The Law of Attraction is Dangerous 

I think another danger of the Secret is that it is, literally, practicing greed and desire. It is a meditation on what we desire and amplifying it. That seems like it might be a dangerous spiritual practice if we understand the 4 noble truths?

I had a friend who was into this kind of stuff. He was/is really good at this kind of stuff (lucid dreaming, getting into altered states of consciousness through meditation etc.). He was also convinced he could tilt reality his way by meditating on sigils and conducting rituals. It was really scary how often the wildest coincidences happened and tipped things in his favor. I guess the problem is that nobody really knows what is truly good for them and reality is actually something that keeps us in check. In the end, he rose the career ladder absurdly quick (also because he was very good at his job of course), slept with a lot of women (not an achievement, but definitely a goal of his...) and...generally got too much of everything. He got exactly what he envisioned and it turned out that his vision was very flawed. Now he needs psychiatric attention because of burnout and other unresolved issues relating to his expectations of himself and his surroundings.

What's the old saying, be careful what you wish for because you just might get it.

Hmm... As a teenager I dreamed of becoming a space scientist. Now I have a PhD and I have been working as full time space scientist more than a decade. 🤔

So glad you're talking about this. I'm doing my masters degree in religious studies with a concentration in Asian Religions. After I complete the degree I've been really thinking about writing a book on things like the law of attraction, and how enlightenment as well as meditation has been made into something to be marketed and sold. I thought about calling the book "Enlightenment for Sell" or something like that lol. Great video Brad.

Something that I’ve noticed is that one of the main themes behind books like ‘The Secret’ and ‘Think and Grow Rich’ is this idea of cultivating a burning desire. At the start of my practice around 5 years ago now I kind of fell into this trap. At first it seems like you are really tapping into something. You visualize, you cultivate a new identity that is congruent with where you want to be, the work to get there happens, and its achieved. What is harder to notice for some people is that in order to make these things work on that level, you are literally cultivating desire. You are cultivating a stronger sense of identity. You are gaining a false sense of control and power. This is why people trying to separate “mindfulness” from Buddhism and other practices are missing the whole point. Mindfulness can be used for bad. Without the ethical frame work and a teacher/community, things can go off the deep end very very quickly.

If you want to veer someone away from the law of attraction it would be better not to describe your first success in detail, and then be vague about the failures.

Fascinating. Thank you. I’d like to hear more about this especially your experience of wanting more and it backfiring.

generating merit I think is certainly part of buddhism... creating better circumstances for you to be able to do your practice... but, you have to understand the good circumstances arent lasting... and fundamentally empty...

I get this completely. Through the words It's a thing that needs to be said.. glad you are saying it Brad, I hope more people get it.

I get what you’re talking about. Also, I can relate to the difficulty in talking about this topic. It happened a few times, but I took it like it was a weird deja vu thing or whatever - because not everything can be explained, only grappled with. I enjoyed the music video - good jam! Viva Ziggy!

This was not the take I was expecting. I appreciate it! I know a couple of people deeply in to the law of attraction as well. My issue with it was that it places the individual in the centre of the universe. Whatever you're 'manifesting' (or whatever the lingo is) affects others. While you're manifesting rain for your crops, your neighbour may be wanting sunny weather for their wedding.

You can get what you want, but if you don't even realize what the cost is... I'm reminded of the Lesson of the Fox: "The enlightened man is one with the law of causation".

Whoa.. this is an important subject. I've been around people that wholely believe(d) in this kind of new age thinking where you get whatever you want just by imagination and intention. I won't say much, but I see how this has led people to live a more self centered life, miss out on the present moment constantly, and turn their backs on others as well as reject information that isn't congruent with what they so selfishly "want to believe". Very dangerous in my bias

Appreciate the great music too 👏

Very good talk, Brad. I have had the same feeling. Growing up in Indiana, and somehow ending up in Japan for nearly 20 years now. Yet I knew I wanted to get here, I dreamed of working here in the land of samurai and haiku, and somehow did that. How? It has always felt vaguely *law of attraction-ie* to me and kind of strange how that happened. Anyway, you absolutely should write about that in a book. I, for one, would be very interested. I ordered that book you mentioned. If you ever make it to Okazaki Japan, or even nearby like to Nagoya, be sure to announce it well in advance so I don't miss hearing it - I'd love to come. (PS my son adores Ultraman. He's only 10, but he seems to know all of them and is always telling me things like Ultraman Taro is the strongest and Ultraseven was Leo's master, and things like that. He seems to like the older ones best. Maybe because the intro songs were more catchy)

I like this! Good analysis: Earnestness at remerbering what needs to be remerbered is a practerice but zazin is a safer practice.

