Karma and the Law of Attraction

The law of karma, the law of attraction, and the law of cause and effect are all essentially descriptions of the same law in different terms. What you put out you get back, what you sow, you reap, yadda yadda. Although these laws are framed in different ways, and people hold different beliefs around them, they are in essence the same. Karma is unique mostly because it’s proponents believe that it follows you from life to life; this is not generally what people think about the law of attraction or cause and effect. However, whether you believe in reincarnation or not, and whether you believe that Karma follows you or not, no matter how you look at it, it is undeniable that there is a force which attracts to you the energies which you put out. These ‘energies you put out’ can be thoughts, intentions, words, actions, or a combination of all of the above. I believe that Karma is more forgiving than most people think. This is evidenced by the fact that positive thoughts seems to have so much more power than negative thoughts. Positive intentions often manifest in ways that are greater than what was ever imagined. Most of us have examples of this in our lives if we are paying attention. Aren’t many of the truly good things in your life even greater than what you would have expected? Aren’t many of the bad things in your life not really all that bad when you look at them in perspective? The system is rigged toward the positive. Positive feelings and thoughts will always create more and create faster than the negative. The problem is that most of us are caught in the negative so much of the time that we are still manifesting the negative – what we don’t want. We are still creating negative karma even though it is easier to create positive karma.

Karma often seems like something that we are a “victim” of, but that is only because the negative karma we create is usually done in unconsciousness. It happens when we are not paying attention. Lama Surya Das gives an example of a pickle jar. Imagine that you open a jar of pickles and become distracted after opening them (the phone rings, you get a text, etc.), then while you are distracted you put them back in the fridge without sealing the lid. What happens? The next time you go to the fridge to get the pickles, the lid comes off and you drop them. Now you have shattered glass, pickles and pickle juice all over the floor. You probably curse. If you don’t remember doing this yourself you might even instantly blame someone else like your spouse or child for being careless. Most of us have experienced something like this. Our action that we do in unconsciousness, (while we are distracted) causes an effect that is undesirable. In “The Secret” they discuss how the law of attraction is working all the time, even when we are not paying attention. Karma is the same, since we are essentially talking about the same law in different terms. It is working all the time, each moment of each day, with each thought, each action, each reaction, we are creating new karma, new manifestations. Thus, when you drop the pickle jar, remember that you still have a choice. You can react in anger and blame, or you can simply clean up the mess and move on. The latter decision will not create any more bad karma on top of the mess.

The unconscious stream of dialogue that most people have running through their heads is creating their karma, it is setting the law of attraction in motion. For most of us, it is difficult to pay attention 100% of the time, but regular meditation can help you learn to quiet and control your thoughts. What is going through your head most of the day? Are you thinking good thoughts about others? Good thoughts about the past or future? Or are they disparaging thoughts about others, and negative or fearful thoughts about the past or future? Whatever you are thinking will create more of the same, your thoughts are an energy which will attract like energies. Your feelings are a feedback system, so if you have trouble tracking your thoughts, which most of us do, pay attention to your feelings. They will tell you if what you are thinking in any given moment is in alignment or out of alignment with your highest self. When you feel “bad” it is generally because the thoughts you are having at the moment are not in alignment with your highest self. How do you turn that around? Listen to your favorite music, take a bath, meditate, breath, slow down, laugh, whatever you need to do to find your center. From the still place inside you, from the place of pure presence and awareness, you can hit the ‘reset’ button. Once you’ve made a new choice on where to focus your thinking, you are instantly creating new karma, and attracting new manifestations to your reality. Thank goodness for the ‘time delay’ of these laws. The effects do not happen instantly, and this gives us time to stop and hit the reset button when we need to, in order to create something new and better. This allows us to create from a place of consciousness instead of unconsciousness. That means no more broken pickle jars, it means you become aware that all things are your own choosing.

Love and Light,
Rhea Jamil

Why?

