Beyond the Secret: Spiritual Power and the Law of Attraction
Beyond the Secret:
Spiritual Power & the Law of Attraction
By Dr. Lisa Love
(Book Excerpt, Copyright ã 2007, All Rights Reserved. Book Available NOW on Amazon.com)
Chapter One: Orient Towards Spirit
If there is one secret truly worth discovering, it is not the secret of the law of attraction. It is the secret of Spirit. True, the law of attraction can bring you whatever you want in life, but as I mentioned before, it won’t necessarily bring you what is good for you. Only Spirit understands what you really need and why you are here.
Seek to understand what Spirit wants for you in this life.
As you will discover the law of attraction can be used in healthy or unhealthy ways. A child can be attracted to a flame, but the best result is not to put her hand into the fire and get burned. Metaphorically, Spirit can be seen as a divine parent, seeking to guide you into greater wisdom and maturity. And what Spirit ultimately wants for you is simple—to be conscious of the universe.
Spirit also wants you to live an abundant life. But, let’s be clear on what spiritual abundance is and what it is not. An abundance of Spirit is an abundance of spiritual wisdom and insight. It includes an abundance of spiritual values like patience, love, compassion, maturity, respect, appreciation, intelligence, harmony, inner peace, joy, and a dedication to what is often called the good, the true, and the beautiful.
Spiritual Lessons Are Everywhere
Yes, your dharma, or spiritual purpose in life, may involve great monetary wealth. But, then again, it may not! While meditating on wealth and spirituality, I remember one particularly powerful experience. I was reflecting on the times when I had money and when I did not. At the time I was near the ocean. It had just rained, and slowly my attention was drawn to the vast expanse of water in front of me and then to a puddle by the side of the road.
Oceans and puddles. My attention went back and forth between the two. Should I damn the puddle for being so small? Wasn’t it serving a purpose? Wasn’t it helping to collect a pool of water until the sun could evaporate it? Didn’t I have multiple childhood memories of splashing about in puddles? Didn’t I remember the delight, the laughter, the squealing in joy at seeing water splash all around me as my boot stomped down into the water? Yes, puddles had brought a lot of joy into my life.
As for oceans, having grown up in the Midwest, I always found it a magical experience to head down to Florida to see the vast expanse of water before me: the waves rolling in and out, surfers riding the waves, sea creatures of all kind inhabiting a whole new universe below. Oceans were always mysterious and magical to me, not to mention healing and soothing, which was why I was standing in front of the ocean at that time.
Of course, lakes had always brought a lot of joy to me as well. There were lots of lakes in the Midwest. I loved the water. I liked both sailing and water-skiing, and swimming was always one of my favorite things. Picnics on the grass. Family outings. Those early teenage romantic rendezvous. Except for the jiggers, which could bite you, I never had a memory of a lake I didn’t thoroughly adore.
Even water in a glass has a purpose. I don’t know about you, but when I am thirsty, it is water in a glass and not water from a lake, ocean, or puddle I most want to drink. I realized that no matter what form or shape water tookit wasn’t how much water any person did or did not have. It was the function of the water and how well it was put to good use.
And, in that moment I realized that money and all of the “stuff” people acquired with it was exactly like water in this world. I came to understand that it wasn’t how much any person had or didn’t have that mattered. It was the spiritual lessons they were learning from what they possessed and how well they consciously, lovingly, and intelligently managed their possessions, and how capable they were of sticking to spiritual principles no matter how much wealth, or what kind of circumstances they faced in their lives. Perhaps this is why so many spiritual people go through both prosperous and adverse situations. Like the double dorje, they are learning to stand poised at the center of the circle, staying spiritually balanced no matter the outer circumstances of their world.
Spirit Overcomes Fear and Selfish Desire
As you’ve probably figured out by now, when I talk about using the law of attraction, I am not talking about getting a lot of stuff. Stuff may or may not make you happy, and I will go into that later in this book. It’s just that people acquire stuff as a way to avoid their ultimate fear—that stuff may really be all there is in this universe. Just like the stuff of our bodies, one day all other stuff will disappear. The only thing that will remain is Spirit, and even that is difficult for some stuff-driven people to accept and comprehend. Though I have personalized Spirit metaphorically as a divine parent, it really is the vast, all-encompassing force that pervades the universe. As my own mystical experiences have revealed to me, Spirit lives within everything. Nothing can escape it and everyone is “it” in a very fundamental way.
Understand that Spirit is infinite; forms are finite. Spirit is abundant; forms are not.
Thus, those who know Spirit intimately understand beyond a shadow of a doubt that nothing in this universe can be destroyed. Death is an illusion. Whenever anything appears to die, it simply changes shape and form. As Albert Einstein said, “Energy, cannot be created or destroyed. ” This realization radically shifts your experience of death and desire. Though The Secret also mentions this Einstein quote, the book fails to illuminate or appreciate how, when you remove the fear of death, you don’t desire things in quite the same way.
For starters, you no longer act as a human being who wants to consume everything in sight, leaving nothing of real value for your children and grandchildren in the future. You begin to understand that humans who are only focused on consumption are really like a cancer on this Earth. Just as cancer cells in your body could use the law of attraction to get what they want despite your ultimate demise; humans need to understand that if they are not careful they will use the law of attraction in a destructive manner reaping devastation on the larger world around.
