Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Religion and the Law of Attraction

Ellie Walsh put forward a great idea for the current edition of Law of Attraction Blog Carnival concerning Religion and the Law of Attraction.

Tell me your perspective - your experience - with religion and the Law of Attraction.
Do you practice both?
Do you feel religion enhances or inhibits utilizing the Law of Attraction?



Tell me your perspective - your experience - with religion and the Law of Attraction.

I am a recovering Catholic. I attended Sunday mass every week. Received the sacraments of Baptism, Confession, Communion, Confirmation and attended Catholic schools all but 2 of my pre-college years. I seriously contemplated the priesthood and considered myself, not only a good Christian (acting in the ways of Christ), but also a devout Catholic.

While attending Mater Dei High School, my religion classes taught me about the Bible, other religions, Church history and teachings. The more I learned, the more the Church seemed too restrictive, dogmatic, full of conflict and I felt that my relationship with God and the Universe was more peaceful and loving, than to be burdened with rules and sins. But that is my perspective.

Like many young people, I then did some searching. I found community in other Christian churches, less restrictive, but still found no real connection.

I discovered meditation and Buddhism and later yoga. Peaceful and tranquil, but seemed to me, to retard my desires and ambitions. Finding balance was challenging for me and at times, still is challenging.

Then, through a series of events and people (those I attracted into my life, ya think) started learning about the powers of the mind. Then as I read personal development books, studied more religions and metaphysical sciences, I started to see similarities and connections between them. They are not exclusive of each other, they are interpretations and explanations of the grand puzzle of "life the universe and everything" that priests, philosophers, scientists, monks, thinkers, bloggers and others have been trying to explain as our understanding evolves.


Do you practice both?

No. What follows is my opinion, my beliefs and what I learned from my personal experiences.

I see religion as a stepping stone along the evolutionary path of consciousness. Look back over history and you'll see that polytheism is based upon the personification of the forces of Nature that were observed by early humans. Much like young children personify their toys and bring them to life. Later as the consciousness of humanity matured, monotheism developed and created a greater one and all encompassing force. Again, monotheistic religion personified Universal forces for human understanding. Now, in this New Age, leading edge thinking takes spirituality and understanding beyond monotheism and we find the universal forces and laws apply to everyone and can be used by anyone.

Although not religious, I consider myself spiritual. When I meditate, when the thoughts that wander through my mind are gone, I feel a sense of closeness, sometimes a oneness with everything. It's possible that my practice is novice if one were to compare with others. But those comparisons are a trap, so I will just say that my experience is my experience and fulfilling for me. As it should be for you.


Do you feel religion enhances or inhibits utilizing the Law of Attraction?

Religion can do both, enhance or inhibit.

Religion can enhance a person's utilization of the Law of Attraction when belief in their deity(ies) is strong and their faith that their gods/goddesses will grant them their desire through prayer or ritual. It is that belief and faith that brings about manifestation. Religions provide a good foundation for belief and faith. They provide teachings and affirmations for followers to develop and grow their faith. With an understanding of the Law of Attraction, a religious person can make better use of prayer, for example, replacing "Oh God, don't let me loose my house to foreclosure" with "Oh God, help me find ways to keep living in my home."

Those members who have faith and belief in their god's power to grant their prayers are just as successful in manifesting as those who are non-religious yet have faith in the Universe or even faith in themselves.

On the other hand, religions can inhibit utilization of the Law of Attraction when one is taught that we are sinful, unworthy, inferior, etc. and can only be "saved" by faith and, devotion will bring reward in the afterlife. It is these beliefs in sin, unworthiness and inferiority that cause resistance to receiving abundance. If one believes themselves unworthy (resistance), then those prayers asking for help will appear to go unanswered because of the belief of unworthiness.

The difference is a religious person can take the path of "it's god's will I'm in this condition" whether good (abundant) or bad (lack). The deliberate creator, one who accepts their role in the manifestation of their experiences, acknowledges their own resistances (or at least should acknowledge their role) and can develop themselves personally to reduce and eliminate their resistances and bring about abundance. Resistance is resistance, whether you are resisting God, the Universe or resisting your own deservings of being happy and fulfilled.

For the religious person, I believe that this New Age we are in, can actually make for a better relationship with their gods and goddesses. Just as offspring learn better ways to ask for what they want from their parents, so can followers learn to ask deities for their desires to be fulfilled. Knowing how to frame prayers when asking for divine assistance makes for a better communication process in the relationship with the Divine.