What is it about humans that makes us unique? Although we are very much like a more ‘intelligent’ version of our ape cousins, we also have an awareness that there is something about humans that is distinct, beyond just having bigger brains. Scientists and anthropologists have grappled with this question. Each time we think we have the answer it proves false. We used to think it was our ability to make and use tools, but then it was discovered that apes make and use tools. We thought it might be our capacity for language, but it was discovered that apes can learn language easily, showing their brains are wired for language as well. Finally, scientists found something humans do that apes do not, and it was rather surprising: Humans ask why. In an experiment conducted at the Cognitive Evolution Group Research Center, apes were given a simple task – they had to set two L shaped blocks upright, standing them on the long end, and they would get a treat. After learning this task, the scientists then gave them a trick block which was weighted on one end so that it would always fall over. The apes would then enter the experiment room, try to set the block upright in anticipation of a treat, and the block would fall over. They would try again, and again and again until they eventually gave up. When human children were given the same experiment, they would set up the weighted block and it would fall over. After a couple more tries, the children would begin to examine the block, turning it over, observing it, shaking it, hitting it, doing various things to it to try and understand why it was falling over. They were looking for evidence of the unseen force which caused the block to fall. They were trying to find the why behind it. This is something the apes do not do, it is a human trait.

This desire to understand why has driven humans to discover many things about the world and the universe, looking for the unseen force behind what we see has driven both religion and science to try and explain our existence. It has driven us to discover the science of physics, to understand gravity, to find everything from quarks to other galaxies. It is also what makes us search for some reason behind our very existence. The animal does not question its own existence, it simply is. This is a beautiful state of being and one which allows the animal to be in present moment, and we have a lot to learn from them in this way. In spite of the fact that the animal’s life may be one survival struggle after another, the animal does not question why, they simply experience what they experience in the moment – good, bad or ugly. We, on the other hand, need to know why. Why are we here? Is there some deeper reason, some unseen force which drives my existence? From this line of questioning we discover the soul, and from the soul we re-discover our connection to all things. We are a kind of consciousness which questions itself, it questions why it is conscious in the first place. What is my purpose? Is there a reason for my existence or is it just random and meaningless? Why are things this way, and not some other way?

If you find yourself on a spiritual quest, it is usually driven by these types of questions. These questions are powerful catalysts for growth. In many cases the journey of the wondering soul begins with questions that come from a place of deep pain – questions such as “Why is there suffering? Why is there death?” These were the questions which drove the Buddha, among others. This type of question comes from the child within, the joyful and playful spirit which simply wants to Be, who has been suddenly confronted with a paradox it cannot sort out and cannot ignore. This paradox is the dissonance between what the person feels and ‘knows’ from some deep intuitive place inside themselves – that the universe is a good place – and the apparent evidence before them which seems to show the opposite. Confronted with this paradox, it is human nature to ask – why?

Sometimes as the ego gradually matures it will leave the childlike innocence behind in favor of a more dour view of the world; a view where life, meaninglessness and suffering are part and parcel to one another. From this point of view, nothing has meaning. Since the pain one experiences seems to have no meaning, then by extension nothing else does either. With no meaning, all appears random, nothing seems to connect and there appears to be no God. In other words, there appears to be no ‘why’ behind one’s existence. Because thinking creates reality, things keep showing up in one’s life which further confirm this ‘truth’ that it is all meaningless and disconnected. This is the dark night of the soul, the place where connection to the whole is lost. But, as the Persian mystic and poet Rumi so eloquently says: “Many have died searching for You as You hide behind the scenes, but this pain is not for those who come as Lovers.” The lover is the one who is not in resistance, and seeks beauty. Beauty opens the heart chakra which allows unconditional love to return, and from there you return to the joy of being. The answers to the why questions then become less important than the truth of love and connection. It is true many become lost in the dark night on the journey of life, but the key is maintaining the child-like innocence, the connection to unconditional love and joy of being that we all come into the world with. The pain is not for those who come as lovers. As we resolve this paradox, as we follow beauty through the jungle of ‘why?’, the way will become clear.

