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Do Victims Of Illness, Disease Or Natural Disasters Bring It On Themselves?
By Cathy Lane | April 1, 2007
An extreme perspective that could be obtained from The Secret is that victims of natural disasters, for example, have attracted it to themselves.
For me, this is a really tricky topic that often people skirt around for obvious reasons. I don’t want to stick my neck out on the line and say something really controversial - I just want to share an interesting article on whether the teachings from The Secret and the Law of Attraction can be practiced with compassion.
Editor’s Note: This article reiterates the most important message of The Secret of using the power of our minds and thought. Compassion is a virtue that we have as human beings and surely every man should have compassion for the fellow man. The Law of Attraction states that we attract everything into our lives, therefore can a line be drawn? Surely it cannot if it is a law?
Discover Arvind’s perspective:
Balance “Secret Principles” with Compassion
by Arvind Singh
“The Secret” reinforces an important message of taking inventory of our thoughts and focusing them in a positive direction to create life changes that we desire. This is a wonderful message, yet without critical examination and thoughtful application, the ideas can prove unskillful in our interactions with individuals who suffer.
The idea that we attract everything through our thoughts is on the one hand a powerful message. However, it can also be a dangerous message when taken to an extreme perspective. We can end up blaming victims for their plight, such as: Individuals in poverty, survivors of disasters, the disabled or the abused.
I believe that at critical moments such as with Hurricane Katrina or with the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004, our desire to alleviate suffering is most important. The extreme perspective can also assign wrongful thinking for causing diseases or illnesses. I feel uncomfortable when positive thinking is taken this far because it can allow us to become distant from another person’s need or suffering, since we can at some level just say, “Well, they must have brought this upon themselves.”
If taken to an extreme this perspective of our thoughts alone ultimately influencing the universe can approach arrogance. Certainly our thoughts, intentions and our ability to select our reaction to events are powerful tools for personal transformation, yet this message needs to be balanced with humility and compassion. Thoughts play an important role, yet at times our response needs to come from the heart not the head..
At a human level, we need to balance our positive thinking attitudes with compassion for ourselves and others. When individuals are in need, our hearts need to respond to them with empathy, care and understanding. If our positive thoughts disconnect us from compassion, then even if we succeed at an individual level, we may fail at a social level - we may achieve material success but lose our “soul” in the process.
When we approach positive thinking or “the law of attraction” with a mechanical attitude, then we risk limiting our growth to self-interest rather than growing in our compassion. From a higher perspective, we know that spiritual growth starts within our hearts and is not limited to our thoughts alone. The mind and heart work in harmony in order to create a life that is fulfill
ing at all levels.
In “NEXUS: A Neo Novel” our focus has been on personal transformation of people who in one way or another are stuck. Through the journey of people in our book, we discover many insights to expand both our mind and our heart - to develop a positive mind along with a compassionate heart.
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April 2nd, 2007 at 3:49 pm
I believe deep seeded fear attracts many things into our life. We really do not know the fears each person has by default or experiences. They for the most part do not realize they are capable of drawing disease or a negative experience into their live. My best friend has had cancer for 15 years and now it is in her liver. She lives cancer in every part of her life, wearing the cancer hope symbol on most of her clothing. I can clearly see how her nne to control and inability to let go hold this disease close to her. I have great empathy for her and give her my support. She and I have very different belief systems, but stay close friends. With a disaster such as 9/11 it is harder to understand. You listen to all the stories of the people who did not go in to work that day and maybe they were attune to the inner voice of wisdom. I have wondered if the focus and dedication of the terrorists brought the event into the lives of the people working in the towers, rather than the workers necessarily attracting the event. Many people interviewed talked of the fears many of the workers in the tower had, especially after the 1993 explosion in the parking garage. I would love to hear others views on disasters and if they feel people draw them into their lives.
April 24th, 2007 at 11:26 pm
I would point you to my recent 4 part video series that touches on this. It’s long, but I consider this the most important part of the law of attraction. I think “skirting” this is harmful as it prevents us from getting past the materialistic tone that the LOA has and doesn’t allow true collective change.