But seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things will be added onto you.
Matthew: 6:33 ESV
Difference Between Seeking What We Want
What is the biggest difference between the teachings on the Law of Attraction, ACIM, other "indirect path" stuff and what The Bible, Buddhism, Eckhart Tolle and Michael Singer may teach?
I believe that the first approach teaches that "suffering" is an illusion we can transcend the moment we realize it as a product of the ego-self which is not real and the other teaches that suffering is real and requires a direct path of committed practice to transform it.
To Suffer or Not To Suffer
One denies suffering and one embraces it. One says that denial of suffering will bring us to a peaceful, happy and abundant awakened state where we can reap the rewards of everything this physical world has to offer and the other one says accepting the reality of suffering will bring us to a peaceful, content, joyful abundant awakened state where we will realize we do not want or need so little of what the physical world has to offer.
Both agree that the subconscious mind holds the seeds of creation within it and what we focus on , we will create. Both in a sense agree with this law of attraction. They differ, however, in the path we take and how we use that law.
What and How We Seek
What we seek in the first path is the thing that will lead us to awakening and in the second path we seek directly the awakening.
The first path skips the dealing with suffering part all together...It instructs its proponents to focus only on what is wanted, and to deny what we don't. It purports that awakening will come when we see that what we have been focusing on has come to materialize in our physical worlds. This will happen the moment...the moment we see the illusionary nature of ego and limitation and fear etc. In a "holy instant" of witnessing miracles we will transcend beyond these illusions to the reality of Self in its infinite, unlimited nature. What we seek first is not a connection with Self ( the kingdom of God) it is the thing that will prove to us there is a kingdom of God.
The second path, like that of the 8 fold path offered in Buddhism, is a life long practice of awakening through suffering. Suffering is not denied. It is embraced and used as a transformational tool to take us to the true nature of Self and reality. It takes us to a freedom beyond materialistic manifestation.
Here and Now?
Both talk about time being nothing more than a concept, an "idea" created by man. Both speak to the here and now as being all there really is to Life...yet in the first approach, we see a reliance on the future...of manifesting something that is not yet here at some time up there, using this moment here and now to create something up there. Where in the other, there is a practice of fostering acceptance of what is now...of knowing that we have all the conditions we need to be happy right here and now regardless of what is happening around us. In order to awaken we need to embrace what is (which includes our pain) ...without preferring some of it and denying or pushing away other parts of it.
Acceptance of What Is?
Where we use the present moment to seek to add on all things wanted in the first approach, we do not "seek" in the second approach. All things may still be added on when we water selectively and wisely, in the Buddhist practice, for example, but we won't necessarily care about them. We would have reached a greater learning and an unconditional type of peace that can not be fed or diminished by the achievement or the loss of these "things". It will be a peace that passes all understanding.
For example...The Secret teaches that if we focus on what we want and fill our minds with this while we deny what we don't want we will someday get what we want. If we want a dream house...we think ( and feel) that we have this dream house. We affirm, we put sticky notes everywhere, we put pictures of it up on a dream board. We act as if we already have it ( even though it has not yet physically manifested in our present moment while we may be living in a crappy apartment in the ghetto). The thing is...we don't admit to ourselves that we are living in that crappy apartment because it is classified as an unwanted. We deny that reality. We don't think about it. We think instead of the dream house and imagine we are living in that as the cockroaches crawl over our feet. Of course, we are going to feel better thinking about the dream house than we are about our present situation. We are going to have hope instead of despair...which is good, right? But are we fully in our present moment and is our joy and peace unconditional? No...we actually close up to the present moment, to what is now. Our happiness is dependent on a future circumstance that has not arrived.
And it will be added on
I may someday get that dream house and be thrilled and happy that this law really works. I will see it as a miracle...I may invest further into it...Truth is, I will have to basically go onto attempting to manifest the next thing because the happiness I receive from getting this house will only be fleeting. I have to question how many moments have I ignored, looked over, stepped on, dismissed to get to this one? How much have I closed? Was it worth it?
The second path teaches this moment is and because it is with all that is in it, it is my perfect reality. I learn to accept and embrace it for what it is without needing it to be different. I find the value in it. If there is pain...I see that pain as something that will take me closer to peace. I do not close to what is now. I open fully to it. Peace is not conditional or based on what may or may not be happening in my present moment. It is, as Thich Nhat Hanh entitled one of his books, in every breath.
Getting There Directly or Indirectly?
Okay...so the biggest difference is that one approach says that suffering is an illusion and gets in the way of achieving what we want...whether it be a dream house or an awakening. The second approach says, there is nothing wrong with suffering. In fact...it can be the tool needed to lead us to awakening. We may get the dream house in either practice but the dream house will never sustain us or make us happy...because it never was what we really wanted or needed. We learn that the indirect way in Approach One...and the direct way in Approach Two.
Hmmm...just trying to understand.
All is well.
ACIM
Michael Singer ( 2007) the untethered soul. New Harbinger
Thich Nhat Hanh (2011 ) peace is every breath. Harper One
Plum Village (May 2020) Wake Up to the Preciousness of Life /dharma talk with Br. Phap Hai https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awmXLzBZ-RI
Eckhart Tolle ( 2004) The Power of Now. New World Library
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