Manifestation, law of attraction, vibrational alignment, etc. You may have seen it on the old “The Secret” movie, all over TikTok or even on your Twitter timeline. Drake, Jim Carrey, Oprah, and Bruce Lee are just a few that have used it. But what is it, really?
The law of attraction is believed to be a natural law, establishing that everything exists in vibration/energy (which isn’t wrong, as everything is made up of vibrating, energetic atoms). Everyone is constantly attracting the vibration they put out into the world. Similar to how the law of gravity acts on all objects, the law of attraction constantly attracts the sum total of all your past/present thoughts, subconscious beliefs and preconceived notions into your life, wrote Tara Swart, MIT lecturer and neuroscientist, in June 2020. So, if you focus all your mental energy/thoughts onto something, then it will manifest in your physical reality. But, you don’t manifest what you want: you manifest what you are. You, in a sense, are responsible for everything that you have seen, felt, or experienced.
It poses a refreshing alternative to the modern human’s mindset: constant complaint, dwelling on the past, self-imposed mediocrity and relentless negativity. Sounds pretty cool, even as a practical self-help tool.
“…Manifestation can happen voluntarily or involuntarily, and your best tool is yourself and your own mind,” says Abe Bredl, a SMHS sophomore. “I have tried to manifest a couple things—[like] talking to someone. I wanted to know better and they did text me first, but that was relatively a short-lived thing…” he continues. “I’d say I believe in manifestation, but the results will be circumstantial based on what you’re asking for and how you’re expecting it to show up for you.”
The law of attraction has various possible origins, all of which are up for personal interpretation. Most aspects are found in Hermeticism, which, according to encyclopedia.com, is a religion based upon ancient texts written by the Egyptian god Thoth (Hermes in Greek mythology). Hermeticism stresses that the microcosm reflects the macrocosm—or, in English, that your conscious thoughts affect what happens in your outside world. It states that every person holds divinity within them, an idea supported by almost all other religions (i.e. the phrase “God is within you”). According to SGI’s World Tribune, even “Nichiren Buddhism teaches that our existence is identical to the universe as a whole, and the universe as a whole is identical to our existence.” We have to cultivate joy and power within ourselves first in order to see them project onto the greater world.
Specific passages of Hinduism’s Bhagavad Gita as well as the Bible strengthen the principles of the Law further. Some notable sections include BG 7:21: “Whichever devotee desires to faithfully worship a particular form, I fortify his faith in exactly that (form)”, and Mark 11:24 in the Bible: “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
Manifestation YouTubers (such as illuminatingjoy, Joseph Alai and RoxyTalks) attribute most of their knowledge to Neville Goddard: the mystic, self-help author of “The Feeling is the Secret” (among many others). He based most of his manifestation teachings on a deeper interpretation of the Bible; “Simply dare to assume you are what you want to be and you will compel everyone to play their part,” he boldly stated in his “No Other Foundation” collection of lectures.
No matter which perspective you choose to examine the law of attraction with, they all share a common thread: faith, spirituality and a belief that divine power comes from within.
“My knowledge of manifestation is minimal, but I do understand that the idea has a lot to do with inner power,” says Marielle Dorsey, senior at SMHS’ Middle College. “In order to manifest something you have to believe you have power over the situation and the best, most successful manifestations are positive ones you have for yourself.”
There is a lot of vague, overly-positive information on the manifestation process that portrays it as simply making a wish, but true manifestation requires some hard work. So, you want to deliberately practice it for yourself? Experimentation is completely harmless; and even if you’re a skeptic, try it out with a scientific attitude!
First, get clear on your desire and embrace the fact that you want it. What exactly do you want? What would your life and thoughts look like if you already had it? For the purpose of this tutorial, start small in order to slowly increase your belief in the process—try manifesting a free drink, seeing a very specific breed of dog or having someone compliment your hair. Avoid focusing on what you don’t want; according to ironic process theory, if I say don’t think about a purple elephant, you’re probably going to think about a purple elephant. Impressing “don’t wants” upon your subconscious only makes you focus on it more.
Second, manifestors do a focusing technique. “Visualization” and “scripting” are some great ways to focus awareness and energy towards what you want. Visualization involves using all five senses to picture already having received your desire. Scripting requires you to write out what you’d actually be thinking, feeling and saying once you have your desire, kind of like a “success journal entry”. The main point is to feel and think thoughts as if you’ve already received it.
Third, you must believe that it is possible. In Buddhism philosophy, everything exists in a “web of interconnectedness”—everything is fundamentally dependent on each other, creating a larger, harmonious whole. If we apply this to the Law, then you are already connected to every single thing you could possibly want in the world, and you are connected to whatever higher power governs the universe. Everything is in your reach if you choose to believe so.
Fourth (a step skipped by many) is that you must release resistance—any negative thought or feeling that contradicts the version of you that already has your desire. You wouldn’t be doubting your manifestation or getting really impatient if you already had it, right? Resistance usually scales with the size and believability of your desire, so you must consistently work to iron it out every day with a “mental diet”. This may mean setting “intentions” or “affirmations”: “I am worthy of my desire,” “I intend that my thoughts create effortlessly” or “I intend that they text me”. Mental diets drill good thoughts (instead of complaints) into your head until you actually start to believe them, or at least believe that they’re possible.
The fifth and final step is to detach, a principle heavily emphasized by Buddhist teachings (“The root of suffering is attachment”). Detaching means simply not needing your desire. Practicing gratitude is a great way to remind yourself of all the great things you already have; lack does not attract abundance. If you feel like you cannot detach from your desire, that’s perfectly normal. It takes time and it takes acknowledging that you don’t know how to detach. Whatever you resist persists, so accepting your obsession/attachment is the key to naturally set the detachment process in motion. Try and see what triggers anxious thoughts about your desire and work to untangle all your hindering beliefs accordingly. Letting go of attachment and negative beliefs feel pretty good, too!The ultimate point of manifestation is to create and be the best version of yourself now, and that starts with getting rid of all the negative beliefs you constantly saturate yourself with. Change your old stories. Love yourself and your life a bit more, even if it takes some lying—it’s not like telling yourself you suck all the time is any more of a truth.