Of course, even if the law of attraction is used in a selfish way, Spirit will ultimately turn it toward the good. But why make those mistakes? Why set yourself back and misuse the law of attraction instead of using it in a spiritual way?
The difficulty with the law of attraction is that it is entirely neutral. Just as The Secret shares, the law of attraction is like a genie in a bottle here to grant your every wish. Often, what you are wishing for is not what Spirit is wishing for you! Just as a child can wish to eat nothing but cookies all day long, what you wish for as an adult may or may not be good for you in the long run. And, since the law of attraction is neutral, it doesn’t care. It will give you want you want regardless.
Remember the law of attraction is neutral. Though you can use it to get whatever you wish for, it doesn’t always give you what Spirit wishes for you!
Spirit Reveals Your Ultimate Destiny
So, here’s the rub: The next time you are busy polishing that lamp so all of your wishes can come true, think twice about what you are doing because the most powerful use of the law of attraction is ultimately to attract to yourself a clear understanding of how to wish! And, one of the best wishes you can make is to gain insight into yourself and your spiritual purpose, mission, or ultimate destiny in this world.
Now, I cannot tell you what your ultimate destiny is. Though I can attempt to guide you, only Spirit knows what it is for certain. But, I believe Spirit has a fundamental purpose—to wake you up so you can realize that ultimately you are Spirit, and so is everything else around you. Call it enlightenment, self-realization, unity consciousness, oneness, or being filled with the Holy Spirit. It all leads to a quest where you understand that you are here not to consume but to contribute. You are not here simply to acquire but to give! All that you receive in life is ultimately a gift from Spirit that teaches you to be more loving and aware on this Earth. And, you might as well face it: No matter how much you use the law of attraction to wish it would not be true, your time on this Earth is finite! How you spend your time here is important. So, what on this Earth will you do?
Will you spend your time and energy only trying to obtain your material desires? Especially in the world today, it is possible to attract to yourself a lot of material goods! And, quite frankly, attracting stuff is easy. Just think of all the people you know who have knowingly or unknowingly used the law of attraction to get what they have wanted in life. They may have cars, money, a dream home, the best-looking partner or spouse, good health, and even well-dressed and educated children. On the exterior, their lives look like a dream. Yet, despite all of this, they may also remain lackluster and walk through life half-consciously. To cope, they often medicate themselves with alcohol, Prozac, illegal drugs, adrenaline-rush activities, sexual conquests, and much, much more. Sadly, despite all of their prosperity, too many people in our present society act like empty zombies. Maybe that is why our culture is so increasingly obsessed with horror movies. As a whole, we are trying to wake up to the horror of the empty lives too many people are currently living.
Attract More Spirit into Your Life
This is why it is so important to attract the things of Spirit no matter what the outer circumstances of your life. Then you will know that if you can stay connectioned with Spirit, grow in wisdom, and have a heart capable of love, you will remain in a very good mood, just like Job in the Bible who was stripped of everything and everyone he loved for a while; you will discover it ispossible to stay in touch with Spirit for better or worse, in sickness and health, till death do you part, no matter what.You will learn to remain in a state of inner joy and peace whether you take on the role of a Bill Gates or Mother Teresa. My research and life experiences have shown that me that people can accomplish this. But, I have worked hard and long to know the secret of Spirit in my life. I know this secret of Spirit really has the power to free you.
So, get busy trying to attract an understanding of the purpose Spirit has for you. But, remember that you cannot write that purpose yourself, especially if it is selfish in nature, without paying a price in the end. What does Spirit want most from you? To become conscious and to love. How do you love? By experiencing yourself as connected to everything around you, and as everything and everyone, to learn how to take better care of yourself. Despite the illusion that you are separate from other people, we are all interconnected. Similar to a hand, even though you may believe you are only a finger, you are part of a hand nevertheless. As you wake up to this fact, you realize how important it is to care about what happens to the people and the overall planet around you. This is not an easy task. To truly love, you have to understand what everything around you needs to grow and prosper. Try attracting that information to you!
Of course, learning to love everyone and everything around you may seem like an impossible task. That is why it is important to begin in small ways. If you can just learn to love and care for yourself, that alone is a huge accomplishment. If you can also learn to love, care for, and respect your family, neighbors, co-workers, and community—wow! What a wonderful world it would be if we could all do that!
So, why not begin right now to use the law of attraction to help you live a loving and spiritual life? And, don’t forget to attract to yourself an understanding of just how much you have to offer. That way you will seek to make your life more about contribution, instead of acquisition, as you live from day to day.
Therefore, use the law of attraction to benefit not only yourself, but everyone around you.
Orient toward Spirit—Key Insights
1. Seek to understand what Spirit wants for you in this life.
2. Understand that Spirit is infinite; forms are finite. Spirit is abundant; forms are not.
3. Remember the law of attraction is neutral. Though you can use it to get whatever you wish for, it doesn’t always give you what Spirit wishes for you!
4. Use the law of attraction to benefit not only yourself, but everyone around you.
Dr Lisa Love
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