Attract this!

As the Law of Attraction gains more leverage among the fashionably enlightened set, rumbles of dissent are being felt throughout the blogosphere. It was inevitable that disagreements over the details of LOA would arise among followers. Although some of the debaters are posing some interesting philosophical questions, others seem to be engaging in the latter-day version of the medieval debate over how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.*

Speaking of pinheads, I recently came across an interesting blog by a Las Vegas-based professional self-promoter named Steve Pavlina,** who seems to be seriously into the Law of Attraction. On his blog, Pavlina attempts to answer some of the more disturbing questions about how LOA really works.

One of the chief tenets of LOA is that you attract everything that happens to you, good or bad. If you think good, positive thoughts, you will attract good, positive things into your life. If you think bad, negative thoughts, your life will be full of badness and negativity.*** This, the LOA believers say, is a scientifically proven fact. It’s all somehow related to the intentions you put out to the Universe. This, however, has disquieting implications when one thinks about innocents such as babies, children and animals. Does an abused child or animal, for example, attract its own abuse? Well, along comes Steve Pavlina to answer some of these questions. For example:

Q. Do children, babies, and/or animals put out intentions?
A. No. Your own body doesn’t even put out intentions — only your consciousness does. You’re the only one who has intentions, so what takes precedence is what YOU intend for the children, babies, and animals in your reality. Every thought is an intention, so however you think about the other beings in your reality is what you’ll eventually manifest for them. Keep in mind that beliefs are hierarchical, so if you have a high order belief that reality is random and unpredictable and out of your control, then that intention will trump other intentions of which you’re less certain. It’s your entire collection of thoughts that dictates how your reality manifests.

Q. If a child is abused, does that mean the child intended it in some way?
A. No. It means YOU intended it. You intend child abuse to manifest simply by thinking about it. The more you think about child abuse (or any other subject), the more you’ll see it expand in your reality. Whatever you think about expands, and not just in the narrow space of your avatar but in all of physical reality.

Whew. Glad he got that straightened out. In all fairness, let me add that as a preamble to the Q&A on his blog, Pavlina admits, "The Law of Attraction gives rise to some tough questions that don’t seem to have good answers. I would say, however, that these problems aren’t caused by the Law of Attraction itself but rather by the Law of Attraction as applied to objective reality."

That darned objective reality is always getting in the way, isn’t it?

A California woman named Christine Cole would likely disagree with Pavlina's implication that animals don’t have the consciousness necessary to "put out intentions." A horse is a horse, of course, of course, but YOU can talk to a horse if you take Christine’s course. Christine is an Expansion Coach™, which apparently doesn’t have anything to do with helping people eat like a horse and gain weight. Instead, she conducts workshops where horses – yes, horses – teach people about the Law of Attraction. Most of the courses take place on her Sonoma County property, Full House Farm.

According to her website, Christine works "in cooperation with the unique perspective of horses, sharing similar information to that revealed in The Secret and What the Bleep Do We Know?." Our equine friends have a special ability to help us corral the Law of Attraction.

Christine views the horses as the teachers while she acts as interpreter for them. You can learn their language, the universal language of vibration, which is an experience that deepens our appreciation of nature and the web of life. Her intention is to provide you with a safe environment in which to learn about vibrational awareness in order to gain confidence that when you ask it is given.

One course offered is called "Resonance: Intentional Leadership," which teaches team building and leadership training. This course is taught in cooperation with consultant, life coach and vibrational awareness specialist Janice Drescher. Here’s a hint of what you’ll learn if you take the course, though there’s little information about just how you will learn it:

The way horses live is based on a deep understanding and awareness of how one holds their personal space and the strength of intention therein. Intention carries an energy or vibration as tangible to a horse as physical touch is to a human. When working with horses, you can reestablish and affirm your power of intention. You will not be riding the horses, rather communicating with them in such a way that your own awareness will soar.

I don’t know about all of the LOA stuff, but if I were taking a workshop, I’d darn sure rather work with horses than with most of the horse’s rear ends who are conducting LOA-based workshops these days.

Meanwhile, speaking of The Secret, that hustlers' franchise continues to grow. A new, improved version of the glorified infomercial has just been released. According to one of its stars, "This one is longer, smoother, more emotional, and includes more segments of some key people, including me." The book version is now in book stores, and there’s an audio CD version as well, in case your senses haven't been oversaturated by watching the movie 60 or 70 times a week, as recommended by its backers. And The Secret 2: The Next Step is scheduled to go into production in January for release in August 2007. You see where this is going, don't you? There will always be another great secret, and another, and another, and another...

While reading the blog of the above-mentioned Secret star, who was also featured on the recent Larry King infomercial about The Secret, I came across this comment by a guy named Rob:

I just watched the Larry King show that I recorded the other night and I had a wonderful experience watching and learning. BUT THEN I was smacked in the face by the very next words that came from the TV via Anderson Cooper..."Good evening every one, a deadly storm, a killer tornado leaves death and destruction and a night of grief..."

Uggh.

I have just decided that I'm not watching TV for 30 days. Instead I'm going to read and reread some good books...

Does anybody reading this blog have some nominations for my reading this month?

Damn that whole annoying death-and-destruction thing. If those North Carolina trailer-park residents had just read the right self-help books, if they’d been even remotely cognizant of the Law of Attraction, they probably could have avoided attracting that darn tornado. But hey, it’s not up to us to help these people, or even to spend our valuable time and precious attraction energy thinking about them. We just need to block out all of the unpleasant stuff and keep buying the right books and taking the right workshops.

One thing is certain: Despite the disagreements among true believers, the Law Of Attraction industry is booming, as today’s top New-Wage practitioners continue to attract more and more followers who come bearing high hopes and pockets full of disposable income.

I wonder…if we all just ignored all of these hustledorks, would they go away?

* Actually, the "head of a pin" bit is inaccurate, but that's how the saying goes.
** Pavlina is also another one of those professional beggars on the street corners of cyberspace ("Will motivate for money"). There's even a special Donation Page on his site, where you are encouraged to send him as much money as you can because "Steve wants to spend his time directly helping people by creating new blog posts, articles, and podcasts; by speaking to groups; and by conducting public experiments -- always with the primary intention of serving the highest good of all. If you want to support Steve in his mission to help people escape fear and live up to their true potential, please make a contribution. Any amount is appreciated."
Hell, I'd like to sit on my behind all day writing this blog (for the highest good, of course), and have people send *me* money. Maybe I need to set up a special Donation Page too.
*** But then I keep thinking about that old maxim, "Opposites attract," which has its roots in the (scientifically proven) fact that opposite electrical charges attract each other. Positive attracts negative, and vice versa. Positive repels positive; negative repels negative. So…doesn’t that mean that if you think bad thoughts you will actually attract good things to yourself, and vice-versa? Just wondering.