Back to: Reality Architecture: Consciousness, Intention & the Nature of Manifestation
The Problem with “Manifestation” as Commonly Taught:
The Secret/Law of Attraction model: “Think positive thoughts → attract positive outcomes”
What’s right about this model:
· Attention and belief genuinely influence experience.
(demonstrated by neuroscience)
· Expectation shapes perception, behavior, and social interaction.
(demonstrated by psychology)
· There IS a relationship between inner states and outer
circumstances. (demonstrated by multiple research lines)
What’s wrong with this model:
· The mechanism is wrong: “Like attracts like” is not a physical
Law. (actually, in physics, opposite charges attract)
· The agency is wrong: “The universe” is not a cosmic ordering
service that delivers what you ask for.
· The ethics are wrong: If you create your reality, then victims
of poverty, illness, and injustice “created” their suffering. A morally repugnant conclusion.
· The practice is shallow: Visualization and affirmation alone,
without deep inner work, typically produce only temporary
emotional shifts.
· The epistemology is wrong: Confirmation bias makes
“manifestation” seem to work even when it doesn’t. We
remember the hits and forget the misses.
· The philosophy is absent: There is no rigorous examination of
WHAT reality is, HOW consciousness could influence it, or WHAT
the limits of such influence might be.
What This Course Offers Instead:
· A serious, multi-disciplinary investigation of the consciousness-reality Relationship.
· Engagement with the strongest evidence AND the strongest criticisms.
· A philosophical framework that goes far deeper than “think positive”.
· Practices that have been refined across millennia and tested (to
varying degrees) by modern science.
· Honest acknowledgment of what we know, what we don’t know, and what we may never know.
Key Texts:
· Bernardo Kastrup, Why Materialism Is Baloney, Introduction
· Dean Radin, Real Magic, Chapter 1
· Neville Goddard, “The Law and the Promise”, Chapter 1
· Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Chapter 1 (on paradigm shifts — applied to the consciousness-reality question)
· Mitch Horowitz, The Miracle Club, Introduction (the most intellectually honest popular treatment of manifestation)
The key texts listed above are excellent for students who wish to dig deeper into the various concepts discussed so far. There will be more books, blog posts, and other documentation introduced as we continue through the remaining modules of this course.
Along with the key texts, a YouTube video link featuring Bernardo Kastrup is below for those interested.
Escaping the Illusion: Bernardo Kastrup Exposes Reality
Practice — “Reality Check” Inventory:
1. What do you currently believe about the relationship between
consciousness and reality?
2. Have you had personal experiences that seem to demonstrate
consciousness influencing reality? Describe them honestly.
3. Have you had experiences that seem to demonstrate that
consciousness does NOT influence reality? Describe them honestly.
4. What would you need to see/experience to change your mind, in
either direction?
5. What is your relationship to “manifestation” teaching? Have you
practiced it? What were the results, honestly assessed?
The previous questions are all good ways to start this exploration. Throughout this course, each student should try their best to answer them and write them down for future reference.
Below are my own answers to those questions.
- As I stated in my introduction, I feel consciousness plays a vital role in the reality we all experience. (perhaps, the most important role)
- For me personally, there have been numerous instances where I feel my consciousness was involved in realities I encountered. Examples for me are:
- Setting an intention to have an open parking space available at busy shopping centers, movie theaters, etc., and finding those spaces open when I arrive.
- Seeing the numbers 11:11 on digital clocks and TV screens far more often than what might be considered “normal”.
3. There have been times when I intended a physical pain to go away, but the pain persisted. These times have created some doubt on just how much control I have over reality.
4. For me, experiencing less synchronicities might create more doubt in my current beliefs concerning the nature of reality. Where an increased ability to change physical symptoms would give me more reason to believe my original assumptions concerning the nature of reality.
5. In all honesty, my ability to create the reality I want has been “hit or miss” at times. For me personally, I still feel that we are all divine emanations of an All-Encompassing Source. And as I continue to raise my consciousness level, my ability to create the realities I want will only get better.
Now that we have examined the core question Does consciousness participate in the creation of physical reality? and the main problem associated with manifestation, lets explore the history of these ideas from their ancient roots to more modern times. On to Module 1.