims. But I think there is a deeper meaning and purpose to it, and I think it would be worthwhile applying some of the impressive brainpower in this site to uncovering what it is.

What is the purpose of the LoA in the context of the meaning of life?

[AndyMartin]

This is a good question, and one I've been thinking about for quite some time. Here's where my thoughts have been traveling of late. Life is divine in nature and consciousness is divine in nature. Tradition has taught us that there are many aspects of the divine or that there is one true divine, so it's easy to go too broad or too narrow. True, we cannot comprehend all of divinity in one face; I've been thinking we're just slicing it up the wrong way. Meaning, in a way that is neither helpful nor useful. I'm playing around with this model:

There is the Divine Self; the interior divinity taught by Buddhism and Hinduism. It is the vast, infinite I that occupies your incarnate being.

There is the Divine Thou; the personal divinity that Semitic traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) have taught us to apprehend, love and submit to.

There is the Divine All; the exterior divinity: the universe, it's being, it's expansion, it's expression. This is the aspect of god that natural traditions -- Wicca and Shamanism and the like -- approach in a limited (ie earth-nature) context.

I also think each of these has an immanent and a transcendent nature: that which is arising and the great mystery.

Put another way: Exactly Right in Exactly the Wrong Way | Manifest Revolution

I think the nature of the universe is to unfold into greater expressions of consciousness, and that the purpose of consciousness is to experience ever-expanding joy. In that frame, the Law of Attraction becomes the most direct expression of the immanent face of the exterior divinity, and possibly the most approachable aspect of the divine, contrary to traditions which place "miracles" at the end of the road.

Now that's an interesting thought, if you ask me.

[Akashic_Librarian]

What do you want in life.

Answer that.

And yo uanswer your own question.

[renie408]

What is the purpose of gravity? What is the purpose of inertia?

The Law of Attraction is pure and simply that like energies attract. Period. Many people assign all kinds of extra doo dads on top of that (and make a fortune doing it), but the root of it is that like is attracted to like. Both of the above posts appear to me to be promoting an exterior divinity, not an interior one. To assume that there is any grand scheme to the LOA other than something we may assign it ourselves assumes that something OTHER put it in place and chose said scheme.

For me the grand purpose of the LOA is to get me my farm with a big fat log home on it. I wouldn't mind a Range Rover, either. And I plan to campaign my horse to a Year End Award in dressage. My husband has put in an order for some fancy set of golf clubs that cost a bloody fortune. That's what the LOA is doing for me.

[Narz]

What is the purpose of the LoA?

So when you get a new bicycle you can pat yourself on the back about it instead of having to think about who really "manifested it" (prolly some lil' Chinese boy in a factory somewhere).

[JHL]

I think the nature of the universe is to unfold into greater expressions of consciousness, and that the purpose of consciousness is to experience ever-expanding joy. In that frame, the Law of Attraction becomes the most direct expression of the immanent face of the exterior divinity, and possibly the most approachable aspect of the divine, contrary to traditions which place "miracles" at the end of the road.

Thanks for your considered response Andy, I certainly agree with some of what you said. But I cant say that I've completely understood your last sentence above. I can glean that it contains an important insight, but I must confess I've failed to properly grasp it. I'd like to understand it better, could you explain it from another angle?

What do you want in life.

Answer that.

And yo uanswer your own question.

I'm afraid this doesnt answer my question, Akashic. I'm looking at the problem from a higher perspective. I'm trying to understand what the purpose of the LoA itself is, in the context of our physical experience.

What is the purpose of gravity? What is the purpose of inertia?

The Law of Attraction is pure and simply that like energies attract. Period

Thanks for your answer Rene, but, again, I'm not trying to unpack what it is or how it works. Lets assume we know all that.

Let me try articulate the problem in another way:

Assume we are essentially spiritual beings. Spritual beings who are having a physical experience.
It would probably be safe to further assume that there is a REASON why we are having a physical experience. Lets assume that reason is growth. Therefore we are in this physical reality to grow.
We can then assume that the various elements of this physical reality are designed to help us grow.
One of these elements if the LoA.
So my question is - how do you see the LoA as being a means for us to grow?

