We Attract EVERYTHING!!!!

[Vicariously Yours]

Why is this such a difficult principle for many (too many, I think) of the people on this forum to accept? The Universe is attraction-based, which is the basis for the Law of Attraction and IM: like attracts like. You cannot experience anything that you have not in some way attracted. And the Law of Attraction is a constant: you can't employ the law only on those occasions when it's convenient or painless, or when you're trying to manifest a Porsche, and then "turn it off" when it gives you something too hot to handle. As in the case of the young girl in Florida who was raped and then buried alive. Tragic? You bet. Only the most callous would say otherwise. It is the worst kind of pain to have to bury your child. And her manner of death is staggeringly difficult to comprehend. But anyone who professes a belief in the Law of Attraction, and then in the same breath declares that anyone who suffers some sort of tragedy--be they infants dying of starvation, or pre-pubescent girls brutally raped and murdered, young men dying of AIDS, or elderly folks with Alzheimer's--can't possibly, on some level, have attracted their circumstances, doesn't truly believe--or understand--the Law of Attraction.

Here's the train of thought that leads me to make such an audacious and incendiary remark:

1) God is the All That Is. This means that there is nothing that is not God. That includes all the people in the Universe, the animals, the rocks, the air. Everything, and all the space that appears to separate it, is actually God.

2) God is omnicient. God knows everything. And all the little "pieces" of God are omnicient in the same way (this is because there really aren't any "pieces" of God...God is one tremendously huge single entity that "appears" to be a jumble of separate things. Remember, there isn't anything that isn't God).

3) God is the creative force (all the force, actually) of the Universe. And since we are all God, we, too, are that creative force.

4) Obviously, nothing "happens" to God. Whatever "happens" does so at the clear behest of God.

5)It naturally follows from the above that nothing "happens" to anyone--regardless of appearances--without their invitation. It is a mistake to believe that our puny brains, and the conscious mind that is housed there, is the true intelligence behind our infinite existence. That is actually the province of the Soul, which is infinitely more powerful, and is outside the realm of time and space.

The Law of Attraction is merely one means by which the Soul creates its various experiences, both good and bad (read, convenient and not-so-convenient). The conscious mind participates, of course, and contributes toward the decisions made by the Soul. But it is rather like a force being applied to the tip of an iceberg, attempting to change its course in the water: it takes a considerable, persistent force to manage the change, expecially if the change is drastic.

So. A Soul decides to incarnate on the Earth as a girl. It might appear that this girl is delicate, innocent, naive, and vulnerable. It might appear (even to her conscious mnd) that she is alone and separate from God. The reality is that she is a physical extension of a tremendously powerful spiritual entity (itself an extension of God) with a very specific agenda. And one of the items on that agenda is to meet a certain man on a certain day who will do some horrific--to our limited perception, anyway--things to her, and she will pass back into the spirit realm with one more interesting experience under her/his/its belt. And it's off to the next exciting adventure.

I freely admit that this scenario demands a certain element of faith. My views are not for everyone, of course. But it seems to me that an integral part of the Law of Attraction (one rarely mentioned) is this oneness with God, and the realization that we are imbued with the same powers.

We mourn the little girl, I think, because we do not see behind the physical masks we all wear. We do not firmly believe in our oneness with God. Hence, the little girl's suffering and death are a (false) reminder that we, too, could experience such a fate. And we are terrified.

[impaul99]

Originally Posted by Vicariously Yours

It is a mistake to believe that our puny brains, and the conscious mind that is housed there, is the true intelligence behind our infinite existence. That is actually the province of the Soul, which is infinitely more powerful, and is outside the realm of time and space.

Why would you assume that the conscious mind is housed in our puny brains?

Also, why would you assume that the soul is outside the realm of space and time? If it was outside the realm of time, it would mean that it is in eternal time. If it was in eternal time, it would mean that our soul is God. If our soul is God, then it wouldn't need to experience anything on earth because it already experienced everything in all of time.

It's hard for me to explain, but I believe that our soul/spirit *IS* our consciousness. Our bodies and brains are just projections of that consciousness. Even though undreneath the illusion we are actually above space and time, within the illusion of existance as seperate souls we are actually choosing to participate in space/time and choosing to project our physical bodies into the physical world.

