"What is it about ideas like the Law of Attraction that is so hard for the masses to accept?"

That you have to take responsibility of your thoughts, and that you are responsible for where you are in your life.

It's much more comforting to blame someone or something else for your misfortune. I know, I used to do exactly that not so long ago.

It may seem a tad ironic that I am answering this question...:)

I have said it before- and I will say it again- The Laws of Attraction are why I started reading, learning, responding, and debating on Inward Quest some almost five years ago. I was intrigued and caught by this concept through Wade (Casaldi) and I still feel that these Laws are rock-solid and true.

I have felt in my gut when I am directly applying the LOA. I wish I could say that I am in it, creating my reality-always; quite frankly, I guess this power scares me. Maybe it scares other people, too. It is terrifying to understand that your whole reality, all of it, down to the fuzz in your belly-button, is of your own making. This is such powerful stuff! I believe that for most people, they would rather die than admit that they had anything at all to do with their own situation. It is so much netter to blame your ex-spouse, your bad Mommy, your cheating Partner, your boss- anybody else- for your present doom.

Yes, @Stingray, Jai is saying this...No, I have not been possessed! It has been interesting to my existence to make the LOA as hard as possible by trying to be a Christian while doing it. Now I hear @ursixx's voice, telling me that I am believing in a dis-empowering belief system...Oh, yes, I have heard all of you through the years. If God did not answer my prayers, I would drop it in a minute. But, He does. Maybe God is the LOA. I dunno. That is for our in-house philosophers to decide. Perhaps you recall that I spent five years in college studying that belief system, and have had many thoughts of writing a new Bible, putting into it all the stuff the originating church took out of it i.e., the truth. (I grew up a Lutheran...and had a great pastor who taught me as a babe to question everything. His teaching has led me to many interesting places- like writing the story of the Savior, only the Savior is female. Wouldn't that be fun for the world???) But I am digressing here...I just want the faithful reader to know that I hear and obey, oh great @Stingray! You speaketh the truth, and I heard once that the truth shall (indeed) set you free...It works for me, anyway.

Whenever I have truly held the LOA in my heart, it has worked. This is my testimony.

But remember that We now live in an Age where everything is being "dumbed down"...or worse, watered down, distilled into fifth-grade-level... Even more awful has been the loss of the objective news media- all the big giants of the news are now owned by people who want to feed us the truth as they perceive it. Those of us who know this sit hunched over our radios, listening to NPR. I think that perhaps some people want even the LOA to be dumbed-down, too. It is not that it is so hard to do- rather, so many folks just do not want to develop those interior muscles of the mind that demand discipline and hard-core consistency of thought that the LOA demands. At least, that is what I have had to do. You might be right to say that it is not that hard, but with the brain I have, I have to concentrate just to make a salami sandwich.

Anyway, @Bluebell, I will finish with a anecdote. II have not read an issue of Scientific American in ages. I picked one up recently, and was upset by it. In days past, I had a subscription to SA, and I was lucky if I could read and understand maybe two articles in each issue. I liked the fact that it challenged me. But now? I felt I was reading something called Science for Just About Anybody...We'd Rather Sell the Magazine than Anything Else...So, understanding this, would you expect the masses to embrace the LOA???

A final side-note: My writing on IQ varies a lot. This happens because I have not been healed mentally of my abuse. I just have not been able to "keep it together" in my mind all the time, over the years. But please know this: At the Core, I am here because of the LOA. It does work.

Many blessings may you draw to yourself,

Jaianniah ♥

Hi @Bluebell - The fact that we are powerful creator beings seems to have always been hard for the masses to accept. I don't think that fear of responsibility for our situations in life is anything new at all. The fear seems to be as old as the wisdom.

I felt inspired to bring this up by our @Jai's answer, especially "Maybe God is the LOA." and reading of the struggles she has had working with being a Christian who understands the LOA. This is a point that has long been in my mind, I myself being a former Christian, and having studied the Bible quite deeply. I find much deep spiritual truth in the book, but the religion is not for me personally, altho I respect that it is precious to others who see things differently. For me, the LOA is not at odds with many things I read in the Christian Bible.

To me, the LOA was plainly described in the Bible, quoting Jesus. Here's an example: Mark 11:24 Therefore I say unto you, All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye have received them, and ye shall have them.

Sound familiar? :D. Isn't that exactly what Abraham teach? This reads clearly to me as Abraham's Steps 1, 2, and 3 for deliberately manifesting what you desire:

Therefore I say unto you, All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for (Step 1), believe that ye have received them, (Step 3) and ye shall have them. (Step 2, manifested as allowed by you in Step 3.)

Jesus is quoted as saying this same sort of thing, over and over, in different ways to different people. When he tells people to "ask in my name", it can also be translated "ask the way I do".

Also, Hebrews 11:1 has always been one of my faves: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

It's the faith (allowing) that creates the "substance" (physical manifestation) of things hoped for. The "evidence" can be translated as the "title deed", the ownership of things not seen. Things not seen that you own, that are provided the moment you asked, are your manifestations, as they exist "unseen" until you allow them to manifest. In other words, you got what you wanted, it's yours, even if you can't see it yet. :)

The Bible also emphatically urges people "Don't be afraid, only believe." in so many places, my own copy is full of blue highlights, marking all the many times and ways it was said. It's not a suggestion meant to comfort or placate, it's a profound spiritual truth that must be grasped, if you are to manifest anything you will enjoy. This also, to me, goes hand in hand with the teachings of Abraham-Hicks.

