LAW OF ATTRACTION: WHAT DOES PSYCHOLOGY SAY

The Law of Attraction (LOA), is a belief that the universe creates and provides you whatever your thoughts are focused on. It is believed by many to be a universal law, by which "like always attracts like". The results of positive thoughts are always positive consequences. The same holds for negative thoughts, always leading to negative consequences. In real life, Law of Attraction is much more than just that. According to this law, if you constantly think about your dream car or money, you will bring that to yourself. You will attract what you think. Law of Attraction believers even use the edict, "ask, believe and receive". Though it is really popular, it isn't studied in academic Psychology. It is NOT a scientific law. 

What you seek, is seeking you.

- Rumi

HOW DOES THIS WORK?

People who use and are experts in the Law of Attraction say it is powerful because it works on the subconscious. Once the subconscious starts to resonate with the new-found confidence, joy and calmness, it stops resisting, and provides you what you consciously focus on. 

The principle of this attraction is an evidence-based phenomenon with a foundation in Positive Psychology. A number of researchers have criticized the misuse of scientific concepts by its proponents.

Sadhguru says, "Law of Attraction doesn't really work. It is something that happens between opposites. If you are a part of the universe, what is there to be attracted about? To be a human, is to consciously work for what you want to attract. If your thoughts and emotions were taking instructions from you, you would keep yourself at the highest level of pleasantness, and if that happens, your entire life process will come to an ease and life will become perceptive. Pursuing a profession, making money, falling in love, will no longer mean anything to you, and what worth is that life. To be a human, you can't sit in one place and attract great things to you. In a fair society, almost everybody have 90% of their lives the way they want it to be, only the 10% is what they crib about. So logically, you are already in control of your destiny, only a little goes off."

HOW IS THE LAW OF ATTRACTION DIFFERENT FROM POSITIVE THINKING? 

• Law of Attraction - It was developed in the New Thought Movement, and was made popular by the movie, "The Secret". It states that if you achieve the state of being that corresponds to what you desire, the universe will match reality with your state of being and provide you whatever that you desire. It requires asking, believing and receiving. 
• Positive Thinking - It states that being in an optimistic frame of mind, can help you overcome any obstacles.

WHY DOES PSYCHOLOGY SAY THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS LOA:

1. LOA proponents claim that it is based on scientific theory. 

• Electrons have positive charges.
• In physics, like always attracts like (magnets)
• Thinking burns up brain matter.
• The universe hears nouns, or only see pictures of your thoughts.
• Every thought has a specific frequency or wavelength of energy. Every thought you have, travels through the brain to create whatever you are thinking about.

2. No values - While manifesting, people mostly attract material abundance and wealth. We mostly pick the goals based on wants, and not values.

3. No action - The only way to manifest your thoughts into materialistic things is to live like you've already accomplished your goal. LOA guru Esther Hicks said, "You did not come into this environment to create through action". While we know that it is obvious for action to be an important part of goal achievement, it is completely inconsistent with a belief in LOA.

3. No compassion - According to this law, if you get involved in anything negative like charity or helping the needy, you will attract negativity and poverty. "Give your attention to the rich and ignore poverty" - the LOA founder, Wallace Wattles writes. While research shows that, charitable work and empathy are important to a human, LOA believers will avoid these.

4. Mindless - To manifest something that you want, you have to make your life a place where you already have it. This will reduce your chances of planning for the future, thinking about challenges and taking actions.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Personally, I do believe that you do attract what you think. Sometimes we often observe this happening to us unconsciously, as well. Which might not exactly be co-incidence and we might actually be attracting things to us by our thoughts. It is no magic that you can visualize what you want and see yourself having it. Though, I don't like to believe exactly in "Law of Attraction". When you manifest something, and when you've received it, what do you do next? You think of something else to manifest, and you keep wanting more. I don't think it is morally correct. At the same time, I do not mind people who practice this. When it comes to Law of Attraction, I think everybody has their own opinions and beliefs. Some people seem to believe it and it works them, and for some it doesn't work at all and they don't believe it exists. 

I totally agree with what Sadhguru said, most of us are already in control of our lives, only a little that goes off is what we complain about. As a human, we can't depend on something like Law of Attraction for our accomplishments. 

If you don't believe in LOA, it does not mean you cannot receive whatever that you desire. There is a much higher power than this, which is God. 

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