In other words, our souls are pieces of fragmented God choosing to create space and time (albeit unconciously) and projecting our physical bodies on earth as a means to learn the lessons and experience the experiences we are choosing.

I do not disagree with your statement that we attract everything. I've been of that school of thought myself for a long time. I'm just adding my point of view on a few things you mentioned.

The only thing I don't quite agree on with you is that the girl experienced the rape in your example for the purpose of feeling what it would feel like to experience that process, kind of like choosing a new candybar you haven't tried yet just for fun. I think it's more probable that the girl attracted the event unconsiously.

[Vicariously Yours]

All good points, Paul. Thanks for your input.

I do believe that the girl attracted the event unconsciously. But I also believe that the Soul might have some influence over the unconscious/subconscious, which, in turn, (and via the Law of Attraction) brings on the experiences.

Oh, and thanks for not bashing me about the things I've said here. I'm just trying to understand this thing called Life, and sometimes the only way I can do that is to throw out a statement just to see how others will react to it. As in this case: you've mentioned a few clarifying points I hadn't considered, but which I think are quite valid.

Bill

[Vicariously Yours]

It's hard for me to explain, but I believe that our soul/spirit *IS* our consciousness. Our bodies and brains are just projections of that consciousness. Even though undreneath the illusion we are actually above space and time, within the illusion of existance as seperate souls we are actually choosing to participate in space/time and choosing to project our physical bodies into the physical world.

In other words, our souls are pieces of fragmented God choosing to create space and time (albeit unconciously) and projecting our physical bodies on earth as a means to learn the lessons and experience the experiences we are choosing.

Nicely put, Paul. Makes sense this way. Thanks.

Bill

[Lisa777]

Bill said: "But I also believe that the Soul might have some influence over the unconscious/subconscious"


So with this statement are you saying there IS another influence? Could you define what you mean by "soul"?

[searstower]

@bill

I actually agree with Bill's first post. The 'universe is one and we all are god' idea sits better with me.

I will admit that I don't really see any logic that could prove that this is how the world works, and I can see how logic, actually, is on the side of subjective realists. After all, any evidence or feelings or "but then...?" questions could all be answered by saying, "Well, you wanted to see the world that way, so that's how you created it."

It's funny, because I do think subjective reality is real and common, I just don't see it as being the be all, end all about how the world works.

In my opinion, we live in a subjective reality but at the level of consciousness, not at the level of the creation of the entire world.

If our own subjective reality was all there was, and we realized that, wouldn't that feel kind of pointless? "Ok, so I just made up the last 24 years of my life. What do I want to make up about the next 40?" Where's the challenge and fulfillment there? How can you find happiness if you believe in subjective reality?

Also, why would you assume that the soul is outside the realm of space and time? If it was outside the realm of time, it would mean that it is in eternal time. If it was in eternal time, it would mean that our soul is God. If our soul is God, then it wouldn't need to experience anything on earth because it already experienced everything in all of time.

We don't need to experience anything on earth, we choose to experience it. I believe we are spiritual beings having a physical experience, and we choose to have these experiences because it helps us understand ourselves better and evolve more.

This may be too woo woo for some people, but I believe that before we come to earth as humans, we are given a mission to complete and we choose certain aspects and experiences of our life. We choose the family we will be born into. We choose the country, the timeperiod, and many of the major events in our life.

We all come here with a purpose. Whether that mission is to be hurt so that we can know love better, to spread our light to foreign lands or to give others the opportunity to help us, it's up to each individual to figure out and to pursue.

The only thing I don't quite agree on with you is that the girl experienced the rape in your example for the purpose of feeling what it would feel like to experience that process, kind of like choosing a new candybar you haven't tried yet just for fun. I think it's more probable that the girl attracted the event unconsiously.

How can you open yourself up to be truly loved when you know no fear or hurt?

In my view of the world, souls who choose missions like this deserve massive respect. Because there is really no separation, whatever lessons they learn help the rest of us. And because consciousness is omnipotent, that soul knew what they were getting into. They saw how it ended, how lonely and hurt they would be, and did it anyway.

And I'm describing them as separate to facilitate understanding of my point, but since 'they' really are 'we', 'we' deserve massive respect.



