Introduction
When it comes to reality creation, I have realized that there are lots of different schools of thought. One of the most common discussions that are taking place in the last couple of months is the law of attraction vs. the manifesting community.
In this post, I am going to walk you through how each of them is perceived and my thoughts on the matter. My intention with this post is that you make up your own mind in the matter and decide by yourself with all the information at hand.
Defining the terms
It is my view that before getting into any discussion, you need to be sure that the terms of the discussion are really clear. That way you can avoid unnecessary overlaps or misunderstandings. So let’s start by defining what is what.
What is the law of attraction?
When you really start researching the topic, you will quickly realize that everybody talks about it and nobody can really articulate properly what it is. Some call it a new age thought trend, some think that it is as old as the Egyptian empire.
To me, the law of attraction belongs among the 12 universal laws of the universe. They were explained by the hermetic philosophy dating as far back as the Egyptians. With that being said, the modern interpretations of the law did not appear until the 19th century. People from completely different parts of the world and extracts of society started to talk about this concept.
The concept of attraction is the same as in plain physics: like attracts like. If we part from the premise that we as human beings are energy, we have to deduct that a particular type of energy attracts the same type of energy. And from here comes the famous:
“thoughts become things”
According to the mainstream Law of attraction, if you maintain a positive outlook and present mind, you would attract into your life the things that you truly desire effortlessly.
Allow me to make an incision here, cause I noticed that people are confused effortless with actionless. Being present, unreactive and of positive nature doesn’t really mean sitting at home and meditating all day waiting for a miracle to happen. It means following your joy and giving the best of yourself. Everything is more effortless when you do it with joy and good disposition. We all learn that from Marry Poppins back in the day with her song “a spoon full of sugar…”
What is the manifesting community?
The manifesting community mostly revolves around the teaching of spiritual teachers. Such as Neville Goddard which, although is not the only one, it is the most well known in this community.
The approach here is that all possible realities are already created and you can access those realities with the power of your imagination. There are multiple techniques to achieve this quantum jump from one reality to another, but the base idea is the same. Impress your subconscious mind with a desired destination or outcome and hold it for long enough that the external reality will shift to provide that exact outcome to you.
What are the differences?
There are many apparent differences between those two thought processes. I intend to analyse the main ones.
The specificity of the desire
One could argue that the main difference resides in the specificity of the desired destination. While the manifestation techniques are designed to lead you to the specific outcome you desire, the general understanding of the law of attraction is to follow your joy to an unknown destination that matches the feeling you want to experience.
I am not really sure if that is actually true. Any desire whether for a particular outcome or matching feeling comes from the realization that you desire something that you currently do not have. That realization tends to relate to a specific event that you would like to experience in a different way.
While the law of attraction community tends to go about it in general terms, it doesn’t change the fact that by doing it that way they reduce the importance of the specific event, which in turn tends to get you to the specific result faster as there is less resistance to be dealt with.
Attraction vs. Assumption
In the famous documentary The Secret, author Rhonda Byrne, seems to imply that holding a thought for long enough would attract that thing to you. It even had a representation of a wave coming out the actor thinking the thought.
The idea was that your thoughts create the reality that you are hoping for by attracting the same energy. It seems like you send a frequency to the universe and the universe responds in kind.
Now manifesting works a bit differently at least in theory. You part from the idea that everything that is and will ever be is already created. You simply have to select the reality that you want to experience by assuming the state that would align with your desire. Neville Goddard who was a big fan of quoting the bible uses this allegory to describe the process:
“In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”
John 14:2
Instead of attracting anything you simply shift from one reality to another where whatever you want is already created.
The empty room
Imagine an empty room. If you were to decorate it, it will involve a vast amount of energy: deciding the design, choosing the furniture, buying it, transporting it, putting it together, placing it and so on. Now imagine that you could actually step out of the room for a little minute to a corridor full of doors. You hold your vision for the room, letting reality do its thing. By the time that you walk back into the room, the room decor is exactly to your specifications without any unnecessary effort. That is the type of manifesting Neville is talking about.
In my opinion, assuming the state of the reality you want to experience and the calibration of your vibration do not seem that far apart. In both, you are holding the idea of the experience in your mind. Only how “it comes to being” seems to be different, but in all honesty, even the most advanced teachers out there do not seem to have a complete and full understanding of how reality actually works and why it is bendable.
Following your joy vs. Living in the end
This one is another funny difference. People like Abraham Hicks have been firm defenders of the idea of “following your joy”. But what does that mean? The idea is that you keep reaching for better thoughts all of the time.
When life gives you a negative experience, you use that experience as information that helps you decide what you actually want. Once decided you follow what feels good to you. You hold on to those positive thoughts as long as possible and release the negative ones as soon as possible.
By paying attention to what feels good to you will eventually bring into existence the experience you want to live.
Manifesting goes about it from a different approach. You select the specific experience first. As we talked about it before, you hold that vision as a done deal. You start living your life from the perspective of the person that already has that thing.
You might ask “but what is the actual difference?” In both, you hold your attention or thought to get what you desire. True, but in one you focus on the journey and in the other you focus on the final results.
Honestly, I have to say that the subtlety of the difference makes it difficult for me to consider it as such. But then again, strong followers of either tend to fight over the details.
The big similarity
Whether you are a fan of one or the other, both are Reality Creation techniques. The main premise for both of them is: “reality is created from within”.
The idea that your consciousness can create the world that you experience around you is not new. You have examples of that for over millennia. What is new is the access to those reality creation techniques by the general public.
We all know that circumstances are subject to change. Most of us haven’t given a thought about how we can change it by thinking the right way. Both manifesting and Law of attraction are excellent techniques to hold the end in mind and live life by design even if you take the “magic” part out of the equation.
Focused thinking towards your objectives will eventually get you there. A positive outlook will bring you allies on your way making things easier. A strong why or vision will keep you on track when things seem to go sideways. Both these trends will help you get there.
Conclusion
I am a big fan of letting people make up their minds, so you should decide for yourself. For me when it comes to reality creation, I truly believe that Awareness or Consciousness, as you might prefer to call it, is like a big round brilliant diamond. It is impossible to see from every angle at the same time, so every trend or community only can see a part of it.
In my personal life and when it comes to manifesting, I devour every piece of information. It has to do with Reality Creation and I do not see differences. I see another piece of the puzzle. I adopt what suits me better and let go of the things that do not agree with me. At the end of the day, I want to follow my joy to my specific desired destination.