Blessings on your journey,
Rhea Jamil

Self Love as True Empowerment

Joe Dispenza discusses how releasing suppressed energies within you is key to self love and joy. Energy wants to move, movement and transformation is the natural state of energy and thus of all things. When emotions (which are a kind of energy) such as anger, fear, or guilt are supressed within the mind/body, then those trapped energies will manifest what we call disease. When they are allowed to move into the light of your consciousness and be cleansed by the power of your awareness and your forgiveness, than they can be transformed into love, joy and gratitude and naturally contribute to self-love and self-acceptance. This then contributes to an overall state of well being and peace. Those energies can no longer poison you or the things that you create, but instead become part of your strength, character and love.

“If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.”
– Jesus Christ, Gnostic Gospel of Thomas

Truth is Within You

Most people tend to look for the truth in the outer world, and they get frustrated with their search.  Most of us are looking for confirmation outside of us of what we already know in our hearts.  This is the reason why most good spiritual teachers when asked questions about the ‘truth’ will point you back to yourself, they will tell you to look within, as Teal Scott does here.  They will also often give you some guidance as to what to look for, and the guidance may helpful, but at the end of the day, you have to find it yourself.  The guidance should not be mistaken for the truth itself.  There is a saying that all religions are like fingers pointing to the moon, not the moon itself. 

You may expose yourself to many differing points of view, but it is your internal examination which leads you to align with it or not align with it.  No one else can do that work for you.  Anyone who says they have all the answers is, in addition to being full of Ego, just trying to get you to fall in line.  No one can possibly have all the answers, they can only have their answers.  They can only share their truth.  If their truth happens to work for you (it resonates with you), than contemplate it within.  If it does not work for you (you do not resonate with it), just set it aside and move on.   

Love and Light,

Rhea Jamil

Love and the Law of Attraction – Part II

Most of you are probably aware that there is some subtlety to the law of attraction.  It is not as simple as just “wanting” something.  If it were that simple, we would all have exactly what we want, all the time.  It is true we can manifest anything, it is possible, however the most powerful manifestations, those which truly bring joy and balance to your life, are always those which are in line with the divine whole or source – in other words, it should be connected to your life’s purpose, which is the aspect of source that you came here to express.  This is the wisdom of many faiths which finish their prayers with “thy will be done.”  In the end, your desires must align with the universe.  This is why sometimes you start off on a path of something you think you want, only to be met by numerous obstacles and difficulties.  It can feel as if God does not want you to do what you are doing, and in a way that is not far off the mark.  Sometimes what you think you want is not exactly what the universe had in mind (or in heart, as it were).  It is not aligned with your soul’s purpose, and so the universe has ways of pushing you onto your destined course.  When you are on your destined path, you will find that the universe conspires with you to create it – if you are not in resistance.  Resistance can manifest as a belief that you cannot have it, a belief that it has to be hard, or fear of how you would make it work, or even fear of the responsibility that would come with success.  

It can be tricky to tell the difference between when you are on your right path and things are going wrong because you are in resistance, and when you are just on the wrong path and the universe is trying to nudge you back in the right direction.  However, if what you truly want is coming from your heart, then it will always be aligned with your soul’s higher purpose.  If you are meant to be a musician, you will be born with music in your heart.  It will be unstoppable, you will desire it all your days.  The problem is that you may, like the majority of people, choose to ignore your heart and follow your head instead.  Your head which says – ‘no, that is not practical, you need to do X instead since that is what everyone else does’.  Then you find when you try to do X, it does not work out.  You may be able to manifest some degree of X, but it will be less than perfect, because it does not come from the true desire of your heart which is aligned with the source and your purpose.  Instead of fulfilling you, it will feel hard, like you are fighting an uphill battle.  This is because you are manifesting X from your mind instead of your heart, and because your heart will always be in music, the universe gives you mixed results for X which is coming from your head.  If you follow your bliss, what is truly in your heart, and you do not resist it, you allow the universe to show up and help you, then you will manifest your desire. 

