The Ordinary Mystic

I read that in the New York Times today. Ironic, but not surprising. A few months ago I stumbled across some information about the law of attraction, or the power of conscious creation. In particular was a video called The Secret, which explains in pretty simple language the principles of the law of attraction. (In fact, it is belief in the power of intention that gave me the nerve to create this web site.)

At one part in the video the talking heads explained that it does no good to push against things that you do not want, because that just results in more of those things coming into your life. Now I know that many people view all that as nonsense, and that there is no way that what you think and feel about has any effect whatsoever on what actually is. They would say that the real world works the other way around - that there is a reality that exists independently of our thoughts and that is what affects how we feel.

Well, getting back to the video - they presented examples of how common it is for groups to push against things, as evidence by the “war against drugs”, the “war against teenage pregnacy”, and the “war against terrorism”. They claim that the more you push against, say drugs, the more drugs you bring about.

So it seems that the New York Times has provided evidence of this effect with regard to the war against terrorism. Instead of resulting in a safer world, the war against terrorism as symbolized by the war in Iraq has actually increased the global terrorist threat. Damn!

So what’s the alternative? How can a nation ignore the “reality” of terrorism and expect it to magically go away? Well, I believe that it can happen, when enough people work together to create the reality of a peaceful world. It would require a shift in thinking within enough people to counteract the negative thinking that is causing the problems that we see. I know that’s a very simplistic thing to say, but this post is meant to bring attention to the negative results of the war against terrorism, not come up with a detailed solution. The real solution begins with each one of us individually. I guess it’s similar to the quest for a cleaner environment. The fact that I’m not an environmental political activist, or the fact that my own recycling efforts by themselves have little effect considering the magnitude of the problem, does not mean that it is pointless for me to recycle.

So it is with the need to change our own thinking. The evidence is there that what we focus on is what manifests. So what is is that we are focusing on? Well, we could ask ourselves “what is my life like?”

Maybe that would provide a clue.