Questions on allowing abundance

[serenac]

Hello everyone! I don't know how many of you are watching those wonderful Abraham videos recommended here on this forum, most of them dealing with the subject of abundance which so many of us struggle with, and they've given me much food for thought and many, many questions, which I'd like to pose here and I hope you can help me with these things that I don't know or understand.

a) Anyways, well for example, the Abraham videos talk about things like allowing abundance into your life and things like that. But as I asked on another thread, which Illusions (Odille) posted here, I observe that oftentimes people seem limited not by beliefs but rather by circumstances. I know that Odille partially answered my question by explaining that lots of times people choose to come into the world with certain challenges, for example they may choose to be born into a poor country, into a region at war, into a land with lots of natural disasters, etc. Like in a computer game where people will choose very difficult given circumstances in order to challenge themselves, or to learn something new, etc.

So I can understand that perhaps a person will choose to be born and live and die for example in Haiti or Iraq in order to pay a karmic debt, learn lessons, etc. But I don't understand why for example a person may choose to be born in Haiti or Iraq and have the strong desire to do something which is impossible in these countries, and that person will never have the possibility of accomplishing these things no matter what his beliefs.

For example let's say a woman who is born in Afghanistan may dream of for example becoming a famous lawyer and having a mansion with many servants and a swimming pool, or becoming a star in Hollywood. Someone in such a situation, how could they ever get out of such a situation and fulfil their dreams no matter how limitless their beliefs may be? They may believe wholeheartedly that joyful abundance is our birthright but it's clear that in Afghanistan they will never be able to experience joyful abundance, at least not as we conceive of it here in the West. At the most perhaps they will be lucky enough to not have to wear a burkha and to have a humble hut to live in and enough food to eat. They may still feel grateful for having a place to live and food to eat, but perhaps they dreamed of something more, and in Afghanistan such things are impossible to achieve. If she had been born in the US and used LOA she would probably have been able to fulfil her dream, but not in Afghanistan.

So I don't see how LOA, allowing abundance in and things like that, how they could apply to a person in such circumstances. No matter how much she allowed abundance in she could never allow in for example a mansion covered with marble and with a swimming pool because such things probably don't even exist in Afghanistan!

b) Another question I had was related to how do our old, traditional values fit in with the new ideas that Abraham-Esther and others like them are teaching us now. For example the traditional idea that we must choose between the different things that we want, that we must learn to *do without*. How many times have your parents ever told you something like, you can get the doll/baseball bat/baseball glove or the Spirograph kit, but not both?

We also all know that teaching kids that they can't have everything they want is good for them and not bad, we've all seen examples of *spoiled brats* who've always had everything they ever desired and they're bored, empty, their lives have no meaning, they have nothing to strive towards, nothing to work towards, everything that they could ever want is just handed to them on a silver platter.

On the other hand we see children that have to work hard to earn something, and we can observe that these children feel proud, they're proud of themselves, they know that they have what it takes to earn or win this or that, they have confidence in themselves, they know they're good enough. They know it because they had to earn the goodies, they didn't just have the goodies handed to them on a silver platter.

So how does that jive with things that Abraham and other spiritual teachers teach us, that we can have everything that we ever dreamed of having, all we have to do is banish our limiting beliefs and allow in joyful abundance? So where does having to earn what we want fit in in all of this? By not needing to earn it we're also depriving ourselves of the possibility of proving to ourselves that we're CAPABLE of earning it, that we're good enough, that we have what it takes!

c) Finally I suppose I'd like to hear all your views about where does ACTION fit in in the equation? I for example personally feel that action is important and necessary, I don't think it's good for us if everything that we want should just fly in the open window. For one thing I think we'd get AWFULLY lazy if we never had to go out the door and get some fresh air and exercise lol!

Anyways so I've spent the past few weeks just sitting around in my home visualising a new job, meditating on a new job, trying to vanquish limiting beliefs related to jobs and money, etc. But I didn't DO anything to try and find a new job and guess what? No new job came flying in through my window, no one called me up out of the blue offering me a job, no old acquaintances whom I hadn't seen in 10 years just showed up on my doorstep and handed me a job!

So I came to the realisation that if I want that job I actually have to get up, prepare a resume and send it! But that's action! That's not meditation! That's not visualisation! Where's the LOA in all of that? Sending out a resume isn't LOA, it's just plain old-fashioned good common sense, it's what we've done all our lives, and it works!

Now I do agree that LOA, visualisations, etc. can most certainly be very valuable COMPLEMENTS that help us to achieve what we want. For example if we are searching for a job, LOA can help to guide us towards the best companies to send our resume to, when the perfect employer is looking through the resumes it can make our resume stand out to him so that he feels inspired to call US for an interview instead of someone else, etc.

