Now don’t arrest me, but I believe we need to examine the legislation of the Law of Attraction. The Law of Attraction as it has been taught is not infallible. There’s a reason why you haven’t been showered with the most lavish of gifts and the most wondrous of dreams upon watching “The Secret.” (though your heart may have skipped a beat and there’s a reason why.)

The Law of Attraction is not complicated. It doesn’t take an entire book to understand. Put simply it is the fact that like things attract each other. The things relevant to us are thoughts, emotions, people, and events. Yet the repercussions of this claim are great:

1. First of all, it presupposes that we create our reality; we are in some way responsible for what happens to us.
2. Furthermore, that we have some degree of control over what manifests in our lives. For instance, if we think about a new car and feel the emotion of having the car, that it will manifest in our reality.
3. Most importantly, this philosophy rests on the idea that it is a fundamental principle of how the universe works, like gravity, or photosynthesis.

These three ideas alone, based on four simple words are the foundation of thousands of books, websites, coaches, conversations, and just a couple movies. This is a modern day gold rush, a mad frenzy to understand, practice, and capitalize on a resource. But instead of exchanging gold, we are exchanging information. And instead of moving out west, we are all attempting to move up in consciousness. For everyone who does this, I commend you. And it is not my intention to deter you from your spiritual journey. My intention is to put the Law of Attraction in it’s proper context. In truth, it’s a piece that is often mistaken for the whole.

Ok, reality check. If this was the whole truth, we’d all be having the time of our lives. We’d hear these words, do a bit of visualizing, intending, wake up, and suddenly walk from our normal humdrum lives through a portal to a living dream world. That’s certainly what I believed would happen when I came across LOA. But just because there is a law of gravity, it doesn’t mean I can fly.

In reality (mine anyways) the Law of Attraction is the most gorgeous, juiciest red herring this world has ever seen. But it’s no one’s fault. The Law isn’t trying to put one over on you. The Law is, just as you are. It’s simply a step on the path some must walk. But it’s merely a scaffolding around true consciousness. The fact is, if you were enlightened you could read a phone book and experience nirvana.

So Why the Confusion?

Most people aren’t born with an inherent understanding of the law of attraction. Just like any set of beliefs we must learn and adopt them and usually they aren’t the first beliefs to be adopted. Parents and society reinforce common spiritual beliefs like one god, multiple gods, gods of nature, gaia-type lifeforces, enlightened men-deities, irreducible and indescribable concepts like the Tao, ghosts, reincarnation, karma, and no spiritual realm whatsoever. Some will move between multiples of these beliefs before they arrive at the Law of Attraction.

My path was in order: atheism, Christianity, spiritual-non-religious, Law of Attraction, Vedantic Hinduism (total mind-trip), and now I’ve arrived at something altogether different and deeper: a philisophical and spiritual unification – the Busting Loose process.

This is also not considering my dabblings in Ninjitsu, Zen Buddhism, Taoism, and Feng-Shui which were sort of somewhere between Law of Attraction and Vedantic Hinduism.

All of these have something in common. Be they religions or philosophies they must have a set of beliefs which are usually contained in some sort of sacred text whether they are written or oral. Whether you subscribe to the Bible or the Tao-Te-Ching, Vision Quests or Think and Grow rich it is understood that you must follow the principles, paths, commandments, and rituals in order to get the results you desire. If you want to go to heaven, achieve nirvana, go to shangri-la, become enlightened, or be financially free you must not deter from the rule books of your faith, lest you face harsh consequences.

Even the most wishy washy religions and philosophy atleast decree that if you do not embrace their viewpoint then you will not receive their rewards. Atheists don’t get away from this either. If they don’t live in a spiritual world with rules, they live in a material one with rules. The Constitution is another such rulebook, forcing all who live in America to obey the laws of society or receive punishment. I’m not arguing that any of the above rules are bad or practicing them hurts your life or makes you a horrible person. I’m also not arguing that they don’t add something significant to lives of those who practice them and in some cases are necessary for us to coexist. But it’s evident that no matter who you are, you approach spirituality from a cause and effect mindset. It’s simply how you are wired, conditioned, and raised.

Enter the Law of Attraction. You digest the information. It rings true in your soul. You think, wow, there is so much more to this world:

• For the first time, you may experience a feeling of power or control over your destiny.
• You are swimming.
• You feel blessed.
• You feel a true connection with god or the universe.
• You are a follower.

After this temporary high, the followers are divided into two categories: Those for whom the philosophy works and for those whom it doesn’t. This happens for a very specific reason.

Those who succeed would have succeeded just the same without it. They’re like someone who’s born wealthy opening a successful business. It didn’t really matter. They would have been rich anyway. These folks are the ones who go on to sell the books, coaching programs, audio tapes, seminars, and LOA Hats (ok I made that one up.)

Those who don’t succeed usually work with it for awhile. After all, it grants them more freedom than any dusty old religion. Or maybe it’s a fantastic addition to their current faith. Perhaps they try out different methods or interpretations of the Law. They meditate, affirm, emote, and try with the force of birthing to believe that it is working. Maybe they didn’t follow the rules well enough, they think. Once they scrutinize, memorize, and internalize every facet of the manifestational process, they wait.