Anyhow, I thought I'd put this out there in case it helps anyone else on their quest. I believe these things simply because it makes me feel better. Open discussion is, of course, encouraged, but if anyone wants to flame or troll, too bad.

Radiant Rebecca

[impaul99]

Originally Posted by searstower;50963In my opinion, we live in a subjective reality [I

but at the level of consciousness[/I], not at the level of the creation of the entire world.

Yes, brilliant. THat's what I think too. God, defined as being all there is, would have no need for subjective reality. Subjective reality is only needed when used by an incomplete being that believes in duality at the moment. Subjective reality requires duality.

If our own subjective reality was all there was, and we realized that, wouldn't that feel kind of pointless? "Ok, so I just made up the last 24 years of my life. What do I want to make up about the next 40?" Where's the challenge and fulfillment there? How can you find happiness if you believe in subjective reality?

Your spirit/soul participates in subjective reality. Why? Because it's using it for a purpose. Whether you want to say it's to learn a lesson of some sort, to overcome some form of flaw or imperfection, or just to experience life, in either case there is some form of purpose behind the need for subjective reality to exist other than it existing just because we haven't figure out it exists yet. If it worked that way, there would be this big world of 6 billion people (all subjective reality projections) and then all of a sudden while doing something, someone on earth realizes we're in a subjective reality and with that realization POOOF we all dissapear back into being God.

We don't need to experience anything on earth, we choose to experience it. I believe we are spiritual beings having a physical experience, and we choose to have these experiences because it helps us understand ourselves better and evolve more.

Yes, and because we are spiritual being that still need to understand ourselves better or learn lessons, it means we are still incomplete/unperfect spirits. In other words, we haven't yet realized and accepted fully that we are actually God. Our lessons here take us in that direction.

This may be too woo woo for some people, but I believe that before we come to earth as humans, we are given a mission to complete and we choose certain aspects and experiences of our life. We choose the family we will be born into. We choose the country, the timeperiod, and many of the major events in our life.

We all come here with a purpose. Whether that mission is to be hurt so that we can know love better, to spread our light to foreign lands or to give others the opportunity to help us, it's up to each individual to figure out and to pursue.

Yup, except that I believe we don't choose BEFORE we arrive, we choose WHILE we arrive. Meaning, we are continually choosing our realite in the present moment. In other words, the future and the past are not as stable as we think they are.

[absvan]

Originally Posted by searstower

@bill

This may be too woo woo for some people, but I believe that before we come to earth as humans, we are given a mission to complete and we choose certain aspects and experiences of our life. We choose the family we will be born into. We choose the country, the timeperiod, and many of the major events in our life.

We all come here with a purpose. Whether that mission is to be hurt so that we can know love better, to spread our light to foreign lands or to give others the opportunity to help us, it's up to each individual to figure out and to pursue.

Radiant Rebecca

If everything is predecided, then we really dont have any free will. We have to live with the plans that make our destiny. Doesnt this conflict with LOA which says that we choose our destiny.

I have had this question in my head and havent found a clear answer. Ofcourse I have different possible solutions but I would like to know what everyone here thinks about this.

[searstower]

If everything is predecided, then we really dont have any free will. We have to live with the plans that make our destiny. Doesnt this conflict with LOA which says that we choose our destiny.

You are right. If everything is predecided, then we don't have free will.

But I don't believe everything is predecided. Think of it this way...

The parameters are predecided, but the end result is not.

Just because we come here with a purpose doesn't mean we have to fulfill that purpose. Furthermore, I think most people's purposes are general enough that they can be fulfilled in a wide variety of ways.

We have free reign and 100% free will not to fulfill the mission that we set for ourselves.

So we do choose our destiny.

Radiant Rebecca

[absvan]

I am still confused.

This is what I understand. We have a mission. But how we accomplish it is upto us and therein lies our free will. If I am right so far, then I didnt understant the last part -

Originally Posted by searstower

We have free reign and 100% free will not to fulfill the mission that we set for ourselves.

If we really dont have to fullfil the mission, then whats the purpose of the mission in the first place??

[escapee]

I do believe that the girl attracted the event unconsciously.

I think the girl was simply a victim of a much powerful evil intention from external force (or LOA from a bad person ) . She is a victim and she did very little to attract the incident to herself. It's the other way round . The rapist forced his powerful wicked intention/LOA on the innocent and unawared girl that he met by chance and it could be everyone else girl.

