The Missing Pieces of the Puzzle

‘The world I see holds nothing that I want.’ – A Course In MiraclesThe Secret is out, way out, and I am glad it has become so popular. Those who have been entrenched in feelings of powerlessness are finding their mojo by applying its principles. Yay to the setting of intentions, the power of positive thinking, and the wondrous Law of Attraction! Yay to manifesting our perfect soul mate, our ideal income, and our wildest dreams! Rock on, minds of mankind!

Are you detecting a hint of sarcasm? OK, I’ll fess up. I do have a slight problem with The Secret. When it comes to the Law of Attraction, I’m a bit of an outlaw. To me it’s a little piece of the truth, and that can be dangerous in the minds of egos seeking to play God. I believe that educating people as to the power of their thoughts without also teaching the Law of Allowing is a bit like teaching people to inhale without teaching them an intimately inseparable part of the process ­ exhaling!

To put it simply, the Law of Attraction is about getting what you want. The Law of Allowing is about wanting what you get and seeking ye first the Kingdom, letting go and letting God. When applied in tandem these Laws address our wholeness, the active and receptive male and female energies within each person.

It’s no secret that getting what you want doesn’t automatically lead to lasting fulfillment. If that were the case, the married, rich, and famous among us would not have such an abundant supply of expensive anti-depression and anti-anxiety medication in their bathroom cabinets.

Yet we want what we want. What’s up with that? Wanting can be defined as desiring, but it is also synonymous with lacking. ‘The Lord is my Shepard, I shall not want’ means that when we surrender our attachment to a specific outcome and trust in the benevolence of the universe, we shall not lack. That’s the law of allowing.

When we get rigidly attached to our desired outcomes, however, we are coming from the assumption that we are not whole beings until we get what we want. And that’s an illusion that life delights in us letting go of.

Thaddeus Golas, in The Lazy Man’s Guide to Enlightenment, says ‘There is a good attitude to take towards any goal: It’s nice if it happens, nice if it doesn’t.’ Does that mean we are to be detached from having passion? No, just detached from craving an outcome, from thinking there is some tear in the fabric of God’s perfection that needs to be stitched before we can fully enjoy being alive.

I love watching dogs run after seagulls on the beach. They set their sites on a flock and are single-minded, focused, and quite passionate about running down a bird. At the same time, they are very fulfilled in the thrill of the chase, having a tremendous amount of fun just frolicking on the beach. Going home without having achieved their gull doesn’t, for one moment, diminish their love of the journey.

When we realize that just being alive is a gift that keeps on giving, we may set and pursue our ‘gulls’ just as passionately, but far less frantically. We value the process as much as the intended outcome. We embrace both the inevitable hopes and disappointments along the way with loving arms wide enough to be grateful for it all.

When we have tasted the nectar of a fulfillment that is not dependent on the outside world granting us our desires, we realize that life blesses us just as much when we don’t get what we want as when we do. In those times we get to practice letting go and being friendly with what is. A heavy burden gets lifted each time we release the arrogant assumption that we are in possession of the big picture perspective enough to really know what our highest good is supposed to look like. When what we want pulls a no-show, we get to more thoroughly chew on the following slice of humble pie, which a lesson in A Course In Miracles invites us to digest: ‘I don’t perceive my best interests.’

There’s nothing wrong with having goals and using the Law of Attraction to manifest them. Yet you can attain the world, only to have it magnify and intensify your inner turmoil. An ego’s basic condition of lack, that nagging sense of Å’not enough-ness,’ cannot be overcome by worldy success. When Jesus said his Kingdom is not of this world, he was speaking for all of us.

Even my mother, a practicing devout atheist who doesn’t believe in anything beyond the world of her senses, will exclaim, after the first bite of some fabulous dessert, ‘Out of this world!’ (It has been said that there are no atheists in foxholes, and I would venture to add that there aren’t any biting into Junior’s New York cheesecake either!)

The Big Secret is that there is a state of being available to us humans that is out of this world. Echoes of it visit us ever so briefly in worldly moments; the first few morsels of cheesecake, the first few mouthfuls of romantic love, and other fleeting states. For some people who have chosen to ‘Seek ye first the Kingdom’ with single-mindedness of purpose, that state sets up shop and sticks around as part of the fabric and foundation of a sense of self rooted in eternity.

That’s what I want. Perhaps that’s what we all want, even when we are seeking to manifest material things: to abide in a love that is not of this world.

Have you had enough of a sense of ‘not enough’? Are you ready to have out of the state of wanting that always leaves us wanting more? I invite you to proclaim, by your own divine authority: ‘ I am as God created me, and I am free, whole and complete as I am. I am enough, I have enough, and I do enough. I wake up from the dream of lack. I am drenched in abundance at all times. Every sunrise is proof of my infinite wealth, every breath is a miracle, and all is supremely and eternally well.’

When that state of enoughness takes root in you and permeates your being, you will most probably be moved to chase some gulls and have some fun.

Gangway, I’ll see you on the beach!

================================================

Scott Kalechstein is a modern day troubadour and inspirational speaker.
He travels through the United States, Canada and Europe giving
concerts, talks and workshops, as well as presenting at conferences.
Please visit www.scottsongs.com to sample CD’s. You can also sign up
for his free muse-letters to receive articles like this one on a
bi-monthly basis.

================================================