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F=ma and The Law of Attraction 11/17/2007 8:09:42 AM
Explore physics and the Law of Attraction. I do not pretend to be a scientist but I am conversant with many of its principles. The purpose of this article is to contrast some of the basic laws in physics with that of the Law of Attraction and to at least to generally illustrate that the two fields of study are not contradictory. In fact, in a Universe that is founded on energy, the laws of energy and spiritual laws that manipulate energy must be linked. Law of Attraction deals with the manipulation of energy to create reality. It therefore must be compatible with the principles of physics, to the degree that science understands the ever-changing knowledge we possess of those principles.
Opposites attract. This law actually confirms the basic principles of the Law of Attraction. Negative energy, in spiritual terms, is merely the absence of a positive charge; it is a place for the positive to flow into. Think of the negative charge as a need or a want. You look at your life and say “I have a need for more prosperity.” This is the negative charge. In response, the positive energy of abundance and prosperity abhors a vacuum and rushes in to fill the void. Opposites attract and the Law of Attraction works.
But science says that like repels like. In a way that is true with respect to magnetic polarity but only to point. There is a force in the Universe called gravity. In this instance, matter attracts matter. It is not opposite matter that attracts but rather all matter seeks to attract other matter. If not, there would be no stars, no planets and no manifest Universe. Like does repel like if the space is full. Fill a cup with water and then try to poor more in. It does not happen. Fill a hay barn with hay and try to throw more bales of hay in. It does not happen. Like only repels like if there is no need for more of the same thing. In the Law of Attraction, love attracts love, thoughts of prosperity attract more prosperity, and thoughts of health attract health. It is hard to say if there is ever enough love so the cup never gets full.
If you lack prosperity and focus on that lack, you will not attract prosperity. All that you are really doing is making the cup, the hole, and the lack bigger. Like attracts like so thoughts of lack, attracts more like. However, when your focus changes to abundance, now opposites attract and the positive energy of abundance rushes in as positive energy to fill the hole you once created. So, you can either keep thinking negative thoughts and make the hole larger and attract a bigger hole, or use the laws of physics to your advantage and fill the hole with positive energy. Either way, the Law of Attraction does not violate the laws of physics; on the contrary, they help to prove those laws.
If like did not attract like there would be no such things as atoms since their nuclei are composed of, among other things, positively charged protons. The protons should have repelled each other, according to critics of the Law of Attraction. If you look at nature you find salt deposits, iron deposits, copper deposits, etc. It is clear that these elements and their atoms were attracted to each. Otherwise, all of the atoms of these elements would just be widely scattered throughout the Universe.
We know like ideas attract. If this was not true, there would be no such thing as groups such as political parties, social and charitable groups, or even societies. The world of people would simply be chaotic with each person out for their own survival. By the same token, opposite sexes attract but it is still among like species so they are not really opposite as much as they are two forces that seek to join for a common purpose. They are two sides of the same coin.
“For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” This means that for every positive thought, there is an equal opposite and negative thought. At first glance, this does not sound very good since it implies that the stronger your positive ideas, the stronger the negative idea. In order to have a manifest Universe this law must exist. If there were no down to accompany up, there would be no dimension. However, with thought we are in the realm of potential. You cannot create a positive thought without a corresponding negative thought. This does not, however, mean that the negative thought must manifest. By continuing to focus on manifesting the positive and ignoring the existence of the negative, the negative remains only in potential and not manifest. If your thought began to focus on the negative, then the potential negative would be brought into manifestation. The key is intention and focus and to make the positive actual and to keep the negative, potential.
“Bodies at rest tend to stay at rest and bodies in motion tend to stay in motion unless acted upon by a net force.” We all know what it means to be in a rut. Whether it is spirituality, politics or economics it is easy to be complacent and to stagnate. This basic Newtonian law applies to the realm of spirituality. As long as things are going “okay” we tend to just trudge along in a comfort zone. Feeling that we have a slight spiritual edge over others, we settle for being, as Pink Floyd once said, “Comfortably numb.” It is not until something happens, a net force, hits our life that we see that stagnation leads nowhere. From personal disaster to things like job loss, divorce, epiphanies and even comments made by others, a force is required to move our life back into action and the road to higher evolution. Conversely, we have all heard the phrase, “being on a roll.” When we are on the spiritual fast track almost no net force can derail our progress. We are in motion and will continue to be so as long as we stay focused and do not allow appearances or negative thoughts derail our progress.
F-ma. Perhaps it is a stretch to use this law in talking about the Law of Attraction but, at least metaphorically, it works. This law states that Force = mass x acceleration. Can you measure the “force” of a thought? I believe that one day we will but for now, I believe the law still offers an important spiritual lesson. I write the formula this way: the Force of a thought equals the importance of the thought (mass) times the urgency (acceleration) with which we desire to manifest that thought. This is why passing thoughts, ones that lack any real importance and urgency, have little force and often dissipate. Conversely, a thought that holds your attention and which is filled with emotion and desire (mass) and which needs to be dealt with relatively soon (acceleration), has a lot of force and is likely to manifest quickly. Keep in mind that this works for both positive and negative thoughts.
Do other permeations of this formula work? Thoughts with a lot of force that “weigh heavy” on the mind tend to manifest quickly. F/m=a. If the thought is powerful but is of little concern to you (less mass), the manifestation is slow (a). Does F/a=m work? Thoughts that have little sense of urgency (a) do yield a low thought force and one with little mass or of little concern. These thoughts will have only a minor impact on your life. Again, while you cannot put actual numbers into the formula, the concept for the Law of Attraction do seem to work. Since form follows thought, those with a lot of thought create a clearer manifestation than those with less thought. While actual times cannot be used, notions of ‘soon,’ ‘later,’ and not at all come to mind. While mass in grams or pounds cannot be used, terms such as ‘heavy,’ ‘important’ or even critical come into play when thinking of mass of a thought.
There are other laws in science that support spiritual ideas and the energy they manipulate. If “resistance” is provided to a current, things heat up. If resistance is faced by an idea, things can certainly heat up. Heat a volume of air and it expands. Heat up an idea with desire and emotion, and it expands. There are many analogies and the details can be left to those more scientifically inclined.
The bottom line here is that the Law of Attraction is not in the least bit contradictory to the laws in physics. When looked at in terms of practical application or spiritual application, it can be seen that these laws are even interchangeable. At a minimum, there is no conflict. The day may well come in the areas of quantum physics when many of these things can be measured and quantified or seen in a complimentary manner. Since matter is energy and thoughts are energy, it is logical and rational to see that the basic laws or principles would have to apply to both the physical and spiritual realms of existence. Ancient mystics knew of the principles of energy and thought and advances in quantum physics are bringing these ideas, one thought to be diametrically opposed, into congruence and unifying theory of existence.