I'm trying to inject a little bit of logical sense here ..

[searstower]

Originally Posted by escapee

I think the girl was simply a victim of a much powerful evil intention from external force (or LOA from a bad person ) . She is a victim and she did very little to attract the incident to herself. It's the other way round . The rapist forced his powerful wicked intention/LOA on the innocent and unawared girl that he met by chance and it could be everyone else girl.

I'm trying to inject a little bit of logical sense here ..

Unfortunately escapee, there is no place for logic in belief.

If you feel that the girl was a victim of a more powerful external force, then you must also believe that you could become a victim to a more powerful external force, and that someone else could force their will on you.

I personally find that disempowering, so I choose to believe something else. I may not be right, but it helps me sleep at night.

Radiant Rebecca

PS - By the way, here's an interesting somewhat related fact I learned recently. A group of researchers spent years interviewing serial rapists. When asked what the group of women who got away from their potential rapists did differently, the answer was the same straight across the board. "Anything."

Of all the women these men had targeted, only 5% even bothered to try to fight back.

That means that 95% of these woman believed they were a victim before they were actually victims. There's some food for thought for you.

[searstower]

Originally Posted by absvan

I am still confused.

This is what I understand. We have a mission. But how we accomplish it is upto us and therein lies our free will. If I am right so far, then I didnt understant the last part -

If we really dont have to fullfil the mission, then whats the purpose of the mission in the first place??

I don't know for sure. I'm guessing the bigger purpose is to evolve the whole race and the human consciousness. That's an answer that makes sense to me and seems to fit, but I don't know what the purpose of *your* mission is. That's for you to find out.

Radiant Rebecca

[escapee]

If you feel that the girl was a victim of a more powerful external force, then you must also believe that you could become a victim to a more powerful external force, and that someone else could force their will on you.

Knowing that someone else could force their will on me is a good thing because it makes me more alertive to defense against or avoid such forces with my defensive LOA/intention.

The victim is just a little girl who may not even know what is rape ..

plz come back to reality

[escapee]

Is There a "Criminal" Brain?

The prefrontal cortex of men who have antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) has 11% less gray matter (1). PET scans, which measure the uptake of glucose to determine the amount of cell activity, have shown that the prefrontal cortex is less active in those with ASPD (8). In one study, 38 murderers were tested; twelve came from bad backgrounds and 26 from good backgrounds. The subjects from good backgrounds showed 5.7% less activity in the medial prefrontal cortex compared to the subjects from bad backgrounds (8). The activity was 14.2% less than the bad background subjects in the right orbital frontal cortex (8).

These results provide a lot of evidence that the brains of those with antisocial personality are different from normal brains. The prefrontal cortex is known to inhibit the limbic system, which is an area of the brain that gives rise to aggressive behavior (8).

[searstower]

Knowing that someone else could force their will on me is a good thing because it makes me more alertive to defense against or avoid such forces with my defensive LOA/intention.

ah... Knowing that someone else could try to force their will on you a good thing.

It may seem a small grammar mistake, but by saying 'knowing that someone else could force their will on you', you've basically already accepted your role as a victim.

Anyway, this is getting a bit off topic but I thought I'd point out that little tiny important word change.

[Vicariously Yours]

Originally Posted by Lisa777

Bill said: "But I also believe that the Soul might have some influence over the unconscious/subconscious"


So with this statement are you saying there IS another influence? Could you define what you mean by "soul"?

The soul, as I see it, is the non-physical entity of which the physical self is a much smaller, much more limited extension. Put another way, the soul is a fragment of God whose purpose it is to experience existence from a unique perspective. (God, being the all that is, cannot, per se, experience anything, given that God is already everything. But God "fragments" Her/Him/Itself into smaller "souls" for the purpose of experiencing, of viewing events from a limited perspective.) The soul determines the physical experiences it is interested in having, and creates extensions of itself (physical incarnations) in order to fulfill those intentions. Since the soul is outside of time, it can have various physical extensions occuring at several points in time simultaneously. It has been suggested that this simultaneity can explain the appearance of reincarnation...but I won't go there right now.