I’d like to know more about ways (practices) on how to cultivate balance. Perhaps it’s a bit of a tall order, but does anyone have any suggestions?

Happy to hear someone talking about a process I realy expirienced in a very similar way...

I've sometimes had the same sense that you describe, as if in some sense I know where I'm going, and recognise waypoints so to speak. On the other hand, as you notice, there's an element of what we might call a 'be careful what you wish for' aspect to it. There's usually been some sort of cost every time I've tried to force the issue, so none of it is free.

I think the old stories about wishes turning bad are warning us about this. Be careful what you wish for, it might come true

A chapter on this "things starting to go your way" would be awesome. Reminds me of we-wei.

Thank you. Hard to talk about what cannot be talked about!

Hi Brad, have you ever visited Liverpool? its only 30mins on the train from Manchester i think. As a Beetles fan you might find it an interesting place!

Lao Tzu is at least one person credited with saying, "Be careful of what you wish for." I wonder if this might be one of those aspects that zen took from taoism. If so, it would make this talk more related to zen than might appear.

So, if I get far along in my meditation that I can, I don’t know, heal my knee or some other problem, am I supposed to not do that for fear it will monkey paw back at me or something?

I remember watching my brain freaking out, and was like, oh look, it's freaking out.

I have lived the law of attraction. To a certain degree. But i lived it to change my inner landscape. An aspect of the law of attraction that is seldomly spoken about is that dreams and visions, differ from physical reality. When we dream/visualize, the dream is flawless and does not contain the follow up consequences of the dream. When the dream happens in physical reality, the dream have shadows or weight in the world. Your lived dream will affect more than your inner landscape and the extent of your best wishes. So it will come with other results that is hard for the individual to estimate. 'Be careful what you wish for' Is just that, take care.

I forget which book it was of Zen Master Seung Sahn, either Ashing on the Buddha or Wanting Enlightenment is a Big Mistake- but in the forward they talk about how writing a book only attaches more concepts and baggage to samsara or whatever... Either way, I enjoy your videos / books and I hope you have many happy returns!

Good video. Also that 'danger' is why (i assume) Wiccans have the 4-fold retribution rule.

Inspired !

Strange that only a couple nights ago I watched the movie “3000 Years of Longing”, which is about a protagonist unwittingly unleashing a Djinn who offers her 3 wishes. The protagonist is an expert in narrative and thus is obstinate to make any wish as she knows that every wishing story is a cautionary tale. I’ve since thought about how wishing stories are mythological in nature and that philosophers like Joseph Campbell have asserted that there are truths in mythological stories about the nature of the Universe. I also thought about Shunryu Suzuki saying that eventually bad things turn good and good things turn bad (even though it may take a while). I.e. a newborn baby becomes elderly and then a decaying corpse, but then if rebirth is real then this is necessary for another newborn body. It seems the endless cycle of opposites is the nature of form, so I do think intentionally wishing and praying for things is useless. Sri Neem Karoli Baba, said (paraphrasing) that if you have real faith that you shouldn’t ask the One/God/Universe for anything. That feels right to me. I don’t think we know what’s good for us in the long run. Btw, I think Sri Nisargadatta had a sitting practice in which he focused all his attention on (what I take to be) the feeling of ‘Me’ or the feeling of existing. I think he did it hours daily up until his enlightenment. I’m not 100% sure about this but don’t feel like researching.

Do you think you'll ever do an event or retreat in London or south England?

There's Swami Sarvapriyananda, arguably one of the best Advaita Vedanta speakers alive today. He's all over RU-vid, and seems quite grounded, in my opinion.

But … which part of the book is the FIRST quote from?

Very cool. Yes, we can make magic, but it's got to be selfless.

Thank you

I remember ultramarine, one of my earliest memories. I more wanted to work for hbo though, I didn't really get close lol. Kensho is another failed gold 😢, but the is hope, I had flashes, got me through college with Optomism. I so many scarcely used zabatans.

I think you can have everything you want, but you can't have everything. So knowing when to stop wishing for more is important.

Tricky topic - where practice veers into magic. Perhaps the Old Wives had it when they said; be careful what you wish for, you might just get it. I know a practice that has never failed, in conjunction with a clear wish, to deliver that wish. I don't use it. Not all the time, in any case....