Here's one theory as a means to illustrate what an answer might look like:

Our spiritual essence needed to experience a physical reality because it acts as a mirror for our spiritual selves.
The law of attraction is consistent with that idea because it attracts to us what we are, i.e. it powers the physical mirror
By attracting to ourselves what we are, we are therefore able to "see" ourselves.
With this information at hand, we are then positioned to: change/grow/ignore it/etc - the choice is ours.
Therefore the purpose of the LoA is to enable our spiritual essence to "see" ourselves and in this way empowers us to make choices.

[renie408]

>>Assume we are essentially spiritual beings. Spritual beings who are having a physical experience.<<

I think the essential problem is that I don't make this assumption and that is why I am having a hard time coming up with some greater purpose for the LOA than to exist as a fundamental law of the universe like gravity.

But, I have to say, if I did think we were spiritual beings here to grow our conciousness, your answer would work for me. I think that the LOA does work to make you aware of and to fine tune the vibrations you produce. A large part of my problem with your post is that it feels like intelligent design. Biological entities in the world have physical adaptations which all serve a purpose because they evolved to survive in their given environment. I think that our 'discovery' and use of the LOA is probably something like that. The LOA just exists. We are evolving to a point where we can manipulate it like we learned to manipulate fire.

Now, all that said, I strongly believe we should all work to be better people. But I think I think that because it is probably the best way for our species to survive. Because of the incredible self-destructive power of the human species, if we are to survive I feel like love and positivity is our best bet.

[judge45]

I think Steve summed it up best when he said.........

Your reality is the program, you are the programer and LoA is the interface.

So thoughts are instructions to get the program to do something, BUT every thought is an instruction.

The LoA is the interface that takes the thought and changes the program or attracts back to your reality the outcome/manifestation

So thoughts/instructions of lack write or rewrite the program to bring lack into your reality.

All you have to do to attract/manifest something is to rewrite the instructions.

This also relates to the fact that the power doesn't no the difference between $500 or $5M a thin body or a fat body.

The difference is only in your mind or the program that is now running your life.

Change the instructions (thought) dramatically and the program will change.

I think people get too caught up LoA, when it's just a natural law, not a whole concept.

LoA is just the interface, it's not the program or the programmer.

Jeff

[AndyMartin]

Originally Posted by JHL

Thanks for your considered response Andy, I certainly agree with some of what you said. But I cant say that I've completely understood your last sentence above. I can glean that it contains an important insight, but I must confess I've failed to properly grasp it. I'd like to understand it better, could you explain it from another angle?

Sure. So my current thinking tends towards the idea that consciousness -- us and whatever other consciousness exists -- is an expression of the universe. Our ideas are an expression of our creative and rational nature. The universe is much bigger, much older than us; maybe consciousness is a mode of expression of that.

Which is another way of describing "god," but rather than say this idea of god is the "right" one, let's say for the moment that this is one face of god. As we are the products of that consciousness-expressing nature, we are connected to it, we are able to manifest a portion of its creative power. We are ostensibly capable of invoking what might be called "miracles" through this power. What's interesting is that religious traditions have generally attributed the ability to perform miraculous acts to only the most advanced masters. But LoA says anybody can do it and scale is no matter.

Compare that to transcending self according to Eastern traditions, or seeing the face of god according to Western traditions. It's much easier to begin using LoA than to attain permanent transcendent states. So it's almost like we've got it backwards.

Except...what about the possibility that aligning yourself with these three aspects of divinity -- maybe there is a synergistic effect that would accelerate the pursuit of the realization of the divine, adding the vast depth of first-person spirituality to the compassion and devotion of second-person spirituality and creating great power of manifestation.

Does that makes sense? It's not a perfect model (or a perfect explanation), but I think it's worth exploring.

[Steve Pavlina]

Originally Posted by JHL

What is the purpose of the LoA in the context of the meaning of life?

The LoA is the mechanism by which you expand and evolve your consciousness.

When you live in a universe that reflects back to you manifestations of your own thoughts, you create either a heaven or a hell for yourself (or something in between). By experiencing your own thoughts in physical form, you gradually evolve into a being with a more highly developed thought structure, one that is less chaotic and more organized.

The process is much like using a mirror to help you comb your hair, except that the LoA helps you comb your thoughts. Trying to organize your thoughts without a physical universe to reflect them back to you is like trying to comb your hair without a mirror -- it can still be done, but it's much harder.

Unless of course you're bald and mindless.