I am on the fence when it comes to determining just how much the soul influences its physical extension. I am inclined to agree with some of the earlier posts on this thread who propose that the soul might have an initial agenda of sorts, but its physical extension can overrule that agenda if it so desires. (I used to practice astrology, and there was an old adage I learned early on: the stars incline, they do not command). However, if the physical extension doesn't put any conscious thought into what it wants to experience, or any conscious effort in that direction, then the "default" experiences, as preconceived by the soul, are what will be experienced. The soul would exert its influence, I believe, by communicating with the unconscious/subconscious mind.

Of course, I don't claim any originality along these lines...much of what I believe comes from a mix of The Seth Material and Conversations with God.

I, too, do not believe that an entity can visit its influence on another entity without that entity's explicit invitation (whether conscious or unconscious). Meaning that there are no victims on this plane (or any plane, for that matter). I still maintain that the girl we've been talking about was not a victim; her attacker was invited, and for reasons that were both good and divine, whether we as onlookers can know (or understand) those reasons or not.

[Acting Like Godot]

Originally Posted by searstower

PS - By the way, here's an interesting somewhat related fact I learned recently. A group of researchers spent years interviewing serial rapists. When asked what the group of women who got away from their potential rapists did differently, the answer was the same straight across the board. "Anything."

Of all the women these men had targeted, only 5% even bothered to try to fight back.

That means that 95% of these woman believed they were a victim before they were actually victims. There's some food for thought for you.

Not that it is that relevant to the discussion ... but I should point out that I've also read that rape victims who were murdered / badly injured also overwhelmingly belong to the category of women who tried to fight back.

[Acting Like Godot]

Originally Posted by escapee

.... because it makes me more alertive to defense against or avoid such forces with my defensive LOA/intention.

And you just committed a common mistake with your IM technique.

[Acting Like Godot]

Originally Posted by absvan

If everything is predecided, then we really dont have any free will.

Oh it is quite simple.

We all have free will. However, it is limited. (Ask any smoker, drug addict or alcoholic, and you will see).

We can seek to expand our capacity for free will. This is a lifelong exercise, if you choose to embark on it.

[escapee]

And you just committed a common mistake with your IM technique.

When you know there is a chance that Tsunami will hit again in the future by scientific prediction. As an authority of the affected area, what would you to do to reduce the damage and loss of life ? Using IM technique to manifest a world where there is no Tsunami (wishful thinking that goes against the law of nature ) , or to manifest/build something ( eg alarm device ) that actually saves life?

[absvan]

[QUOTE=Acting Like Godot;52075]
We all have free will. However, it is limited. (Ask any smoker, drug addict or alcoholic, and you will see).
[QUOTE]

Thats not what I am asking. I am talking about the overall picture. In this thread its been mentinoed that we come here with a mission a.k.a. purpose to fullfil. I am tring to figure out if the baby who died prematurely or the people who died in plan crash came here to die in that manner..??? I know that in subjective reality, my consciousness is creating a world based on my beleifs. I might have thought about plane crash about some point but I do know I havent thought about a young girl being raped. So how did it happen?

We have free will to create our life and make decisions on a day to day basis. I beleive in that. I think our purpose is to break free from identification with form and go back to our higher self. Other than that do I have a purpose to fullfil when I am identifying myself with objective reality???

I hope my post makes sense.

[absvan]

Originally Posted by Acting Like Godot

We all have free will. However, it is limited. (Ask any smoker, drug addict or alcoholic, and you will see).

Thats not what I am asking. I am talking about the overall picture. In this thread its been mentinoed that we come here with a mission a.k.a. purpose to fullfil. I am tring to figure out if the baby who died prematurely or the people who died in plan crash came here to die in that manner..??? I know that in subjective reality, my consciousness is creating a world based on my beleifs. I might have thought about plane crash about some point but I do know I havent thought about a young girl being raped. So how did it happen?

We have free will to create our life and make decisions on a day to day basis. I beleive in that. I think our purpose is to break free from identification with form and go back to our higher self. Other than that, do I have a purpose to fullfil when I am identifying myself with form/objective reality???

I hope my post makes sense.

[searstower]

In this thread its been mentinoed that we come here with a mission a.k.a. purpose to fullfil. I am tring to figure out if the baby who died prematurely or the people who died in plan crash came here to die in that manner..??? I know that in subjective reality, my consciousness is creating a world based on my beleifs. I might have thought about plane crash about some point but I do know I havent thought about a young girl being raped. So how did it happen?