The key here is the heart.  The reason many fumble is because they are making decisions from their head.  Most of us live in our heads.  The heart, however, is so much more powerful than the head.  This is shown even scientifically – the heart has a stronger magnetic field than the brain, and the heart has a cellular memory.  People who have heart transplants will find that they suddenly have a love of and aptitude for music or art when they didn’t before.  Then, not surprisingly, they find out that the heart donor had the same gift.  We come here with the pre-programming for our destined path.  We are born wired with our destinies, but that wiring is not in our brains, it is in our hearts.  The key is to tap into that wiring and follow it to its outcome.  That is when you will find the law of attraction working for you, because it is coming from love, which is the essence of source, and thus source is called to show up for you.  Figure out what it is that you love, that you truly love.  Not what others told you that you should love, not what you think you should love, but what you actually love.  What gives you a feeling of bliss?  Seek that out and sit with it.  Let it in fully with no resistance.  Any resistance is coming from your head, not your heart.  Allow yourself to feel that bliss with your whole heart.  This is a feeling universe, not a thinking one.  The universe will respond to your feeling a thousand times more strongly than to your thinking, especially if that feeling is bliss that comes from love.

Love and Light

Rhea Jamil

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What is Ego?

Ego is identification with form. Form includes not just the body and physical forms, but also thought forms and mind constructs. This extends to your ‘story’ which is a thought form about your past which you may take to be who you are. Who you actually are is formless. Who you actually are is the observer behind the thought form. Think for a minute about the fact that you can observe your thoughts. If you are your thoughts, how would you be able to step outside of them and observe them? The one who is doing that observation is you. The thoughts are not you. Elizabeth Gilbert in her book “eat, pray, love” mentions at one point that after she underwent her spiritual transformation, she began to think of her thoughts as ‘noisy neighbors.’ These neighbors are not you. They are forms which are temporary, they come into form and out of form and they only linger when you allow them to. When you can get to a point where you are able to observe your thought forms, rather than be caught up in the endless stream of the babble inside your head, that is where you begin to let go of Ego and find your true self and your true source of power.

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Love and the Law of Attraction

The law of attraction may be the most powerful law in the universe. Love is also the most powerful feeling in the universe; one could argue it is all the universe is.  There is a definitive connection between love and the law of attraction, for love is the cause of the law of attraction and in that sense is the law of attraction. Many of you are probably familiar already with the law of attraction, which is detailed in “the Secret” and other new-age books. It states that what you focus on is what you will attract into your experience. One of the tricks is that this “focus” may not always be conscious. You have thoughts, emotions, and energies which are all in your space right now. You may be fully aware of some, partly aware of some, and completely unaware of most. The work of digging out all of the energies, thoughts and emotions you do not need and releasing them is part of the work of achieving higher consciousness. In the meanwhile, the thoughts, emotions and energies (which are all connected to each other) are attracting things into your experience. Why are all of the things they are attracting not good? Because the messages are muddled, some are deeply buried and confined in fear, they are in the dark and do not have the light of consciousness (your light of consciousness being connected to the higher consciousness, or what we could call God consciousness) to guide them. They are in fear so they are confined in an energy that is the opposite of love, since fear and love are opposite forces. The universe knows the desire deep within your heart, the desire that is pure and comes from the place of love and connection to source. For example, the desire for abundance. The universe will gladly help us manifest this desire, but what happens is that we send it mixed messages. On top of the desire for abundance, we have the fear of loosing what we have, the fear that there is not enough to go around, perhaps some resentment for those who have more, etc. etc. The happy desire for abundance is locked in a prison of fear and resentment, and therefore it cannot clearly communicate with the source.

Think of it like this. When you look in a mirror, you see a clear reflection of yourself. Now, break the mirror. What you have then is a distorted picture of yourself. The universe is always trying to perfectly reflect what you want, it is trying to perfectly reflect your desire. What is getting in its way is, well, you. You are the mirror that the universe is looking in to see what it is, and if you are broken into a zillion pieces, the universe will only be able to reflect a shattered version of itself back, much as it may want to reflect perfection. The good news is that we can put the mirror back together. We do that by letting go, and surrendering to the higher self, the light of consciousness, and embracing the moment of now.  We do it by loving ourselves, others and the world unconditionally.  We do it by not being in resistance to our current situations, but instead brining the light of consciousness into the present moment.

-Rhea Jamil

Love and the Law of Attraction – Part II