But I don’t think that just sitting around on our couch and meditating upon getting a job, imagining that we get a job, but not doing anything about it, is going to get us that job. If the perfect employer is sitting around in his office, I don’t think it’s very likely that our name is just going to all of a sudden pop into his head by telepathy, and since he’s never heard of us before he’ll get up, get a phone book and look us up and call us and ask us if we happen to be on the look-out for a job.

Anyways I’m sure I could always think up tons more questions on this subject but I’ll leave it the way it is for now. I’d sure appreciate anyone’s views on this subject! Tootaloo!

[ImBill]

a) All of us have limiting beliefs. We are not aware of many of them. We do not know the plan that our life follows. With much introspection and clearing away of mental debris caused by trauma earlier in life, we can begin to see more clearly why we are here, or we can use a guide to help us find our way. You may be right that a woman in Afghanistan could not have the mansion and swimming pool while she remains in Afghanistan (I've never been there, so I'm not totally familiar with the circumstances for everyone). She can move away, though, to a place that allows such things, if that is what she truly wants and desires. There's always a way.

I was going to go over your post point by point, but I think I can cut to the chase a little more easily. We, as humans, are programmed to react to and deal with the world in certain ways. We must overcome this programming to ever be able to achieve "having what you want pop in the window". It ain't just going to happen because we say we want it to happen. I'm sure you've been through the whole mental paradigm yourself when you are wanting a job to pop through the window. Your post shows that you don't really believe that it will happen. And, you are right, in a very great sense. Reality is that there is consciousness, energy, desire, and action. We need to take action to transform our reality. There is abundance and we need to take action to create our own individual abundance, whatever we conceive that to be.

[Pamela Vicik-Smith]

Hi Serenac ~

You pose some good questions. This is my viewpoint:

For example let's say a woman who is born in Afghanistan may dream of for example becoming a famous lawyer and having a mansion with many servants and a swimming pool, or becoming a star in Hollywood. Someone in such a situation, how could they ever get out of such a situation and fulfil their dreams no matter how limitless their beliefs may be? They may believe wholeheartedly that joyful abundance is our birthright but it's clear that in Afghanistan they will never be able to experience joyful abundance, at least not as we conceive of it here in the West. At the most perhaps they will be lucky enough to not have to wear a burkha and to have a humble hut to live in and enough food to eat. They may still feel grateful for having a place to live and food to eat, but perhaps they dreamed of something more, and in Afghanistan such things are impossible to achieve. If she had been born in the US and used LOA she would probably have been able to fulfil her dream, but not in Afghanistan.

Believe it or not, there are women in Afghanistan who are proud to wear a burkha - perhaps the majority of them would choose to wear one even if they did not have to. It may not be something you or I would choose, but we are not they.

Personally, I have come to accept that I cannot possibly know what anyone else would feel or want. As much as I love and think I know my husband, I do not truly know what he thinks or what his true desires are.

That said, LOA does not state that wanting something will bring it to you. In fact, the act of "wanting" it often keeps it away as you are attracting more "want." Like attracts like. The way to attract what one really desires is to live and feel as if you already have it. Easier said than done, I know.

We also all know that teaching kids that they can't have everything they want is good for them and not bad, we've all seen examples of *spoiled brats* who've always had everything they ever desired and they're bored, empty, their lives have no meaning, they have nothing to strive towards, nothing to work towards, everything that they could ever want is just handed to them on a silver platter.

I don't think that these types of kids you are referring to are spoiled brats because everything has been given to them. If they are brats, it could be because their parents are not showing them enough love and attention. The parents may be trying to compensate for the lack of affection by giving them things. It so happens that many kids who have all sorts of material possessions, have no emotional love and support.

On the other hand, I have known many kids who did have almost everything they ever wanted, but they also lived in a loving environment. These kids were not brats at all but were very well adjusted and a pleasure to be around. The difference between these two sets of kids is not in what they have, but in what they didn't have.

Finally I suppose I'd like to hear all your views about where does ACTION fit in in the equation?

I don't recall Abraham or any good teacher saying that action is never needed. What I have heard them say is that before taking action, line up your energy with it first.

Let's use the example of looking for a new job, since that is something we have all done at one time or another. If you start the search process while feeling down, depressed, angry, desparate, or any other negative feeling, chances are you are not going to find anything that you will be happy with. Just the act of writing a resume while in this mode would be difficult.

Now, imagine looking for a job when you are feeling happy. Imagine knowing exactly what you want in a job and feeling the excitement of finding that perfect job! You look online and find something that looks like it may be a good match for you. Now imagine writing that same resume after you found something that excites you. That resume will practically write itself!

We are talking about the same act of writing a resume, but in the first instance, it is a chore. In the second, it is exciting and even fun. The difference is you are lined up with the act and the emotions you are feeling are positive ones.

Serenac, you really do pose some good, thought-provoking questions I am interested to see what others have to say.