In Part 1 of this series, I explained how Winston Wu, a fellow blogger, challenged me to reply to his post Debunking the Law of Attraction, and answer some tough questions. Never one to shy away from a challenge, I accepted. In the previous post, I set the stage and explained that I’m in no way trying to convince anyone of anything, but am simply presenting a point of view and providing clarity to those who want it and resonate with this information. So, with that in mind, let’s get started:

1. If thoughts create reality, then how come we can’t fly or walk through walls or move mountains with our thoughts?  How come even if I believed 100 percent that I could pass through a solid wall, I’d still bump my head if I tried?

First of all, how do you know that no one has done those things? There have been reports of shamans and saints who could be in two places at once, Swamis who could levitate themselves and objects, and those who could move through walls. How do you really know that you could not walk through a wall if you believed it 100%? I get it. You haven’t seen anyone else do it and the reports of those who have done it are anecdotal, so therefore don’t qualify as “proof”. As I explained in Part 1, however, if you need to see proof before you believe it (instead of the other way around), you’ll have to wait until a critical mass of people is able to believe it too. I’m not saying that you have to take these anecdotes as proof, I’m just arguing that we cannot state that it’s NOT possible (I’m a bit of a stickler when it comes to semantics). For me, the real question is: If it is possible to walk through walls, then why aren’t we doing it? And the answer to that is this: To walk through a wall, you’d not only have to believe it completely yourself (can you do that? I can’t…), but also focus with such intensity that you cancel out the effect that everyone else’s belief on this subject has on you. Let me explain.

There are individual beliefs, national/cultural beliefs and global beliefs. An individual belief is something like “My mother never loved me”. It’s confined to an individual, or small group of individuals, such as members of a family. A national/cultural belief would be “The United States is the best country in the world”, “Cowboys fans are hillbillies”, or “Those of a certain race are inferior”. These beliefs can be determined by geographic locations such as towns, regions or countries, culture/race/religion or any other reason that people may identify with each other. This is also where beliefs such as “No pain, no gain” and “We are small and insignificant and at the mercy of a much greater power outside of ourselves” live. Then, there are the global beliefs; these are the beliefs that we all hold – like agreements that allow this physical word to function. These agreements allow us all to see the tree, to perceive the ocean and buildings in the same place, and for most humans to pretty much look and function the same way. And while our biology and physiology are governed by our own, individual vibrations (which is why we are not, in fact, exactly the same, and even our cells do not all respond exactly the same way to the same stimuli), we all function within a certain framework. So, most humans have two legs, two arms and one head, the heart and organs are pretty much in the same place, and we all bleed when we get cut. Every once in a while a human will be born that defies some of these rules, but then we call them “abnormal”. We don’t like it when someone breaks the rules.

These agreements are the same rules that govern gravity and whether or not we can fly. They govern our ability to re-grow limbs or do impossible feats. With an individual belief, the more focus and attention you give that belief and the evidence that it’s true (the belief manifested), the more energy it gathers. The more energy a belief has, the easier it is to think it and the harder it becomes to think its opposite. With national and global beliefs, it works the same way, only now you’re adding the focus and attention of everyone who is subject to that belief. In the case of global beliefs, that’s pretty much every human being on earth. In other words, a global belief has A LOT of energy behind it, given to it not just by every human and animal and vegetable alive today, but by all those that have come before us.

Now, when a belief has a lot of energy behind it, it develops what would be akin to its own gravitational pull, which will suck you right in. That means, that even though you create your own individual reality, the more energy a belief has, the harder it will be for you to escape its effects, or its gravitational pull. In other words, it’s easy to believe a thought that a lot of other people have focused on and manifested. So, surpassing the global belief that a human being cannot simply pass through a solid wall would take tremendous mental focus. And while I’m sure that humans exist who have that kind of focus, I have not met them. So for me and for the sake of this conversation, I’m happy to relegate the idea of walking through walls and re-growing a limb to the theoretical (although we are moving closer the limb re-growing. Transplants are a way for us to “get” a new heart or arm or even face in a way that our belief system can accept. Who knows what’s next?). In fact, this is how I answer questions about these subjects (interestingly, almost exclusively asked by people who want to learn a “trick” so they can prove LOA to or impress others): Theoretically, it’s possible, but practically speaking, it will take a ridiculous amount of commitment and effort.

Of course, all feats were impossible until someone, somewhere was able to surpass the global belief of what’s possible and allowed others to believe it, too. But this passing on of a belief from one person to another can only happen if the second person is ready to accept the new belief. He has to be close enough in this vibration so that he can reach the frequency of the new belief. Therefore, even if someone was able to walk through a wall, only those who were ready to see it, could. The world will not be ready to accept these kinds of experiences as “reality” until the Global vibration (the vibration of the average citizen) rises enough in order to allow it. And it almost certainly will not come as a surprise when that happens. Just as medical advances are being made that will one day allow us to believe that we can grow a new limb, so will we discover machines and techniques that will allow us to dematerialize and pass through a wall. It’s simply easier for us to believe that technology made it happen, rather than our own minds. That’s how manifestation works – we allow experiences to come into our reality in the way that’s easiest for us to believe.

2.  If thoughts create reality, then how come it’s possible to trip or slip on banana peels?  Wouldn’t our assumption that it was safe to walk there create a trouble-free walk?