First off, let me qualify my post by saying that I'm not very familiar with subjective reality and my beliefs are based on a different world view (see above).

In my view, those people may indeed have come here to die in that manner in order to help someone else along to complete their mission. They may have had other things to do while there were here too, but I believe that may have been part of their reason for being.

When I was 11, my mother died. Looking back on it many years later, I realize that the development of some of my best traits can be traced directly back to that event. Despite the fact that it was very unpleasant at the time, I have a feeling that her early death was a part of her purpose.

We have free will to create our life and make decisions on a day to day basis. I beleive in that.

FYI, I believe the free will goes way beyond our day to day decisions.

I think our purpose is to break free from identification with form and go back to our higher self.

But we are never really separate from our 'higher selves'. We may temporarily accept the belief that we are separate from god, but that doesn't make it so.

And since I believe that we choose to come here in the first place, then why should we feel a need to break free from identification with form? To me it feels as if rather than breaking free from form, our broad, general purpose is to evolve form and make it more godlike. And it's working.

Other than that, do I have a purpose to fullfil when I am identifying myself with form/objective reality???

Yes. Your purpose is to enjoy yourself, to experience wonderful things, to help others and to shine your light brightly.

Well, at least that's part of my purpose. You are free to choose/find your own purpose.

[cbreeze]

My beliefs exactly - that we choose our parents, physical challenges, gender, etc. We are here to experience. God/ATI is so loving that he lets us choose if we want to crawl or dance through life. Every moment of our thoughts we are choosing and usually by default. I'm a firm believer of you get what you want and you get what you fear. But, in the long run, I believe we have the power, instilled within to alter our selfs, our neurology, physical health, etc. It's our reality. Once you believe this with all your intentions, you can morph into any physical garment/appearance you'd like! (i'm not there yet - darn). But, yes, you've explained it very well. The little girl, chose this experience subconsciously just like you and I chose to be wealthy/destitute, etc., in other lives. Life is hard, but, if you learn that you truly do create everything, how empowering is that???? We must have REALLY wanted to come in now at the time of the shift, to neutralize the negative with positive thoughts to balance the earth and outcome of us - for we are all one and ripple our vibes to others hopefully positively and lovingly. As airy fairy as this sounds, love is all there is. (and here I am hating my ex) - but, we chose that outcome and experienced, learned from the hurt/heartbreak/deceit/and now know what we truly want as long as you're true to yourself.

[Max Power]

What the????...........This thread has no 'Max Power Affect'

The word attract/attraction implies lack. You don't ever attract things into your life, you create everything. The whole principle of attracting is a soft delaying process of denial and being irresponsible.

Also in regard to horror and tragedy, unless you bring it into your reality then how can it exist?? It doesn't. You manifest it for a reason and if it happens to you, again you created it. How can you be responsible for all the good things in your life, but not the bad? You can't, it's all you, everything.

Observation is creation.

Max

"Remember it's impossible to bend spoons, it's not the spoon that bends, it's yourself"

.

[Anagogy]

Originally Posted by absvan

Thats not what I am asking. I am talking about the overall picture. In this thread its been mentinoed that we come here with a mission a.k.a. purpose to fullfil. I am tring to figure out if the baby who died prematurely or the people who died in plan crash came here to die in that manner..??? I know that in subjective reality, my consciousness is creating a world based on my beleifs. I might have thought about plane crash about some point but I do know I havent thought about a young girl being raped. So how did it happen?

In some cases, I would say yes, absvan. All consciousness is on a drive back to Source whether it knows it or not. It's automatic. You plant a seed, it grows up. On the drive back to source consciousness must experience certain things in order for it to take another step closer to That Which Is. Think of it as aquiring the proper "fit". Sometimes souls choose to die in such ways to help others aquire the proper fit, sometimes themselves. Eventually, everyone experiences everything though.