• “Maybe I just need to allow it more.” Which becomes…
• “Maybe I don’t really want what I think I want.” And then…
• “After all, if this is the Law, then I should have what I want.”

They may stay here their entire lives. Or they may give it up, concluding that it’s a bunch of self help nonsense.

The former tend to become the evangelical Law of Attraction types. These are the ones that shift all of their energy towards polarizing their thought process.

“Think positive!” All you have to do is think positive, and the rest will take care of itself. This is probably true, except for the undeniable fact that to be human is to experience a wide range of emotions, including negative. Yet they surround themselves with fellow yes-men, false optimism, and zealous discipline. They may also have completely incongruous vices or some other negative outlet that they tend to gloss over. For them negativity is as sacraligious as a false idol is to a Christian.

The latter go back into the roiling soup of humanity, lost amidst a thousand and one opinions on how to live. Maybe the media takes them in, teaches them to fear the world and buy things to be happy. Maybe they find something else that works well enough. It’s not their dream, but they live on.

This is the harsh truth. One more mirror in the great hall of mirrors in our world. This is not ad copy. This is not a sales pitch. This is the trap of the Law of Attraction.

Where do we go From Here?

Let’s return to that emotion you felt when you watched “The Secret” The one that made you light, made you feel somehow more connected, like there was more going on in this world. That felt so real. Or maybe you’ve heard God speak to you. Or maybe you sat in nature and were completely at peace. Or maybe you read a passage and had a revelation. That felt real. It was. While you were busy rushing around and mining for gold, you missed the gold of the grass and the streams. You missed the gold that lined our doorsteps and that covered us while we slept. But most of all, you missed the gold that was in your heart.

This certainly sounds like something you’ve heard before:

• The best things in life are free.
• Live in the now.
• You are perfect as you are.

If it were me and I had just run the gamut of all things Law of Attraction I would take that answer as a cop out. And if I were to end the article here, it would be. But I’m here to tell you why it’s not and what to do about it.

If you fit the description of any of the believers that I have mentioned, then you have made one glaring miscalculation. You placed the answer outside yourself. Because of your hard material interpretation of reality including the sensation of the passage of time, you tend to see things in cause and effect relationships. If you are desiring enlightenment from this perspective then you subconsciously believe that you must seek it.

“Seek and ye shall find,” you think.

The problem is that, by decree of the Law of Attraction, seeking attracts more seeking. You hold a carrot in front of ourselves without knowing it and go on a wild goose chase indefinitely unless you shift uour very being from seeking to knowing.

This line of thought seems slippery because how do you quantify, measure, or exact a state of knowing? If I don’t know how to drive a car, I’ll crash it if I try. If I don’t know what it’s like to experience oneness then I’ll sit squinting my eyes while reciting chants until the sun comes up.

I’ll let you in on the real secret. Every one of us has an immediate path to knowing. It’s free. You don’t need a thing besides a desire to access it. This is why some people are just successful, why the Law of Attraction seems to work unquestionably for some, and why people who never gave a damn about spirituality can achieve their dreams and change the world. And the lack of this understanding is why when people who “are in the know” try to explain it to people who aren’t, it’s as indescribable as the feeling of being in love.

“You just know,” they say. Exactly.

What do they know?  The truth, with a capital T. Not the truth of the JFK assassination or whether aliens are real. Their truth, the place of understanding that holds their purpose, their happiness, and their wondrous life in waiting. Once entered, flowing through them will be the force which fosters ideas and passions that resonate with their soul, organizes a congruent life to match, and opens the doorway into the higher consciousness only touched by few. The Law of Attraction does work, but how well does a magnet work when it’s covered in dirt? The dirt is your buried truth, waiting to be uncovered.

In my article Quantum Physics, Your Friends, and the Truth I argued that the way we are all infinite creators is that we’re living in different dimensions and our realities are overlapping. If this is true, then each of us has our own core set of beliefs (or rules) for achieving an abundant and extraordinary life. This is why I can only show you the door. But the path to the door is the same for all of us.

If this has resonated with you, then maybe some of the dirt has been cleared away and you can see pieces of the truth glinting through. In your own time, ask yourself “Is this my truth?” Ask it about your life, your health, your relationships, your home, anything and everything. After all, you alone are responsible for your reality. Write it, ask it, confide in someone you trust. Ask yourself to reveal the truth. Make a commitment to be aware of the truth. Seek it in yourself, and you will find it.

When you find yourself thinking, or rationalizing. See if it resonates. If you feel it in your soul that what you are doing is what you are meant to be doing, than this is your truth. If not, then you were meant for something better.

It may happen slowly. It may happen fast. You may be hesitant to let go of the things that obligate but not resonate. But your expanded self has waited for this moment and once you make the conscious decision to know your truth, you will be assaulted with insights, people, and experiences that wash away the dirt. All tailored specifically for you and your journey into abundance of every kind.

If you want to know specifically, I encourage you to check out Busting Loose from the Money Game by Robert Scheinfeld.

However, once you know, you can never go back to your days of blaming, settling, hoping, or wishing. You have been welcomed. May the truth set you free.