Tantra and Law of Attraction

My Guru almost never used the the term Tantra.

Only in rare moments, when he was with one or two of his senior swamis. Or when he was making fun of those kinds of scholars who are so much wrapped up in intellectual analysis that they struggle to experience a personal relationship with God. “You don’t need complicated mantras, yantras, and tantras to talk to God”, he would frequently tell us. “You don’t need to try and be like the yogis, rogis, and bogees,” refering to those pandits and scholars who claim that you can only know God if you recite the mantras in exactly the correct way with the proper pronunciation and format. Guru’s main message during his life was that the Divine can be experienced by anyone, without the need to be totally precise and correct with the mantras and rituals… all that is needed is an open heart, love, and a strong desire to know God.

So whilst I wasn’t ostensibly studying Tantra with my Guru, he nevertheless taught us monks the way to God using an approach which, I later came to realise, was very Tantric.

It was only some years later, after I left the monastery, that I discovered the teachings of Tantra, and realised that is what I had been studying and practicing with my Guru during my 11 years as a swami.

Tantra holds powerful secrets for navigating Life.

The way of Tantra works equally well for a monastic path as it does for a worldly path, both having the potential to be profoundly deep and spiritual in their own right. Since I have been consciously exploring and living a Tantric way of life in the outside world, I have discovered that Tantra holds many secrets which are incredibly powerful for helping us humans navigate more successfully in this intense modern world we call “Life”.

The so-called “Law of Attraction” is one such secret (well, after the movie “The Secret” it’s not so secret anymore). It is something that has interested me in recent years, and I have been (and continue) on a fascinating journey to understand this “law” in the context of Tantra and what I learned in the monastery.

Listen to the podcast episode of this post, over on TheTantricLife.com

Law of Attraction is now so popular I’m sure you’ve heard of it and probably know a fair bit about it too. According to thelawofattraction.com the Law of Attraction is the ability to attract into our lives whatever we focus on. Many famous people atrribute their success to Law of Attraction, claiming that it has helped them to make millions of dollars, get their dream home, or skyrocket their business.

When I first came across Law of Attraction it sounded like magic… and I thought that within a short time of applying its principles I would be a millionaire. That was a few years ago, and, well, according to my bank account, the Law of Attraction seems to be somewhat reluctant to work for me.

That’s not to say I haven’t had success with it. I have indeed manifested some wonderful things in my life, including a comfortable home (although not my dream home) in a great location, and a lasting loving relationship. But I can’t help feeling that my experience with Law of Attraction has been rather “hit-and-miss”… sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.

Law of Attraction isn’t meant to be easy.

In my researches I notice that many people have difficulties with getting Law of Attraction to work for them. It seems that it isn’t as easy as it sounds. I suppose that’s a good thing really, and is probably how it’s meant to be… I mean what would the world be like if everyone went around just conjuring up whatever money and stuff, whenever they wanted it?

As described on thelawofattraction.com there are a number of factors to consider to get this to work for you, such as your beliefs, your past conditioning, your attitudes about life, and your determination to get what you want.

On Tony Robbins’s website they point out that Law of Attraction is about cultivating certain habits and concrete steps towards achieving your goals. As Tony says, “Whatever you hold in your mind on a consistent basis is exactly what you will experience in your life.”

Law of Attraction can be found in Tantra teachings.

If you dig a little into the teachings of Tantra you will find the same concept as that which underlies the modern day Law of Attraction. Indeed, the Law of Attraction is said to be thousands of years old, and is seemingly a universal principle… Buddha is believed to have taught the idea that “what you think, you become”.

The great Tantrik master and scholar Abhinavagupta alludes to the Law of Attraction in his encyclopaedic work the Tantraloka, written around a thousand years ago. Of course, he doesn’t use the expression “Law of Attraction”, a term first coined in this context by author William Walker Atkinson in 1906. Abhinavagupta does, however, talk about how “seekers of enjoyment and experience” can invoke divine forces to bestow upon them the “fruit” of their focused intention, through the practice of certain rituals.

The ‘inner self’ of the One Lord who is Consciousness is the creative upsurge of intuitive inspiration (pratibhā), worshipped [by some] as a limited configuration of the [infinite] Waves of Awareness (saṃvid-ūrmi-cakra), whether gentle or otherwise. || 116
[…] this Goddess Awareness, becoming increasingly manifest, reveals herself in a form that bestows the fruit of that rite upon him. || 117
TANTRĀLOKA 1.116-123 Translated by Christopher Wallis

Tantric practice can have two distinct goals…

Christopher Wallis’s (Hareesh) translation of the Tantraloka shows how Abhinavagupta classifed Tantric practice into two aspects…

On one hand Tantra has the goal of the practictioner becoming one with God, achieving enlightenment and liberation. All the many diverse practices of Tantra, which include working with the energies of the body, and recognising the Divinity of our physical senses, are all geared towards realising that we are one-and-the-same as the ultimate Divine Consciousness.

On the other hand, the practices of Tantra can also be used with the intention of invoking and manipulating Divine power for achieving specific aims, whether those be manifesting material things, physical healing, or general personal growth.

This latter intention of Tantric practice generally involves the invocation of Tantric deities, which Hareesh describes as “archetypal patterns of consciousness”. These deites are referred to by Abhinavagupta as “gentle or otherwise [fierce]”, with the gentle ones being used for the purpose of healing and reinvigoration, while the fierce dieties are used to summon and wield magical power. In fact the huge number of many different deities found in Tantric traditions is largely because of the intention of using Tantra for magical purposes… hence Tantra’s historical association with witchcraft and black magic.