Our thoughts do not directly create our reality, our vibration does. This means that if you think of a purple donkey, you’re not necessarily going to be meeting one soon (unless you take some wicked drugs…) If you had to consciously and deliberately think of every detail in order to create your reality, then you wouldn’t be able to function. Your world would cease to exist when you fell asleep or passed out, for example. It doesn’t work that way. Our vibration is made up of all of our beliefs (individual, national, global), and our thoughts (both those we are aware of and those that we are not aware of because they’ve become so familiar to us we don’t even notice them anymore). And we very rarely manifest in real time. There is a time buffer in place that allows for correction. This means that by the time a manifestation occurs, you’re often no longer aware of the thoughts that created it. We usually don’t make the correlation between what we were thinking and feeling and what’s manifested into our physical reality. The physical manifestation is the last step in the creation process, which is why, by the time it occurs, we’re generally no longer able to change it in that moment. We have to just let it play out (we can, however, ensure that the future is brighter by controlling our reaction to the event NOW).

When you slip on a banana peel, it’s because the experience of that (however it feels to you) matches a vibration you have within you that feels the same way. Your thoughts about that stretch of sidewalk are pretty much irrelevant, since you probably didn’t have many. But let’s say that you did spend considerable amount of time focusing on really positive, good feeling (the key) thoughts about the sidewalk. You would still have manifested the experience with the banana peel, only in a different way – a way that FELT the same.

3.  If thoughts create reality, then why did the Titanic sink when everyone “thought” it was unsinkable?

First of all, just because the Titanic was advertised as unsinkable, doesn’t mean that everyone actually thought it was. We have no way of knowing that. If someone actually took the time to deliberately line up their energy with a strong and unsinkable ship, they would’ve either been led to design a better ship (a manifestation of those deliberate thoughts) or they would not have been on the boat. Either way, they would not have met up with a ship that sank. And many, many people didn’t.

Everyone on the Titanic was a match to the experience they had on that boat. And yes, this includes death, something that we’d do well to make peace with, considering that we’re all going to die someday. When people transition out of this reality and into a non-physical one, it’s not a tragedy. It’s simply a manifestation, and not necessarily an unwanted one. We cannot know what everyone on that ship experienced, we can only assume it from our own personal point of view. But we know that no matter how dire the disaster or circumstances, there are always those who suffer greatly and those who don’t. Some people cower in the fetal position, terrified, while others find their inner strength and become energized. Still others become philosophical and find a peace and clarity they never knew. Whatever each individual experienced, it was a perfect match to their vibration at that time.

I always find it amusing when people use historical tragedies such as the Titanic, the Holocaust or 9/11 to declare that the Law of Attraction doesn’t work, because who in their right mind would choose to manifest such events? But that’s assuming that we are aware of what and how we are manifesting our reality and that we are actually doing it. Most people are not and have never been. That’s the whole point – if we can become conscious of how we are creating and receiving what we experience then we can begin to experience less of the unwanted stuff and more of the wanted.

There was a time when we were convinced that sacrificing another human being would lead to a good harvest. Over time, we figured out that this wasn’t the case. We figured out that telling your kids not to something will make them want to do it all the more. Belief by belief, we observed and adjusted. We’re slowly learning the rules to this game. When we don’t know what we’re doing, we create haphazardly – wanted, unwanted and everything in between. But when we understand the rules (as much as we currently can), then this game becomes a whole lot more fun. If you don’t have a driver’s license and you get behind the wheel of a race car, you’re probably going to have a very different experience than if you’re an experienced driver. Using tragedies to claim that LOA doesn’t work is like saying it’s the car’s fault that a 12 year old can’t drive it.

4.  If thoughts create reality, then why are there surprises in life?  Why do both optimists and pessimists experience events that turn out better or worse than they expected?  Shouldn’t they have manifested whatever they expected?

You may not be aware of what you’re expecting. You have beliefs and thoughts that have been with you for so long that you’re no longer aware of them. They cause you discomfort (as all beliefs and thoughts that don’t serve you do), but again, that discomfort has been with you for so long you don’t even feel it anymore. And yet, the vibrations of those beliefs still determine what you line up with. You could also refer to these underlying beliefs as the subconscious.

In my coaching, I help people uncover those limiting beliefs that they’re not aware of. But once they discover them, they become ULTRA aware and suddenly see how those beliefs affected tens if not hundreds of experiences in their lives. Again, if we only created (or more accurately, received) our reality with our conscious thoughts, there would be pure chaos, given what lazy focusers most of us are… It doesn’t work that way.

You manifest whatever your dominant vibration lines you up with (or attunes you with). Expectation is a good way to do that, but just because someone says that they expect something, doesn’t mean that they truly do, or that they’re not offering up a contradictory vibration.

5.  If thoughts create reality, then why do most things not go according to plan?  By planning, wouldn’t your thoughts generated during the plan create the reality in which things went exactly according to plan?

They would and they do, if we plan correctly. Simply declaring that you want something to be a certain way is not enough. You have to line up with the energy of it. You have to allow it. The post The Secret Behind “The Secret” – How We Manifest Reality describes this state of allowing in detail. And just as an aside, “Most things don’t go according to plan” is simply a belief, and not really one that serves us. The Universe will always prove your beliefs true, no matter what they are and beliefs are much stronger than any plan you might make. The key is to figure out what those beliefs are that are getting in the way of what we want and then change them. When we do that, our physical reality will shift to match those new beliefs.

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed answering these first 5 questions according to my own, personal understanding of the Law of Attraction. If you disagree with these explanations, then feel free to offer your own in a respectful way. All points of view are valid. The next 5 answers will appear in Part 3. I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!