Since it has been officially “Oprah-ized”, THE SECRET has captured the Country and the world with the promise that every person has the God given ability to take charge of their own experience, manifesting a life worth living according to their own personalized concept of what that looks like to them.

For some it may be material things such as money, a new home, etc. For others it may mean creating a healthy body or a healthy dynamic relationship.

Still, for others, it may mean simply creating more time to enjoy “being” who they know themselves to be by deepening their relationship with Life and the Beloved.
 
At the end of the day I believe we will come to an awareness that even after we have manifested all we could possibly desire at the material level through positive thinking, which is ALL well and good, there will arise an awareness within that knows that a life truly worth living goes deeper than anything we can ever experience at the material level.

It has to do with one sensing his or her spiritual unity with the universe, coupled with an understanding of how the universe operates, resulting in a knowingness that the principle of Life is always for us, never against us.

While I believe it could have been more clearly stated in THE SECRET, there is, without question, a spiritual element that is infused in the Law of Attraction that is no secret.

Buddha certainly knew the power of the Law of Attraction, when, in the Dhammapada, he is quoted as saying, “Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think. Suffering follows an evil thought as the wheels of a cart follow the oxen that draw it . . . joy follows a pure thought like a shadow that never leaves”.

Likewise, the great teacher Jesus proved he too understood the same principle when he is quoted as saying, “It is done unto you as you believe”. (Matt. 8:13)

That sounds like the Law of Attraction to me. Spiritual masters from every age have understood the immense power that comes when we unify ourselves and our deepest thoughts and beliefs with the Infinite Presence of an omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent God.

I believe all of the excitement around THE SECRET is a good thing.

Why? Because it gets people thinking and, even if they don’t all agree, it points out what the great masters from antiquity knew as a universal principle: The Law of Attraction is working for us 24/7, whether we like it or not.

To use it consciously rather than unconsciously is the key. Too often our thoughts come floating up from that subjective part of our unconscious mind without our even being aware of them and many of those thoughts are based in fear and negativity.

The challenge for many of us is we have been using the Law of Attraction our entire lives, not being aware of its unbiased neutral nature. Our thoughts are guided by our beliefs.

The universe simply affirms the deepest beliefs we hold about life and ourselves in general. Irrespective of what those thoughts and beliefs are, the Law of Life has one answer—yes!

This is not to imply that if our life is reflecting conditions of an unpleasant nature that we should feel guilty or beat ourselves up—it simply means that once we awaken to the awesome power which we wield by virtue of our unity with a Law that always agrees with our predominate thinking, we can begin to change our mind and think new thoughts based on new and inspired beliefs and ideas about our self and life.

At the level of “being” human, sometimes things happen that surely we did not consciously intend to “attract”. Perhaps it’s how we choose to respond to those things that most define how effective we are at using the Law of Attraction in life affirming ways.


My point is creating an intentional life worth living is more than simply having “positive” thoughts. That’s not enough.

It’s really about being awake enough to develop a consciousness (or belief system) from which thoughts of unity, wholeness and joy flow with grace and ease, rather than thoughts anchored in fear, lack and limitation, which often seem to come with the territory of living with a sense of separation from Source and life as a whole. As within, so without…as above, so below: Ancient wisdom for modern times.

There is another element regarding the Law of Attraction that needs to be emphasized.

While it did not show it in the film THE SECRET, there IS a process between the time the woman glances longingly at the diamond necklace and the time it winds up around her neck.

In other words, between the “thought and the thing” some sort of action had to take place. Perhaps she was inspired to take on a second job to pay for it or it was a gift. It doesn’t really matter, but some action had to take place.

Inspired ideas MUST be followed by appropriate action. Action plays a major role here—we must be able to hold ourselves accountable for our actions. We can all think a good positive thought and it’s easy to turn powerful thoughts into juicy feelings.

It’s the action part that causes problems for many people. When it comes to taking action many people simply go unconscious or slip into airy-fairy land, believing that their job is done after thinking a pleasant thought, and that somehow the universe is just going to plop what they desire in their lap.

While God may feed all of the little birdies, He doesn’t drop the worms down their throats.

In short, if we don’t take action based on new and inspired thoughts, the positive thoughts and related good feelings soon fade. The action or inaction that follows a positive thought is as important as the thought itself.

If we do nothing different, we get nothing different no matter how positively we may be thinking. There is really no secret in all of this.

The Law of Attraction is ancient wisdom and part of the wisdom comes in understanding that we are in partnership with the Infinite.

In this partnership the universe does its part and we must do ours. Our part is to be clear on what we want in life and build a thought system that honors that vision…and then follow it, trusting that Life knows how to get us where we most desire to go.

Focus on what you want, rather than what you don’t want because either way the Law of Attraction is going to support you in making it so.

The real secret then is in learning how to use the Law of Attraction in conscious and intentional ways—in ways that serve in creating wholeness, not only for us, but for our world as well.

As a result, we will create a life truly worth living. Buddha was right. Our lives are shaped by our minds.

May your life be the perfect reflection of a mind that is at peace with itself. May your life be a reflection of a mind that knows its true self worth.

That worth is beyond measure.

Peace,
Dennis Merritt Jones, DD

www.DennisMerrittJones.com

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