You can invoke the help of Tantric deities through ritual.

During my years with my Guru in the monastery, I learned and practiced various types of “puja”… ceremonies and rituals centered around the act of invoking the presence and power of different deities.

These pujas were incredibly powerful. One could feel a tangible, almost physical, energy during the rituals. And each deity truly manifested a strong presence that was very real. It was through the practice of puja rituals that I gradually cultivated my own personal link with the Divine, with each deity revealing His or Herself to me as a vibrant living being. I learned how the Divine comes to us in different ways, with very distinct qualities of energy. Each diety has His or Her own unique personality and way of interacting with us.

Through practice you can develop a wonderful personal relationship with the different personalities of the Divine. And when you get to know these dieties, you can invoke any one of them to help you. Each deity seems to be specialised in certain skills or powers to help you, and so you call upon the deity most appropriate to deal with whatever is your specific situation.

This, of course, is very similar to what Abhinavagupta is describing in the Tantraloka text. So when I read this I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the things I had been learning and practicing all those years with my Guru were closely related to the early Tantric practices.

Back then I would use the power of the rituals mostly for selfless intentions. Perhaps to ask the Divine for help in overcoming challenges to complete some project in the monastery, such as building shelters for the animals, or maybe for asking for help and resources to accomodate the visiting pilgrims. The only “selfish” requests I made to the dieties were related to asking for help on the path to liberation, asking for Divine Grace, or asking to have some direct experience of God. And one could argue that those are not really selfish intentions, because as we evolve and become more enlightened we contribute to the overall spiritual healing of the human race, as well as develop a greater capacity for love, compassion, and empathy with other beings.

For Law of Attraction to work we need to clarify our intentions

Here in the outside world my issue with the Law of Attraction is that it is often presented as a means of obtaining all the material possessions you dream of… “manifest your dream home”, “attract your ideal romantic partner”, “tune in to abundance so that you can earn thousands or millions of dollars”. In my humble opionion it is somewhat misleading to present Law of Attraction as something that you can use to manifest any material possesion that you desire. If Law of Attraction is to be seen as a way of co-creating with the Divine, then it seems rather egoistic, even arrogant, to think that you can coerce the Divine into giving you whatever you want. More likely is that the Universe gives you what you need, which may or may not coincide with what you desire.

So I wonder if the Law of Attraction is meant to work only for use-cases in which the intention is ultimately selfless, or when the result is going to bring about some kind of internal spiritual growth. This would certainly explain why I sometimes seem to fail with Law of Attraction. Whenever my focus has been too oriented to my own selfish gains Law of Attraction seems to have let me down. When I look back at my successes with Law of Attraction I can see how those things I manifested have been important to support me in my work of teaching, coaching, and helping others, or have created a deep inner shift. For example having a stable and comfortable home from which to run my business, produce my podcast, and create my teaching programs. Or attracting my true love, because she helps me to grow, and pushes me to become the best version of myself, which in turn means I am able to help others more effectively.

One of the challenges of Law of Attraction is that our beliefs or past conditioning can block or self-sabotage our altruistic intentions. I, for example, am aware that I can get too hung up on the belief of failure, even when I may be clear that what I’m trying to achieve is for the good of others. These are subtle ways that our ego, in the form of our wounded inner child, can end up making it too much “about us”, instead of allowing ourselves to be a clear channel for expressing Divine Purpose.

Law of Attraction compliments a Tantric way of life.

Part of my mission is to bring what I learned from the monastery and integrate it with the teachings of Tantra and Law of Attraction. I have found Tantra to be an ideal framework for spirituality and personal growth in modern society. And Law of Attraction is an excellent compliment to this path, although it requires some deep exploration and clearing up some of the misunderstadings about how Law of Attraction works.

As I have intimated here, Tantric practice can be a great way to cultivate the mindset which is required for Law of Attraction.

Try this tip to get started with Law of Attraction in the context of Tantra…

If there were one quick tip I could share to help you in this process, I would invite you to explore the different deities, of whichever spritual tradition appeals to you. If you are new to this, start with one deity, and spend a week or two contemplating, meditating, or praying with this deity in mind. If you are so inclined, experiment with music, songs, or mantras related to your choosen diety. Learn about the myths and stories about that deity. If the word “deities” doesn’t resonate with you, perhaps you can think of them as archetypes of human or universal consciousness. These archteypes are patterns or qualities of energy that you can tune into for your benefit.

Try to feel the quality of energy of the Divine that is represented by this deity. Talk to Him or Her regulary, as you would a friend. In moments throughout the day, or when you are out walking, or doing things. Open yourself to Him or Her, invite them into your heart, into your life. Invite them to collaborate with you in your work, your relationships, your aspirations.

Gradually you will start to feel the different quality of energy with different deities. The next step after that would be to integrate into a focused intentional Law of Attraction practice.

In the Tantraloka text, Abhinavagupta desribes the specific key elements of a Law-of-Attraction-style Tantric ritual. These are the very same things that I learned with my Guru for the pracices of puja, the rituals and ceremonies that cultivate our personal connection to the Divine.

Pujas and rituals of this type are both powerful and safe, and so I am excited to share this with you in an upcoming post and podcast episode in which I’ll talk more about how to use Tantric practices to create a Law of Attraction ritual.