I didn't really get your point. Since we live in the world, we will have goals, right? Get a goob job, write that book, raise a family, buy a house, whatever. Even if you practice Zen that is still how (most) people go around in life, except you let go and just sees what happens. Truth is probably in the middle. So? If you have goals, whats the difference in pushing around rocks v.s pushing around mental pictures, if you know what i mean? Whats the difference between actually pursuing things in a regular way v.s. helping them with the law of attraction?

Re Manchester.. ouch! I'm sure or want to be Rebecca and Paddy and Janet and Sammy and Tracy and Ross and Co from HB might be able to add something?? But I know it is not close. I just... half if them work in health or social care and I wonder if something can be arranged tangential to their work. Good luck on this xx : )

I am not projecting/experiencing actual reality. The I is merely part of the projection. So what is it that wants to attract what it wants?

Back in the day I was very into LaVeyan Satanism(edge teenage days). In it, there was a magic system that worked kinda like the Law of Attraction. But there was also a concept called the Balance Factor. The way it would work is by not just stopping people from willing things that are above their pay grade so to speak, but also by outright punishing anyone trying to bite more than they can chew. Kind of interesting that you've essentially stumbled upon the same concept. Which is admittedly not a very unique one, considering how ubiquitous the legend of Faust is in the Western culture...

How and Why are you looking younger?

i would like to hear your thoughts on gnosticism given it takes its similar view on the farcical nature of this world and our need to escape it.

Is it wrong to think about having your house, your family, maybe some animals, your car and the job that you wanted to? Is it wrong to use "the law of attraction" to have this things?

I think you have hair or dust on your camera lens. If you look at the top left corner on the video it looks a piece white hair (maybe a loose strand of Ziggy fur) wafting about in front of the lens.

In a weird way, I’m grateful for the Secret, Law of Attraction and the New Age spiritual movements, because it brought me to Buddhism. Once I read more into Buddhism that’s when I realized unfortunately they repackaged eastern philosophy as a capitalist commodity. Especially the Secret (and now that I think about I should probably get rid of all those books lol).

In Germany there was a very successful author of the LOA, who could apparently manifest a lot of stuff easily, she called the way of doing this "hoppen", a name which was inspired by the hawaiian Ho’oponopono. Sadly she was not able to cure her cancer disease with this technique. Maybe this was a kind of consequence of her not very respectful actions in this regard, I don't know and I am not the kind of person to think of this disease as a just punishment but these events did leave me a little bit wondering about people who are much focused on their egoic wellbeing and material wealthyness without feeling any limits what they want to get in their earthly lifespan. Gratefulness is another thing which is important here in my opinion. I met Brother David Steindl Rast a few times here in Vienna and was very moved by his teachings about gratefulness.

Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him

The Law of Attraction isn't about money and possessions alone. That's only what the casual observer sees. The Law of Attraction can be utilized under any circumstances for anything. I'd imagine Brad had a desire to write. He took that desire and put his efforts towards it. He had a vision for what he wanted to accomplish, then he did it. Brad Warner becoming a well-known Buddhist author proves that the LOA exists and works.

It appears that Niz is a part of your Karass.....

Okay, you said it would backfire, but you didn't provide any examples how it would backfire. Can you please give example for how it would backfire? I'm really curious 😮

I thought Plan 9 got its name from the movie Plan 9 from Outer Space. I like your idea better.

Life with Malamutes is out of Manchester.

I don't think he came about it, naturally. He had been told a practice, from what I've heard, on Buddha at the Gas Pump, I think, it was, to keep his attention centered on his core essence, or Something like that.

:)) it is not Martian, it's Marathi (English: /məˈrɑːti/;[6] Marāṭhī, मराठी Marathi: [məˈɾaːʈʰiː] (listen)) is an Indo-Aryan language predominantly spoken by Marathi people in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the official language of Maharashtra, and additional official language in the state of Goa.

I wish I was back in Manchester,my place of origin. In another country now. Enjoy.

Doesn't everybody know new thought is garbage? I have sometimes prayed to kwannon, but that's most superstitious practice I've done.

I've had a couple of very specific dreams about things that might be goals. One about going on a 10-day hiking trip, which we did. I've never been able to decide if the dream was just my subconscious figuring out some sense of the trip in advance, or if it was recognizing something that was in some way destined to happen.

Monkey's Paw anyone?

Thanks for the word salad! Don't crush that Dwarf hand me the pliers. So the important take away is not just don't do the secret, don't do it right. Now how do I get back from Orlando?

What you need is soul vaccination! It's just one of those things. Don't need no dizzy games.

People keep saying it's a simulation, and I keep replying it's the real thing.

YOU ARE STONED!!! What, in Heaven's name, makes you think that you should teach Dharma, anyway?