On LoA and Freewill

Free will is directly proportional to how much knowledge you have at any given time. Before life, when the illusion of time is not present, we see the probability currents our host bodies will likely take with our soul energy present inside them. The choices you make in life are related to how aware you are at any given time. You can do virtually anything you want to do in life, but what you wanted to do was preprogrammed before incarnation -- if you wish a linear reference. That is not necessarily a bad thing. Were you to rid yourself of disposition, and increase your awareness exponentially, you'd be aware of more choices, and with the lack of disposition for one choice over another, you would be in a maximum position for free will (as there would be a more equal probability for each potential choice). However, in such a scenario, the choice becomes arbitrary. The power achieved is inversley proportional to the desire to use it. You get more free will, but at the same time you lose preference for the outcome of the free will.

Notice how easy it is to have things when you don't care whether you have it or not? Disavowing desire is akin to disavowing the ego -- the barrier between you and the object you desire. This denies the illusionary separation. Your desires, beliefs, and conceptual models create this thing we call "disposition". You see, if it wasn't for your belief system, and other mental conditioning, you wouldn't have a preference for say sunshine over rain, warmth over coolness, or say, sugar over salt. When you throw your conditioning out the window, you move a couple steps closer to heart beat of the universe. In actuality, you were already there to begin with, you just forgot. It's time to become conscious of that reality. When you are free of desire and predisposition you gain the power to have anything you choose. At the same time, you realize you already have everything, so the choice need never be made. Afterall, at this state one "thing" is no better or worse than another "thing". Both are just "things". It is your belief system that says otherwise. Another example of power being inversely related to the desire to use it.

You see, desires reaffirm the separation and make it more real to us. Afterall, you wouldn't be 'wanting for something' if you already had the thing you wanted. So the more you desperately want something the more you are beating yourself back against the wall. When you want something, trust that you already have it, or become utterly content that you never will -- both are the same in the calculus of faith. Yoda was wise to say, "Do or do not -- there is no try". Try implies failure. Your beliefs don't create your reality -- they ARE your reality. "Thoughts Attracting" is a mental crutch. It is a way of thinking about it, but there is a deeper way. It's not that these things are floating out there and then you attract them to yourself and find yourself in the pit of woe and despair. You manifested it. It's fun to play with words.

That may seem like a semantical distinction, but here terminology is very critical to understanding. The whole concept of "attraction" is rife with thoughts of separation. Think of it this way: you already have everything you ever wanted. Becoming successful at manifestation involves correcting the perception that the contrary is true. Attraction makes it sound like it is some sort of force -- like the laws of physics. The law of attraction/manifestation isn't like that. It's more like an agreement. The universe responds to you, because it IS YOU.

The trick is to convince yourself of that.

[Liara Covert]

Hi Max.

I like your view that we "create" rather than "attract" our circumstances. One thing some people struggle with is how to recognize that their conscious thoughts differ from their unconscious desires (and fear).

For example, a person may think he or she has mentally put a difficult situation behind them, and yet, the source of the problem (another person or conditions beyond contlor) doesn't disappear.

If it was you, how would you zero on on this and change it for the better? (This question is also open to otehr respondants).

[cylon]

This may be what you're talking about. I have a friend who I am having trouble relating to lately, one of those things where I'm changing and he's still the same. There's some stuff that he's not really upfront about, he sort of fakes it, and it causes me grief because I can't really hang out with people who are not honest with themselves.

ANYWAY, I was writing this very thing in my journal, how it was bothering me. That I'm questioning the value this friendship has to me... which is a tough thing to do.

Out of the blue he basically comes clean and says he is pretending and that he's not really what he says (indirectly of course!). This big facade he's built up over the years, came crumbling down and I felt like I could actually relate to him more because of that. Whether or not it's enough to maintain the friendship, I don't know.

I believe this is a result of my thoughts... something I thought would never happen, happened. Maybe he picked up on the fact that I was becoming more distant, who knows. But the timing of me writing in the journal and him being more honest about himself, was pretty freaky.

So I guess that's an example of the person or "problem" just sort of changing. I didn't believe this was possible. I've thought of manifesting as cars and jobs and stuff, but apparently, it is EVERYTHING.

I'm sure Max has an interesting take on your question.

[NotesMaeve]

All this Taoism-like stuff makes my pretty little head hurt.

Sometimes things just are. Nah, I didn't attract every bit of good fortune. Sometimes the universe just doles out utterly rad gifts, like being born middle-class and not totally stupid, but how I use those? Up to me.