Whether you are religious or spiritual or not, I believe the Law of Attraction is a natural force available for use by anyone.

What do you think? I invite you dear reader to leave your comments or share your thoughts with me.


Other Law of Attraction Carnivals:

Law of Attraction Blog Carnival #29

Law of Attraction Blog Carnival #28

Edward Mills list of Law of Attraction Blog Carnivals

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Dean...

What a Great Article! I can identify, as I was brought up a Catholic...

While that religion works for many in my family - I respect that - but it did not work for me... I too traveled the road searching and had many experiences.

Today I consider myself spiritual not religious...

Thanks so much for such a great article revealing much of your path, your experiences and your perspective!

Dean Lacono said...

Hi Ellie,

Thank you for the compliment.

I agree, many people can find their happiness and spiritual fulfillment in any religion. My mother, a good Catholic woman, taught me that there are many paths to the same place. She didn't always understand the road I was on, but she respected my choices.

I use to say that I'm an Eclectic Non-Conformist, but now I just say I'm more spiritual than religious.

My pleasure to share.

Blessed Be.

Anonymous said...

Dean, this is an excellent post! I'm looking forward to including it in my carnival.

Anonymous said...

hello Dean,
i have great admiration for your work but being a christian (a praticing catholic) it is my duty and desire to tell you and the rest of what i have discovered.

for the past 2 years i have been sucked in to anything and everything about Law of Attraction (LOA, quantum physics and all. I admit it has made me more spiritual and a better person and i agree like attracts like. what you reap is what you sow. i became an avid follower. until one day i discovered there is one problem with the LOA - it has taken God out of the equation. Making Jesus' death on the cross and resurrection worthless. Why? because the LOA teaches us that we can create our own relity our own destiny - that we are Gods and we can do what we wish. Listen to Abraham Hicks youtube about God. It doesnt validate God as God but us/we as Gods. The LOA is ATTRACTIVE - just like the fruit of knowledge given to Eve at the garden of Eden and where satan said eat this fruit and you will be like God.

And so i can say just like in the poltergiest movie 'they're baaack'.

the spirit guides - the enlightened ones - they are the fallen angels that God has banished from heaven. Banished because of thier pride. God has not taken out thier powers and so full of wisdom and very articulate they can tell us what we want to hear - the mystery of the universe etc, quote the bible and give us 99truths to get 1 lie in. Just ONE lie in is all it takes to build Satan's army. How many millions around the globe are followers of the LOA? it's increasing by the day.

think about it - all of it boiles down to 'WHAT I WANT'. Doesnt this raise alarm bells to you? of Self Centerdness and Pride? the very reason that our loving God has said not to eat the fruit - because He knew what would happen -just as God's angels have separated because they too would like to be Gods - all knowing.

May i invite you please to go to this site : www.letusreason.org
- the author of this site was once a full fledged new age follower for 15 years until he discovered what i too have discovered.

God Bless you.
cv

Theresa said...

Anonymous

Did you even bother to read the article? Especially the part under the question if/how religion enhances or inhibits utilizing the Law of Attraction? Especially paragraphs 3-5 in that section? I doubt it, because your comment has nothing to do with the article.

I know what being taught all of that does; even with family and others that encouraged me, the teachings are still there, that ultimately nothing you do is worthwhile or worth anything.

It was, and still is, a struggle to remind myself that I am worth something, that "it's God's will I'm in this condition" is a lie. That's cost me so much in life already. It's the fact that I've sat around passively relying on "oh gee, God's going to take care of me, and wherever I land is good enough, 'cause that's where he wants me to be..." that's gotten me into my situation/condition.

Try reading the article next time, instead of spamming for your website. And stop hiding behind "anonymous." I've seen you do so in several blogs within the past few years.

And being a Catholic does not automatically mean you are a Christian, by the way.

Anonymous said...

Nice article. Though I believe that religion has always been--and will continue to be--harmful to society, the law of attraction works whenever their is faith. It doesn't matter if that faith is directed toward what a person feels is "God."
If a religious person truly believes that God will heal them or grant their particular request, then faith is in motion and will manifest what is asked for into their life.
Now, if we could only get past the "My God is better than yours" thing!