Relationship and the Laws of Attraction
New Age theorists have been supporting the laws of attraction as a spiritual premise for many years now. On a simplistic level, the law of attraction states that the energy you put out to the universe is what you draw back toward you, especially when it comes to relationship. Hmm. I can think of a lot of people on the spiritual path, pulling from philosophical teachers to some of our greatest spiritual teachers in all the traditions; they suffered greatly when it came to relationship. Yet their definition of suffering was different than our understanding today. The Bhagavad Gita states: “On this path, effort never goes to waste, and there is no failure. Even a little effort toward spiritual awareness will protect you from the greatest fear.” Steiner eloquently wrote, “One achieves progress only insofar as one can be more useful to others.. A person can gain nothing for him or herself through spiritual illumination. What one does gain is gained only as a servant of the world in general, and one gains it for oneself only by gaining it for others.” I think that speaks volumes on relationship as a whole.
One enters into relationship to understand the spiritual laws at work on all levels of creation, whether that relationship is with themselves, another, or the earth. We cease to become solitary individuals or souls the moment we agree to engage in a non-dualistic state of being and open ourselves to a deeper exploration. Once we enter into the energy of relationship via acceptance, we are giving ourselves permission to be part of the collective evolution of humanity, thus what we draw to us may have something to do with us more intimately, or it may have something to do with us on a larger level of creation, something which we have no conscious knowledge of. It always makes me curious when people continue to wonder why they continually ‘draw’ in a certain kind of person, or why certain things keep happening to them. If they follow the laws of attraction the immediate response is to refocus the trigger back toward themselves and look at their patterning. Don’t get me wrong, I believe there is a place for that. I also believe that that thinking can set up a continual spiral of power struggle, between the light and the darkness, especially when it comes to intimacy and the authentic self. If all relationship is about serving and balance, I wonder how our lives would look if we shifted our definition of suffering when it comes to being in relationship, and embrace both what the light and the darkness can teach us in every experience? Souls do not have to be conscious to evolve. We are ALL on a spiritual path and no one is above another. If you are in relationship and you are the one that is conscious of doing the work, then I would say Amen, and thank the other participant for being available to walk through this part of your journey with you. Another’s relationship with the Divine may be more powerful than you perceive, and you are only setting yourself back by continually thinking you have drawn in something again which doesn’t serve you.