I could go on and on, I love this stuff. :) It's my opinon that much of Christianity can live happily in peace with the LOA. Well, the religion of Christianity, maybe not. Depending on who is teaching, it can definitely be disempowering. But the red words in your Bible say that we are all gods (John:10:34, quoting Psalm:82:6) and that we can have ANYTHING. (John 16:24)

Its my considered opinion that Jesus was a relaxed and groovy guy, who taught folks the Law of Attraction, plain as day. :D

Relaxed and groovy Jesus by Eddie Izzard

Getting back to your question, the masses did not take his teaching very well, either.

Love, Grace :)

The idea of LOA is many times presented in an overly simplified way such as "Just think about what you want and you'll get it", "Think only happy thoughts and happy things will happen to you" etc.

LOA is just an aspect of our life and reality. It's not as simple as it sounds. The Law of Attraction is just a made up word for a certain perspective towards creation. You need to become aware of yourself, your beliefs, thoughts, fears etc. You need to understand how you really create your reality - all the time. Understanding the concept of LOA can be an important stepping stone on your way to being a fuller more whole being.

Now many people who are attracted to the idea of LOA might be people who haven't really never thought about anything spiritual. They're just tired of how their lifes are and need a change. So the commercialized version of LOA could sound pretty nice to a desperate person. These people are not there for the spiritual growth or ascension - they just want their lifes to be better. They want money, better jobs, lovers etc.. And that's all fine. People should have their lifes as enjoyable as they can be. In order to sell the idea to these people you probably can't concentrate too much on getting over your fears, negative beliefs etc.. The paying customers are already fed up with all things negative and they want something positive.

So they are told that by thinking and feeling like you already have that million dollars - you'll get it! But people will not understand why and how this works like this. They'll be afraid of having any negative thoughts at all because they believe that it will sabotage their efforts to get what they want. So they can't really manifest anything because they just force themselves to think "positive" and ignore all the negative feelings that they should deal with first.

So when this thing doesn't work - it's obviously a scam. People can say they "tried" it and it didn't work.

In my opinion there is more to it than just thinking happy thoughts and manifesting your wishes. When you surrender to god/ the universe/ your subconscious ect... everything you've been holding back including your fears, obstacles and barriers are let in. This usually happens. When it does, it's an opportunity to clean it all up with ho'oponopono or any other form of energy clearing. Many people don't realize this because they assume that it's not working for them. They don't realize that to get where they want to be they have to clean up whats blocking them. You can't just think happy thoughts and have every wish magically appear over night, that is unless your beliefs were strong enough. This is what The Secret fails to address to the masses. Hope this helps.

Actually the quote is: All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. Arthur Schopenhauer German philosopher (1788 - 1860).

I would say the masses find things like Law of Attraction hard to accept because it has been used as a massive money generating tool and not as something to help their life or spirituality. Too many of the guru's take the simple idea that Willam Waddles wrote about (L.O.A.) and slick it up promising that you can have anything if you only ask, believe & receive... but be sure to first buy my book, DVD and come to my seminars.

I've been studying Law of Attraction since 2000 and found so many people desperately looking for an answer to life, circumstances and abundance. They discover attraction guru's and channelers telling you about the wonderful Law of Attraction and so on. People buy the books, DVD's, go to the seminars and when it all backfires or doesn't work, the guru's say 'you're not allowing', or 'you're not letting in abundance'. Does this refrain sound familiar?

When the person who sincerely does L.O.A. and fails, it's ALWAYS their fault. There's no fault in the teachings because the guru's said it was 'law'. But L.O.A. is more like a tendency or probability than a law. Gravity is a law, L.O.A. is not.

L.O.A. is not an idea that will eventually become truth, It has been twisted into a fringe belief system taught by slick guru's willing to sell the public what it wants, and that is... hope. And when the public doesn't get what they want, it's their fault for not doing this or that, and it's never the teaching's fault. God forbid if the teaching is in error. There goes the whole house of cards tumbling down.

Back in the late 1800's when Wallace Waddles originally coined the term 'Law of Attraction', I'm sure he didn't intend for it to become such a mockery. He wrote several books on mind sciences and encouraged his readers to test his writings. Talk about confident in his work! I believe his intentions were for good and to help people. But today we have info-mercials, wealth guru's and all sorts of other snake oil salespeople willing to promise you the moon and take your money. Just call up and order by credit card.

For L.O.A. to gain credibility, there needs to be a removal of all the abusers of it and an increase of the ones who actually have techniques that work and are people of integrity. So don't throw the baby out with the bath water, as they say. Just find a different sink to bathe 'em in and you'll be fine.

A full acceptance of the Law of Consciousness or Law of Self (: often labelled Law of Attraction :) is acceptable only to those who are ready for it. This is why one must share it only with those who have a ear that is genuinely inclined to hearing wisdom of the truest kind. This also why Jesus is supposed to have said "Do not cast thy pearls before the swine". To tell the truth to the uninitiated or unwilling to hear it is like telling a lie. Also remember the law allows for a variety of perspectives to be held as truths and each one will be validated to the degree that one accepts it as truth, so one who is fully immersed in his or her truth will not be so inclined to accept the overarching truth that is the Law - and that is as it should be because one can never rush this process of Self discovery.

ratiocination to
justify a formula
of returns that is not
independent by itself

it is thrown out for a
popular vote to decide
if it does exist instead
of knowing what we are