Manifestation - Enlightenment

  Today I am going to tell you some basic things about manifestation.  Manifestation is not directly related to enlightenment. However, I have chosen to put it in this section because I have also started to deal with manifestation as a result of my spiritual awakening. 

This article explains it really well. 

Manifestation: what is it and does it really work?

What is manifestation? How do you manifest the things you want in life? And what are the best manifestation strategies? In the simplest terms, manifestation is setting your intention towards something you hope will happen, and then watching it happen in real life. In other words, if you think something, it will happen. But of course it is more complex than that.

Manifestation, or the Laws of Attraction, is a concept you're probably already familiar with, and one that was much talked about in 2006 when the bestselling book 'The Secret' came out. (I should add that there's also a film of the same name, which I recently watched, and I took notes of important things as I watched it 2x. I will write more about it and add my notes from the film.) Manifestation has been spoken about by the greatest spiritual leaders and thinkers such as Deepak Chopra and Eckhart Tolle, and Oprah Winfrey has often touched on the subject on her shows. Manifestation is not new, though, with its roots in a 19th century spiritual movement based on the belief that our thoughts influence our material world and that positive thinking is the answer to most of our problems. 

This concept of manifesting your reality through your thoughts, or the 'law of attraction' as it is sometimes called, can also be found in ancient spiritual teachings, including Hindu ideas about the oneness of your mind, body and universe. Recently, however, manifestation has seen a surge of interest. According to Google Trends, the search term "how to manifest" has been steadily increasing over the last five years, and has also flooded social networks such as TikTok. The fact is that we are always creating and manifesting in our lives, we just do it unconsciously. When we realise the power we have to create our lives as we would like to live them, manifestation happens.

What is manifestation?

The first thing you need to know is that manifestation does not happen overnight. Although manifestation is about turning your dreams into reality, it requires you to take proactive steps towards whatever it is that you want. You should not expect it to happen immediately and without your proactivity. 

Manifestation is bringing something tangible into your life through attraction and belief, but manifestation is more than willpower and positive thinking. According to Angelina Lombardo, author of 'Spiritual Entrepreneur', manifesting is about bringing into being whatever you want to feel and experience through your thoughts, actions, beliefs and emotions. To start manifesting, however, you need to clearly define your goals.

Manifestation as a self-help exercise refers to focusing your thoughts on your desired outcome - through practices such as mindfulness, visualisation and meditation - in order to try to make it happen. The aim is to make your personal goals a reality. Manifestation is therefore about creating a vision for the future, investing energy and intention into making that vision a reality, and then aligning your thoughts, feelings and actions accordingly so that your vision can be realised. This process is the same as the one we go through when we work on ourselves or when we try to change our circumstances or commit to a personal goal. It involves intention, mindset and focused action.

Manifestation has been popularised by pop psychology books such as 'The Secret' and 'The Law of Attraction', and when someone talks about manifestation, they are usually referring to the ideas presented in these books. But if you ask psychological scientists, they will tell you that these books are pseudoscience, that is, something that claims to be scientific but is not really based on the scientific method. Manifestation as an idea, however, is very real and can actually help people change their lives for the better. 

There is also a considerable amount of science behind the very idea of manifestation. For example, research has shown that if we believe we can do something, then we are more likely to do it. For example, if you really believe that you can get a job and work hard for it. This scientifically based approach shows us that if we really believe that we can achieve something and are willing to put in the work to do it, then we will achieve it. And that is the key: manifestation requires work. To manifest what we want, we have to believe we can do it, we have to be persistent and, ultimately, we have to engage in behaviour that delivers the desired results.

Does manifestation work?

Overall, research has shown that positive thinking, which is one of the core concepts of manifestation, can benefit our overall mental well-being - it can lead to fewer cases of depression and better coping skills in stressful situations. Research has also shown that a negative mood or attitude discourages others and damages our relationships. People who are generally happy and positive attract more opportunities, have better relationships and tend to be more successful. When it comes to expressing what you want in life, focusing on the goal you want to achieve, what it will take to achieve it and how you will feel when you achieve it can be key.

How to manifest?

It is important to realise that there is no one right way to manifest. Your manifestation practice can be whatever you want it to be, the important thing is that it involves inner reflection on what you really want in the future and practical actions to help you achieve it. Some people do a formal ritual such as lighting a candle and saying an intention, others incorporate positive intentions into their daily meditations, and still others write down their goals in a journal. 

Make your intention as specific as possible. The clearer and more concise, the better. For example, instead of saying, "I want to meet my soulmate," create a detailed picture of what that person would look like (what colour is their hair, eyes, are they tall or short, what are their personality traits, what do they like to do, what do they dislike, etc.). Be very specific. Once you have set your intention, ask yourself what you want and put it down on paper. Once you have defined exactly what your hopes, dreams and goals are, you need to ask the Universe for it. 

Remember that manifestation is like co-creation - a collaboration between you and the Universe. So once you have written down exactly what you want, you are only halfway there. Because without action, you will not get results. Think about what steps you can take to achieve your goals for yourself, and then add them to your daily routine. If you want a new job, start socialising with people in the field and practise interviewing for jobs. 

Another way to be 'in action' when you manifest is to ask yourself the question: 'What would my future self think?' Transforming your mind can (and will) set you up for success. Being a person who already has, does and feels your goals, dreams and desires helps you become that person.

The next step is to be aware and grateful for what you receive. Even though you may not get everything you want in the order and timeframe you want, you need to accept and acknowledge what you get, no matter how big or small it is. Gratitude is the key.

So that is briefly about the manifestation of the rest in a few months' time. Just as there is a lot to say about anger and other topics, there is really a lot more to say about this one, so I will definitely talk about it some other time. 

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