[Acting Like Godot]

You could think of LOA as one interpretation of karma. Whatever intentions you hold, you will experience the consequences.

[Volunteer]

>>Unless of course you're bald and mindless.<<

that mindless comment was a little too personal and was uncalled for

[JHL]

@ Andy

Sure. So my current thinking tends towards the idea that consciousness -- us and whatever other consciousness exists -- is an expression of the universe. Our ideas are an expression of our creative and rational nature. The universe is much bigger, much older than us; maybe consciousness is a mode of expression of that.

Yes, I agree. Just one nuance - is it not possible the physical universe is actually an expression of consciousness and not vice-versa? I.e. that our spiritual selves essentially exist on another plane or dimension (perhaps there are many) and the physical universe is just one (a school of sorts?). Its not terribly important for the purposes of this discussion, just a thought.

Which is another way of describing "god," but rather than say this idea of god is the "right" one, let's say for the moment that this is one face of god. As we are the products of that consciousness-expressing nature, we are connected to it, we are able to manifest a portion of its creative power. We are ostensibly capable of invoking what might be called "miracles" through this power. What's interesting is that religious traditions have generally attributed the ability to perform miraculous acts to only the most advanced masters. But LoA says anybody can do it and scale is no matter.

Yes, I'm with you here, I agree. On the point that anybody can invoke the LoA, that certainly is true - we all do it by default. But a master can, technically, invoke it with more immediacy and with more specific results. It would be interesting to understand the factors involved in the 'how' better.

Compare that to transcending self according to Eastern traditions, or seeing the face of god according to Western traditions. It's much easier to begin using LoA than to attain permanent transcendent states. So it's almost like we've got it backwards.

Its probably true that its easier to begin using LoA, but its an approach laden with pitfalls. The problem is that the power of the LoA is enormously appealing to ego. One goes from "you create your reality on the basis of your thoughts, beliefs and feelings" (a really good PD insight) to "Aha! I can use this to get all the stuff I want!" in record-breaking time, i.e. a purely ego-driven, materialistic motive. The Eastern philosophy's strength is that is strongly dissuades such distraction, even if its benefits are less immediately tangible or recognisable (or attractive to ego).

Except...what about the possibility that aligning yourself with these three aspects of divinity -- maybe there is a synergistic effect that would accelerate the pursuit of the realization of the divine, adding the vast depth of first-person spirituality to the compassion and devotion of second-person spirituality and creating great power of manifestation.

Does that makes sense? It's not a perfect model (or a perfect explanation), but I think it's worth exploring.

Well that is an interesting proposition. But it sounds like a promising idea in theory, but I imagine it depends upon the different paradigms being fundamentally compatible so that there is a synergy, instead of conflict. I wish I understood them better to comment further on it, but I must concede I dont. Thanks for explaining your viewpoint though, I hope I've done it some justice.

[JHL]

@ Steve

The LoA is the mechanism by which you expand and evolve your consciousness.

When you live in a universe that reflects back to you manifestations of your own thoughts, you create either a heaven or a hell for yourself (or something in between). By experiencing your own thoughts in physical form, you gradually evolve into a being with a more highly developed thought structure, one that is less chaotic and more organized.

Very eloquently put, as usual! I think you've captured its essence perfectly here.

@ Acting

You could think of LOA as one interpretation of karma. Whatever intentions you hold, you will experience the consequences.

Also well put Acting, thats quite true and a good way of looking at it.

There's a point I was getting to, but alas I have run out of time today, and will have to continue with this thread tomorrow.

Hope everyone manifests a good weekend

[shetlandhawtorn]

Originally Posted by Akashic_Librarian

What do you want in life.

Answer that.

And yo uanswer your own question.

You know, sometimes the answer to a seemingly complex question may just be that simple.

[Acting Like Godot]

Originally Posted by JHL

What is the purpose of the LoA in the context of the meaning of life?

Basically it offers an experiential route to enlightenment. As your ability to consciously create with LOA expands over time, you fulfill your desires with ever-increasing ease. Finally, however, you realise that your entire reality is all illusion, created by your own warped mind, and that the fulfillment of your desires is pointless as long as you continue to have new desires. At that point in time you will decide to stop playing the game, that is, you will decide to stop having desires. Then your pure consciousness will expand, and you will be enlightened.

And now it is very late in my part of the world, and I shall go to sleep.